March 2011 Grocery Challenge

jinky67

helen_jelly wrote: »

KitchenBunny - you can buy oven shelves that fit any size oven [think Lakeland do them or somewhere like that]

EBAY, I got 3 from there, very fast service indeed:A

M0neysav3r

cutiepieabf wrote: »

i have never done a link before so here goes ---> 4wk meal plan
it is a really good chance to try new recipes. and if you are stuck for inspiration there are threads on mse where people post their weekly plans so if you do a quick search you should find one of them. HTH.

Well Done - I couldn't do a link :T

Thankyou for directing me too, It's a nice selection of meals there, I'm thinking i'll meal plan for 2 weeks and then increase to 3, then 4.
Even when I weekly plan something always comes up, like today we were supposed to have chilli but came home from my mums with mashed pots, and loads of veg (they're going on holiday) along with milk, coffee and OJ :money: So we ended up having that so the chilli will get pushed til tomorrow.
I've had a NSD today too, free lunch out, lots of leftovers to take home and for the freezer so real thrifty day

Oh on another positive - the breadmaker worked!!! DH is V.impressed too which is a huge plus as he used to be a baker so is quite fussy with his bread :lipsrseal

lotti379

Spent £38.36 in T*sco today, first shop of the new month...

Hippeechiq

Thanks for all the recipes MrsM they look lovely Your Cheese & Onion Fryits are a firm favourite of ours now - unbelievably scrummy
Well done on paying all your debt off Nick - a celebratory drink must be in order, surely :beer:

l.m.hart wrote: »

i made pastry last night for my chicken pie, 8 0z flour ( basic mr t)
2 0z lard and 2 oz marg, all whizzed in mixer and cold water added then chilled in fridge, so sounds exactly same as you had no complaints at dinner last night,:D

Thanks for that l.m.hart Doesn't look like flour is to blame then.

Chloris wrote: »

Pastry: 8oz plain flour, 4oz butter, pinch of salt, splash of cold water. I roll it to fit in quiche tin, cover and rest in fridge 30mins then chuck fillings in and bake. I cba baking blind. With my leftover pastry trimmings I add some grated cheese and dried sage, roll out, cut into cute rounds, brush with milk and bake. Very nice. DD loves them in her packed lunch box. HTH

Thanks for the suggestion Chloris - like the sound of what you do with your trimmings too

Kitchenbunny wrote: »

By the way, someone raised a question about shortcrust pastry - mine was really ropy but then I started using a different kind of cooking fat. I switched to something like Cookeen and that works really well for me.

Thanks for the replies re the shortcrust pastry - no definitive answer then, other than it doesn't appear to be the flour at fault.
KitchenBunny do you use all C00keen? Having used ½ Lard ½ Marge for 25years, I can't quite get my head round using all Marge/Butter. I need to get it sorted though, as my pastry used to melt as soon as it hit your mouth and I'm really not enjoying this break-your-teeth pastry malarky.

NSD again here -been totally shattered today and yesterday, so up to 2 NSDs already

PennyGrabber

I didn't end up putting i my asd@ order last night, did it just now, and I'm glad I waited another day. I took off a fair bit of meat that I won't be using in March, and added in things I'd forgotten, like toothpaste and salad! I'm really excited (SAD!) about this month's challenge. With an AP order I received from last month, and this order, I'm doing really well, and my decision to stay out of the sms and use stuff up WILL work! I have a co0p round the corner which I don't class as a sm, as I couldn't swing my cat in there, so I'll be walking(!) round the corner if and when I need the odd thing before my next online order. Have already started it, as I know I will need cat food at that point in the month, and I figure it must be better to add stuff as I go, as I've already saved about £30 on this order from stuff that I though I needed!

So, 2 nsds so far, will count the asd@ shop as a spend tomorrow when it comes. It's quite nice seeing my fridge looking a bit barer - wish I could say the same for every other part of my kitchen!

Mrs M - nice recipes! Thanks for those. May put them into April, as March all planned and bought for!

Night all, I'm off to feel sorry for myself - migraine,
PG x

eta - Well done NickJW!!!!

quintwins

i just did a te$co order online for monday with everything i need to do me til the end of the month it was just inder £63 but i'll wait til it comes, i have to go to iceland for a few bits and lidl for the on offer butter then thats me done except for a few wee bits for the month

XSpender

Well done NickJW, it's a great feeling isn't it?:j:beer:

NSD for me today and I am managing to stick to the meal plan which is a first. DH seems to be constantly hungry at the moment so I need to make some snacks for when he gets in and to pad out his packed lunch. He does not have a sweet tooth stuff so if I put cake or biscuits in he will eat it the first day and then leave it the rest. He gets very busy at work so if I give him stuff that needs nukeing it often comes home untouched. I sometimes give him soup in a flask but I need to find some extra things to chuck in. Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking mini pasties but that's as far as I got:rotfl:

I will need to shop again either tomorrow or Friday. I made DS (10 months) a load of meals for the freezer and realised tonight that they are nearly all gone so I need to the stuff to replace these and some fresh bits for us including lunch things for my first week at work in 14 months next week:eek:

destroyerofdebt2011

spent £2 today on some chear up chocolate... was cheap for the amount i got, dont do cadbury's any more but the chocolate factory offcuts so my £2 was on thorntons chocs but more volume than cadburys so quids in plus got 6 seconds of walnut whips with the walnuts for a £1 they are something rediculus like 60 or 70p each in the corner shop now:jMust make the £40 last now tho just made 7 meals for the freezer so that should help.

supersally01

Got home tonight to find that twinks hobnobs that i made yesterday were all gone!!! never mind, was given some HM organic flour by someone at work, so will make more!!! Had to get money out of the bank for collections at work, and got DD a bottle of h20 for school, had enough for sandwiches at home. Will go to L!dl tomorrow for their march madness offers! They look good, so hope to stock up. Decided to do a local butchers order for this weeks meat. I think it will be about £35, and we have meat for nearly every meal. If we don't use it, it will do next week or/ and a freezer meal. Hope to spend no more than £35 in L!DL, so will account for the £20 I took out. Am interested in any home delivery meats that may work out cheaper in bulk buys.
Loving the recepies, may have to give them a go this month. Still using the slow cooker, but had made a lasagne tonight that was prepared then frozen. DD got it out this AM, then put it in the oven at 5, and it was a hit! No HM garlic bread left, but it was enough for the three of them as I was at work. I really like the pizza flour from L!DL, as it rises well, and does not have that yeasty flavour that you sometimes get with non bread mixes. I hope to get more this week, works out 18p per garlic bread/pizza.
anyway, enough rambling!
Have a good week all!

Kitchenbunny

Hippeechiq wrote: »

KitchenBunny do you use all C00keen? Having used ½ Lard ½ Marge for 25years, I can't quite get my head round using all Marge/Butter. I need to get it sorted though, as my pastry used to melt as soon as it hit your mouth and I'm really not enjoying this break-your-teeth pastry malarky.

Hi Hippeechiq, yes I do use just the one type of marg - never thought to use half marg/half lard to be honest. I made it tonight and it was nice and melting. I don't know what to suggest really. My go-to recipe is from a student cookbook and is 200g flour to 125g fat, mixed with a little water. I've not had problems with it yet, touch wood.

HTH

KB xx