April 2010 Grocery Challenge

tessie_bear

nsd today...and yesterday....makes a change....not sure about tomorrow though...half price stewing steak for tea...it smells lovely from the sc with jelly and reduced strawberries in it...something of a trend developing....must do some baking as we have nowt in the cake tin....might do flapjacks and caramel shortbread
take care
tess

kitschy

tessie_bear wrote: »

nsd today...and yesterday....makes a change....not sure about tomorrow though...half price stewing steak for tea...it smells lovely from the sc with jelly and reduced strawberries in it...something of a trend developing....must do some baking as we have nowt in the cake tin....might do flapjacks and caramel shortbread
take care
tess

I'm not very with it today, so forgive me:o Have you put steak in with jelly and strawberries?

Moniker

Sorry folks - I have been MIA for about two weeks - family crisis - won't bore you with the details. We were also supposed to be visiting DD1 in Austria last weekend to give moral support - but the ash stymied us. As a result I have had to spend more on groceries to cover the time we weren't supposed to be here, and now I am £1.73 over budget. We are going away for our 'proper' holiday this weekend so don't anticpate spending any more until we are back on 1st May. Will catch up with you all then.

Love Moniker

Billie-jo

2 More NSD since last post :T and a slight change in meal plan as the meat loaf did us two days instead of one. Once hot with potatoes and veg and tonight cold with salad, so have put the stuffed chicken breasts which we were having tonight on hold until tomorrow.:)

Have already sorted meals for next week ( I plan from Thurs-Wed) and just done a shopping list which hopefully should come in at about £25 if I stick to it If I do manage it though things are looking positive for first grocery challenge as up to now have just under £80 left and only this week to go. WILL I OR WONT I MAKE IT? :rotfl:

Plan to make another malt loaf at the weekend (its brill but must freeze some of this one!) and also a lemon drizzle cake. Yum (perhaps Slimming World will be next stop)

I have been reading through some other forums and see the 'Weekly Meal Plan' one is mentioned a few times, I can never find it unless there is an actual link so wondering if anyone can help with how to search for it each week as dont want to have to keep asking for a link every time. TY x

Will update tomorrow after shopping.

NJW69

My DS was angling for a takeaway tonight and asked if I could make salt and pepper chicken.

Never done it before but thought I'd have a try.

Bag of chicken fillets from the freezer, two onions diced very small, red pepper chopped small, three garlic cloves chopped, three chillis sliced, rock salt, black pepper.

Stir fried in sesame oil and then threw in some rice wine at the end to deglaze the pan and it looked, smelt and tasted just like the Chinese takeaway (only better because no additives MSG etc).

greent

Evening all!

My first update post of the month :-) As you can see from my sig, I have about £65 of the budget left - should be do-able.... hopefully! I say hopefully because we have friends coming to dinner at the weekend and I have no idea what I'm cooking yet - I tend to go OTT :-)

I'm quite pleased though - the spends include lunch at Flambards and the Eden Project in Cornwall and 3 lots of ice creams and a cream tea whilst away, also - so would be considerably lower without these holiday treats in :-D I also seem to have enough nappies for about 3 months for DS3, but need some pullups for DS2 (so these will need to come out of the £65, and I'll stock up a few packs if I can)

Am looking forward to a new month and new budget, though..... Must bake some things from storecupboard supplies to stop me buying sweet snacks and keep spends down! Also have seeds germinating - so will hopefully see the effect of these from June onwards (maybe some salad leaves late May...)

savvyshe

Morning everyone,:)

