February 2009 Grocery Challenge

jammy_dodger

I have a question about freezing HM meals - how do you freeze lasagna, shepperds pie etc that goes in the oven? Just wondering because I had a good quantity of shepperds pie left over the other day and put it in my pyrex, wrapped cling film round and froze. Had it about a week later but am not really keen on freezing my glassware so any ideas of how to best freeze these things will be greatly appreciated.[/quote]

hi panambi

i dont bother with individual containers i chill lasagne cottage pie and the like then cut into portions and wrap in "easy leave " sheets i buy from lakeland lasts ages and saves sticking but guess you could use greaseproofpaper i then freeze all portions in one box saves space and boxes O dont forget to LABEL we're having crumble and garlic bread:rotfl: hth

WelshWoofer

DdraigGoch wrote: »

Rachelmk, teisen datws [tie-sen dat-oos] is the Welsh dish I think you might be thinking of. The way I make it is to butter the bottom of an ovenproof dish lightly, very finely slice up as many potatoes as you like - usually one large one per person in this household! - one onion between 2 persons - butter - milk. Layer up as follows, potatoes, onions, dot some butter in, potatoes, onion, butter and repeat until the last layer is potatoes dotted with some butter. Pour in milk to just come under the top layer of potatoes and then put the lid on - if you've got one, if not don't fret! - put it on a tray [to save the bottom of the oven in case it boils over!] and bung in the oven on fairly high for at least half an hour and then turn it down and walk away. You can leave it from one hour to 6 hours and it'll be beautiful.

If you want to use the slow cooker, it's a marvellous dish. Just remember to put it on high for 20 minutes first. Smells wonderful, is as cheap as anything and you can even make it without the onions, use made up dried milk and margarine if pennies are tight. Sometimes I leave out the onions on purpose, for a change, sometimes I put herbs in the layers, sometimes I add left over chicken/beef and use the gravy [watered down to make enough liquid] instead of the milk. Very variable, very enjoyable. Have fun.

Ddraig Goch -you're right! I'm Welsh too! My mum used to make something just like this! Thanks again!

S_Wales_Saver

Well I'm back from Scotland and still cheering on the Wales rugby team with the first bit of the 6 Nations under their belts:j :j :j . We had fantastic seats, not very MSE tho:o .

DH ate from the freezer stocks for three days, not what I had left him, but still lol. 3 more NSDs:T . Did a quick trip to MrS. Great whoopsied giant wholemeal baps for 20p. Wholemeal bread 30p. I must get my second freezer defrosted, then I can take better advantage. Also cat food (note to self, pick up a tray at Morrisons) and wine £13.50:o . It will last most of next month tho.

Ddraiggoch the potato recipe sounds great. Another one to try. Thanks. Off to update now.

angelatgraceland

I spent just £1.50 today on some sugarfree mints so I can stick with my diet! I had a look in the butchers but they are very expensive. Some of the meat was £19 per kilo and I think the sausages were either £7 or £8 per kilo. The FR chickens looked ok though-I will give those a go one day. The deli section looked dried up and on the whole it was not impressive. I couldnt judge their pork chops as only one pack left which were not great. The meat is all very local though-about 30 miles away.
Brought back free prepacked sarnies that didnt get used up on the managers meeting today worth £1.80 each plus 3 sos rolls-we were told to take them. Received my vouchers for lurpack butter I bought on ebay so they will save me approx £11 after purchase and postage deducted. Not bad for 10 mins work. Too knackered to do much tonight after a lot of carrying stock from A to B. I think tody they must fend for themselves. Tomorrow is DD birthday an she will be 15. She suggested a meal for us out but as Im dieting Im doing her a buffet tea instead so I will buy that tomorrow. That, and my low carb diet will blow the budget this month I am guessing but I will still stay within it(I hope).

PennyGrabber

Hi all, not posted on here much lately, manic weekend and start of week - not sure if I'm coming or going at the moment!!

