October 2010 Grocery Challenge

sharronej

Hippeechiq wrote: »

I have considered this actually sharron but I've not been able to find any, so I assumed that they don't freeze well and gave up on the idea.

They obviously do exist if you use them though, so where do you get yours from?

I've also bought them from Farmfoods but think I may have bought from Morr in the past.

sharronej

Hippeechiq wrote: »

I never buy enough to freeze cos they're always so damned expensive, but I've frozen chopped red and brown onion and spring onion, so I don't see why frozen leek shouldn't be ok.....or at least for what I want it for. I only want it to go in a Sausage Leek & Mustard Stir Fry and Shepherdess Pie, so I'm sure frozen will be fine if I can find some in Te$cos. Thanks

Can I have the recipe for the sausage stir fry please? Thanks

Hippeechiq

We don't have a Morri$ons locally either, or Netto, which is another shop people rave about.

I just have A$da who I online shop with and Te$co, £idl & Icel@nd who are all within walking distance. I'd need to do an online shop to access $ainsburys and Waitro$e groceries - and I can't afford either - or catch a bus, the cost of which would negate any bargains. So I've not got as much choice as some, but more than others I guess

sharronej wrote: »

Can I have the recipe for the sausage stir fry please? Thanks

Um.....it's one of the few recipes that I don't cook from scratch It's one of my "easy" teas which I have once a month, and it comes out of a Schwartz Packet Mix.....or at least the Leek & Mustard Sauce part does. You just need a pack of sausages, some leeks and some milk to make up the sauce.....so I suppose it's not really a Stir Fry at all, as the only veg are leeks - although you do cook it all in a frying pan



But I'm about to use my last one, and I can't find them anymore. I can find Schwartz packet mixes, just not that particular one. It's showing on My$upermarket as being available in Te$cos for 20p (they're usually 78p) but I went in on Monday and couldn't find any.

Am guessing that means it's going to be discontinued, which is a great shame, as it's lush served on a bed of tagliatelle, accompanied by garlic bread or naan, and makes a good tasty meal for not a lot of money

triticale

Had a very busy weekend 'shopping around' - Mr S, Mr T, L!dls, £shop and asian grocers! Nearly half my monthly target spent but it's fine, I have good stocks for the month of flours/eggs/sugars/fats, oats, pasta, cheese, potatoes, onions, beer(!) - you know, all the essentials. :beer:

I have a full monthly meal plan with weekly shopping lists ready, shouldn't need to spend more than £10/15pw for the next 3 weeks so it's looking good. :T

Toughest part will be avoiding temptation of buying expensive 'nice things' during my weekday evening jaunts to Mr Ts to pick up heavily reduced bread products/fruit & veg.

So far I've managed it, there have been a few 'triticale, put that back on the bl**dy shelf, it's not on the list!!' moments though.:rotfl:

Made a double batch of ragu on Sunday so am enjoying a lasagne and spag bol dominated week.

Not much wastage this week, just the cucumber that played hide & seek in my fridge drawer and ruined a nice red onion - eeeugh, slimy cucumber goop dyed purple...:eek:

NickJW

I'm debating whether to do my big shop at Mr T at the weekend or use an O*ado £15 off a £75 spend I've received through the post. There is no way I need or want to spend that much, but I suppose that I should share the spend with my flatmate. Will have a lil think about it!

Sue14

I was convinced I updated on Sunday, but apparently not, lol! Anyway, I had my first spend of the month on Sunday of £39.44, not bad considering I could have easily done at least £80 a time in the past!

On Monday I made a sausage and root veg casserole in my SC, to use up some prepared veg I had left over in the fridge from a couple of days before. As usual I made more than we could eat, as it's just me and OH, so yesterday I had some for lunch with the last couple of slices of ‘whoopsied’ bread from a couple of weeks ago, which was in the bottom of the freezer. Then last night, I added some sliced courgette and peppers, which I had leftover in the fridge, to the remainder and put it in a baking dish, then I topped it with mashed potato (made with some sliced potatoes which were in the fridge) and baked until the mash was nicely browned. It was lovely, even if I do say so myself, and I was very proud of myself for using up the leftovers, I’m learning, lol!

Sue.

Sue14

triticale wrote: »

put that back on the bl**dy shelf, it's not on the list!!'

I have a lot of those moments too, lol, but not only telling myself, I also have to remind OH, but he's slowly learning that if we don't need it we don't have to buy it, unless it's a mega, not to be missed bargain, of course!

Sue.

XSpender

Top up shop done and £9.64 spent on a bag of peppers, organic spuds, 12 eggs, 1 orange, pepperoni, 6 stamps and a bag of crisps and a packet of kids sweets for me:o

I just need to find the time to make the soup and bake the cakes now. I think I will have a cooking day tomorrow and finish listing and reorganising my cupboards now I have finally got round to listing the freezer contents.

adelight

£1.39 on kilo carrots, kidney beans & tinned toms at Lidl. Used up my kidney beans in a batch of chilli(delicious, tastes just like my mum's!) and thought I was running low on tinned toms... of course I go to put the new tin in my box and find two cartons of chopped tomatoes!

earthmother

Afternoon

I've not done the GC for a couple of months, but whilst I haven't kept records since my last challenge in July, I know I have managed to stay on track - because if I hadn't we wouldn't have had any money for the school holidays or this term's after-school clubs.

But, on the run up to Christmas, and considering we've just found out eldests' next school trip is almost £300, I want to see if I can pull things back a bit more, so here I am.

Can I go on the list please MrsM for £280. That's 2 adults, 3 school children, additive-free etc, and no toiletries included, for 4 weeks (4Oct-31Oct).

Went to Asda this morning, and so total spend so far is £47.13. The pantry is looking a little bare, but the freezers are both full and I have enough lunchbox fillers to finish this half term at the least. I don't intend to do any significant shopping until this time next week - if I can do that, and get the list right then, I should be comfortably under this month.