January 2009 Grocery Challenge

gailey_2

Nykmedia glad approved food works out ok we been trying to get our tins from aldis or lidls at teh momenet as oh very fussy.
As for pasta sauces the aldi 59p one sare my fave and sainsburys own but recently been making from scatach prefer pasatta to tins of chopped tomatoes and thicker consistancy but run out atm.
Angel in graceland I try hard to meal plan thanks for new ideas.
Tessie bear you so sweet nice to be missed! Was having small break after failing dc challange which was my fault for being unrealistic but new year new start!
Turkolina makes me tired reading about all taht cooking I need to be more like you.
Thanks everyone for receipes and ideas spag bol was nice tonight.
May have to succumb to small shop tommorow as running out of milk and coffee and hubby hates my homemade bread!
But going to try use as much in cupboard and freezer to get ready for big shop on 15th!

Right slow cookers I feel need for one
however im overwhelmed by choice in argos any reccomendations?
the croc pot boast to be original and the best
cookworks is cheap but any good?
or would a well known brand name be better im so confused oh feels its waste of money and wouldent get used much but now redone kitchen with extra work surface feel i have a gap.
Sparky came round today to quoute me £85 for fixing electrics in kitchen as oh drilled through cable other day means no sockets in kitchen currently work and have had to feel lost of extension leads from lounge and hall to keep applainces going and chest freezer will have to stay in hallway practical but very ugly!

gailey_2

Queen of string would that onion soup recipie work on hob or normal oven?

Nykmedia you mentioned chocolate for cooking? what? desserts?
Reason I ask is im intrigued by willy wonkeys chocolate factory on c4 with recipies on c4 website where he uses chocolate in savoury dishes in fact practically everything he cooks but his is posh stuff he makes himself i somehow get impression grated dairy milk in my casserole not quite same effect?

Sylvan

turkolina wrote: »

Is it me or do you all constantly think of the contents of your cupboards or fridge..

hehe, I'm so pleased someone else does that. DH thinks I'm insane, since as far as he can see I'm constantly thinking about growing, buying, rearranging or cooking food.

At the moment I'm writing lists of what's in the cupboards (so they can find stuff if I'm not around), complete with quantities and Best Before dates, my meal planners are written as far ahead as 21st Feb (probably further because there are bound to be some whoopsies) and the sowing dates this month for onions, carrots, peas and beans have been marked in the diary. Then, when I'm not copying things out of gardening books or cookery books (library) I'm saving MSE threads!

Did someone say "obsession"?

angelatgraceland

gailey wrote: »

Nykmedia glad approved food works out ok we been trying to get our tins from aldis or lidls at teh momenet as oh very fussy.
As for pasta sauces the aldi 59p one sare my fave and sainsburys own but recently been making from scatach prefer pasatta to tins of chopped tomatoes and thicker consistancy but run out atm.
Angel in graceland I try hard to meal plan thanks for new ideas.
Tessie bear you so sweet nice to be missed! Was having small break after failing dc challange which was my fault for being unrealistic but new year new start!
Turkolina makes me tired reading about all taht cooking I need to be more like you.
Thanks everyone for receipes and ideas spag bol was nice tonight.
May have to succumb to small shop tommorow as running out of milk and coffee and hubby hates my homemade bread!
But going to try use as much in cupboard and freezer to get ready for big shop on 15th!

Right slow cookers I feel need for one
however im overwhelmed by choice in argos any reccomendations?
the croc pot boast to be original and the best
cookworks is cheap but any good?
or would a well known brand name be better im so confused oh feels its waste of money and wouldent get used much but now redone kitchen with extra work surface feel i have a gap.
Sparky came round today to quoute me £85 for fixing electrics in kitchen as oh drilled through cable other day means no sockets in kitchen currently work and have had to feel lost of extension leads from lounge and hall to keep applainces going and chest freezer will have to stay in hallway practical but very ugly!

