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October 2010 Grocery Challenge
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rosieben i like the index as it is , its easy to navigate, a 3rd page is probably the way forward
jinty well done on the ferrer rocher
well my freezer and cupboards are bursting and i dont even know whats in the back of themso i have decided to work my way through them over the next couple of weeks , it might make for some weird meals but hey
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Afternoon all
Just been to do my shopping, everything seems to be going up in price, and the supermarkets think we don't notice as they promote a few good buys! Have spent £374.01 of my £375 budget and today is the start of week 3 - have got plenty of most things, but the fresh fruit, veg and milk won't stretch that far, so will just be a matter of keeping the overspend to as minimal as possible. I have bought several items in bulk where they have been on offer and started buying bits for X**s - so shouldn't be too hard on myself really.
Kind regards
nmlcWEIGHTLOSS SINCE JUNE 2009 - 5 ST 2LB0 -
Me again - just got my mail and in it was another lot of £10 off wys £30 from Mr T, one per week for the next four weeks.I've just finished my last lot, so am delighted!:j Will be handy for extra c-word items!
you will always be rich enough to be generous.0 -
Goh lucky you jintyb - I have never received anything as good as that! I did recently get a "can we tempt you back with £10 off £50 when you shop online with Tesco?" but not even sure that I will use that as I seem to remember that these codes never work wih free delivery codes, even if you are able to find one so really it would only be worth £5 or £6Grocery aim £450pm.Spent £519 August, £584 July, £544 June, £541 May, £549 April, £517 March, £517 Feb,£555 Jan, £573 Dec, £465Nov, £561Oct, £493Sept, £426Aug,£496 Jul, £528Jun, £506May,£498April, £558 March, £500Feb, £500 Jan, £490 Dec, £555 Nov,£566 Oct, £505Sept, £450Aug, £410 July, £437 June, £491 May, £471 April, £440 March, £552Feb, £462Jan0
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Craftyscholar wrote: »Getting tempted by thoughts of a breadmaker - I did have one but it 'died'.
Someone talk me out of it!!!Do you have a local Free-Cycle or equivalent? If so, try on there. I'm told this is one appliance a lot of people buy and then leave in the back of a cupboard !!
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Hi craftyscholar,
I'd love to help but we're so enamoured with ours I couldn't!But I would wholeheartedly support Cheryl's advice, freecycle is brilliant. The other option could be ebay. I got ours from ama**n but I just checked the prices on there and they're not as good as when I got mine. Perhaps you could hang on a bit and see if there are any bargain prices around either pre or post Christmas?
Had to get up to take OH to work this morningbut had a lovely hot water bottle in bed for when I returned. So fed the birds, watched them for half an hour and then toddled back to bed. Three hours :eek: later was woken by the phone so I think that qualifies as a lie in!
Probably will be a NSD today as I have no inclination to go out until I have to pick OH up from work. My beautiful GD1 is coming to stay this evening and I fancy doing some cookery with her tomorrow. Those bramleys look ripe for baking (yum!) and I think I've a couple of bananas that could go in a cake. Not sure who it was who suggested bread and butter pudding a day or so ago but it must be making a comeback, we've made three recently and eaten two. The other was for DDs family.
Rosieben, :A I agree that the list is brilliant the way it is and whilst I don't use many of the other links around the recipes often, it would be a shame to lose them. So a third page from the start of November would seem the best option if Pink can reserve three for you and then add the new one started yesterday with it.
Sorry to throw another thing into the stock cube/boullion debate, but I just wanted to add that if you want to/can pay a bit more (and we don't often these days) OH swears by the the K***r Touch of Taste (I think its boullion) in the bottles for adding good deep flavour. HTH.
I have been trying to remember how I used to make veggie shep pie with red lentils and I think I remember. But at that time I was a chuck it in type of cook so couldn't give any quantities I'm afraid. So from memory, I would fry off a clove of garlic very finely chopped (garlic is not my thing unless fine and fried off well), a large onion (sliced diced or whatever way you like it) until both are golden and have lost the pale/white look to them. I think I used a mix of butter and oil for the frying in. (Obviously salt and pepper are essentials to taste) Then I would add carrots and mushrooms to the pan and give them a bit of colour (I do like food golden/bronze not pale) and then I'd chuck in the washed red lentils and again fry off a bit until they were completely coated in the flavoured oil/butter liquid and gained a bit of colour. Then I would add about a pint-ish of hot stock flavoured water (it would definitely have been a beef flavour stock cube in it) and a squirt of tomato puree. (If you wanted to make this more of an Italian style dish then I would substitute the water with tinned toms and obviously add the usual herbs such as oregano.) Bring it up to the boil and then simmer away until the lentils have absorbed most of the liquid (not too dry though).
