Grocery Challenge - February 2012

FrugalLina

I would use them, have done myself in the past and I am still here to tell the tale!

skilly wrote: »

Morning all, just found a 2kg bag of yellow lentils that out out of date 2010:shhh:look a good colour and seems to be no UFO in bag should I use or not ?

123budget

123budget wrote: »

Morning All

PS Came across this recipe in my folder we used to have it regularly so if you like thai this is a nice mild one:_

Oven baked Thai chicken Rice
(i make it in a wok on stove and then transfer to a casserole dish in oven)

vegetable oil
1 onion chopped
4-500g chicken chopped into cubes
5 tbsp thai green curry paste
312g basmati rice or basmati and wild rice mix
2 red peppers
finely grated zest & juice of 1-2 limes
400g reduced fat coconut milk
250ml boiling water

Heat oven to 200 c
heat oil in oven proof casserole or another pot and then transfer later
soften onion for 5 mins
add chicken and curry paste cook for further 3 mins
Add in rice, chopped peppers, lime zest and juice and coconut milk and 250ml boiling water
Bring to boil
pop lid on and put in over for about 20 mins until rice fluffy

Forgot to say this feeds 4 - 5 adults

DundeeDoll

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

=Verdana]

I also recognise that the vouchers gave me a sense of indulgence and I picked up an Oyay moisturiser for £9.99 (good price but I bought one last week) that will combat the seven signs of ageing apparently – so that's old, decrepit, fat, female, fifty, hormonal and what was the last one? Oh yes; forgetful. Brilliant stuff then. :whistle:

:rotfl:So that's what they are. Of course no chance i'll remember :rotfl:

rising_from_the_ashes

123budget wrote: »

Am trying to get ds2 to eat a healthier breakfast - he is sugar addicted!! but due to his rugby training needs something that will keep him going longer - he quite likes the rude food organic granola with honey but it is so expensive at £2.89 for a 500g box - he still needs educating not to have the bowl overflowing with it!!

Does anyone know where I can get granola reasonably priced?

I sympathise ..... the oat based products are sooooo bloomin' expensive compared to wheat ones :mad: .

Li*dl do quite a nice oat granola cereal - it was 99p for a kg a while ago (not been for ages as the store's quite far so I do big stock ups now & then) but think it had gone up to about £1.19....

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

I picked up an Oyay moisturiser for £9.99 (good price but I bought one last week) that will combat the seven signs of ageing apparently – so that's old, decrepit, fat, female, fifty, hormonal and what was the last one? Oh yes; forgetful. Brilliant stuff then. :whistle:

:rotfl:Love this .....:)

Heading off to Mr T shortly to use the vouchers ... I must say I'm totally shocked by their "normal" prices (it's not a place I really shop).

Wanted some Douwe Ed*berts coffee (I know, DM got me hooked on this ) and it's £6.59 a jar :eek: - it's only £4.50 in Mr A!

How on earth does anyone afford to shop there on an "everday basis" if this is the sort of mark up .....

Will report back later on!

elsiepac

123budget wrote: »

Morning All
After two disastrous meals over the last couple of days
1. burnt in oven whilst working on gc spreadsheet!
2. made veggies to big in biryani and rice ended up mushy and veg still rock hard!

so today will stick to old faithful sc beef casserole as in and out all day with sport and parties.

Am trying to get ds2 to eat a healthier breakfast - he is sugar addicted!! but due to his rugby training needs something that will keep him going longer - he quite likes the rude food organic granola with honey but it is so expensive at £2.89 for a 500g box - he still needs educating not to have the bowl overflowing with it!!
Does anyone know where I can get granola reasonably priced? Also where is the cheapest place to buy seeds - sunflower, pumpkin etc.

PS Came across this recipe in my folder we used to have it regularly so if you like thai this is a nice mild one:_

Oven baked Thai chicken Rice
(i make it in a wok on stove and then transfer to a casserole dish in oven)

vegetable oil
1 onion chopped
4-500g chicken chopped into cubes
5 tbsp thai green curry paste
312g basmati rice or basmati and wild rice mix
2 red peppers
finely grated zest & juice of 1-2 limes
400g reduced fat coconut milk
250ml boiling water

Heat oven to 200 c
heat oil in oven proof casserole or another pot and then transfer later
soften onion for 5 mins
add chicken and curry paste cook for further 3 mins
Add in rice, chopped peppers, lime zest and juice and coconut milk and 250ml boiling water
Bring to boil
pop lid on and put in over for about 20 mins until rice fluffy

OMG, this is one of my FAVOURITE recipes! I think it's from Good Food originally, and is SOOOOO yummy and delightful... I would say that I use chicken thighs on the very rare treat occasions when I make it - they stay much more juicy ... oh, I'm salivating...

LC x

elsiepac

Hi all

Another bright and sunny morning here - spring is definitely in the air! :j

I bought 2x 2pts milk yesterday in Mr T from Week 5 of my Feb budget. I don't actually need anything else at all!

I get paid on Wednesday as well, so my Week 1 of March is actually just a few stock bits and Thu and Fri.

Here is Feb:

Feb GC: £72.48/£98
Week 1: £13.38/£14
Week 2: £17.69/£18
Week 3: £12.41/£13
Week 4: £2.98/£14
Week 5: £1.78/£14
Stores: £24.24/£25

I won't officially declare until Tuesday, but I will say I'm VERY pleased as this is my lowest month for shopping EVER. :j

Oh yes, made the Cheap Family Recipes Bean Curry for tea last night (with the other 3 portions in the fridge for the next three nights!). It was LOVELY, much nicer than I expected and I'll definitely be adding that one to my list of regular recipes!

