July 2009 Grocery Challenge

Gigervamp

I have to say that I'm worried about your diet, you hardly have any protein in your mealplan and very little else each meal either. When you have a corn cob, is that really all you eat? And the juice only day seems superfluous as you don't have a high protein or processed food diet.

david_hellier

elantan wrote: »

thanks will try and answer thisbefore i start my tale of woe...

i would say hubby is the more fussy eater i am.. as long as it is vegetarian i am happy (although i dont eat processed so that is fussy as well i spose) ...hubby wont eat pasta has just started eating tomatoes (no more than one at a time though) the list really goes on and on for him though ...

he works in a very physical demanding job so he is a very hungry bunny as well ...his top 10 favs i would say are

singapore chowmein
cantonese beef fried rice
chicken with cashew nuts fried rice
chicken curry fried rice and onions
massaman curry fried rice (see a pattern lol)
thai curry and yes you guessed it fried rice
spare ribs
chicken fajitas
lamb mince tacos
sausage casserole
spag bog


he likes asian food just a tad

the things i am sacrificing are more or less fresh food (although i am still managing more than i thought i would) and organic stuff but i can manage without organics


i didnt know about the washing soda where would i buy that? never heard of it before i just buy bold out of costco usually (not anymore obviously
lol)

i have to admit i had a look in the bathroom cupboard i think i am actually ok for a wee while yet for there ...loads of half used bottles etc will use them all up before i buy anything else then it will either be boots cheap and cheerful or car boots etc ...

we did start a spending diary so far there isnt anything that i can say is bad but then that has only been since we decided to get our heads sorted so i think we probably need longer to actually see for real



right well last night i sat with pen and paper and made out a meal plan and a shopping list i did this as close as i could ...and i will write it all down shortly to let you see what i have came up with ...

so i lifted the £40 for the week ...and went to aldis to buy some th ings trying to save money they usually have fruit for 49p etc ...i got some cheap stuff cheaper than i had paid before salsa for the store cupboard at 69p instead of 79p for instance then i went to asda and bought most of the rest before nipping into farm foods (thanks lynz we have one in our village but i forget all about it cause i dont shop in it) i bought chicken and sausages and then stopped off at somerfield for half price toilet roll

i have £4.69 left ...i still have to buy milk for through the week hubbys alcohol £6... and my veg etc for sunday i really like to try and have a digestive system day rest so have juices but i dont have any money for this this week and i am concerned ...is this how it is going to be ? how am i going to manage getting hubbys drink? arrrggghhhh ...

ok positives ...
i have plenty sausages to do me a few weeks now and enough chicken to do atleast two weeks (maybe three if i am lucky) and i am starting to realise exactly what food costs ...it's totally different when you have to actually think about things isnt it?

right i need to go put things by and have a good look at what i have and calm down so that i can come up with a plan[/QUOTAnother way of using a spending diary is to allocate a specific amount from your budget and deduct spending through the week. Try to end the week with some over to carry forward to the next week. This avoids overspend and monitors your buying habits.E]

elantan

The chick peas and the tofu and nuts and seeds all contain proteins and no it isn't just corn on the cob it will be corn on the cob spinach ( protein again then) celery tomaotes cucumber and whatever else is in the fridge I like my juice days at it gives my digestion a break I ensure that I have alot of fruit and veg juiced much much more than I would if I were eating it ... I am merley taking the pressure off of my digestive system for 24 hours whilst still retaining plenty vits minerals etc

eckythump

A couple of suggestions

elantan wrote: »

ok i know i wrote that only a couple of minutes ago but i have found the reciepts so here goes

ALDI
sugar 84p (this should do at least two weeks thankfully)
pesto 99p make this infuture maybe?http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/pesto_2281.shtml do you grow your own herbs? would save you a fortune.
salsa 65p x 2 again make your own?
onions 87p 1kg
baking potatoes 69p 4 pack look for the large bags of value pots,these always contain large spuds for baking and smaller ones too,so much cheaper.asda are best for this
potaoes 49p ditto
ginger 59p keep a look out for frozen ginger,less wastage
mushrooms 99p
part baked baguettes 45p (for 4)
cheese £2.06 meat for peices £1.99
marmalade 59p

total £11.85

ASDA
loaf £1.29 for pieces and soup etc
loaf £1.50 (for two) for toast (one going in freezer)
pizza mix 55p
lasagne sheets 32p
brown rice £1.23
tofu £1.58
tumeric 68p was this a small tub,better from asian supermarket
cumin58p ditto
pasta (for two) £1
garlic (2) 60p
coriander 54p (reduced) again easy to grow(no good now but if you start growing you will soon reap the benefit.
eggs £1.29
sausage casserole mix £1.44 9for two) :eek::eek::eek: not needed ,google suasage casserole recipe and you will find loads.
total £13.32


