August 2011 Grocery Challenge

Islandmaid

Hi all

Back to work and another NSD, did do an order online last night with approved foods, but decided that I had only ordered because it was cheap, an I wouldn,t normally buy 100 choc biscs and a mountain of snacks so I cancelled it before paying Phewwwww

Cold chicken and gammon tonight with HM colslaw and new pots from the garden - yummy.... Didn,t feel like a roast yesterday as it was boiling hot so ate the savory crumble thingy I made for later in the week, was very good too

DD just informed me that her mobile was run over by accident (her fault) and can I get her a new one, have advised her that I have an old phone set aside for such emergencies and the response was that it was a 'brick' and she wouldn,t be seen dead with it - hey-ho that,ll save me a small fortune in mobily call,s for her - kids hey!!!!!!

Have a great evening all x

rising_from_the_ashes

mandco wrote: »

ok daft question but wanna start doing some batch cooking and freezing ready for winter usually just cook what we need but with ever increasing fuel prices really need to start maximising usage. if I make things like spag bol/ sheperds pie/stew do they need to be defrosted before reheating or can they be done from frozen??and how long do i defrost/cook for?(always forget to take stuff out the freezer to defrost in the morning:o so cooking from frozen works better if possible)
also whats the best thing to freeze them in?

Things like Spag bol sauce / mince / chilli can be cooked from frozen:D. Put into saucepan with a little water and a knob of butter, put lid and put on lowest heat until it defrosts totally, then just really cook as you would normally (simmer etc)

You can apparently do this with things like chicken casserole etc but I prefer to let these defrost "naturally" (just to be sure).

Re freezing in things - I use the foil trays you can find in £land etc (great for 1 portion just for me) - if you're careful you can wash & reuse them several times;). If you're wanting to freeze bigger portions, say for a family, a plastic tub with lid would do fine.

If you've things like gravy, fruit etc, I put a plastic freezer bag into something like a square plastic tub, fill, tie and put into the freezer. Once frozen, the plastic bag is easily removed from the tub - you can get loads more into the freezer this way!:D

HTH

Back at work today:( but have managed my 1st NSD for ages!:j

Rowan9

69chick wrote: »

Hi all. am on holiday at the moment near Aberdeen at my brother and sister in laws..GC sort of on hold, I did spend yesterday whilst here so I might add that to the sig and see if I can keep up with it, however it will be different to my usual spending as I am not as 'tight' with my shopping whilst on holiday and spend more on treats etc. but the money has to come from somewhere I suppose..

We have been to a lovely beach today at a small fishing village, weather isn't great but the kids loved it and we got ice creams on the way home (quite impressed as they had an array of flavours and were only £1.10 each!!)

we are here till Thursday, when we will begin our long journey home back down South, making a couple of stops on the way....do any of you have any suggestions as to good places to stop with 3 young children? need a stop either south of Scotland or not long into England and then another in the middle of England....not GC related sorry but thought I would ask...

Hope everyone is doing well sticking to budgets,am off to catch up on some posts now xx

ooh how fab. I'm from these parts :cool: although living in Edinburgh now. What is your route home? We're just back from a week in England and went M6. I love Tebay services on the south carriageway because of picnic area and the butcher's there sells fab pork pies but the cafe/ restaurant is expensive so a picnic is advised!
Sneaking out of the grocery challenge this month as a bit over and lost, not quite the will to live, although almost, but my grocery receipts when DSS ages 17 and 20 were here for a week along with one girlfriend. Wow they can eat - don't mind that but the moaning about it being not chip shop food got to me. Ah well, I have sent them back with a fair amount of vitamins from all the veg and from scratch cookery pokery.

westlothianlass

Hi all, I've updated my signature after spending even more:o. I can't believe how much food we have needed over the last few weeks with school hol's and people visiting. Hey ho it's been lovely having them and at least i know what my son has been eating:rotfl:.
Trying to not get too downtrodden by overspend and think i will need to up my estimate for September and try again.
Thanks to all that post and keep this thread alive it's so nice to catch up with how people are doing.
x

quintwins

decided to nip to tesco for the clover offer (i now have 7 tubs of marge in my fridge) i got 4 tubs and 5 loafs of bread, a bag of spuds and a packet of mini scotch eggs for £5.60

hex2

A review of the fridge contents has meant I could cancel Fridays F&V box putting a much needed £13 back in the budget. Bought cream and cold meat today so now have £15.39 to last to the 31st, a lot less painful than 2.39 at least!

Dinner was very stretched cold roast beef made into a kind of hash using the dripping, with lots of potaotes, onions and a fried egg on top, served with peas from the freezer. Much nicer than a small slice of beef each would have been.

cattysmum

Trip out to Tesco to use up daily mail voucher and a few other vouchers, spent Mr Ts £32.00 Morrisons (a few special offers, washpowder, Robinsons juice) Mr T £32.13 Morrisons £14.91 think thats my budget gone got to tot up will report back!!

I have blown my budget this month but it is only because I have included fuel I was maybe being a little ambitious for my first monthly challenge and next month I may leave fuel costs off. It has certainly opened my eyes as to how much I used to spend and so now I will try to get to end of the month on NSDays and living out of the cupboard/freezer, which is quite well stocked.

CupOfChai

Thanks, Rosieben. I may try to be more flexible with the plan and see where that gets me, though I might find that difficult!

starflower_2

Ooops.:( Not been on for few days and have just totalled receipts from the weekend, comes to £9.39 in total so over budget with over a week to go :mad:. And I'll need fresh fruit & veg, milk bread, eggs, loo roll and squash plus some other bits and bobs before then. Oh well, better luck next month!

JayJay14

I'm 3p under budget with a week to go - don't think I'm going to make it:D

Will try to minimise the damage as the next month is going to be really tight. Luckily DS owes me a little more than his board so that will cover the grocery budget for next month.

Have been checking back on what I have been buying and notice a few bulk purchases that will last through next month so it might not be too bad - especially with my bulging freezers and cupboards.