Having gone over budget already, was panicking about half term next week, and feeding the children more, then I realised they are at their dad's from Sat eve till Weds am, so that's 4 breakfasts, 3 lunches and 3 dinners I don't have to do, plus snacks and treats! I can eat any old thing from the pantry that's near or past it's sell by date, so that 's fine!

I also realised (for a maths teacher I'm sometimes a bit dim!) that this isn't a short month for me at all! My months go from the 23rd to the 22nd, so my short month will be 23rd Feb to 22nd March! Which means that my budget should've been slightly higher anyway!

If I had a brain I'd be dangerous!!

The children had tea with their dad today, so I'm off to eat random stuff till I've had enough calories. On the plus side, I've lost nearly half a stone since 7th Jan. Yeah!!

Updated sig as now found receipt.
Take care all
PG x

carolt2

Evening everyone, just logged on to update spends.

Popped into Aldi today when we were passing, not somewhere i normally shop.

But managed to spend £4.74

there lettuces are 89p
and also got some of the 69p fruit and veg.

Also popped into Jollyes pet store to look at offers and whiskas complete dry cat food is on offer 3 for 2 £4.98 each, also got some cat litter.

The cat biscuits will last for months, as i normally buy some of Mr T's own brand and mix the 2 together.;)

Julimk

Another NSD today for GC, as was yesterday.

I am another that gets nervous if I run out of things, or nearly, and am out of eggs, block butter, only 1 potato left, tiny bit of cheese etc. I had planned to buy these, then thought better of it as not actually needed yet & budget running low.

But I have now received my Mr T vouchers, so I think I will get them, as it won’t actually cost me anything. Could get more ‘value’ from the vouchers using the offers, but I don’t need them & I do need food!

It’s DD’s 10th birthday on Sunday & she wants a shop bought decorated cake, although she enjoys the cakes me & her Gran bake. She has been told that if we get one it will be part of her birthday present (therefore not a ‘grocery’ spend) and she is fine with this.

She has a little chum coming over for a sleepover on Saturday night & I thought I would get the girls making HM pizza for tea, which DD is fine with, so that is not going to cost much; should be everything in already anyway.

I will update tomorrow after I have been to Mr T & worked out what was covered by the vouchers & what comes out of other budgets. Hopefully there will be very little out of grocery.

TheBees

Evening all -

DH spent £2.30 on milk today plus a whoopsied organic loaf for 33p.

Tonight we had a new meal that I saw being made on the cookery programme that's on BBC1 on Saturday mornings. Basically it was some diced pork,(butcher) chopped up chorizo pork sausage (lidls) chopped onion, chopped chilli, glass of wine, tin of tomatoes, tin of butterbeans, some leftover baked beans I found in the fridge, some quartered potatoes and a bit of vegetable stock. Cooked it all in the slow cooker all afternoon and added some dumplings for the last hour. (Oh and it said to stir in a tablespoon of honey near the end of cooking too). It was very tasty and made a change for all our usual meals.:D

I too look forward to doing a big food shop with my list but find it an anticlimax sometimes because when surrounded by all the products on offer I'm now reluctant to spend!

orchid-96

NSD managed again today, can't quite believe it that's 3 in a row for me!! anyway 1 more to go tomorrow and then I will either shop Fri or Sat, dh is going to cook a nice meal for sat night so I might try my local butcher for some steak....Night all x

p.s. TheBees that meal sounds yum, did you put everything in as it was or brown anything first? also was everything in the recipe or was any of it improvised (like the baked beans maybe)

elizabunny

orchid-96 wrote: »

I am thinking of planting some seeds, but only have a small garden (well decking area lol) is there anything edible that I can plant in pots? (other than herbs as dh did do some of those last year)

You could grow a variety of Tomato called 'Tumbling Tom' I grow loads of these every year and put them in hanging baskets. Just pop them in a sunny spot. You could also try strawberry plants -we grow these in big tubs and I also grow runner beans in big pots as well. HTH

2 NSD so far. Eating out of the freezer tonight, as out all day. HM Veggie Soup, HM Pasties, Mash & Greens.
:hello: