March 2011 Grocery Challenge

cat_smith

Grrr. Having taken out some lovely DR meat for meals for the next 2 days, DH has just phoned to say he's switched his on call to tonight so won't be home for dinner. So meal plans for the whole week to be rearranged.

Tuna pasta mess from last night was a roaring success though. And there are about 5 portions left for freezing. Still need to taste the burnt mash and decide whether to keep it. This GC thing is getting ridiculous - previously it would have gone straight in the bin without a second thought :rotfl:

cutiepieabf

Woohoo!!! :rotfl:5 days of March's GC left, and not only am i still well within budget but i also have a freezer full of food!!! :D I think i may have been overly adventurous with my meal plan, as we opted for easier meals in between and then picked out a few big things, but the main thing is that apart from eggs, bread and milk, i have bought NO groceries this month!! :T
Half of the freezer food is uncooked meat - there is a whole chicken, shoulder of lamb, pack of chops, gammon joint and mince amongst some other bits. This is because when i did my big shop i took full advantage of the multibuy offers knowing that i had the freezer space. :money:The other half of the freezer is full of home made ready meals. (I DO need to buy some tinfoil containers as i have now ran out of oven dishes. :rotfl:) It means i am sorted for probably most of April. SO CHUFFED!!! :A So my April budget is going to be so low.

Thank you to everybody for your support and ideas and RECIPES. :A

debtfreewannabe321

well to try and limit damage to my budget....i am going to try and live off my freezer this week (not done this before) i'm sure we have enough meals in there! I've also got rolls, and chicken slices & gammon slices in the freezer so that is lunches, breakfast we will have toast & kids have porridge....so this week i am going to try and spend less than £30- would be less but typically we have run out of loo rolls, washing up liquid, hair conditioner & a few other bits that all add up but food wise i hope to only buy some fresh fruit/veg/salad stuff & juice/squash etc -basic fridge items....will see how i go! Really hoping to keep spends under £300 this month!!

bexs.ua

I am here to confess to buying a HUGE block of cheese at the market on Saturday , it is over 5kg in weight :eek: :eek: and cost me £20....... added to the total

cutiepieabf

bexs.ua wrote: »

I am here to confess to buying a HUGE block of cheese at the market on Saturday , it is over 5kg in weight :eek: :eek: and cost me £20....... added to the total

is that good? and do you freeze a lot of it?

tigerfeet2006

cutiepieabf wrote: »

is that good? and do you freeze a lot of it?

^^wss ^^

Chloris

Hoping for a NSD here, may be a dash this evening for milk. I hope not!

HM spinach and mushroom lasgana, wedges and salad for tea. And either jam buns or chelsea buns for pudding/packed lunches tomorrow. I only have one egg left so need to decide what to make.

slbhill

Ok, scratch the cheap month - since things are going so well we're having a belated housewarming party at the weekend. Planning a buffet evening meal for 20 or so people. My idea is to have a variety of cold stuff out, and one oven-load of hot things (to provide hot food but not spend all of the party in the kitchen!). I've said we'll provide soft drinks but alcohol is a "bring your own" deal.

I'll get a couple of bags of ready-made mini sausage rolls, and do a big pizza or maybe a quiche cut into bits. I have had a look through the recipe index & found some promising buffet ideas (cheesy lentil loaf in particular looks suitable) but obviously most of it is for sit-down meals. I've had a google and a general search & got a few other ideas. The easy option for hot things would be those supermarket frozen selection platters but I'd like to avoid blowing the budget completely!

I'd love suggestions for hot or cold finger food that's reasonably cheap! I do have a bit of time to prepare - I'm ok at baking but not great at fiddly things It's mainly adults but some kids, mainly meat eaters but some veggies.

sistercas

bexs.ua wrote: »

I am here to confess to buying a HUGE block of cheese at the market on Saturday , it is over 5kg in weight :eek: :eek: and cost me £20....... added to the total

£4 a kg thats good well done :T

helen_jelly

bexs.ua wrote: »

I am here to confess to buying a HUGE block of cheese at the market on Saturday , it is over 5kg in weight :eek: :eek: and cost me £20....... added to the total

Really good price - well done, wish we had something like that here as we eat lots of cheese

Helen