March 2009 Grocery Challenge

Changingme

Shopping now done spent £52.29 in Mr Ts apart from more milk in week don't need anything else,over budget this month yet I don't seem to of gone mad. My budget includes 2 adults +2 kids for food including pack ups,toiletries and cleaning stuff I buy shops value stuff or something else if cheaper,batch bake though only have small freezer.

JayJay14

I have been to Mr M's this morning for dog food and boght a ew bits that were on special. Tha manager was wandering round the shop with a big box of goodies, giving them out to all the ladies for mothers day.

I am currently running at £110.00 for the month with 10 days left to go - I'm not going to make it under budget this monh, which is a shame but I am not too upset as I have done very well the last 12 months.

I do know that without this challenge I would be much worse off thanI am.

Oh and my first seedlings are coming through - broccolli an leeks. (they are on the windowledge in the plastic boxes the grapes come in at Aldi)

rosieben

TheBees wrote: »

... Dad had his new knee done ( and is recovering very well ), DD was in a show every night (we were very proud of her and she coped well with the late nights and school the next day) and then DH had an interview on Friday and got himself a new job!!! ...

congrats on all your good news! :j

moonflower wrote: »

Thank you everyone,maybe food will be a little less boring in our house.Also the complete cooking link is great.Is there anyway that I can save it or can I put it into favourites?

just save it in your favourites like any other web page

kezlou wrote: »

... My breadmaker was a toal washout so been having to buy bread, so now only have 30 to last me till end of the month, i could go over but don't want to, i will beat this bread obsession lol ...

I haven’t been able to keep up with this thread so apologies if this is irrelevant but I just wanted to say please dont give up too soon with the bm; it took me a long time to get a decent loaf from mine. I tried various recipes, different flours etc, adjusted and tweaked the mix until I baked a bread I liked. I sometimes use the bm to make the dough and then take it out, rise it and bake in the oven, can give a nicer texture.

rosieben

clair2305 wrote: »

.....can anyone direct me to the biscuit recipes (or cakes or even easy "one pot" dinners) ...

Try the Complete Cookery Collection - biscuits are in post #2 and cakes in post #3

There’s also the Old Style Recipe Index and don’t forget the brilliant recipes on the front page of this thread!

mummyyof5 wrote: »

... Can anyone send me a link to a Savoury mince cobbler recipe please, Im sure my family would love this. ...

I haven’t found an MSE one yet (still looking as I’m sure I’ve seen one somewhere!) but there’s one here and loads of others if you google.

MrsMcawber’s cobbler topping recipe is in post #5 on the front page of this thread :cool:

gunsandbanjos

I'm doing much better with a weekly challenge instead of a monthly one. Dont know why its better but seems to work more for me:D I have been under budget except for this week as i bought the M&S dine in for £15 which skewed my budget:rolleyes: I did get a massive chicken in the deal though - £13.17!!! Not a hope of keeping up with the thread, hope everyone else is doing ok:j

laineyc_2

That's my challenge finished for March. I am declaring at £436.41. I am very pleased with coming under. My target for April will stay at £450. We have guests at Easter but I am confident I can do it. My big Asda shop arrived today and I have just been to the butchers so April's shopping has started.

Tonight DS, 12 is making HM burgers for dinner. We will ear them watching the rugby. Tomorrow we are going out for dinner for Mother's day.

I hope you all have a good weekend.

mooomin

Hi all,

Quick question for you all - I have a chicken to roast for dinner tonight (My M&S meal deal, should be yummy!) Apart from treating the kitties with a little bit of fresh chicken, how can I stretch this out for another couple of days? I'm not really Masterchef, and would like to learn how to make meals last for longer. I already do a bit of batch cooking with things like bolognaise, but the chicken-stretching eludes me.

All help gratefully received!

cw18

When I roast a chicken I only do small/medium as I'm only regularly cooking for two.

For the 'roast' I generally use the meat from the legs and thighs.

I then use the breasts to go with salad (or chips and gravy), and often cut some off each for a couple of bread rolls along the way

And the rest of the 'brown' meat then either gets used in sandwiches (not often), or frozen until I make a chicken and mushroom rissotto.

Cornishpixie_2

Hi, I cook, cool and strip my chicken. I found with my M&S the chicken fell off easily. Anyhoo I divided it up. 1 breast (ex large chicken) and legs for roast. 1 breast went in the freezer. The brown meat divided into 2 containers, 1 lot I have made a curry with in the slow cooker. (chop onion cook in some oil and garlic, then add your chicken, cumin, corriander and curry powder), bung in SC with some chopped cauli, sweet pot and pots in small cubes, mange tout, frozen sweetcorn, some chicken stock about 1 pint. Then towards end of cooking time I added some tom puree and coconut milk. Can cook from am till tea time on low or less time on high. The other bowl I will use with tinned toms, onion and veg to make a lasagne, or I may do lemon chicken with linguini. HTH:)

JayJay14

A good way to make a little left over chicken go a long way is a chicken and broccolli pie (I used to buy them in Asda in my ready meal days)

Left over cooked chicken
Left over cooked broccolli
Well seasoned white sauce
Mashed potato

Chicken, broccolli and sauce in the bottom of a dish with mash on the top. A little butter on the top and bake a la shepherds pie.