Grocery Challenge - February 2012

rising_from_the_ashes

Disdisbiff wrote: »

Went shopping last night and got some fantastic whoopsies at my local MrT. I managed to get nearly £50 worth of meat and fish for £2.60 i couldn't believe my luck.

Ninno820 wrote: »

Wow - its times like this that I really regret living so far away from a supermarket!

Me too Ninno!:)

scotmumof3 wrote: »

It's really hard to quit but I'm trying:o I was buying 2 of the 500mls at work EVERY day and also drinking it at home in the evening so I was spending over £20 a week just on cola. I've managed to cut it down to none at work and maybe 2 bottles at home for the week. I don't like coffee and only drink tea occasionally but it's tough:mad:

Another cola addict here .... I did manage to cut down a lot (prob 6 cans/day at work & a 2 litre bottle at home:o) to one can with lunch and 1/2 bottle at home but it's been creeping up again :mad:. I have just bought some 2L bottles at Mr T (B2G2F) but have no cans in the house:eek: so will be attempting to take concentrated apple juice for lunches this week. Probably not much cheaper as always buy DC cans on offer but surely has to be better for me!:)

scotmumof3

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Me too Ninno!:)



Another cola addict here .... I did manage to cut down a lot (prob 6 cans/day at work & a 2 litre bottle at home:o) to one can with lunch and 1/2 bottle at home but it's been creeping up again :mad:. I have just bought some 2L bottles at Mr T (B2G2F) but have no cans in the house:eek: so will be attempting to take concentrated apple juice for lunches this week. Probably not much cheaper as always buy DC cans on offer but surely has to be better for me!:)

I bought a bottle of water from sm about four weeks ago and have just been filling it with tap water at home to take to work. At first I HATED it but now I find it's not too bad. It's not the same and I know it's the caffeine I miss but like you I know it's better for me:mad: I have been saving the money I would have spent and am amazed at how much I have. I still have cravings now and then but I'm determined to keep going. DH is a coffee drinker and doesn't "get" the whole cola thing so no sympathy there:( x

rising_from_the_ashes

So .... a slight change of plan with the 2 Mr T vouchers (I was going to give one away last night):o

After looking at their website, I saw that cat food was on offer as well as loads of cleaning products - so decided to stock up on those this week with the £5 off £40 voucher and use the £7 off £50 one for food next week....

So, to add to the stockpile of Persil washing liquid recently bought on offer at the Co*op (around a years' supply), I can now add the same amount of fabric conditioner.:T

Topped up stocks to around 6 months' supply of bleech, toilet cleaner, surface sprays, floor cleaner and washing up liquid.

Just totted up the bill and I got £73.19 worth of stuff for £35.70 so well pleased with that:D.

After cat food has been deducted (separate budget), I only have :j£24.27 to add to the grocery budget ... not too bad as I won't have to buy washing stuff for a year and cleaning stuff for around 6 months:D!

Only downside .... I got another £5 off £40 spend for next week - to add to the £7 off £50 one I already have - aaaarrrrrgggghhhh!:) (will take both and see which I need)

freakyogre

I've gone over my total this month, but I am going to carry the extra over to March rather than include it in February and ignore it.

I'd run out of quite a few things at once, so expected to go over a bit

£21.82 in Morrisons on washing powder, 3 x body spray, flour, 2 x bleach, 2 x seeds, 2 x Pringles , foil, bananas, rice, deodorant, lip balm and cling film. The cling film was quite expensive (£3.49 :eek:) however, it's one in a box with the blade built in. My dad has one and they're really good and can obviously be reused with cheaper stuff in future. I have a terrible habit of cutting cling film on the worktop so I have no excuse now.

£8.57 spent in Lidl on leeks, potatoes, clementines, cheese and 3 x packs of sausages.

rising_from_the_ashes

scotmumof3 wrote: »

I bought a bottle of water from sm about four weeks ago and have just been filling it with tap water at home to take to work. At first I HATED it but now I find it's not too bad. It's not the same and I know it's the caffeine I miss but like you I know it's better for me:mad: I have been saving the money I would have spent and am amazed at how much I have. I still have cravings now and then but I'm determined to keep going. DH is a coffee drinker and doesn't "get" the whole cola thing so no sympathy there:( x

Well done:T I know how hard a habit it is to break - I don't really drink a lot of hot drinks, esp at work as it's so warm.

I've switched to diluting juice with water (hate still water on it's own) at work and sparkling water at home (I got a Soda*stream for Christmas:)) but just always want something different for a change with lunch....

PennyGrabber

cleggie wrote: »

Wow Scotmum, thats a LOT of lentils!:eek:
Are you a veggie, or do you just like lentils?

I found this link quite good for using upp my lentils:
http://www.lentilrecipes.co.uk/

Hope that helps!

Thanks for that link - there are links there to other lists of recipes, like potato recipes, etc etc. Will be worth a perusal!!

scotmumof3

cleggie wrote: »

Wow Scotmum, thats a LOT of lentils!:eek:
Are you a veggie, or do you just like lentils?

I found this link quite good for using upp my lentils:
http://www.lentilrecipes.co.uk/

Hope that helps!

Thanks cleggie no we're not veggies although I am trying to cut down on the meat. The lentils must have been on a special offer at some time:D Thanks for the link will peruse and see what I can come up with:T

cleggie

PennyGrabber wrote: »

Thanks for that link - there are links there to other lists of recipes, like potato recipes, etc etc. Will be worth a perusal!!

Also, when you click on the different sections (such as 'carrot cke recipes), under the ingrediants & method, you get another list of recipes. In the case of Carrot cake, you get sweet/cake recipes, but its different for each one.

Glad you found it useful!

scotmumof3

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

Well done:T I know how hard a habit it is to break - I don't really drink a lot of hot drinks, esp at work as it's so warm.

I've switched to diluting juice with water (hate still water on it's own) at work and sparkling water at home (I got a Soda*stream for Christmas:)) but just always want something different for a change with lunch....

I thought about getting a soda stream but wasn't sure if it would work out cheaper for us

tracey12_2

Spiggle wrote: »

Hi lovely ladies,

Advice please! A friend kindly gave us a butternut squash last night. We don't know what to do with it but I thought roasted would be good to go with our cottage pie later. Any advice please on how best to roast it? Alternatively, any other suggestions for using it other than soup please?

Thanks,
Spigs

I usually cut in half and scoop out the seeds and then slice thinly, toss in olive oil, salt and pepper and add a crushed clove of garlic and roast for about 45 mins until soft. This also freezes well if you have too much.

scotmumof3 wrote: »

I have been looking in the cupboard in the kitchen and have just found 5 bags of lentils :eek: can't really imagine why I have 5 bags but looking for recipes now with lentils in them. I found one for lentil burgers but I'm not really sure if these are any good any comments will be gratefully received and will help rid me of the lentil mountain:D

If you like soup you could try the carrot and lentil soup in the recipe collection at the beginning of the thread.

Or how about this link for a spicy root and lentil casserole http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1364/spicy-root-and-lentil-casserole

I have this recipe in the family meal planner and it is on my list to do.

Tracey