September 2011 Grocery Challenge

FoxFace

NSD for me today :j

Just on lunch break from work (am loving being back in employment)... I am really thinking this full time employment malarky will give me more NSD's as I just don't have time to shop... it will be forward planning all the way, out of sheer necessity! :eek:

Chicken... something for dinner tonight, maybe I'll just bung it in with some value curry sauce and a portion of rice... after a full day of trying to get my head around benefit legislation, I likely won't have the energy for much else :rotfl:

angelatgraceland

TheThriftyScrumpers wrote: »

Morning
mr t gave me another till spit £9 off a £60. Do I go mad and stock up (but risk blowing the budget) or ignore it and buy what I need? Decisions decisions.
Made some little sponge cakes with ds and dd and added a handful of raisins. Dd loves them. Have to pick out the raisins for ds! Lol, story of my life.

Hugs to all who need them x

Well I make that a 15% saving and I would use it but very wisely on stockcupboard items and very good offers, bogofs etc.
£9 worth of free groceries sounds good to me. I have the same dilemma-neighbour gave me one for £12 off £60-well-I guess I am going to have to use it! It will paybck later after all.

Just knocked up some more soup for soup fans! One large onion, one large carrot,one large potato and 2 free apples off my tree. About 2 litres of boiling water and 2 chicken stock cubes or veg ones-I used chicken as I also used a third of my frozen chicken stock from the last lot I froze(I need the freezer space). Eating the last of my herby bread which doesn't bloat me out like the real breads with yeast in-I will pop the recipe on later!

TrixieB

just spent 12.15 in Tesco -
4x instant custard 24p
6x Hartley's jelly pots - 3 for a £1 - £2
tattie scones 45p
pitta breads 49p
huge bag demerera sugar 2.99
3 large scotch eggs 99p
freezer bags 62p
foil 80p
3 large onions 89
cheese singles 39p

This morning I parboiled up my reduced potatoes from last night and have now portioned them up and frozen them, I have to grate 2kg of carrots, some will be used for coleslaw, some for carrot cake and rest for soup, then need to shred onions and red cabbage to make the coleslaw for OH lunches, make the soup and freeze it up and then make the carrot cakes if I have the energy. Am having a relatively good day today so trying as usual to cram as much in as possible!!
Spaghetti carbonara for tea.

quintwins

angelatgraceland wrote: »

Well I make that a 15% saving and I would use it but very wisely on stockcupboard items and very good offers, bogofs etc.
£9 worth of free groceries sounds good to me. I have the same dilemma-neighbour gave me one for £12 off £60-well-I guess I am going to have to use it! It will paybck later after all.

!

i'm the same i had reduced my budget this month but after recieveing a £9 off £60 voucher i bumped it back up i did a shop online then wrote it as a list itcontains very few fresh items but alot of tins and noodles and gravy that i know will be used anyway after all it would be rude to turn down £9 of free food, thats 4 dinners and atleats one if not 2 lunches free

sproggi

NSD for me again.

DS1 asked me to take him shopping in Mr T's last night and I was so chuffed with myself because I resisted buying anything, mind you, I did enjoy helping DS1 spend his money on the offers

Sproggi

recovering_spendaholic

kahunababy wrote: »

Morning all, managed a much needed NSD yesterday!

Just wanted to ask a quick question, someone mentioned earlier that they use condensed soup to make pasta bakes. Can you please tell me how! We love pasta bakes in our house but I always just buy the jars as I'm not the greatest cook in the world but I would really love to give them a go.

Steak Chibatta (sp?) for DH & I tonight
Fish Fingers, waffles & sweetcorn for DS's
Don't normally give the kids that sort of food but have decided that once every couple of week won't hurt them and they see it as a treat. Also means DH and I can have a grown up meal all by ourselves. Busy night tonight with Cubs and a school visit to find out what they will be doing this coming year so a quick easy meal will work well.

