Store cupboard challenge

[Deleted User]

I should also say I am on slimming world which complicates things a little as I am trying to cook healthy and from scratch.

So wish me luck!!! I am going to get some chicken out of the freezer now and tomorrow for tea I think we will have chicken and chorizo jambalaya as I have some chorizo to use up in the fridge. I will do the kids fish fingers and waffles with peas I think.

hamish222

I have found it much harder since on slimming world as buying so much fruit and veg. Bills are def up but like you trying to use what I have and waste nothing.

[Deleted User]

Yes buying loads more fresh stuff is way more expensive it has to be said.

tryingtobegood

hamish222 wrote: »

I have found it much harder since on slimming world as buying so much fruit and veg. Bills are def up but like you trying to use what I have and waste nothing.

i've moved over to basics/value range fruit for that reason. I usually have to do a fruit shop 2-3 times a week as we are ll big fruit eaters (2 adults. 2 kids)

[Deleted User]

I have switched to market value bananas because we must get through 4 packs of them a week so i just nip down twice a week and get them.

Value apples though I tried last week and they were horrible.

tryingtobegood

shelvis wrote: »

I have switched to market value bananas because we must get through 4 packs of them a week so i just nip down twice a week and get them.

Value apples though I tried last week and they were horrible.

The apples can be a hit or miss! My lot love gala apples so I check the brands in the values ones first to see if they are gala, or any other type I know they like, coxes etc...pears, plums, kiwi, bananas...no difference ,but not morrsisons black value grapes as they were more seed than grape ans sour, the red and white ones were perfectly ok.

[Deleted User]

Well bit hit and miss today. Went to make my jambalaya to use up the chorizo and horror I had ran out of chopped tomatoes!! Quick dash to the shops and I bought 2 tins.

So Jambalaya for us and fish fingers and alphabet letters for the kids in the oven now.

So £1.12 spent of £120 so far.

snookey

Im using up the odd packets in the freezer. You know the one pie, two fishfingers, one fish ect. Im sick of things going to waste. It meant everyone had one thing different on their plate tonight but no complaints.

Ben84

Avoiding food waste is one thing I've always for some reason been quite good at. Every week, before going shopping I clean the fridge since it's about the emptiest it's going to get. It's an under counter fridge, which probably helps too as those walk in American style things are just way too much work to clean out weekly and can store absurd amounts of food. Anyway, getting everything out and looking at it means I'll often end up crossing stuff off my list as I have it or something similar already I need to use up. I'll also find items I need to use soon and will have an idea of what I could make it in to later if I buy the ingredients needed at the store. The cupboards don't get emptied out and cleaned so often, maybe once a month, but I do much the same with those too.

I also use the freezer a lot. Anything I'm not expecting to eat in the next couple of days goes in the freezer, and I make a point of eating one or two freezer items a week. Before you go to the store, try to find one item in the freezer that you can replace a shopping list item with.

Doing this means I never end up with massive stockpiles of food and almost everything gets used up eventually. I really can't remember the last time I threw out anything.

However, while I find avoiding food waste perhaps annoyingly easy, I have no idea how people spend as little as they do on food each week. Long term, I think I'd struggle on anything less than £25 per person each week. Oh well, one good habit is a start.

[Deleted User]

Yes Ben84 I need to take on some of those principles if I can manage this long term. I know what you mean about the spend though but I am quite set in my ways in terms of what I like - free range chicken etc so I refuse to just go for reducing the household bill by compromising my principles. I shall try by eating less and making it go further next challenge. Assuming of course I manage this one!!

So I went shopping today and spent £31.96 to last this week all being well. I think that's pretty good because I also got 12 burgers and some sausages for a BBQ we are going to have for close family tomorrow for tea. I got milk/cheese/bananas/apples/pears/burgers/sausages/cobs/finger rolls/lemonade/potatoes/salad/some spices i had run out of/some scotch eggs/sausage rolls/cooked ham/laughing cow cheese triangles - I think that's it!

So tonight we ate out with friends which we had already planned in to do so hands were tied. Lunch we had picnic in the park (hence sausage rolls etc) and we shall finish them tomorrow.

Tomorrow for lunch I plan for the kids to have ham sandwichs with crisps and I shall have home made red pepper and butternut squash soup as both of these items are in my fridge about to go on the turn.

Also got a packet of chicken out of the freezer to have on BBQ tomorrow. I shall put peri peri spice on it I think.

So £33.08 of £120 so far. Challenge ends on 15th May.