March 2011 Grocery Challenge

jumblejack

muffin_man_7 wrote: »

jumblejack whats a thermal cooker ? sounds interesting

It is an inner pot that you prepare your food in on the hob. Getting it to a rolling boil, and then transfer it into a sealed outer pot that retains the temperature and continues to cook without electricity. Kinda like thermos cooking but on a larger scale (or haybox cooking)!! The cooking times are similar to slow cooker times so I prefer the green alternative! Have a quick looksee on YouTube under thermal cooker. It is mindblowingly OS ethos but with a more modern, shiny exterior!

Candy_Belle

Morning!!

Managed to spend another £4 yesterday on 10 trays of sheba in A**a. Signature updated!

Have a good day everyone

tigerfeet2006

Morning all,

Another NSD for me today

The sweet potato, spinach and lentil Dahl with cumin flatbreads was not a hit with the brood last night but DH loved it so he now has tons in the freezer for lunch and end of month meals, so nothing wasted.

Will be doing Macaroni Cheese with lo bacon tonight, that ought to go down a treat.

Am going to ring the local butchers today and see how they compare price wise for the months meat.

rachbc

I thoroughly recommend a slicer (I have the silver one from argos)- get so much more from a joint with it. I buy a turkey thigh, piece of topside and gammon joint every month or so and slice it all for packed lunches.

I' also going to try curing my own bacon and pancetta again - I did it before but couldn't slice it evenly enough to make is ms but now I think it would be worth it with bacon being so £££ atm

Wondering now if I could do a whole block of cheese at a time too...

Chloris

jumblejack wrote: »

It is an inner pot that you prepare your food in on the hob. Getting it to a rolling boil, and then transfer it into a sealed outer pot that retains the temperature and continues to cook without electricity. Kinda like thermos cooking but on a larger scale (or haybox cooking)!! The cooking times are similar to slow cooker times so I prefer the green alternative! Have a quick looksee on YouTube under thermal cooker. It is mindblowingly OS ethos but with a more modern, shiny exterior!

Oh that's interesting! Was thinking about a haybox, especially for camping. Will look later at the practical angle.

Well I didn't go to the shops yesterday so 4 NSD in a row. That is a record for me. And as it is offically spring now I decided to start foraging to stretch the grocery budget. So the end bits of my salad bag had dandelion and garlic mustard leaves added to it to stretch it out. I also made a herbal infusion of cleavers. Tomorrow I will pick some nettles for soup. Can't today as have a fridge full of parsnip soup! I will go to the shops for milk today.

Sunnyday

Well i seriously need to update my siggy so i need time to sit down and add up all my receipts, i`ve not done this since week one and i have a large pile to plough through

I`ve got a feeling that we have gone well over this month though, DH has increased cholestrol levels so i`ve been changing a few things that we eat and i`ve started doing SW from home - no class - so quite a few trips to the shops have been made this month, much more than usual.

How come all the food that is good for you costs much more than the not so good stuff? I would have expected it to be the other way around!

Aw well, we now have stocks of wholewheat pasta and spaghetti and a few new recipes to try - well rather different ingredients

I was so shocked at some of the prices yesterday that my shop took ages, DH will usually have any marj on his sandwiches for pack up and i usually buy on offer or freeze and generally pay around 59p - 79p per tub, the one that i chose for his benefit is around 4 or 5 times the price :eek:

Think that i shall have to wean him off it altogether if i can.

Happy shopping peeps.

SD

laineyc_2

Morning everyone.

My meat delivery comes today. I think it will be more than we need for the month. The 2 younger boys are going to France for a week in the Easter holidays and dh and the older boys may be going fishing in Ireland.

I have ordered 2 vegetarian cookbooks because I am determined to make more vegetarian meals and need inspiration.

I am looking forward to all the planting to be done in the garden. My seedlings are coming along nicely. I am loving spending so much time in my garden. I have developed a bit of a seed habit. I really don't need anymore seeds!

adelight

Yet again I've lost track of my GC I know I haven't spent too much, as I've only made small shop trips, £8, few quid on fruit, loaf bread, but I'm not certain exactly how much I've spent grrrrr!!
I think i'll have to drop out for this month, and keep myself to a fiver for the rest of the month then start again April is a tricky month, as I'll be with my parents for a week and away for a few days so the budget will be lower, but how lowww? It's difficult to finish things in time, like big vegetables, pots of yogurt, when I'm away here and there.

[Deleted User]

Hi All
I have pretty much lost track too:( but being part of this challenge does keep me more focussed than if I wasn't.

I don't have much time to post or always keep up with the thread - still working full time, trying to set up a business and studying - but try to catch up at least once a week. I am hoping to resign from my job so need to keep a tight reign on the money and the GC definetly helps.:money:

Missus_Aka

Have spent nothing yet as have been using dtd vouchers to pay and the voucher i get back from shop has always been more then what i paid, no cash spend at all, so as i will be saving so much money i have decided to spend a lot of money on new pans as i have a code for tescos direct £10 off/£50 spend (says 1st shop only but mine wasnt my first and still worked) i got new pots & pan to cook all my dtd free food i did it in 3 different lots 1st shop £40 (£10 off) 2nd shop £31 (500 extra points) 3rd shop £51 (500 extra points) (all delivered to the shop so no delivery charge) and the rest i bought at tesco grocery as tefal pans are on sale at the moment as are their go cook utensils (£45) will give one of my smaller dtd vouchers to the delivery driver (will scan it into my computer first just in case he 'forgets')

Sorry that last part wasnt really relevant but thought it may help someone who needs some.