Thanks
xKBx

I use the condensed soup to make pasta bakes - the recipe that I use is an old one which I got from an American book ages ago:

Tuna Pasta Bake

1 tin Campbells condensed celery soup
380g dried pasta, boiled until just cooked
3/4 pint of milk (any kind - I use semi-skimmed)
seasoning - I use salt, black pepper and a pinch of dried herbs)
2 level tbs flour
2 tins tuna
8 tuc, ritz or similar crackers, crushed
2oz grated cheese

It is very simple to make - just put the boiled pasta in a casserole dish and stir through the tuna. Mix the milk, flour, seasoning and soup together and pour over the pasta. Top with the grated cheese and crackers mixed and bake at 160 for 40 minutes. It's lovely! If I don't have any crackers I just whizz a piece of bread in the processor and lightly fry it in a tiny bit of butter and add a bit of salt and mix that with the grated cheese.

You can make any kind of pasta bake using the same sauce recipe and 380g dried pasta. I use the mushroom soup and add diced ham and a few fried mushrooms, or tomato soup and add peppers and onions, or vegetable soup and add peppers, courgettes, onions etc which I have fried first in a little oil and balsamic vinegar - use stock not milk to make up the liquid in the veg one though. I also use the mushroom one and add chicken (the chicken soup is rank IMO!) too.

Another favourite recipe in our house is what we call "Hurry Curry"

Hurry Curry

500g minced turkey or pork
1 chopped apple
1 chopped onion
2tbs mango chutney
2 tbs sultanas
1tsp sugar or sweetner
1 tbs cider vingear (or any vinegar)
1 chicken stock cube dissolved in half a cup of hot water
1 dsp curry powder
1 dsp dried corriander leaf
juice of half a lemon
half a small carton natural yoghurt mixed with 1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp oil

this is really simple - just brown the mince in the tsp oil, and throw in the apple and onion and cook until the onions and apples are soft and the mince is starting to get nice and brown. Then add the sultanas, sugar, vinegar, mango chutney,curry powder, corriander, lemon juice, salt and pepper and the natural yoghurt and cornflour. Cook until sauce thickens - there isn't alot of sauce because that's the way I like it. We have it on naan bread, with a bit of home made raita (made with the other half of the natural yoghurt and cucumber and a tiny bit of mint sauce) and/or mango chutney.

Was hoping for a NSD today but had to give DD2 £3 as we overslept and she didn't have time to have any breakfast.

Dinner tonight is chicken curry with naan and rice, and I have some Cornetto type thingies in the freezer which they can have for afters.

rosieben

recovering spendaholic, I've added your Tuna Pasta Bake and Hurry Curry recipes to the front page index :beer:

kahunababy

Thank you for the recipes. I am going to pop some condensed soup on my list. As for the hurry curry, the ingredients read like a list of what's in my storecupboard, we have everything in for that so it might just be making an outing this weekend. thanks again x

TrixieB

Made the coleslaw - quarter red cabbage, one large onion, 4 large carrots all grated in foodpro and added half salad cream and half mayo and salt and pepper - it's made LOADS.

The other 3/4 red cabbage is in the oven braising with dememera sugar, apples, onions, red wine vinegar, dried cranberries, splash of soy sauce, splash of worcester sauce, cinnamon, salt and pepper - in the oven for an hour or two covered with foil. Will freeze most of it but leave enough out to go with sausages or something tomorrow

Islandmaid

Hi all,

Havn,t had a chance to read through yet - I always feel rude not having a catch-up but posting anyway, its like meeting up with a friend, telling them all your news the dashing off before they,ve had a chance to speak:o

NSD today :T

A foods delivery not arrived yet as ordered at weekend, will update spends when I check the bill

Chicken, ham and leek pie was lush last night, a great user uper of weekend leftovers.

Spag Bol tonight as DS specially requested it, as he Says I never make it as I don,t like pasta - all togther now AHHH:rotfl: will make a double batch and freeze portions for him to have when he doesn,t want to have what we,re having.

DD is being an utter :eek::eek::eek: at the moment, wish I could either re-wind her or fast forward her to the sweet kid she was - i,m sure I was a perfect teenager:A

Have a fab evening all x