SOA Groceries, How do you do it.

linz

Ok I am back from my evening visit to Morrisons and have been busy in the kitchen. Thought i'd share what my local supermarket had on offer and what i've done or am planning to do with what I bought -

white cabbage - 19p
1.5kg bag of organic potatoes - 25p
swede - 19p
bag of diced carrot, onion, butternut squash & coriander soup mix - 19p
500g diced chicken breast - £1.75

So i've had chicken fajitas for tea with some red peppers & onions I already had.

I will probably have some more of the chicken tomorrow, maybe some bubble & squeak with the potatoes & cabbage.

I've boiled & blended what probably equates to 2 portions of the carrot & butternut squash soup, added seasoning & chucked some herbs & stock in which i'll freeze.

I've also boiled some of the swede, cabbage and some carrots, roasted pepper & onion and added a can of chopped tomatoes to the mix which ill blend to make a load more soup, will probably be 3-4 portions which I will freeze and take out as and when next week and eat with a french stick, mmm.

Will also have enough chicken for a roast dinner with some more of the veg on Friday.

I love shopping in the evening, so quiet and loads of cheap stuff. Morrisons are far better (IMO) at reducing the use-by-today stuff.

niccatw

Yup banwa - I alaways get it wrong! Either I don't make enough to divide it up evenly or I eat what I want and the leftovers wouldn't even make enough for a meagre lunch! I also tend to find, once it goes into the freezer, it tends not to come back out - at least, not within a timescale where I can remember what it once was

banwa

niccatw wrote: »

Yup banwa - I alaways get it wrong! Either I don't make enough to divide it up evenly or I eat what I want and the leftovers wouldn't even make enough for a meagre lunch! I also tend to find, once it goes into the freezer, it tends not to come back out - at least, not within a timescale where I can remember what it once was

So glad it's not just me. And I do that with the freezer, in fact I am suspicious of anything that has had managed to make it to the freezer, because we obviously didn't enjoy it enough to eat it all in the first place

Ames

One of my new year resolutions is to start labelling what goes into the freezer!

banwa

Ames wrote: »

One of my new year resolutions is to start labelling what goes into the freezer!

I will never be that organised, no matter how I try

Nottoobadyet

Hey Dark -

Im a lot like you really - for ages I didnt cook at all, hated it, ended up eating lots of ready meals (at the time I was living in Israel where ready meals can be very good and reasonably cheap), frozen stuff, etc. Two years ago I literally could not cook anything, I'd bug up an omelette!

Its only really this last year (in the UK now) that I've started to cook in ernest. It doesnt have to take 1-2 hrs - soup, for example, you can chop up and put in the pot in 5 minutes, come back 20 minutes later and viola! You can spend longer on things, but once you get to enjoy it and not be scared of messing up (because you accept that messing up isnt the end of the world, not because you never do :-)) it doesnt feel like a chore. Obviously you wont turn into Delia overnight, but it can be great fun to do a few times a week untill you get the hang of it.

MrsTinks

I used to be the same with not labelling things going into the freezer... could never find a pen that would write on the boxes etc... so... I bought a pen that could write on plastic and tied it with a string to the fridge That way it stares at me when I go to open the freezer hehehe

Best money saving dish? SOUP!
Veggie soup of all pursuations as far as I am concerned it's easy to bulk cook, it's super cheap and it's great in winter
Easiest soup is potato and leak obviously Basically a couple of spuds peeled and chopped, a leak cleaned and chopped, an onion chopped and some stock... oh and a dash of oil. Sweat the onion a little, add the leak and let sweat a minute, add the spuds and stock and season and leave to cook until the spuds are done. Grab a stick blender and whizz... if you are feeling posh then add a dash of cream when serving and maybe a home made crusty roll
I like mine quite thick - hubby likes his a little thinner so I just water his down a little when serving - a large pot goes a LONG way

ciderwithrosie_2

Awww I love the snowman biscuit you made best!

I've managed to cut down our food bill in the last year or so, I used to spend up to £150 a week for 5 of us, now it's around £70. I've got one son at Uni so subsidise his food shopping as well (hubby says I spoil him!)
Pretty much just cut out things we don't really need, gone back to value brands on some things (Tesco 12 value toilet rolls - you only wipe your !!! with it!), shop in Lidl and Aldi more and batch cook and recycle stuff.

Say if I've got a loaf of bread too stale for sandwiches then I'll blitz it up for breadcrumbs and freeze them in sandwich bags in portions. Then I've got filling for a treacle tart, can add them to meatballs, topping for a vegi bake or macaroni cheese and I don't feel I'm being wasteful chucking out half a loaf. Tonight there were part baked baguettes left so I've sliced them into to wafer thin slices, spread them out on a tray, sprinkled them with onion salt and pepper and baked them in a low oven after I'd used it to cook tea. My son can then take these crispy crackers to school to have with a dip and some carrot sticks for his lunch. A good investment if you've got freezer room would be some food bags and varying sized plastic pots (Wilkinsons or the pound shops) to store extras.

I've stopped buying fabric softener for example - no need for it and just that alone saves about £80 a year, do that with a few items you would buy weekly and it soon adds up.

At the weekend I made butterbean and carrot soup from what i had in the fridge, few herbs and spices and a 40p tin of butterbeans, that made enough for 4 lunches (anyone can make soup, you can't really go wrong), a tray of chocolate brownies for lunch boxes and they cost me pence. Tesco value chocolate bars in white, plain and milk something like 29p for 100g - when they're in a recipe they taste just as good as something 5 times the price. Whatever I cook I aim to have a couple of portions left over for lunches at work or a quick tea if it's just me home.

Managed to 'acquire' (ahem!) some home shopping delivery boxes last year, lined them and filled them with compost and grew various veg in them, pak choi, salad leaves, spring onions, radishes etc worked a treat. I already grow chillies, herbs, tomatoes and runner beans every year in pots.

regards CWR

MrsTinks

Oh and rubber chicken is great too At the moment you can get 3 for £10 (personally I prefer freerange but that's very much a personal choice) at Tesco so £3.33 each. Roast the bird like normal and serve up a breast for each person or just the one if there is only 1 of you Serve with potato wedges (wash well, cut into about 8 wedges and drizzle with oil and get a every day seasoning mix grinder - they are very handy! - and grate this on top - instant seasoned wedges cook in the oven for about 20-30mins.
Maybe some peas on the side and gravy if you like. Now... if it's just you and not the GF then the second breast will become fajitas tomorrow
The REST of the chicken when it's cooled down you pick all the meat off - look under the bird too - there is LOADS!
I like making a chicken curry with mine - it's easy and tasty. I just make a roux with some mild curry powder and then gradually top up with milk and stock. once the sauce is made chuck in the chicken and heat through. Serve over rice. You could chuck any veg in too if you like although we don't More than enough for 2 people!
The bones (not the skin) goes in a large soup pot - cover with water and chuck in come herbs from the garden. Any veg lurking in the fridge looking a bit knackered gets chopped up and chucked in. Simmer for a few hours and you have stock (you may now dispose the carcass )
Stock then becomes the veggies soup base for lunches
And it really doesn't take much more effort than that... But it's SO much cheaper (and tastier) than ready meals

tori.k

Actually i've found as my family grew per head my shopping bill lowered, as i now can make the most of bulk buys. i can buy a 25lb sack of decent spuds for £5 rather then £2 for a 5lb bag from a supermarket, bogofs on perishables are not that great if your cooking for one and storage is a problem.

I am now spending £185 (including cleaning& personal) 4 weekly for 5 (3 are veggies so hardly any meat) and we eat well, but dont think i could do just DH and me for £18.50 per week