June 2012 Grocery Challenge

elsiepac

Hi all

Right, so far I've spent £38.60/£70 :eek:

But, my cupboard and fridge shelf are full. I'm trying not to keep too much in my freezer drawer so that I can have room for the odd meal in there.

I've got 2 portions of one of my favourite meals in the fridge - Aubergine, Parmesan and tomato bake :j so that is sunday and Monday dinners sorted. I also have plenty of Kara (the coconut milk I use as a dairy substitute) as I hardly use any as it's so creamy, and I have 3 avocados, and 3 reduced courgettes. Also half a bag of rocket but I think it might have started to go slimy...will check tomorrow.

Oh, and I have a baguette that I treated myself to in M&S today, then didn't have any of with my tea as was too full - the curse of instore bakeries - it was still warm when I picked it up and was so delicious smelling! How could I resist! So will probably have for brekkie and lunch tomorrow :rotfl: then maybe freeze the rest in slices.

LC

jumblejack

Morning all. A beautiful start to the day here for my seeded garden... yet more rain! It is a godsend actually as my back is totally busted. Watering all the beds would be an impossible task.

I had a truly delightful day yesterday.
We went to a local 'wilderness wood' and took part in a den building exercise. It was awesome!!! Afterwards, we had to dash back as I was hosting a sing star evening for 18 friends.
I made a HUGE pot of (spot the meat) chilli & rice, herby couscous, home made margarita pizzas, home made garlic bread and a melon wedge platter.
I asked all guests to bring additions to the table so it was quite an economical but entertaining evening.
Woke up this morning and it took me nearly 10 mins to swing out of bed though. REALLY overdid the exercise last night.
I was on my feet from 6am - 1.30am which also involved lugging huge fallen logs around:eek:
I need to update my signature.
I am already over budget for this week even though I am only on day 2 as I had to restock on big bags of some spices and spuds. I spent £33 yesterday on food!
I plan to keep watering down my milk (don't tell!). I will only need maybe another 4 pints at some point this week and could probably do with dropping on some YS fruit as I only have a watermelon and some sticks of rhubarb in.
Roll on the season for foraging bramble fruits, elderberries, homegrown strawberries, gooseberries and fruit tree produce. It should make a difference! Am going to try and freeze any excess foraged fruits though, or at least make jams this time.
Can't think of a nicer day spent with family other than being outside gathering produce.

Have a wonderful day! I am waiting for the pain killers to work then hopefully I will be able to join in again this afternoon with learning a different survival skill:j


Toodles,

JJ

Doris65_2

Hi all

Well did my first shop, followed meals plans, and I am amazed that I havn't had to 'pop' in to any shop for this or that, and as a result i havn't spent any more money!!! This is such a good week. However I must not get complacent, (I know what im like if I take my eye off the ball) If I keep foucused it will become second nature I hope, and to be honest im rather enjoying the whole process, I love to cook and making meals out of what I have.

So on the spend front Ive used £28.38, so far and wont have to shop again, I hope, untill Thursday.

Dx

XSpender

Oh dear my budget has been spent and I still have 19 days to go:eek: To be honest I think I set it a bit low this month as this is the first time I have done the GC since going GF. I am going to attempt to list my cupboards and freezer today as they are stuffed full of food and will meal plan for the next 2 weeks.

Used a £5 off £40 in Mr T to get the months dog food and some beers for DH for the weekend.

I made a nice GF pasta bake last night, ate one portion and the rest are going in the freezer for my lunches. I am making a pavlova this morning and am going to try adapting my favourite quorn pie into a GF butter bean pie to have with roast potatoes and veg for tea:) May also make the mini fritatta I made last weekend for Mums visit for DH for lunch. Even DS, aged 2, ate them and they were full of veg. Mind, he eats more than I do so that's not such a suprise:rotfl:

ETA: Will update exact figure when I am back at work next week as I have been keeping track on my work PC

fozziebeartoo

Well, my invite to go for a river ride with the Queen on the Royal Barge this afternoon must have got lost in the post :rotfl:so today should be a NSD because I wont be going out :j

My DD's had their birthdays last week and instead of going out, have requested a "proper Mums roast dinner"!!

So I have a huge devils food cake cooking at the moment (in a roasting pan, since DD's have borrowed my cake tins) and there is ice-cream in the freezer for anyone who can fit it in.

Lunch will be roast chicken, roast honey and mustard gammon, HM roast potatoes, yorkers, stuffing, petit pois, HM cauliflower cheese (made with double cream and cheese) and mashed swede and carrot, with loads of gravy.

Have a happy day everyone :T

jumblejack

Fozziebeartoo, the roast dinner sounds absolutely divine!!!!!!!!!!:T

sistercas

jumblejack wrote: »

Fozziebeartoo, the roast dinner sounds absolutely divine!!!!!!!!!!:T

mmmm I was thinking that too i'm postively drooling

JJ feeding 18 people :eek: sounds like you did a fab job though , what a brilliant sounding day you had, rest your back today though. I have woken up with a bad back too currently sitting with a hot water bottle on it

doing a roast chicken for lunch with mashed swede roast potatoes and brocoli , I love roast dinners , hopefully there will be enough to make a chicken and veg stew for tomorrow

tessie_bear

hi...the heavens have opened here...no bbq for us today...outside at any rate....planning a nsd but might go into lidl as we go straight past it on our way to family do
coing to choc claires chinese chicken for tea so need to do the marinade in a moment....got some new pots to do with that

have a nice day tess

rising_from_the_ashes

Flat_Eric wrote: »

This is the second time they have done this to me. How many of us have been overcharged in this way and haven't notice ???

I wonder how much extra money is made by people not checking their bills - I know I certainly never used to (but certainly do now!:D) - however, I really must start doing it before I leave the car park as it's an 18 mile round trip and I sometimes forget to take the receipt back if it's a couple of weeks before I'm back in again:(

Looking quite promising outside - nice & sunny but there's a cold wind ..... where's summer! :eek:

Suffolk_lass

Windy, cold and starting to rain - whose idea was it to turn the range off for the summer anyway? All this talk of roast dinner isn't helping as we cook on a domino gas hob (2 rings off a bottle) and the BBQ with support from the microwave/grill/small fan oven for the summer. V cheap but roast is a challenge unless the meat is in the BBQ (done that before but not ideal in windy rain).

Rather sad as we had planned a village bring-your-own BBQ picnic on the field and I prepped my spicy coleslaw and potato salad last night and defrosted some Aberdeen Angus burgers and pitta bread (substitute for buns). Oh well, at least we will be sober as DS has been playing a local festival, last night and tonight (he then went on to work until 3am :eek:) so I expect he could use a night in his own bed and a bit of parental care this evening. I am hoping it won't be too late.

I might pop over to the field to see if the marquees are up (a village investment a few years ago) as this might save the day.

Otherwise I guess we will just have to declutter (yuk) a room or two. This would be the sensible thing to do but I have a yearn to do something that reflects the fact we are on holiday!!

Have a good holiday for those of us able to take it and commiserations to any that must work.

SL