March 2012 Grocery Challenge

LondonDreamer

Mrs_Addicted_to_Spending wrote: »

A new experience for me today - my DS2 had made biscuits this week at school and they tasted just like shortbread. So I used the same ingredients and along with his instructions made some at home :T. They taste lovely and for the cost of about 60p I made 15 biscuits so this will save me money on the shortbread I have been buying - this is the only biscuit I really eat. I'm definitely going to do them again as it only took me 10 minutes and I had the oven on anyway to cook pasties for lunch.

I used 150g Plain flour, 100g butter, 50g caster sugar. Sifted flour into bowl with sugar and rubbed in butter to make a crumbly mixture. Added in tiny bit of water so I could make the mixture into a dough-like ball, then rolled it out and cut out shapes using a pastry cutter. Cooked in oven for about 12 minutes at 180 degrees.

Shortbread is always a 3-2-1 ratio of flour, butter and sugar. So you've actually made proper shortbread, not just something that tastes like it. Well done! :T

blackandwhitebunny

I've managed very few spends this week, apart from £10 on six packs of smoked salmon from co-op:o I did et two pork belly joints and a free range chicken from sainsbugs on Thurs but paid for them and milk with two nectar vouchers. We did our main shop today, £13 fruit and veg, £4.75 on cheese, £2 in the £ shop (foil and cranberries) and £17.66 in Sainbugs but that included £3.69 for cat litter. Oh and 70p for 6 FR eggs from the market. I will update sig in a moment.
I've used the chocolate brownies recipe from the beginning of the thread and its fantastic, tried it first and have halved it and used it with one of my classes yesterday and they loved it. (mind you teenagers - chocolate :rotfl:) I've made some more this afternoon using all the bits of chocolate I've had hanging around, I also used some Green and Bl*cks drinking choc BBE 2007, its fine.:rotfl:I've added cranberries to these and they work really well with the rich chocolate.

Cool_Nanna

I thought I wouldn't be able to keep up with my GC as hospital visiting has been taking up so much of my time but I have now managed to get back into the swing of things and think I am back on track.
When I go shopping now I only need a small trolley and even though I am spending less I seem to have food in my fridge and cupboards.

Suffolk_lass

NickJW wrote: »

As is always the case - I 'spoke too soon'. I forgot milk yesterday so had to pop to the corner shop to get some - £1.35 to be added to the total.

It could have been worse though - at least I didn't spend anything for lunch, despite having a slight hangover . Today will be a 'fridge surprise' for myself - ie see what needs using up, throw them together with some spices or herbs and hope for the best! Need to get some chores out of the way first then I'll start cooking at around 1.

Dinner will still be pasta and roast is still on for tomorrow.

Hope everybody has a good weekend.

Loving the sig showing how much you have saved since you stopped smoking! That is awesome :T:T

NickJW

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Loving the sig showing how much you have saved since you stopped smoking! That is awesome :T:T

Thanks

I've spent £357.31 on groceries/cleaning products/toiletries this year so far but WOULD have spent more on cigarettes on top of this - £387.45!! Crazy! :eek:

I sound materialistic but money motivates me like nothing else!

WelshWoofer

Just reporting in a spend of £14.50 in Aldi this morning - mostly fresh stuff that should see me through the week - fingers crossed.

So just under half way through the budget with 2 Saturday shops to go this month. I can make it if I'm careful and use what I actually have in the house instead of impulse buying (I'm very good at that!).

lula_moneybaggins

Just popping on to update my totals following trips to T£sco and Salisbury this week. Picked up some nice reduced meat - sirloin steak, beef mince and some lush tuna steaks. Also wine. And gin.

Total spend for this month is now at £59.11 with two weeks left 'til payday.

DundeeDoll

£63.77 at Lidl. Spent nothing since last Saturday Decided to analyse (is that too sad for words?) splitting into protein, f&v, dairy, groceries and munch.
Last week 33.96 (p) + 5.27 (f&v) + 4.99 (d) + 14.89 (g) + 14.54 (m) = 73.65
This week 22.68 (p) + 12.13 (f&v) + 4 (d) + 15.45 (g) + 11.51 (m) = £65.77
Irnbru (DS's fave and most defo 'munch') was on special 24 cans for £5 but rather than putting all 24 in cupboard have put 7 in cupboard and rest sshhhh not telling ;-)

blackandwhitebunny

bestill wrote: »

DD1 has come home with list for fruit salad for school that wants 6 green & 6 red grapes - ha, ha I think not. I don't know anywhere I can buy loose grapes & not splashing out for a full bunch. Perhaphs she'll decide to be home educated again, then I can save some money.

I have the dubious job of teaching Home Ec and often find that the pupils write down lists of 'suggestions' as being what's required. When we do fruit salad I usually give them a list and say any five (or more) of these or anything else your mum has in, uses etc and I often find some will have written a list that includes strawberries (in Dec), two types of grapes, fresh pineapple, pomegranate (we usually taste some 'different fruits' in the planning lesson) and a mango. Completely leaving out the sensible choices. I now often print the ingredients out on big labels and paste them in their planners to avoid this. If this is not what's happened though I would definitely have a chat to the teacher.

Suffolk_lass

I've spent far too much today. I knew this would happen - I feel slightly all over the place today.

I took my list, I bought nearly everything on it but I refused to buy Actively yogurts for 46p each - they were 2 x 4 for £3 before Christmas, that went up to £3.50 and now the "2 for..." offer has stopped. I bought a big pot of greek yogurt and some berry fruits that were whoopsied instead. Unfortunately the till got in a muddle and charged me the bogof on the original price not the whoopsy price for the fruit so have marked up the receipt to take back next week (I'm not driving 25 miles for about a £1 refund but I will tell them). I also found that since I've been recording my amounts as well as spends this month it is very revealing.

I paid too much at the local butcher's for some things but he was cheaper than the sm for others.

We're having expensive roast chicken tomorrow but I might make a mellanzane parmiggiana for tea as our meat-loving ds is already out and we do love it. I did an Italian cookery course some years ago with a professional Italian chef and the recipes were brilliant (but you have to say them out loud with an italian accent - stairwell translates to stir well, and so on).

I'm feeling slightly ashamed that I spent so much but I think that's a good thing - the remorse, not the spend! And I did buy ice cream, chocolate tart and real chocolate - I wonder if it's that time a-coming ?