August 2010 Grocery Challenge

verynewmoneysaver

Spent £10 on furit and veg at market today.

Winchelsea

Got the bus in to town after seeing DH (still in hospital), and went to S**nsb*rys with a list. Got everything on it plus one extra (Basics battered white fish portions - had one for tea, not impressed). Got my 12 free range eggs for £1 (yellow sticker), and a £1 voucher off the cat food. With using tried and tested Basics for several items, and being generally careful, I got 2 bags of shopping for only £8.

Basics apples very nice, sweet and crunchy, and got 6 for only 64p.

So, on day 2 of my challenge I have already spent £11.43 of my £60, but have plenty of stocks. And yes, I will eat the other three fish fillets, but will tart them up with a sauce of some sort.

Kitchenbunny

OK, so first spend of the day - £4.84 at Mr M on bread, mozzarella, pizza base mixes and a few other bits & pieces. I didn't mean to spend that much but there were a few offers I couldn't pass up. I'm hoping for an NSD tomorrow and I'll avoid buying any chocolate for myself on the station. Right now I'm full of chicken & ham risotto so thoughts of any more food shopping are the last things on my mind!

Have a good evening, everyone.

KB xx

NickJW

It's my first day of the August challenge today since I've been paid!:j

£10.44 spent in Sainsb*rys - got 2 packs of mushrooms, carrots, white wine vinegar, coleslaw, shampoo and some reduced bacon, Angus burgers, and apple compote things. All stuff I will use so not bad.

I've got a meal plan for this week - Tuesday I'll so a Hearty Mushroom soup w/pearl barley, chestnut + porcini mushrooms w/garlic bread (leftover from a meal deal in the freezer). Thursday I'll do HM BBQ chicken with coleslaw and basmati rice. Monday, Wednesday and Friday my flatmate will be cooking so I don't need to worry about those.

Lunches will be leftovers from previous meals in the fridge/freezer and leftovers from the meals this week.

I always cook too much (I should learn to cook the right quantities but I can never do it), so there are always leftovers. I'm training myself to realize that this is another meal for lunch or the freezer, and NOT an excuse to have second (or third ) helpings! :rotfl:

I shouldn't need anything till Saturday now, and have still got a load of stuff in the freezer so I 'should' be okay this month (famous last words!)

Just got one quick question - porcini mushrooms need soaking for about 10-15 mins in hot water. I can't remember if that's hot from the tap, or hot (as in boiling) from the kettle. They aren't in the original packaging so I can't remember

Keep up the good work everyone! :T

wssla00

IIRC it's from a kettle Nick but wait until others say as I might be misremembering!

Winchelsea

As far as I know Nick, you shouldn't use water from the hot tap for drinks etc, as bacteria can lurk in the water as it sits there in the system.

I've read this more than once, but can't remember the details.

NickJW

Thanks to you both - I had a feeling it was a from the kettle as well, but I had this niggling feeling that the extra hot boiling water would burn the porcini in the back of my head ...:o

Anyway - I'll banish that thought and use boiling kettle water to soak them

cw18

NSD yesterday

£10.15 spend today, including £1.37 on Whoopsies (and 'just out of date' goods from the staff shop) worth £17.60

urchin

I've never taken part in the grocery challenge before but have been observing for a while.

I have a freezer stocked full of food and cupboards that are nearly bursting and could do with using up what I have. There are only 2 of us so I am aiming for about £30 per week for milk and fresh stuff as we need it.

I have got quite good at menu planning over the last few months so I will be planning a months worth of recipes at the end of the week.

So put me down for £130

koolkid

Oooh newbie here too. There are 2 of us plus a toddler who just eats what we do normally but OH is away working for a week which saves some pennoes . I'll try for £120