January 2009 Grocery Challenge

redmel1621

I managed to stay away from the shop today, however I will need more milk, cheese, ham and fruit tomorrow. I am going to go over this month, but never mind.

I made beef and alle in the slow cooker yesterday for dinner. We had it last night, but it wasn't very nice. I had planned to have it again tonight but possibly spice it up a bit with my own addition on spices to give it a bit more flavour!! Anyway, I forgot to box it up and put it in the fridge, so it was just left all night in the SC.....I have decided to give it the dog:o and we are having curry instead:D

Would any of you have used it today regardless of it not being in the fridge??? I know my mum used to make stew or chilli in a massive pressure cooker and just leave it on the cooker and reheat it for a good few days, as did/does FIL...

Mel x

Savvy_sewing

I have had my Mr A delivery, only one thing missing off the list, so that was good. Substitutes were similar but saved me £1.78 in a price match on my lager, and I got 2 more cans then the original order. Success!. I am still withing the budget, but have had a little help as occassionally the kids are buying the odd loaf of bread or pint of milk and I havent had to give them the money back.! I still need to make myself sort out the menu plan for this coming week/month, I have been a vit lapse as I am not the only one who does the cooking.

tessie_bear

good evening....hope all is going well....ElizaB marmalade is nice thankyou...i make it everyyear and last year it was too runny the year before that it set like a jelly tablet but this year ...its a good texture that spreads:p ...result !!....i had a few bargains in asda last night....fruit and veg just eaten asparagus (sp?) that was 20p...also 5kg potatoes for 25p.........i dont know if bashed tins gross people out but i picked up kidney beans 5p x4 tuna £1.19 and heinz tomato 19p from sainsburys they seemed to have reduced the bashed tins quite a lot......might be worth a look if u are ok with them.....we jumped on the quice band wagon tonite.....leftover pastry from a pie on monday....a sp onion....reduced mushrooms....last 2 eggs in box and the last bit of grated cheese...so reduced on many levels and it tasted nice iv just got to convince my kids how great quiche is...they arent convinced....i agree with the poster who said prices have gone up a lot....its a good job weve got this thread or we might have to consider the possibility of how best to serve fresh air......take care tess

angelnikki

OrkneyStar wrote: »

Nikki (and anyone else who wants to read ), I know you prefer to shop online (and can't always get out) but if you are able I suggest you try your local butcher for sausages, as they beat finest every time...
Just a thought ...... can any of you tell I am on a 'support local' mission again ?! lol

I don't actually prefer to shop online - I have to because I am disabled and unable to leave the house :rolleyes: If I could choose where I shopped then of course I would be using the local butchers, green grocers, farm shops, markets, etc. But its not a choice I am fortunate enough to have

And finest sausages aren't that bad, containing 85% british pork, MrT organic sausages have 88% pork

Like I said previously we rarely eat pork sausages anyway as we usually have veggie ones instead.

scotsaver hope you enjoy the jambalaya

I'll be watching Jamie Saves our Bacon next week too

Nikki x

OrkneyStar

angelnikki wrote: »

I don't actually prefer to shop online - I have to because I am disabled and unable to leave the house :rolleyes: If I could choose where I shopped then of course I would be using the local butchers, green grocers, farm shops, markets, etc. But its not a choice I am fortunate enough to have

And finest sausages aren't that bad, containing 85% british pork, MrT organic sausages have 88% pork

Like I said previously we rarely eat pork sausages anyway as we usually have veggie ones instead.

scotsaver hope you enjoy the jambalaya

I'll be watching Jamie Saves our Bacon next week too

Nikki x

Nikki, I realise your situation as you have mentioned it before, I just did not realise you did not go out at all (I thought even if you only went out rarely then you would maybe fancy a wee trip to the butchers or something just park nearby if you/OH could). It was just a suggestion that you, by no means, have to take! I am not being critical and please don't take offense, I am just on a mission to encourage shopping at places other than Tesco, as tbh big supermarkets are killing high streets imho! I am so glad we have other shops here! Its not so much that MrT sausages are bad, more than butchers need to be frequented to keep them open. Anyway, it was not a dig. I am just so fed up reading about Tesco this and Tesco that!!!!!! (rant over!)
(I have edited my original post.)
Veggie sausages seemed to be on offer in MrT, although you probaby already know about that.
After being a veggie for 5 years when I was a teenager I avoid veggie sausages like the plague now.....bleurgh.........good job we don't all like the same things!

greent wrote: »

Mince: I buy steak mince, usually scottish. DH & DD have a passion for steak (sirloiin usually!) so I sometimes buy that - preferably organic or local from f mkt (Unless a fab whoopsie is found in Mr T - VERY rare, but once in a blue moon it does happen!!)

