January 2009 Grocery Challenge

Steel_2

Please could you put me down for £100 this month Mrs M.

Went shopping yesterday and did roughly a month's worth of dried and tinned goods, two weeks of cat food and one week's worth of veg. No meat yet as I have some in freezer already and I buy from a local van that is cheap.

Spent £66.11.

Hubby under strict instructions not to buy anything without chatting about it first.

gailey_2

Mooloo you got a poundstretcher/instore near you as they do large cheap boxes of washing powder and cheap loo roll I think it even worked out cheaper than the morrisions own we brought!
We still ok for loo roll as no buy packs of 12 as got fed up of running out.
Never done food online doesnt appeal Ilike being in store to pick the best bargains,dates and quality check but guess it works for some people.

As for jaimie oliver I assume you mean ministry of food book which is basic to accompany the series which shouldent involve too many ingrediants and you can always get same thing cheaper ie things like smart price bacon or produce from lidls to make it work out cheaper.
Thats why I think the feed your family for a fiver cards from sainsburys is good and it cost things out mainly using sainsburys basics range although guess you would need it *2 to feed 8 as says for family of 4.
U got jaimies dinner boomks and really rate it for ideas as he is passionate and does say it dont have to be pricey but do chuckle on his at home programem when hes using £15 truffle oil.
Hes not really used to cooking on a budget hence why he got so frustarted on school dinners campaign as bless him he is passionate and it is disgracegful kids get less food than a prisioner its trying to get the best diet for money you got as junk food always appears so cheap but is false value particuarly for larger family.
Alsi been quite clever latly trying to sell fact you can still have same nice food but for cheaper on ads.

Angelwings_3

Joining the grocery challenge for the first time. I really need to get a grip of my food spending, so could you put me down for £200 for the month Mrs M?

Essex-girl_2

Hello All

First spend of the month - did a Tesco online shop which was delivered today & spent £75.54, no meat for that though already had a lot in the freezer and am trying to use local butcher more.

This month is going to be so tight it is unreal - cant wait for it to be over.

Frugaldom

Inspired by so many grocery challengees and so many ideas and new tips learned from these challenges, I am making a belated new year's resolution to meal plan. Anyone who knows me will know that this fine art has eluded me until now, but I've just done a complete inventory of my freezer contents and can now see that I MUST rotate things to mix and match into meals rather than DS come home and say he's starving, followed by, 'there's nothing to eat'! :mad: I was very good today and made a couple of loaves this morning and am doing hm pizzas for tea tonight but I'll take time to review my list of foods and plan some meals - I MUST MEAL PLAN IN 2009!

Sorry, just had to get that posted as I was a bit surprised at how much stuff was packed into the freezer. I haven't even started on the cupboards, shelves or storage drawers, which are rather full, and my bakery stuff is stacked high after stocking up with loads of the reduced Superc00k/Dr 0etker bits & bobs a few months ago. :eek: Apologies for boring everyone, but the following is what I found in my small freezer whilst wondering if I needed to go shopping tomorrow

8 cartons of stewed apples (home grown)
1 x 500g margarine
1 x whole chicken - uncooked
1kg bag roast potatoes
4 x 800g bags kidney beans
36 mini sausage rolls
36 cocktail sausages
4 x white fish fillets with lemon & dill
2 x white fish fillets with tomato & herbs
8 x white fish fillets
1 x sliced roast beef
1 x chicken curry (homemade)
1 pack prawns
1kg cauliflower florets
400g mixed veg
1 bag of potato croquettes
8 x beef mince
2 x chilli sauce
1 x cooked chicken pieces
1 x cooked turkey pieces
1 x cooked, sliced turkey breast
2 x cooked turkey legs
1 x carton of sliced mixed peppers
10 bread rolls
1 homemade loaf
1 large sponge flan
1 carton ice cream
1 x cheddar cheese
1 small tub coleslaw (not sure if this is ok to freeze, was just experimenting)
500g puff pastry
2 lemons - sliced
Chopped mint (home grown)
Chopped parsley (home grown)
Chopped coriander (home grown)
2 bags of sliced mushrooms
Broccoli florets
Large back of sliced celery
9 leeks (home grown)


If anyone sees me suggesting grocery shopping that isn't fresh fruit, veg or dairy, send me a virtual slap please. Also, I've never frozen coleslaw before but chucked it in the freezer rather than throw it in the bin until I could ask someone about it. Does anyone know if it's alright for freezing? I just reckoned that since carrots, onions, cabbage and assorted dressings could be frozen that coleslaw may be OK too.

gailey_2

Nykmedia how did the fod order go online for that company selling cheap near its date food?

