March 2012 Grocery Challenge

tigerfeet2006

Last night dinner went well, thankfully.

I put 50g of plain flour (I use Doves GF Plain flour) in a bowl with salt and pepper and a tsp of paprika and mixed it together. Then I cut up 450g of pork into cubes and stirred it into the flour mixture, making sure it was well covered.

I then put a little veg oil in a pan and browned the meat. Do it in batches if your pan is small. Put the pork in the SC when browned. Brown 2 medium chopped onions, a couple of cloves of garlic to taste and a couple of carrots cut into battens in the same pan, add a little butter (Pure for DF) if the pan is a bit dry. Add to the SC.

Add a little more butter (Pure) to the pan and then add in around 100g of sliced mushroms to brown, then pop into the SC.

Pop a couple of tbsp of marmalade and 450ml of beef or chicken stock ( I use Bisto best) and sprinkle some thyme on and stir through.

Turn on the SC

I served this with corn on the cob and buttery mash but you could do baked potatoes or even fresh, crusty bread.

If you want to do this as a casserole follow the instructions and put in a oven proof dish, cover and then put in a preheateted oven on 180degC for 3 hours.

(please check labels as manufacturers often make changes to ingredients.)


Tonights dinner was baked potatoes with beans and grated cheese. The kids asked for it as a treat :rotfl:I didn't complain Nice cheap meal

PennyGrabber

elsiepac wrote: »

Checked and mum has a dough hook thing as some lkind person mentioned before, so I'll try that next time!

That was me! I always make my pizzas like that. It's a bit dull, standing there while it's doing, but it's so much easier/cleaner than doing it by hand!!

Living_proof wrote: »

Good evening all you frugal shoppers! I went in to town at 8am and had a quick whizz around A**i and L**l as I find that making the journey on a Saturday now just cuts the day in half somehow. I spent £19.50 and that is enough for a couple of weeks, except for milk, salad and bananas which I will need to get when I am next passing through. What amazing value those discount stores represent for fruit and vegetable and staple items. I am convinced they only make money on the tat in the middle aisles, although to be fair some of that is good value if it's something you need and don't buy on impulse.

I haven't had a chance to read all the posts yet but hope to catch up over the weekend. Hope this springlike weather is making life a little easier for you all in lots of ways. We will all have to walk everywhere soon as the price of petrol is so high!

Amen to that! I have a petrol budget that I can't afford to raise, so if the price goes up too much, I'll be forced to use the car less. However, now farmf00ds has opened literally round the corner, I should be able to walk there and do my once a week shop. It'll certainly help me not buy too much! (I'm even thinking about getting a granny trolley!)

Our third a!di is currently being built in our town, and it looks like quite a big one. I'm loving having the choice of cheaper places, and really love getting loads for my money.

Spent today, £1.44 for some pork mince, reduced from £3, a large pack, and two kinder eggs for the children (and a kitkat chunky for me!)

Off to bake and decorate cakes now, so I'll catch up with you all tomorrow or Sunday. Happy weekend everyone!

PG x

scotmumof3

Hi everyone hope you are well. A NSD for me today:T.

hex2

Thanks for the heads up Spiggle on MrT. Have changed my order to tomorrow to take advantage of the Quidco £5 off as well as the £7 off a £70 they sent me. Wouldn't have spotted it otherwise so much appreciated.

Quick call into MrA this morning (c£12) for veg as I cancelled my F&V box this week, thanks also to whoever mentioned the 30p evaporated milk, both A and T have it so I am stocking up for DH who drinks two tins a week in his coffee so a good saving.

Someone mentioned Douwe Egberts, Amazon have 30% off DE for first time you order it via subscribe and save.

£11 in co-op on RTC whole chickens, and BOGOF bacon for the weekend.

sistercas

Kylieminoag wrote: »

Thanks - I'm still a beginner and hope to get it down further.... The story so far:

I tend to buy in bulk (we have a fab cellar) eg a 20kg sack of spuds is £3 or so and we can get through it before they go too soft. Flour I buy by the sack and bag up into loaf size bags. I tend to stick to whats in season or on offer - its a bit of a joke at the dinner table that I never pay full price for anything! We eat very little red meat, very few tins (other than tomatoes and kidney beans) and I never buy ready meals or ready prepared food - always make pastry from scrtatch etc etc. We ignore best before dates and are really committed to using up left overs. I have two small freezers - both with inventories stuck to the door. DH and I both love a "ready steady cook" challenge and often google whats in the fridge with the word recipe afterwards! Being all adults theres no fussy eating.... you eat whats put in front of you and are grateful - or go hungry:D

We limit take aways to one a month and never buy coffee/sandwiches. Toiletries are fairly basic unless they've been given as gifts - (we dont bother with lots of products soap, body lotion, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and deoderant are all we tend to use) and cleaning products are equally simple eg stardrops, lemon juice, vinegar!

