January 2011 Grocery Challenge

buddiebabe

Well i have spent £3.00 today on milk, a pack of mini kievs and 2 bottles of diet irn bru.

So only £26.70 left until the 31st January... its still possible... its actually amazing how much stuff i don't really need!

I didn't get bread as there was none i really liked in the shop so i have came home and the bread maker is now on... there is a funny burning smell coming from it so not sure if its still working ok or if its just cause its not been used in a while... will wait and see what happens when its finished.

The mince and beef olives that i had left out in the fridge haven't defrosted properly yet so i've now taken them out the packaging and have them in casserole dishes to see if that will help... really looking forward to the beef olives for dinner so fingers crossed that by 7 they will be ok to cook.

Going to check and update my food list

Buddiebabe x

prettypaula

how many of you get a veg box delivery or have tried it?

i get a seasonal veg box which has 8 items every fortnight, it costs me £12.95 and there are two of us.

i honestly get so much in there its brilliant and it tastes amazing, you can tell such difference in organic stuff

martafdz

Mothership wrote: »

[...]
We had to have our 'shared drain' cleared twice last year. The cause 'FAT'. But not ours.I let him rant on for about half an hour, then held up my hand and said stop right there, "I DONT put ANY fat down the drain", I showed him the bowl of FAT I'd collected from our food since last Sunday. All 1.4 kilos of it, all from supermarket meat.[...]

Mothership, wow, that is a lot! I put boiling water down the sink every now and then just to avoid that, a few months in winter my sink got completely block after draining down there the fat from some burgers... :embarasse Now I know, I drain it in a newspaper and throw it. But I have to admit I do like fatty meats like bacon, cracklin from pork and so on... I know, I know, not good at all!

Jolaaled, that cake looks so tasty!!
scotsaver, I read you make bread. I have asked around in the bread threads but still no answer. My bread just does not cook properly, do you think it could be because I used plain flour, because I need to knead it more or because my oven is a fan assisted combi oven and cooks the outside but not the inside? I tried first to do bread and then pizza, both great disasters, grey and undercooked dough inside, all thick, dense and not fluffy. I tried cooking it for longer but still not result! I want to be a domestic goddess!!! LOL

I went to HB today and bought some bedsheets for £15 both, also the yummy amazing Chocolate Sugar Puffs that I cannot find anywhere else, for 99p. Then I went to TKMaxx to get a refund in teh £17 bedsheets I bought yesterday. So good result!!!

lotti379

Another spendy spend... £4.32 for a small beef roasting joint from M&S.. Extravagant I know, and more so since they have their 3 for £10 deal on meat (and it would be included) but we:
a) don't need any more meat this week
b) don't have any more money left
c) only have an icebox, not a proper freezer, so I wouldn't like to chance meat in there, even for a week or so!
d) there are only two of us, so the little joints do a good meal and a manageable amount of leftovers - I love using up my leftovers but I hate having to "eat up" the leftover roast all week!

Anyway, this takes us over budget, at £202.24/£200. Ho hum! Good thing Feb is a shorter month eh? :rotfl:

martafdz

prettypaula, I thought about buying those vegetables or fruit boxes several times, are they really that good? I have received a leaflet from a local one and their medium box is £12.50 with 8 types od veg. They also have fish, meat, eggs, milk and bread. They have an offer now where you can get the 4th box free with a code if you put it now with the order. The delivery is 99p. Is this good value? The box has usually potatoes, carrots and lettuce as basics. Then also some other vegetables. Not sure if for me it would be better the fruit one. I have to admit I have always a few bags of frozen vegetables and I go with those. Friut box is £10.50 for 5 or £6.50 for 3. Mixed veg and fruit look good though, £16.75 for 7 vegetables and 3 fruits, and £11.50 for 4 veg and 3 fruits. I am just afraid of just having the box there and having to throw them away in a few days. I asume that these veg and fruit last longer than those from the supermarket, since they are naturally grown and they also ripe naturally... is this true? What are your experiences with these boxes?

jovi20

Had NSD on saturday and today, helps that our village has no shop and I didn't go to town. Will have to go to local store with post-office, tomorrow to post parcel,( made my first sale £20-00 on eb*y, which will help for the purchases I have already made this month), but don't really need anything, except bottle of cough syrup, thanks to hubby passing on his man-flu! so will try and be strong willed and not buy any treats!

Sue14

I was very restrained yesterday, and only spent £9 between £land and I*eland. I was intending to go to A1di on Tuesday, to get bread and cereal, but I think I will try to make do until the end of the month as I can always make some bread if necessary, and we do have lots of cereal to use up. Will need more milk before the end of the month, and possibly some other bits, so I want to keep away from spending as much as I can so we don't go over budget.

I am lucky in that I don't work near any shops, apart from a convenience store, a chemist and a newsagents, all of which I would only use if desperate as they're more expensive than shopping elsewhere, so I have to make an effort to go shopping and therefore have more NSD's than spend days, but of course if I do need to go shopping I am very likely to be tempted to spend more than I need to.

helen_jelly

Oh no - let DH out on his own this morning and he spent £24 - I ask ya - what am I gonna do wif him hehe

Off to do my siggy now

Helen x

scotsaver

martafdz wrote: »

scotsaver, I read you make bread. I have asked around in the bread threads but still no answer. My bread just does not cook properly, do you think it could be because I used plain flour, because I need to knead it more or because my oven is a fan assisted combi oven and cooks the outside but not the inside? I tried first to do bread and then pizza, both great disasters, grey and undercooked dough inside, all thick, dense and not fluffy. I tried cooking it for longer but still not result! I want to be a domestic goddess!!! LOL

martafdz - I've always used a Breadmaker to make my bread/rolls/pizza dough etc but for the first time I made a loaf by hand a couple of weeks ago - I always use Strong bread flour and if making it by hand I know you have to Knead until your arms feel like they are going to drop off! Knead for at least 10 mins - it's perfect for de-stressing! It's also very important to leave the dough to prove and then knock back - I'm no expert so maybe some others on here will be able to give you some more help.;)

martafdz

Thanks!

I think the problem with the bread was that I did not knead enough and I might have let it rise too warm (it was near the oven), since I read that it could not be cold. I need to try again.

The pizza, however, is still a mystery. I followed the Lazy pizza/scone dough recipe I found here, and it says it just goes straight into the oven, with no resting after kneading. Everybody said that it was a no brainer and dead easy, but it was still undercooked for me! I wonder whether I also have to knead that one for over 5 min (I think I did it for 3 or so) and whether my oven should have been even warmer (it was at 220C fan assisted). I hate my oven I just don't understand how it works!! I used to have a normal one and since we have this one I just overcook or undercook stuff. The fan seems to cook the outside really quick but then the inside is still not cooked

I will keep trying, I need to find strong flour next time. I have a self raising plain flour now.

Thanks!!