Now I don't like them overly cooked but the frying helps in maintaining the shape/texture. Then I'd just make it up in a dish and lob on the mash (adding grated cheese is an option) and bung in the oven for a while until mash is golden on top. Delish with peas (fresh, frozen or processed) with a knob of butter and sprinkle of pepper on top.
Now I'm a girl of simple tastes and don't eat hot spicy food. But if that's your thing you could add whatever extra flavours you wanted, chilli, mustard, lea & perrins, etc. I would always add these at the frying stage.
I truly miss the days when food got fried off before being cooked. The supposed health gain argument took off and all of a sudden putting anything in the frying pan became a no-no. In my opinion the argument swung too far in the opposite direction and we lost a sense of balance and the taste benefit that frying can give.So I firmly believe that giving food a bit of colour, sealing it, and adding vital flavour happens in the fry pan at the beginning of making a dish. But hey, I'm old fashioned.
And as Hippeechiq says, you tend to do what your Mum did and my Mum was a great cook, God bless her, served us good really tasty wholesome food and that was long before it was obligatory to add garlic to every single savoury dish! :rotfl:
OK, I'm off to watch Grand Designs in peace (OH can't stand it) and have a cuppa.I'll pop back later and see how you're all doing. Have a great day.
Take care,
SpigsMortgage Free October 2013 :T0 -
Oh dear - after a great few days seem to have done nothing but pay out. Shopping on Thursday in T*sco I spent 32.11 however £10 was on a pressie although going to count it in the GC - then today went to M*rr*sons to get fish and managed to spend £20.18 :eek:
£7.00 of this was on a new chopping board but again going to count it in the GC. (at least if I am over this month I know that £17 of it wasnt on food) They had scampi on offer £3.49 a pack but buy one and get 2 free so brought some. Also brought some ready made Thai Style Chicken soup which heated up for lunch - OMG its disgusting so it is now down the grid, even DH wouldnt eat it and he eats almost anything. It was a £1 which isnt a fortune but still I was annoyed.
Altogether a total of £52.29 to add to total which will do now.
On a good note we recieved the dual gas and electric bill yesterday and am in credit by over £300 so am waiting for them to refund it as soon as possible.MARCH £62.38/2500 -
Hippeechiq wrote: »I think I may try that, or even maybe Kn0rr, or would you say marig0ld and kall0 are superior to Kn0rr too? I don't mind if one is a little more expensive than the other, as I'm not using it all the time, and it's false economy to buy one that isn't going to give me a rich stock......which 0xo certainly haven't been doing. I think the stock granules produce an even more wishy-washy stock than the cubes, if that's possible......sometimes you find yourself using ingredients because your Mum used to, don't you? Or is that just me
I know you were asking Brodie1 but if it's of any use to you, here are my thoughts. Marigold is a very good bouillon. Kallo is good, too, and if you're looking for salt-reduced cubes, they do a great low salt option. Knorr is also good, although a bit salty for my taste. For me, Marigold works best.
But Knorr is very popular in France, too - even bigger than here if the amount on the shelves was anything to go by! So Kallo and Knorr are both good options.
My preference is for the powder form Marigold because it dissolves evenly. I've always found stock cubes (including Kallo) vary in difficulty as you try to make up the stock from them. They're not always good about dissolving.
HTH.Keep on doing what you're doing, and you'll keep on getting what you've got. :A0 -
re the stock cube/powder discussion, I've used the knorr beef stockpot ones when I was cooking for auntie as that's what she preferred, they're good, but a bit pricey!... don't throw the string away. You always need string!
C.R.A.P.R.O.L.L.Z Head Sharpener0 -
50p on reduced chicken for dinner today, £1.49 reduced mince and £1.50 on cocoa powder.
I'm off for the weekend but will need to buy apples and carrots early next week.Living cheap in central London :rotfl:0 -
2nd shop of the month completed today - 57.59 spent despite me running around to 3 different supermarkets, the butchers & the greengrocers to try & buy the right stuff in the right places.
I've been following some of the cheaper recipe suggestions on OS (under £2/dinner for 2) but I'm still spending way more than I'd expected to. I honestly thought setting my budget at £200/month for myself & OH would be relatively easy to hit...but it's not & I'm struggling to know what I'm spending too much on! Well I do now know how much milk & coffee we (mostly me) get through - was a shock - £10.11 just on milk & coffee powder so far this month is roughly 10% of what I've spent in total!
Ho Hum - Must do better next week - maybe I should get OH to plan the meals starting next weekend - see if he can do better than me...
Disappointed with self
MrsEmMFW 2011 #170...£3800 OP YTD - need to reconsider my 2011 target (ooops!)...in it for the long haul...0
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