I dislike supermarkets and would rather buy from the grower direct and do at every opportunity. Ald* is the exception to my rule!

Alcohol - we tend to go to France at least once a year with the estate car (we have family there) and fill the boot with as much as we can - last year we got a fab merlot and a lovely cinsault for E16 for 10 litre box and bought over 100 litres :eek:

and most of all - we really enjoy the simple living / frugal challenge. Waste and extravagance just doesnt feel comfortable and we are really content with our lot and dont envy the people who are burdened by possessions. For me life is about creating memories - not aquiring furniture / clothes / big house. Good job really as we cant afford any of those anyway!

And of course - this thread and everyone who contributes are a source of constant inspiration and hope - thanks everyone.:T

Hope that helps - good luck with your own personal journey - and remember if you go over budget.... its not a failure but another opportunity to improve even more than you have already (we all remember the days before we even worked to a budget!!)

Sorry for long post - had my typing fingers on!

Night everyone - sweet dreams and hugs to everyone who would like one.
x
K

:T:T im even more impressed now
i dont have room to bulk buy , but i do cook from scratch . we do eat alot of meat as i low carb for health reasons , and i buy local free range eggs and milk . other than that i go for all the offers, meal plan , and try not to waste anything. its a work in progress. thankyou for sharing how you do so well

es-six (((hugs)))

NSD today as i spent the day cleaning the house and tidying the patio .
tea was meatball casserole , just onions, garlic and veg in stock with meatballs added for last 15 mins - yummy

FrugalLina

Another unexpected no spend day for me today - I took next door's dogs all the way to the farm shop with my empty rucksack intent on buying some vegetables (not eggs LOL), but despite the struggle to get there as the road is a very busy one and the dogs (well the scatty little one) were all over the place and kept on trying to wander into the road. I was a bit fraught by the time I arrived to discover it was shut. I wandered around trying to find a human, but only chickens seemed to be running the shop.

So, shopping for vegetables abandoned until another day, we just went for a lovely walk instead.

My fabulous neighbour,s who kindly lent me these dogs for my entertainment, think I have been doing them a favour and rewarded me with some chocolates - which I didn't expect at all!

The vegetable shopping will be done tomorrow at L!dls on my way home from spinning group.

DundeeDoll

Frugalina, i have a good picture of you and scatty dogs in my mind -thanx for the giggle
Hello to all. Anunexpected no spend day. Got to work to find tuesday (when i was on annual leave) meetings postponed till 12:30. I teach 9:30 - 12:30 :mad: so my pizza and salad stayed at home (i work 5mins from home so usually get home for lunch) and i stayed at work :mad: so i cheekily asked if admin could get me a sarnie in. And they did. Someone kindly drov to mr t just to get me a £1 egg mayo sarnie :T my fave and came out of petty cash. :T
Had the pizza and salad for supper. Someone gave me a bottle of wine so cam home for that rather than going to the pub. :beer: an cottage pie will be for tomorrow :j

rising_from_the_ashes

PennyGrabber wrote: »

It'll certainly help me not buy too much! (I'm even thinking about getting a granny trolley!)

I got one a while ago, for a similar reason ...... Home Bar*gains store near DM (none near me, so worth a 6 mile detour on my way home now & then) is on the main street where there's NO parking:eek:

I like to stock up when I go and after lugging loads of stuff, up the hill, in the pouring rain - and the handles broke on the loo rolls:eek: - I decided to get one ..... I Love it:D and really don't care what I look like!

I guess it depends on where you live - I've seen quite a few young people with them in the city but certainly not as many around here!:D

Florenceem

I told my DGD - I was getting a shopping trolley - she said - NO! Nannie - only old people have those. She was thinking - old - die! Anyway I got myself a designer trolley - yes - not MSE but it is so well made and I feel good out with it.
I don't smoke/drink/gamble - and we all could do with a treat some time - well - that's how I justified it! Main thing was - worth any amount of money - to avoid back pain from carrying shopping - we don't have a car. I have had really bad pain in my back - just laid on the bed and cried.

kippers

I'm a bit late posting this as my month began on the 24th Feb but
Pls put me down for £300 for March

Thanks you