August 2011 Grocery Challenge

MummyEm

DH popped out to get a couple of bits as need bread, bananas and some bacon for the dinner. He didn't get a receipt but says it was £5.4something so I'll add £5.50 to my total.

Off shopping today. L**L and Mr T, but have both kiddies with me so will need to be strict!
I have mealplanned up to Weds next week, and kids are at in-laws for a couple of days before then so hoping to keep the costs low. Flip side of this is that in-laws are here for an evening meal when they collect them!
I should then be able to do just one more shop for Aug which would be great.
I will be withdrawing £20 cash today which I will include in the GC too as this will be for a take-out treat for us on Sat when kids are away

I will be back later to update ...

cutestkids

Spent £4.59 Yesterday on coffee, apples, Bananas and milk, just noticed that the kids have eaten all the apples so will have to go for more,

Kids go back to school tomorrow so back to packed lunches every day need to think of some ideas so they are not the same every day.

nataz

Think this grocery challenge is starting to work. Been difficult to judge so far as Ive had to fill the store cupboard etc as we hadnt done much home cooking but now the freezers looking full and the weekend shop was so much smaller than normal.

Running total is around £237.70 but that does include lunch out with DH and kids on friday. Just cheap but not sure whether to include it or not??

I think with two weekends to go, its looking pretty good :j

medsdemon

Well back from quite a hard week at my mum's and better get back to meal planning. As predicted OH went off the menu plan and meals I'd prepared for them and shopped most days. Oh well, he has no idea of what he spent so I shall ignore last week and continue where I left off since his spending came out of his own money:o

Have to nip to Sains as we have NO toilet roll, milk or shower gel:mad: but that's all I'm buying. I have lentil soup bubbling in the SC to freeze in portions for lunches and I have made a White cabbage Gratin from a half cabbage that was languishing in the back of the fridge ( a Nigel Slater recipe so bound to be good). Also made a pasta bake with 2 LO sausages and H/M tomato sauce and the last bit of parmesan. So this should be the next 2 meals dealt with without s pending and using up lots of bits:D Melon slices for pudding which has been in the fruit bowl since I went away because OH bought ready sliced melon:eek:.

MummyEm

OMG kinda lost the plot in Mr T and L*DL this morning. Had both kids with me. Both got hungry and grouchy even after the snacks I taken out so ended up getting them more snacks, and throwing random stuff into the trolley just to get it over with!

I did stock up on some items which weren't on my list but which we will use so that's ok. I had mealplanned up to next weds but think I will try to mealplan up to the end of the month as the freezer and cupboards are looking pretty full so should just be able to manage on fresh fruit/veg top up.

I have also included the £20 for a takeout on sat for us when kids are away but will probably only spend £15 I think. I didn't get DH and I finest bung in the oven ready meal type thing which I had promised him for Friday (our other night off - we haven't treated ourselves for a long time so making the most of it!). I couldn't see any I fancied in Mr T but know there are a couple we like in W**trose so will be picking something up from there for then which will add further to the total.

Current total £345.26 of £450 budget so I need to be very careful now not to get overexcited and blow it!

mijm0t77

hi all

not had a chance to read other posts today so i will have a read later.

total spend so far this month is at £162.36 / £300.00 so i am on target to stay within my budget for this month. have a pretty well stocked freezer at the mo so that should help.

meg72

cat_smith wrote: »

OK. Totally lost track this month. Have been doing some winter stocking up and lost some receipts. Think I'll be well over but at least we'll have something to eat when we get snowed in :rotfl:

Well done on the winter stock up, I think its well worth going a bit over budget to be prepared and of course come the time we are snowed in we will be well within budget.:)

Gintotmelinda

Afternoon all

Just added up my receipts and they came to more than I'd like so it's time to use up what I have in the freezer (need to defrost it) and plan a few more veggie meals.....

Trying hard to make it this month.

Have a good afternoon all.

Gintot

nickynoo08

Did a mini top up shop yesterday. Spent £14.08 on juice, bread, milk, cereal, rice pud and because the kids had been good i treat them to cookies.
Have only got £23.06 left in my budget till the 29th which doesnt sound a lot but its more than doable. 'Should' only need milk, bread and fruit between now and then. Famous last words!

Hippeechiq

Long_tall_sally wrote: »

Hippeechiq - you've had more luck with your tomatoes than I have had with mine! None of them are red yet & unfortunately we noticed this morning that one of them seems to have snapped in the wind. We have taken the green ones off the now dead plant but not sure whether they will just ripen by themselves now. No idea though why yours look the way they do although I suppose as you say that as long as they taste ok, that is the main thing!

Hi LTS

I've read that placing unripe tomatoes inside a paper bag (so that it's dark) with an unripe banana, will speed the ripening process because of the ethylene gas given off by the banana. Or, placing them in a cardboard box on a layer of newspaper, and again, placing them in the dark. Apparently, they need darkness to ripen best once picked, not sun/light. Odd, eh?!

I have a 6' x 6' x 4' polyurethane greenhouse, which has no doubt helped with the ripening process. I have roughly 100 tomatoes between for Shirley tomato plants though, and will be a bit disappointed if they all look like the ones in the photo.

That said, I plunged them in boiling water for 45 seconds this morning, skinned them then chopped them and cooked until they had reduced by half, and the resulting sauce looks and tastes fine, so it doesn't seem to matter...I just wanted them to look "pretty" :rotfl:

20somethinghousewife wrote: »

HIPPEECHIQ I've never grown tomatoes so I don't really know what I'm talking about but...
I think I've read somewhere that the skin looks like that when they haven't had a constant amount of water. Like if they're watered, allowed to dry out, watered again etc so they don't have the constant moisture while they're growing. There's nothing wrong with them though, they'll be perfectly edible, they just have stretch marks
Hope that makes sense, didn't explain it very well! Someone please correct me if I'm way off

Thanks for your reply 20something - you explained yourself perfectly actually
I think you're probably right, as I'm never sure when I should/shouldn't be watering given the unseasonally cool, wet weather, as I've noticed that if I water when it's cold it causes huge condensation problems inside the g/house even with the door open, and as I understand it, damp conditions for too long causes another set of problems. It's certainly more complex than I thought it would be, although that said, I have enjoyed it enormously and intend to try again next year.

My Dad kindly bought the plants for me this year, but due to lack of funds, I need to try from seed next year. Plus I think it would be more satisfying.

I need it to be cost effective though. Taking into account the cost of seeds, compost, water (am on a metre) & tomato food, it does make me wonder if it's cheaper than buying a tin of tomatoes, which is the main objective for me.

I don't know what others thoughts are on this?

On the GC front, it's a NSD here. Although a NSD for me today, equates to a heavier bag tomorrow................there's always a catch, isn't there?