FARM FOODS

richmond irish sausages £2.49 (for 24)
chicken breast £4.50 (for 6 ) never bought frozen sausages or chicken before (that i can remember)
wahing up liquid 2 for £1 (which means i will have to was the dishes now as hubby can only use persil everything else irritates his dermatitus (shot myself in the foot there then lol)

total £7.99


SOMERFIELD

toilet roll £2.77 (half price) for 9 rolls


ok meal plan next

eckythump

have you tried sprouting your own beans and seeds?
such an easy and cheap way to get fresh,nutritious veggie food.
you can have some ready to eat in less than a week.
http://www.primalseeds.org/sprouting.htm is a good starting place .
try looking on ebay for the seeds.

elantan

i actually went looking for some seeds today after lynz had mentioned the spinach etc ...i didn't find any unfortuantley or maybe fortuanletly i couldnt afford them anyway lol ...

i know i can get the tumeric from the asian store but i wont be there for long while at this rate and the soup called for it so i bought it ...it should last me a while and will top up when i finally get to the asian supermarket ...

i did see i could make salsa but i thought i would put some as a kinda store cupboard thing incase of emergency press here type thing


ok see the sausage casserole mix again it never occured to me to even think about making it lol ....i deff have a long way to go ...but baby steps ...

i thought i was doing good as well till i noticed i still didnt have much and yet had no money ...i'm sure though i am not the only one to find it hard at first (surely please tell me i am not lol)

will have a look at the primalseeds.org site in a mo cheers

eckythump

How much does your O.H drink and what does he drink?
can he swap to a cheaper brand?
Its great that your O.H loves Asian food,very cheap to make(again with the asian supermarket) and not difficult once you get into the swing of it.

elantan

[/QUOTAnother way of using a spending diary is to allocate a specific amount from your budget and deduct spending through the week. Try to end the week with some over to carry forward to the next week. This avoids overspend and monitors your buying habits.E][/QUOTE]

i managed to have about £6 left over for this week which deff will come in handy of that i have no doubt ...will maybe try this again next week david and see how it goes ...thanks for the advice

eckythump

elantan wrote: »

ok see the sausage casserole mix again it never occured to me to even think about making it lol ....i deff have a long way to go ...but baby steps ...

i thought i was doing good as well till i noticed i still didnt have much and yet had no money ...i'm sure though i am not the only one to find it hard at first (surely please tell me i am not lol)

you are doing well because you are willing,lots of people would rather carry on regardless.
I am a chef and have always cooked from scratch...but gourmet style.
then my hubbie became disabled and could no longer work,I only do 2 days a week as we have a small child.
I found it very,very,hard adjusting at first and I had cupboards full of stuff.
Its hard at the start as you need to build up stores.
please consider dusting of the bread maker/buying a bread mix as that is a huge slice(:p) of your budget you are using.
Its a big change to go from buying organic to value but sometimes needs must.
lots of the value stuff(peppers are a good example) are cheap because they are mis shaped,we are to used to perfect looking produce we think any thing else is wrong,but they taste no different.
apple are another example,most people automatically grab the ones they have always bought when other varieties may be much cheaper,morrisons have jonagold apples for 29p a pound at the moment...less than a 1/4 of the prices of their others.

elantan

eckythump wrote: »

How much does your O.H drink and what does he drink?
can he swap to a cheaper brand?
Its great that your O.H loves Asian food,very cheap to make(again with the asian supermarket) and not difficult once you get into the swing of it.

yeah and he is incredibly good at making it as well ...costs very little as well so bonus there ... he has started making the curry and splitting it some for him some for me i chuck chick peas and mushrooms in mine he has chicken or beef etc i have a few portions frozen so we will be having them this weekend maybe (probably lol)

hubby has agreed to cut down to one night per week for him this will be incredibly hard he drinks either tennents super lager or carlsberg 4 cans at a time at £1.50 a can so £6 a week ...he has tried different lager but it doesnt give him the kick he is looking for so he would drink his 4 cans of super plus however many cans of whatever as well no problem ...it used to be five cans a night and on saturday he did have five cans (at his parents) but he has agreed to try for four cans once a week ...