a month without supermarket - new challenge for 2011 starts at post 1013

Peem

I've been doing fine, but unfortunately I'm gonna have to go to the supermarket.

It's washing powder I need and there's no where I can find it.

(my costco membership's run out and I want to wait until I need a big shop to renew it.)

Though I think if that's all I need to go for I'm doing not too badly so I'm refusing to beat myself up about it.

Sorry guys - feel free to drum me out of the team

catznine

I was going to cook up the lamb and rosemary sausages tonight ,with mash and cauliflower cheese, but now I have seen your post lil-me I think I had better find something else as we have ds's gf coming to visit. Will try them later when it is just oh and myself.

Peem you are not drummed out just cos you needed something from a supermarket. We are all going to have to do some shopping there until we find other suppliers and it may well be that some of us will have to include supermarkets indefinately for some items. I had to do a £10 shop at our local co-op last week.

lil_me

Might just be the way mine had been stored/packed, these were the ones which were frozen solid when they arrived. I find it safest to try new things on family first aswell of course, just incase!

Washing powder - mine arrived off ebay, next day delivery too, and 50p cheaper a box inc the delivery that ASDA, very pleased I think I've got enough powder to last me the year :rotfl:

Hope it's ok to post this, if not BG please remove - I bought from here http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Direct-Stock-Clearance-Ltd they even have sugar at the mo, handwash etc lots of different stuff that I would usually rely on supermarket for (Paid for with paypal earnings from old stuff I sold on ebay even better! sort of free then isn't it, plus the buy now via quidco/nectar estores, every little helps doesn't it )

competitionscafe

lil_me wrote:

Bacon didn't smell right cooked a bit of it to see and it still smelt funny, DP tried it and said was disgusting, so that is safer binned!

Wonder what happened with your bacon as Swaddles bacon is usually really good, even John Toad from Masterchef thought so in this taste test:

· Organic smoked bacon

Dorset Farms Organic Smoked Streaky Bacon approx £13.50 per kg incl p& p. (Stockists and mail order: 01308 868822)
Yum. If you like bacon but don't want too much fat, this is the business.
*****

Swaddles Green-back Bacon 250g, £4.31 (0845 4561768; https://www.swaddles.co.uk)
Gosh. A yummy bit of bacon with great fat. Or, as John puts it, 'That's no bullsh*t bacon. Give it six out of five.'
******

Graig Farm Organics Smoked £14.04 per kg (01597 851655; https://www.graigfarm.co.uk)
This could be great, but the rind is too chewy and the smoke flavour too heavy.
***

Duchy Originals Back Bacon 184g, £3.99, widely available
A disappointing product from Duchy, from whom we expected more. Not enough fat, not enough flavour. An all-round let-down.
*

Tesco Danish Organic 200g, £2.39
The label asks, 'Why organic?' and so do we. It's a watery, flavourless processed-tasting bacon.
No stars

In a recent test by Hugh Fearnley Whatsisname the best bacon he tried (smoked and unsmoked) was from Graig Farm:
http://www.graigfarm.co.uk/

Maybe something happened to it on the way to you and it had started to go off? I know it's one of the few bacons made without nitrates (preservative) so does not keep as well as others and maybe it sat in a warm delivery van or warehouse for a while?

On a more positive note, although I have not tried Sheepdrove they have a very good reputation (owned by Dorling Kindersley publishing people) and they supply organic chickens to Waitrose. Helen Browning supply Sainsburys with some organic produce so these are both producers at the larger end of the small producer scale.....

Also recommended is: http://www.browncoworganics.co.uk/

competitionscafe

Re wine - I order mixed cases from here because I like to support small independent wine merchants and wine producers and having tried a few I found their wine choices to be consistently good:
http://www.stonevine.co.uk/

For washing machine I get the laundry liquid from here (dishwasher liquid and washing up liquid too) If you buy in bulk it's cheaper + free delivery (On orders over £35)
http://www.faithinnature.co.uk/

kscour

Peem wrote:

I've been doing fine, but unfortunately I'm gonna have to go to the supermarket.

Don't worry Peem I have had to resort to lidls every week as I'm looking around trying to find out what's where. I like to think that every penny that hits the till of an independent trader is a bonus, perhaps even a lifeline, so everything that you can spend there is an achievement rather than any thing you don't spend there being a failure (if that makes sense:o )
So instead of worrying about having to go to the supermarket to buy washing powder be very very impressed with yourself for only having to go to the supermarket to buy washing powder.:T

lil_me

Putting it down to the way it was sent, and that it's just my luck! I did notice the without nitrates label. Could be both that were a problem. Maybe that is why the sausages were not very nice either. I have used https://www.summernaturals.co.uk several times, inc for soap nuts, which I use on the less heavy soiled stuff. They also accept paypal. I'm finding the paypal ones good because I spend without noticing the pinch.

Really like the look of the graigfarm site, very interesting, will be on the to try list.

catznine

We had the lincolnshire sausages tonight from Goodness Direct and they were ok, a bit rich but really nice. Instead of the lamb and rosemary (which we will save for another time) we had some pork and sundried tomato sausages from the depths of the freezer, (think they were from Sainsburys though):o

Lelc

Well, I haven't been to the supermarket for a week which must have saved me an absolute fortune. Unfortunately, however, I have a very fussy cat who will only eat Purina One which is only available at Ts. I've tried every pet shop and online shop but noone sells. The foods on offer at the moment so I have £20 of vouchers to use up so will use them and buy 2 or 3 big bags. At least I won't need to go near Ts again for a while.

I have found a wholesale greengrocers close to where I work. It's not local or organic produce but they are a small local business and they supply the local hotels and restaurants.

I'm off for a drive round today to see if I can find a farm shop - you'd think in the Highlands there would be loads of them but I'm struggling to find one. I'm also not aware of a local box scheme - the only one I've found up here doesn't deliver to my area. But I'll keep looking. I'm happy with the butcher though and noticed his van collecting meat from the abbatoir (which is just down the road from me).

I like the idea of buying things like washing powder in bulk but unfortunately they charge an arm and a leg to deliver up here. It's crazy really because some of the big companies deliver here at no extra cost but for smaller suppliers the cost of delivery can be double.

sandieb

kscour wrote:

I like to think that every penny that hits the till of an independent trader is a bonus, perhaps even a lifeline, so everything that you can spend there is an achievement
.:T

How true!

As an offshoot from this thread, I recently shunned the "optician supermarkets" and, reacting to the conveyor belt feel of the biggies, I tried my local independent optician. I had to pay for my eye test but WOW what excellent lovely service.

And I can walk there saving eye miles!