Go for the size which suits you best. Mine is a 6 litre one and serves about 10 people!
Cookworks-no idea to be honest but I did have their kettles and steamers and wasnt impressed. My SC is a Paul Rankin one which I believe is Russell Hobbs? The Cookworks is only 3.5 litres so it really depends what you need.
Ive seen that somewhere for £9.99 though-try Co-op or Asda?
The AWT is 4.5 litres-that lookes good. Mine has 3 settings and I find the "keep warm" one usefull. Ive seen 6l one for £20 in the past-Argos are not always the best price.

Cat_Addict

Gailey - I bought a 3.5L Morphy Richards and it was great but too small for the five of us and I ended up over filling it, so that has gone to my mum and I bought a CrockPot 6.5L one and it's great. It was about £30 from Amazon with free delivery.

sharronej

30_something wrote: »

Hi all.

I have a relative who works for Mr T so his staff discount will be taken off final amount too . If everything's in stock we should then have enough food in to last until the 19th, and still be well on track with our budget :T .

How do you do that? My son works for Mr T as well but I've been going shopping with him (a pain because he's 18) because I couldn't work out how to get the discount online

fallen_angel_shelley

gailey- I have a cookworks SC for about 2 years and it suits our needs just fine, but there is only 2 of us and I don't use it as much as other people do i.e batch cooking.

wendywitch

I have a quick challenge related question. I was given an Asda gift card for Christmas but as our stores clothes department is pretty poor I've spent it on food shopping and I'll buy myself something another time. How do I account for this in the challenge?

Cheapskate

Hi all
Not been here for a while & starting afresh for new year!
Mrs M, please will you put me down for £440 for Jan?
Still got all sorts in fridges/freezers/pantry so hope I don't need to spend loads this month - can't afford to, anyway! Voucher in local paper for BOGOF 6" sub from Subway, so that's for DS lunch at college one day this week - means he needs less dinner money that day!
Talk to you all soon.
A x

Kiwisaver_2

Well I'm whacked too! Had a very sleepless night stressing about what to feed my visitors in two weeks time, with very little money. In the end I decided on a Greek / Turkish Meze effort, after considering all the things I already have to hand. Only problem was I couldn't leave it there and got up at 2am to have a look through a recipe book to see what I could make with what's already in the pantry and write down the things I would need to buy. How sad is that? The shopping list ended up being huge and stressed me out some more, so I still couldn't sleep.

Worst still I thought it would be a good idea to make a start tonight and go to the supermarket to check for bargains on any of the things I needed and make sure I at least get some of the items in before I start running out of money. Now I am $67 poorer - almost a whole weeks budget but some of it will cover more than this meal, such as some good Olive Oil, extra flour, Bulghar wheat and some Allspice. Still, I feel better that I faced the monster and most of the remainding ingredients will be cheap enough - salad and veges and some mince.

I punished myself with one hour of ironing to make up for being so extravagant. :eek:

So if anyone is interested the menu will be:

HM Hummus - Tin Chick Peas in cupboard, need to buy Tahini Paste
Greek Salad - Need feta cheese and salad (got the olives)
Cheese and spinach pies (got spinach in freezer, need to get ricotta cheese)
Tzatziki - HM Yoghurt, cucumber and mint
Falafel - got bulghar wheat and yellow split peas and spices
Kofta - need mince and fresh coriander
Stuffed peppers - need peppers and a bit more mince (rice, tomato puree and spices etc all sorted)
Some bread for dipping - pittas or HM rustic type
Dolmades (bought tin)

Followed with HM Trifle - just need some fresh fruit and cream.

Meanwhile, back in the real world we'll be on the cheapest rations possible for the next two weeks, hence I am quite looking forward to a big blowout. Used the last of my rubber boiled bacon tonight. It went a long, long way - three days dinner and two lunches. Basically that's all we've eaten since Sunday. Still got a portion of bacon and lentil soup in the fridge and frozen two portions for another day.

Tomorrow's dinner chilli from the freezer and jacket spuds.

Hopefully I will sleep better tonight.