I'm eating out of the freezer and cupboards challenge

recovering_spendaholic

Not doing terribly well so far this month. I had depleted my stocks to such an exptent that I thought I had better do a shop so I made a meal plan and then did pretty much all of my shopping for the coming month and some of next month at Tesco, Ocado and Aldi - spent just over £200 in total but have loads of stuff in stock once again.

Last night I used up the last of the beef I cooked at the weekend which was free!! I had bought it in Tescos and roasted it and it was sooooo tough. I rang the store and told them and they said to bring the wrapper and receipt back and they would give me a refund, which I did. The meat was still unusable so I diced it and made braised steak on Monday and then made a steak pie with the rest last night. I have to say that the steak pie wasn't that nice because, for some reason, the gravy went all thin and "juicy" in the pie but it still got eaten.

Today DD will be having the last of the pie for lunch, other DD has taken chicken bagels to work for lunch and I will have some soup made with some of the chicken. Dinner will be chicken curry made with the last of the chicken (great buy - £6 in Sainsburys ages ago and frozen - but HUGE!), some boiled rice and naans from the freezer.

I am just trying to resist the urge to buy some stuff on the approved food website as they have Sharwoods double naans packs at 3 for 99p, and cases of cereal bars for 50p!!!

Lynsey

Making my meatloaf now, eventually decided on that. lol
Pate on toast for late breakfast.

Talking of nan breads - these make great bases for pizzas.
We do it all the time and probably great for kids to make their own - could be fun for them??

I wet the nan breads first (stop them drying out too much) and use a homemade tomato base (chopped tinned tomatoes, little puree, half a tspn sugar, mixed herbs and softened onions) and cover with cheese (mozzarella or a mix) and what ever toppings we want. Worth a try and a nice easy cheat.

Lynsey

quintwins

wow i hadn't looked at approved foods in a few days ebcause i'm not ordering but those cereal bars are a fab deal. but i'm not ordering lol i will resist

we're staying at home today so will use some bits up, cereal for breakfast, and scambled egg on toast for lunch dinner will be sheperds pie and i'm sure there will be loads of fruit eaten inbetween

sock-knitter

sliced chicken breast made in to sandwhich for lunch, and curry and rice from freezer for tea

h007

portion of lasagne out of the freezer for dinner tonight.
2 packs of pitta breads into the freezer though - special offer in coop and i thought in this weather they would probably go off abit quick in the cupboard

SpendSpendSpend

Hi all, I've just discovered this thread and realised you're all doing what I'm trying to do this month.

I live on my own but shop as though I'm feeding a family of 4! I love cooking (as long as I've got the time) so buy loads of different ingredients so I've "got them in" incase I decide to cook something new & different but I never do. I also have a problem in that I can't just buy one of something, I always get two even though I know I don't need it. I just love wondering around a supermarket looking at all of the different food and stocking up!

I think I inherited this from my parents as they do the same. It doesn't help that they used to work in catering and so bought everything in catering sizes and cooked large portions so I find myself doing the same and have some of their old utensils even though I'm only cooking/eating for one!

About 3 weeks ago I had a long, hard look at my finances and saw how bad they were so decided I needed to do something about it, especially as I realised how tight August was going to be if I finally stopped using my credit card. So, I looked around the kitchen and realised I had cupboards bursting with food & a freezer full and decided I had to start using everything up instead of buying loads more. Fortunately I did a lot of batch cooking at Easter so have lots of portioned meals which means I don't have to spend ages cooking when I get home from work and/or I can take them to work for lunches.

I've got loads of dried pasta in so I think I will be concocting alsorts of different sauces to go with it all. I'm a bit worried as I haven't got much fresh fruit or veg in but I have got some tinned pineapple and frozen veg so that'll have to do.

I'm also doing the NSD challenge this month so am combining it with this to keep on top of my finances.

I've managed to not buy any food for over a week now and am dreaming of wondering around the supermarkets and stocking up again but I'm determined not to.

After reading some of this thread I'm looking forward to some of the meal ideas for what's going to be left in my kitchen by the end of the month.

Well done to those that have done well with this challenge and good luck everyone.

Lynsey

Welcome to MSE spendspendspend.

Bought 2 packs of satsumas last night in Sainsburys for 29p per pack, got the 2 packs of free almonds (voucher thread) and another 2 bags of milk with another free Jug-it for £1.
Light breakfast, toast and grapefruit and having an easy day. Going to fry what's left of the meatloaf and have butties for lunch. Just about to bake some bread (well machine!!!) and hoping it doesn't rain today so I can get in the garden - looks iffy though.
Lack of bread/tea-cakes/hot cross buns in freezer - high on my list of wanted items - reduced of course.
Lamb cutlets tomorrow with new potatoes and mashed swede.

Lynsey

LizzieB

Afternoon all. Working hard today - boss was pleased so all is good. Did well yesterday, really fancied a pizza at lunch but took inspiration from Lynsey and had pitta 'pizzas'. Lovely, even though I didn't use any cheese! Leftover roast lamb made a dhansak with a 30p Loyd Grossman sauce from Mr S and HM yogurt mint dip. DH had baby popadums.

Rubber chicken night tonight. Challenge to myself - can I make it last until Sunday lunch (soup and bread by then!)?

Lynsey - if you have a second, could you tell me a bit more about your meatloaf please? I've made them before, but I always like to see how others do it (and how much extra veg/lentils they squeeze in

Oh, and my mom proudly told me yesterday that my cucumbers (all around 3 inches - long story!) were the best she had ever tasted (apart from my dearly missed Grandad's!) which was lovely

Take care
Lizzie

LizzieB

Hi spendspendspend - supermarket shopping is my downfall too! Forget clothes and all that other stuff...! My DH jokes (though it's not a joke) that I reference holidays (home and abroad) by the supermarkets there. We haven't been long back from Turkey (and gutted for those who are affected by holidays4u) and I have lentils from Carrefour, cracked wheat from 'Azda'!

Don't forget, frozen veg can be as nutritious - if not more - than fresh depending on how long the 'fresh' has been in transit.

Lynsey

LizzieB wrote: »

Lynsey - if you have a second, could you tell me a bit more about your meatloaf please? I've made them before, but I always like to see how others do it (and how much extra veg/lentils they squeeze in

I kept it very simple Lizzie, just mixed 500g of pork mince with a made up packet of stuffing (170g I think), a beaten egg and diced onion and seasoned. I used red onion because I used Aunt Bessies red onion stuffing (reduced) and because I had red onions (reduced). Put in loaf tin, put some sliced red onion on the top, drizzle with olive oil and baked. Had no bacon or I would have lined the tin with bacon.
Next time I'll think I'll try half pork mince/half beef mince?? I've got plenty of cheap steak mince in the freezer.

Lynsey