Scottish meat is yummy . If you ever see Orkney meat, then try it, cos it is scrummy. I was not a red meat person until I tried Orkney Meat lol

dazzle21

Had to pop to get some parsnips as the ones from Mr T had gone rancid and am trying to make some baby food for ds..popped to Mr A (closer!) and found Parsnips @ 37p, then found quite alot of whoopsies..chicken leg joint down to 50p, large pack of Bacon £1, eggs 50p etc etc ended up spending £7.18 so will add to sig! Think we should be able to do budget this month, especially if i can make some of our own baby food! hope everyone is doing well!

elizabunny

Evening all! Just thought I would update my earlier post because it will be 4 NSD in a row definately! As we stayed out of the shops!

DH made me scream laughing as he nearly came home from walking the dog with what may have been a FREE packed lunch:rotfl: :rotfl: The dog had managed to retrieve 2 neatly cut triangular sandwiches that had been carelessly discarded on the pavement -by someone obviously not as money saving as we all are. Anyway, with great effort, he (DH) held himself back and told her sternly (the dog) 'We do not take unknown sandwiches!!' He said he didn't let her eat them because he didn't know what was in them:rotfl: :rotfl: ...I wonder if he was considering other options:rotfl: :rotfl:

Have a good evening everyone!

canidothis

OrkneyStar wrote: »

I am just on a mission to encourage shopping at places other than Tesco, as tbh big supermarkets are killing high streets imho! I am so glad we have other shops here!

Hi, I would like to stop using supermarkets as often as I do, I will use the local butcher and fruit and veg shop and will have milk delivered. But where do people buy things like toilet rolls, coffee, teabags, tins, etc??

Rainbow_Butterfly

We have always overspent a bit on food (probably one of the reasons I ended up overweight :rotfl:) and money is getting ever tighter and im desperate to try and bring it down a bit.

Problem is hubby does 90% of the cooking (he's brilliant, im awful) and is a bit of a perfectionist with it.

Also, I am currently following atkins so mostly eating meat (chicken breasts, mince, pork chops, burgers, turkey mince), salads, egg dishes, veg and cheese. I'm doing really well on it and feeling so much healthier.. have never eaten so much greens in my life.. However we must be spending at least £20 a week just on salad greens and fresh veg!

I dont eat any bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, root veg, flour, or sugar.

Hubby is having things like frozen pizza, supernoodles, pies etc when I have things he wouldnt want to eat himself.

I was sitting earlier trying to work out a budget spreadsheet, and I said, would £250 be a month.. his answer no... I said... erm £300? He said no make it £400 a month :eek:

This is probably what we are spending anyway, but I never really added it up!! Im so shocked!

We also have a 20 month old baby, who is pretty fussy, and probably eats 60% toddler microwave tray meals and the other 40% what we are having.

Shopping is done normally at Tesco.. we do also have a lidl and morrisons in driving distance.

Any ideas on how to bring things down would be great :T

weezl74

Hi Rainbow butterfly,

here's a link to a site suggesting ways of doing atkins in a vegetarian way.

I thought I'd post it because I think including meat in your diet is one of the most costly things you can do and atkins seems to need a lot of meat!

Cook's value eggs at Asda work out as 8.8p per egg:money:, and their packs of smartprice mozzarella are 47p. :money:You could have half a bag of frozen fine green beans with melted mozzarella and ground black pepper all over it for a meal for under a pound, is that any good? Or an omlette with herbs, made with 3 eggs for under 35p? Consider having frozen broccoli with it rather than salad for the cheapest method!;)

Early in my pregnancy I noticed I wasn't feeling too well on lots of carbs, and I was eating £1 a day as part of an MSE challenge, and I promise it can be done!!

All the best with your new challenge,:beer:

Love, Weezl x