I think meal planning is an art and always somone mainly oh who ruins it as still hungry after dinner or being realy fussy.

I need to shop but holding out really not sure we can mange until 15th.

gailey

webitha

well gailey you cansend the brie here, once my kids ages9 7 4 see it in the fridge its gone and i hardly get any, its getting to the stage where i have to hide some of the cheese lol

Frugaldom

Gailey - My Appr0ved F00ds order arrived with a few bashed tins, but these were well within BBE date and now repacked into bags in the freezer (see kidney beans, as per inventory ). 10p per 800g tin of kidney beans wasn't to be sneezed at, especially with a recipe on MSE for bean pate! I have no qualms about ignoring BBE dates, so long as they aren't past 'use by' dates, but some of the stuff was well in date, so double whammy bargains all round. I think the Crunchy Nut C0rnflakes were cheaper because the boxes are printed in Arabic, as they were well in date. I stocked up on chocolate for cooking, the marzipan eggs are delicious, hot chocolate drinks all in date, health bars & crisps for DS's packed lunches, all the stuff tastes no different to buying from supermarket. Pumpkin seed Ryv!tas are my faves and I basically stocked up on as many lightweight items as would fill an order on the minimum delivery charge. I've saved a fortune on cooking sauces, bought cheaper than I could ever make them, and I'll certainly be ordering again. But seeing as I haven't made a start on doing the store cupboard inventory, I'm scared to look at the cash & carry site for fear I see what my head will insist is an unmissable bargain! I'm so bad that I was almost tempted to order cat food just for feeding to our gatden resident, Mr Hedgehog! :rotfl:

angelatgraceland

Well I put in my order for approved foods but they are still "on hols" by the look of the website. I wonder when they will return? I jiggled the order about to fill 2 boxes which is 2 lots of £5.25 delivery charges-kept adding things and taking things off. Ordered lots of cartons of drinks,ryvitas and sauce mixes too-ryvitas included plus some jars of pasta sauce.All useful stuff which will last for ages-not worried about the dates-didnt do that nonsense when my grandma was around! Ive counted that as my January spend so its included so far-just cant wait for the goodies to arrive!
Gailey-I rarely buy sauces these days-everything is made from tins of toms!
Sausage casserolle. I use sausages baked beans stock cubes onions pearl barley and whatever Ive got which may work. I add a couple of tins of tinned toms too and generally cook using approx 10-12 sausages precooked and cut in half. I also add pots -cant see why your chopped up roasties wouldnt work. You could use them for bubble and squeak with your veggies though?
I still dont manage to mealplan-I really truly should-those of you who do deserve a medal! Ive no excuses whatsoever-apart from feeling too cold to approach the freezer in the garage.
So its pot luck literally on most days what turns up on the plate but as I do a lot of batch cooking I get away with it. Today I had marmalade on toast for breakfast,tuna and sweetcorn in white wine sauce with bread and butter for lunch and tea has yet to be discovered!
Saved all my meatfat for the birdies and fed them too. Havent been out today so NSD.

Frugaldom

:beer: Cheers, Angelatgraceland, you just gave me another couple of meals from freezer supplies if I use cocktail sausages to make the casserole. I've got half a dozen small 'French-bread style' pizzas in oven with tomato base, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, seasoned with salt, pepper & mixed herbs so I could use the remaining tomato base sauce in the slow cooker with beef stock, sausages, onions etc for tomorrow's dinner and have it with potatoes.