July 2009 Grocery Challenge

Penelope_Penguin

absolutebounder wrote: »

french women are also much more aware of how to cook, what to cook and when to cook plus they also know where their food comes from

Some French people are better at shopping and cooking than some English people. The converse is also true

There are plenty of people on Old Style who can and do prepare fresh, wholesome, nutritious, frugal food for their families each and every day

I'll add this to the Grocery Challenge thread later.

Penny. x

skiTTish

absolutebounder wrote: »

No it is not a wind up. have you ever been to france and seen what goes on in the shops and supermarkets. Places like intermatrche, Geant E'leclerc all have way more fresh produce daily than tesco because the french women is more discerning when it comes to buying quality. They also have a greater variety because they know that the shoppers know how to cook and prepare meals.
See how many bernard matthews products sell in france compared to the UK :rotfl:
Do the French producers get away with things like the M & S advert for line caught Lochmuir salmon when there is no such place as lochmuir:rolleyes:

Thank you ,that answered my question :rotfl:

Coxy11

Hi elf06,

Sticky chicken recipe is at the beginning of this thread under Chicken - sticky chicken. Hope you like it. Thanks again for the hugs. Feeling slightly better now as I've just had a bar of chocolate :rotfl:. Funny how we never run out of chocolate, yet so far today we've run out of washing tablets, loo roll, toothpaste and ketchup. Priorities, priorities......

Coxy
xx

1HANNAH

I don't know if this is any good for you but I went through my cupboards and found lots of shampoo's, little soaps etc things we had either been given as gifts or some little smellies from hotels that we had stayed in etc. The gifts if they weren't any good to re-use as a gift for someone else, I used them as toilet cleaner! same with the hotels shampoos. Uses up clutter but does the job just as good.
Another thing about cleaning you mentioned flylady (i think!) I use her site sometimes but have definately found that giving the bathroom/loo a quick wipe around everyday takes only a few minutes and I found that I have been buying less then half the amount of cleaners & bleach as I was before as it just doesn't get that bad anymore. Hth x

frivolous_fay

phizzimum wrote: »

if you said to people "I'm going to use soap instead of shower gel to save money" they'd laugh at you (well my friends would!) - but really, what difference does it make? you're only in the shower a couple of minutes, getting clean is the main thing.

I agree, but O/H says his armpits are harder to get clean with soap... I think it's a hair thing... yech. Any recommendations?
(I suggested waxing, he didn't go for it, oddly)

XSpender

Phoolgrrrl wrote: »

Mu mum gave me half a bag of leeks, half a bag of carrots and half an aubergine! Normally only use leeks for soup/stock or fried with mushrooms so at a bit of a loss.

Phoolgrrrl - I use leeks with carrots and sausages in the slow cooker or add to chicken pie for a bit of a change from chicken and mushroom. HTH.

Coxy11 - That grocery pixie must have a Geordie cousin who lives in my house as my OH thinks that cooking, shopping and managing ALL of the finances as well as working 40 hours a week is easy!

I went a bit daft in Mr S last night and spent £31.31 which leaves me £1.39 to last until 27th:eek: It will be £2.36 if I can get back the 97p they overcharged me on whoopsied apple turnovers. It appears they charged me once at full price and once at whoopsied price. I am usually so good at checking my receipt as I walk out of the shop but was in a rush last night and didn't. I do find their customer services good at putting things right though.

Last nights spend included about £5 on cakes which I don't usually buy and tinned veg as we are away in the caravan this weekend. (That will be why it hasn't stopped raining since the early hours then:rolleyes:).

absolutebounder

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Some French people are better at shopping and cooking than some English people. The converse is also true

There are plenty of people on Old Style who can and do prepare fresh, wholesome, nutritious, frugal food for their families each and every day

I'll add this to the Grocery Challenge thread later.

Penny. x

You could be right but the some french people would massively outweigh the some english people. britain is not exactly known for its cuisine is it.

[Deleted User]

absolutebounder wrote: »

French housewives tend to food shop almost every day and that way their food is fresh and tasty. its OK I suppose saving money by shopping once a week if you like serving crap. french women are also much more aware of how to cook, what to cook and when to cook plus they also know where their food comes from

Where my brother lives in France the nearest supermarket is 10 miles away and the local village only has a basic shop for bread chees and once a week market for 'fresh stuff'.I must admit he does look a lot sleeker than he did when he lived in the UK but then he hasn't got the opportunity to eat burgers ect on the go as he did when working over here .He is now retired and lives in France where his diet is a lot better ,more fresh veg some of which he gets from his neighbour in exchange for cutting his grass( quite a large bit,he has a sit-on mower) As he lives a bout a mile or so from the nearest shop he doesn't seem to snack as much either as he and his lady only go once a week to shop in the market and raely use the supermarket at all.

Penelope_Penguin

absolutebounder wrote: »

You could be right but the some french people would massively outweigh the some english people. britain is not exactly known for its cuisine is it.

Stilton
Cheddar cheese
Scottish raspberries
Welsh lamb
English cream tea
Apple pie
Roast beef and Yorkshire puddings
Craster kippers
Chicken Tikka Masala :p:p

Additionally, we've been happy to take what we like from other cultures so have a diverse cuisine now

mumoftwo

Instead of telling us what the French women do, tell us and the OP what you do so we can learn from your experiences and wisdom and become better shoppers/cooks.

I have been to one of those huge French supermarkets when my sister lived in the south of France. They do buy things in supermarkets in bulk. French women also feed their kids as they go along the isles and put the empty packaging back on the shelf, that is one way of saving some money on groceries :rotfl: