May 2011 Grocery Challenge

quintwins

oh forgot to add i have a AF order coming, i didn't really need anything but my mum did so we order together to save postage so i mainly got store cupboard bits...mustard, stock cubes, soy sauce ect spent £15 on my half i think because i had some credit on the account from them mucking up our last order, so i'll update once arrives

charlie792

Been looking around for some meal inspiration and came across the sainsbury feed 4 for £50 thing, one meal - the hotpot sounds like a good idea but looking at the recipe it includes a 500g pack of 'country vegetable mixture' but does anyone know what this actually consists of so I can look out for something similar when shopping tonight in Mr T's

quintwins

charlie792 wrote: »

Been looking around for some meal inspiration and came across the sainsbury feed 4 for £50 thing, one meal - the hotpot sounds like a good idea but looking at the recipe it includes a 500g pack of 'country vegetable mixture' but does anyone know what this actually consists of so I can look out for something similar when shopping tonight in Mr T's

it's just soup mix so if you have any, or any lentils you could use them

charlie792

Well the good news is Ive worked out my shopping should come under to about the budget this week (£40) although this is fairy big shop stocking up on things I don't buy every week (ie Sausages I bulk buy which last me 3 weeks) Toilet roll only usually buy once a month etc but Im going to sit down with OH and work out some proper meal plans before next week and I hope cooking more of the meals from scratch should reduce our costs too

Obviously if we change a few meals next week then the costs may go up or down but it should be roughly £25 next week :j

susan946

A couple more spends to report, sadly. Went to Marks on Saturday. Back is bad at the moment and M&S involves less walking than the larger shops. Spent £13.56 but always go for the multibuys if they are things we eat. Extras get frozen. Went to Asda this morning with a small list and came back with more than I should. Having said that everything will be eaten and, again, it was a matter at grabbing the bargains while they were there. £17.79 spent there. Then a quick trip to the Farm Shop for fruit and veg. All in all I've spent 24% of the budget over 30% of the month. So not doing too badly!!

Yesterday I found some steak lurking in the freezer so I made a stroganoff. We have the leftovers for tonight.

Sue

dibblersan

sainsbugs mix veg soup pack

looking at a pack i've got it contains (in order)
lentils (green split, puy, red split) 30%, dried pearl barley 25%, dried yellow split peas 20%, dried pasta 10% [durum wheat], dried barley flakes 4%, dried green beans, dried onion, dried carrot.

as for tesco, don't know if i can be bothered to complain, the price difference was only £2 but i know not to do it again.

meat i think i will have to go instore to get myself - to be honest i prefer the local meat man for meat anyway - i don't have a butchers that's near enough to be good for me at the time's i'm about to shop (I keep odd hours and am often going into work for 6am or going to bed at that time - lovely having true flexi hours).

the meat man doesn't sell things in packets - only blue plastic bags, which is a bother when putting in the freezer. no problem with a joint so i might just use tesco for my cheating sausages

kerrypn

Spent £41.26 today :eek: Although I did chase the nice Mr S employee around the meat section as he was reducing all the meat, so some is due to stocking up. Got a huge pork joint for £4.35 reduced from £11.68 :T The poor man, I bet he thought I was stalking him!!!

Elmo1985

not sure if this is the right place or not - do you think i can put carrots in burritos or will that be yucky?

I've got a bog load of carrots and dont know what to do with them lol and as burritos are on the menu tonight i thought this could bulk out a bit????:(

CherryPie

charlie792 wrote: »

I always find it really hard to choose new meals, partly because I just don't know what to pick and partly because Im so worried it turning out horribly . I wouldn't say Im a bad cook but Im very self concious about my cooking, if it was just for me then I wouldn't be bothered but Im always worried about cooking something OH ends up hating....

I would try and make more dishes with chicken but its so expensive unless I buy a whole one and I don't know what to do with it - I know how to cook it, just not how to use it in meals IYKWIM as I always use the uncooked breasts normally

You sound just like me!! I'm slightly different in that if I cook something that turns out less than perfect, it's only me who has to eat it. Does OH cook? You could take it in turns to try a new meal each week. Normally I don't follow recipes exactly, but that's taken a bit of practice. The recipe index at the start is def where I'd look first. I don't eat chicken so can't help you there, but I'm sure someone will come along soon and explain the whole "rubber chicken" concept!

Ask as many questions as you like, there's never a silly one. There's usually more than 1 of us who will pop in and have the answer for you.

Good Luck

:beer:

PennyGrabber

Well, after a small spend today and yesterday, I am now up to about £93. That's 29% of the month gone, and 62% of my budget. That's ok, as I did a monthly shop at the beginning of the month, but I can't help feeling that this is what makes me fail. I'm going to try to NOT do a monthly shop next month, and just buy the stuff when I need it, and see if that makes a difference. I think it will, as if i can see i've gone through more month than money, I'll be really pleased with myself.

DD went to her first monday ballet lesson today. Previously, she's always been on a tues, but her dad didn't want her to keep going once she passed her exam, as it would be eating into his time with her. (No comment!!) So, because she still desperately wants to do it, I've moved her to another class, on a day when she is with me. However, the class is from 5 til 5:45, which means we have to have a quick-to-cook dinner after that, and then straight to bed. Did meatballs and spaghetti tonight, may do jackets next week, as they can be in the oven while we're out. Bit of a faff, but it means that dd gets to do something she loves, and I get to spend 45 mins with ds. Ok, we were only shopping, but it was nice just the 2 of us (he's the younger, so never really been just me and him). It was the perfect time to shop, too, as we were on a real time limit. Dash in, dash round, dash out. May try to not shop again til next monday! (I only spent £4.89!)

PG x