What a beautiful morning here, Its frosty but the sun is starting to shine and the birds are chirping away. I run my DH to work 2 mornings a week (got rid of one of the cars) and It's a lovely drive back home.
Well I am reallv pleased,:j:j:j as I have come in under budget again this month after another few spends of £20.61 brings my April total to £123.34/£160. Don't know if next month will be so good as DS2 is moving back in:T and he tends to graze a lot we will see.:rotfl:
Have tried to keep my freezers full with offers this month and tbh I havent bought much that is not whoopsied or on offer. I think this has helped as I still have two freezers full and don't seem to have touched the gocery stuff.:j
Going away at end of May so need also to get a nice stock of meals to take with us (tuna, salmon, Fray Bentos Pie etc) We have a small caravan and last year put an oven in (only had grill and hob) so it makes it easier to meal plan. I usually cook from scratch but it makes things easier if you can just bung something in the oven.
Going to go and hang washing out as I am practising being a fly lady this weeek:rotfl:It is working!! I am writing a list each day and trying to stick to it. Keep up the good work everyone saving the pennines:T

Savvyshe x

jintyb

kitschy wrote: »

Stopped by Lidl on my way home with my list which I'd already written Sainsbury's prices on and managed to save £1.85 on just 3 items! Their nice looking chorizo is half the price of Sainsbury's basics pepperoni, so my HM pizza this week will be dead posh!

My only question is, when at the same time of day I can fight for a parking space at Sainsburys, why on earth is Lidl empty? Should I keep it a secret so I can shop in peace?

*tootles off to update sig*

That's what I do - I do my list on My Supermarket with Asda as thats my nearest sm. Then I print it off and take it with me to Lidl. 9 times out of ten Lidl is cheaper or if not cheaper the pack size is bigger. I've been monitoring this for a few weeks and the savings are quite considerable! Even on a small shop I've found a difference of £3-£4! It all mounts up!!:)

positivelypurple

Hi everyone, goodness this month has flown by! I can't believe that we're nearly into the last week of April. I'm still under budget by about £70, that should see us through the last big shop of the month tomorrow. Will be interesting to see what we have left for the mid-week F&V shop.

I've been quite good at using up what's in the freezer and more of a variety from the cupboards. We go away for nearly 8 weeks in the summer so need to run supplies down from the end of May.

We're out tonight so no cooking for me - hurrah! Need to sit down this morning and have a look what's left in the freezer meat-wise and sort out the leftover veg so that gets used up tomorrow.

Have a good day everyone!

Winged_one

Good morning. I had to do an emergency run to SV yesterday as we had unexpected visitors overnight and a third extra for dinner. (Due to grandad worsening overnight, although he seems to have rallied again so likely to leave again today).

I had to get some chicken and mushrooms, but the chicken legs were half price so I only spent €6.70 on those. I got 2 packets of mince, a large carton of cream, 2 tubs of musrooms, a bag of carrots and a large bag of potatoes (I was completely out of spuds, very unusual for me). And DD wanted some individual cheeses (they have different ones that she prefers to M&S ones that OH and I prefer) for her lunchbox, and some chocolate milk, so we got a small carton. And she pushed the trolley as they have child-sized ones as well.

I got home to find that the power had been out during the day, so the oven I had set with chorizo potato bake hadn't worked. But that was OK as I had cooked rice which I gave DD and we split the spuds between 5 adults later instead. I threw the chicken legs, with a couple of carrots, an onion and a bunch of herbs, into the crock pot (which impressed my mum later when she saw it) with the chicken stock from the freezer and left them cook while I organised the usual evening stuff - empty bags, make dinners, make lunches, tidy up. And peeled spuds and put them on to mash as well. Grabbed a cheesecake from the freezer (which had been a present from dinner guests a while ago) which thawed in time for desert. Made a salad bowl and cooked some garlic flatbreads to stretch the potato dish for dinner (I'd made enough for 3 - but it did stretch).

Tonight, we'll have chicken and mushroom pie which won't require much cooking. And I have enough chicken (I boned it last night) meat to easily serve any guests who do have to stay, and still make a portion to give my aunt (recovering from surgery herself) - any leftover chick can go into freezer. And the veggies and stock will make some soup, maybe with some chick in it.

I'll make a shepherd's pie or a lasagne tonight, and put a large sized one into the freezer. Cos it looks like we'll have plenty of people to feed in the coming weeks. And make a batch of scones as well to bake from frozen, as I have a carton of cream just out of date.

So I am not as low as I'd hoped, but needs must this month. And more frugally than I'd feared.