LC

medsdemon

Oh dear I seem to have rather lost control of my GC budget this month and am almost definitely over. I haven't kept count and not sure I will join March either. I'm finding it difficult as OH does so much of the shopping and he doesn't shop systematically or really frugally like me so we're always having to nip out for something that's forgotten. March I will try to regain some control without the GC and maybe return in April. I will still keep reading as you're all so inspirational:T.

Suffolk_lass

skilly wrote: »

Morning all, just found a 2kg bag of yellow lentils that out out of date 2010:shhh:look a good colour and seems to be no UFO in bag should I use or not ?

skilly - they will be fine - my only experience of dried food not being usable was mice. I was almost tempted to go through but decided the compost bin was the best thing! :eek:

bodmin789 wrote: »

So think I will spend some of the afternoon searching out new recipes, and pricing up food processors, we have decided this will be a good investment as we cook the majority of our food from scratch, and having one would save a lot of time - what are other peoples view on this????

bodmin789 - I wouldn't be without mine. I have both a traditional processor and a kitchenaid (from more profligate days) and I use both. Bread is particularly good kneaded in the kitchenaid (which I think of more as a mixer) - also cakes and whisking but pastry, crumbles, soups (and all forms of liquidising) and shredding are the home of the processor

123budget wrote: »

Am trying to get ds2 to eat a healthier breakfast - he is sugar addicted!! but due to his rugby training needs something that will keep him going longer - he quite likes the rude food organic granola with honey but it is so expensive at £2.89 for a 500g box - he still needs educating not to have the bowl overflowing with it!!
Does anyone know where I can get granola reasonably priced? Also where is the cheapest place to buy seeds - sunflower, pumpkin etc.

123budget - If you are up for home-made you could try this:
Home-made granola (Sarah Chase’s recipe adapted by Ina Garten and now Suffolk lass)
Ingredients
4 cups old-fashioned porridge oats (rough oats are better)
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut (I use more like 1 cup or it is too sweet for me)
2 cups sliced almonds
¾ cup vegetable oil
½ cup runny honey
A total of 4 ½ cups of dried fruit to your choice (I would suggest 4 kinds though and usually what is in the store cupboard or on offer) – the original recipe suggests:
1½ cups small diced dried apricots
1 cup small diced dried figs
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup dried cranberries
And 1 cup roasted, unsalted cashews or other nuts of your choice
Directions
Preheat the oven to moderate 350 degrees F.
Toss the oats, coconut, and almonds together in a large bowl. Whisk together the oil and honey in a small bowl. Pour the liquids over the oat mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until all the oats and nuts are coated. Pour onto a large baking sheet.
Bake; stirring occasionally with a spatula, until the mixture turns a nice, even, golden brown, about 45 minutes.
Remove the granola from the oven and allow to cool, stirring occasionally.
Add the dried fruit and nuts. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container. You can pad it out with a few uncooked oats if you don’t go too mad.

Add the dried fruit and nuts. Store the cooled granola in an airtight container. You can pad it out with a few uncooked oats if you don’t go too mad.


Re the cheapest place for nuts and seeds it depends how much you want to buy. Julian Gr*ves, Amazing and HAB are worth checking if you want lots - I must admit I don't use enough to warrant anything other than the bags above the veg in our local co-op or JG when I go to the outlets place (closer to sell-by dates, or light damaged, I believe).

rising - we are also Douwe Edwards fans but I recently bought the refill bags for the first time (naturally I bought 3...)- I did a price comparison on mysm and Sainsbobs won that week - they are different sizes to the rather lovely jars but a calculator to work out the 100g price did it for me.

HTH

SL

meg72

I had £33 left in budget and planned to go to Aldi with the £5 voucher, but lucky for me I called in Asda first and got some fabulous reductions. Spent £19 for what would have been £48.Wont need any meat now for a couple of months. I am now having a good think what to do about Aldi, I do need veg and milk and maybe some stuff for the Garden.

Will update my signature and declare later.Well done everyone.

FairyLight

Spent yesterday batch-baking scones and soda bread for the freezer for the month out of storecupboard bits... I figure if I have them to hand we're less likely to nip to the shops...! I'm normally an accomplished baker of basic things e.g. pancakes, scones etc. I tried to make a batch of twinks but for some reason they didn't really work out - nomatter how I adjusted the oven temp (ours can run a bit high..!) they turned out burnt round the edges and far to soft in the middle pointers anyone as I love hobnobs!?

My plan for the day is to take the remainder of Febs money (name the £9.50 in my purse!) as payday is tomorrow and the budget resets - up to MrT and stock up on bread and rolls for the freezer, marg, and a few value ginger nuts (after yesterdays disaster I think it'll be cheaper for me to stick to value biccies - expensive mistake yesterday!). I'll make a list on the MrT website before I go so I stick to it exactly. Also have 6x 25 extra points coupons so will try to factor that in too, boost the CC points for christmas!

Other plan for today is to go through and adjust the overall budget as we ended up a bit under this month, naughty naughty!

Edit: I've also found 11 euros in my euro purse. I may nip over the border and spend those on bits and pieces too rather than sitting looking at them..!

FairyLight