August 2009 Grocery Challenge

scotsaver

Hi everyone - just logged on to update my total, doesn't look too bad so far but think it has been helped by not eating so much meat this month and more Pasta and of course Salad stuff which has been coming from the Garden or from Lidl/Aldi special offers.;)

Dinner tonight is going to be leftovers from the Fridge and some more Salad from the Garden.:D

Hope you are all having a good weekend.;)

Tashja

Ellemm - found it !! lol i had the book right next to me. I love the sound of the Tomato Chow Chow on pg149 - easy and sounds like the sort of thing we would eat a lot of !!

Managed to go blackberry picking so now have 2 crumbles in the kitchen ready to cook. Also have 3 tired children !!

Chocolate cookies next on the list.

T xx

fedupandskint

Have just spent some time chopping up chillies and peppers to freeze instead of leaving them for a bit longer and then turning to mush and mould. Just caught them in time!

What can I do with the huge amount of chestnut mushrooms I got from Mr A at a massively reduced price earlier this week?

Hope I can cobble some tea out of them. Just off to search for a recipe

fedupandskint

Found one!

Mushroom ragout for tea with rice and I've got everything needed - v.pleased!

alipops1986

Right..i've ordered this comings weeks shop on Tesco Online.

Was meant to cost £33.25 - £7 of coupons = £26.25

This means for the last week of August i will have = £2.95 hahaha

However, i have got PLENTY of food this week as i had the coupons and i did my sums precisely online to make sure i hit what i needed for the coupons without going crazy!

Determined to not go over my £80 limit!!

msgnomey

Not done too well this month (Don't look at my total its awful!) took my eye off the ball a bit gotta get back into it, on the positive side OH helped to unpack the shopping today and agreed when I said we should have a store cupboard challenge next week as there is rather a lot in there. Think I need to add up as I go along and not wait until half way through the month to calculate how much I have spent :T

slope off to look at recipes...

genkijen

WEll so far my actuall grocery spend ( food) is £101 which is ok at the half way mark, but have been relying on the cupboards as been having a cupboard and freezer clearout! mind you have made some more freezer meals from that so that is good!
its still hol;idays at the mo, so need to start thinking about the routine once i get back to school in september..

Tashja

Well next week I am having to have one of the bedrooms papered as my mum can't do it I have a friend who is going to do the papering and sort a few other bits out but it means I am down 40.00 next week and this can only really come out of the food budget. It might get easier if they can sort my IB as for the 6th week running they have not sent me my money If I call them on monday then we might get by.

So I really need to meal plan this coming week - I also think I need to go blackberry picking again as that is free food / free entertainment.

Tommorow I have left over chicken - in fact we are ok for meat but no sauces, pasta or veg to go with it. I do have lentils and risotto rice - so chicken risotto tomorrow.

Hoping for chicken and sweetcorn soup and HM bread for Tuesday.

I have a portion of Mincebeef and some packet potato so sheppards pie Wednesay.

Snacks /puddings will be BBs and baked bits - lots of flour, etc.

So I think we are sorted until Wednesday at least. I might be able to sort a couple of pounds out for milk and if I can get a tin of vegetable soup then I can do Tuna Pie one night too.

Ohh things haven't been this tight for a while but we have had a car breakdown and a benifits mess up this month so we are feeling the pinch !! I am sure I can sort it thanks to some of the recipes and support on here.

T xx

cw18

((hugs)) Tash.... I hope they sort out your money soon. Be sure and tell them it's the difference between getting food on the table or going hungry when you call, as when things are that tight they'll issue a payment order through your local JC+ rather than payment into bank..... (had it done to me twice in 2007 - one being the last payment due before Christmas :eek: )

Wish I'd known you needed some decorating doing - I've spent this last week doing DD's living/dining room, so could have just carried on elsewhere


Went down the shops for bread (47p) and milk (98p) this morning, and ended up with two more loaves (1 multigrain, 1 seeded - only I'll eat these, so now in freezer in portion sizes) which were whoopsied to 43p and 49p respectively. Also got a 2.6kg unsmoked gammon joint for £6.50 instead of £13.04. Had already pulled a beef joint out of the freezer for today, so the gammon will do us tomorrow (plus butties, plus a chicken & ham rissotto, plus some for the freezer for other days)

I cook gammon in my slow cooker, and am debating then using the water/stock to do a pea & ham soup - not one I'm madly keen on, but it'll be cheap :rolleyes2 Does anyone know if I can freeze it once made, or am I better freezing the stock and making up small batches when I want some?

fedupandskint

cw18 wrote: »

Does anyone know if I can freeze it once made, or am I better freezing the stock and making up small batches when I want some?

I would freeze when it's made up and portion it up for the freezer