April 2012 Grocery Challenge

jpscloud

£11 spend in FB last night, bit naughty, most of it wasn't essential. Must be careful on Friday, as that is my usual spendy day during term time.

OrkneyStar

Spent approx £18 in Tesco and a couple of £'s in local garage yesterday, getting bread, cheese (offer), tatties (offer), some fruit, some cold meat, yoghurts, a few other necessities. Quite happy with that as have approx £20/wk for the top up shops and will do them on Weds most likely for rest of month. Also spent £10 on diesel, from the diesel budget. I felt ill last night (tonsilitis) so just had LO pasta but DH and DS had sausage, mash, and beans. Tonight will be Mac cheese (cheese sauce already made and defrosting) and the LO sausages too.

EverTheOptimist

Florenceem - Thinking of you and your family today.

Small spends planned today, very small. Still have loads in the cupboards, so keep telling myself we don't need anything.

Have a good day all, even if the weather is a bit naff at the mo.

tessie_bear

hi...tempted to go to m and s for a meal deal but need to fight it as no room in the freezer..going to have a chicken curry for tea tonight with reduced naan bread that i found in the freezer

might do beef fried rice with some roast beef i have for tea tomorrow but we might eat it in a sarnie for lunch will see how that goes...need to total up this weeks spends and plan some meals for next week

take care tessa

jumblejack

Hi all.

Hope things go smoothly today on this difficult day, Florenceem

The nettle soup sounds fabtastic:T

I'm gonna be making another Bramley Apple crumble and might stick in a few plums that need using (Mum wasn't eating them in hospital so I said I'd bake with them to save chucking away).
She may be coming out today:J so pud will be sorted. I'll make 2

I'm also gonna be making some salmon tartlets as I have plenty of eggs to use up. These are great hot or cold so will make a job lot n freeze em.

I use cheap smoked salmon trimmings and make them in a bun tin.
Will post pics is I get time. That will be tea for us and my parents

I am getting a bit fed up of pastry now though(last night I had sausage pie, chips n gravy and apple pie n custard:eek: )

Kylieminoag

Hope today goes as well as it possibly can Florenceem:grouphug:



On the GC front - another £11.30 to declare on a top up shop in Mr M yesterday...... some YS bargains for the freezer (groan - more tetris) and bits to keep DS and BiL going whilst DH and I are away

We sail tonight on the ferry to Belgium..... cant wait! Normally when we go away we spend a fortune in the bar/restaurant but this time I have made an MSE picnic and dusted off the flask and a bottle of plonk to take with us.:T

Not back til Thursday next week - please try not to post too much whilst I'm away - its gonna take ages to catch up!:rotfl:

Au revoir!:D TTFN!

tjak

In an effort to feel better about going so far over budget this month, although this is the last day for me as I get paid tomorrow, I was a domestic goddess yesterday. I made rough puff pastry for the first time, and then used it to make pasties with some leftover veggie shepherds pies from Monday. I managed to make 6, so two for lunches today and the rest in the freezer.

I also made scones to use up some mascarpone (sp?) cheese I had, made two batches and froze half of them. I made mushroom and quorn stroganoff for dinner, and a bread pudding.

I have done an online A*da order to be delivered on Sunday - I didn't realise you can book an 8hr delivery slot for £2.50!! The round trip to the store would cost me £5 in petrol, so it is worth the delivery cost usually, but it always hurts to pay for delivery, so £2.50 is great.

I am waiting to see my payslip as my wages seem to have gone down this month, when I was hoping a new tax code might put them up, so I might need to rein in further than planned.

Anyway, I am aiming for £200 for May, and setting myself a store cupboard challenge. Thanks everyone for your support.

tigerfeet2006

Florenceem, will be thinking of you and yourfamily today.

Popped into Iceland today, I don't usually go in there as most of their stuff is not GF. Picked up two packs of pork chops that were half price for £1.50, a 2.05kg chicken at half price for £3, pack of 790g mince for £3. Also a cauli, bread and tomato pur!e. Spent £12 in total so was well chuffed with that and will do a quick meal plan around that.

tigerfeet2006

Kylie, hope you have a fantastic time.

Miffy, it certainly is tough out there. Very dog eat dog.

Thanks Sistercas. Tomorrow is the earliest they are going to let us know or it could be a few more days from that.

Penny Grabber, good luck on the job front keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Sallybunny, hope you have a less stressful day today.

iQueen

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

Definitely best to cook them first and then put fresh covers on before freezing. I would use double thickness pleated greaseproof paper tied with string and then some foil (but it you are going to reheat in the microwave the foil is removed first).

Also, these containers are ideal for hm Christmas Puddings which store for years and in cupboards, not taking up valuable freezer space, and they make good Xmas gifts for people in small households or living alone.
HTH
SL

Thanks very much for the advice.

I'm sorry for taking so long to catch up with your kind response. So, confusing, these boards! I can only handle 2 subscriptions - and that's debateable! :rotfl: I had to do a search for myself, to prove that I'd asked the question... and find your answer! :wall:

Brilliant idea about Xmas puds - I can eat those at any time!