June 2012 Grocery Challenge

Kitchenbunny

Morning everyone! That bacon hotpot recipe looks awesome - I shall be trying that one Thanks! Looks like I've got to go to Mr T today so I'll be having a spend day. The good news is that it should be a weekly shop so while it might cost a lot it'll most likely last us until the end of the week. I'll update a bit later on with the spend and then probably have to have a sit down as I'm getting rather used to NSDs now, and any spends I'm starting to resent a teeny bit! I've actually lost a couple of lbs from not getting snacks and stuff in, however Mr Kitchenbunny deserves a pud in the cupboard from time to time so that's what I'll do. He'll be coming with me today.

Have a good day, everyone. Here's to a low spend in spite of everything!

K xx

chelseabun_3

Possession wrote: »

Cut up potato and baste in a little oil in a baking tray, stick them in the oven for about half an hour depending on the size of the chips at about 190 degrees. You could make them really nice by parboiling them for a couple of minutes first but I don't bother. In fact I'm so lazy I really prefer potato wedges that I don't even have to peel!

I love these! If you parboil them, then you don't need to add much fat at all, and end up with Sl!mming W*rld syn free chips! You can add a sprinkle of your favourite herbs & spices as well, or use the ready made Schw@rtz or equivalent packets, so you get spicy chips or wedges. We prefer them to normal chips now!

Thanks for the link to the breakfast bar recipe, Possession, I'll make some of those next weekend!

At college today, so unlikely to be an NSD as we go for coffee at lunchtime . However I have managed to reduce my spend from £20 every Tuesday to £5, which is good going I reckon!

Have a good day, everyone! CBx

jumblejack

Good morning!:)

A nice dry start so far :j

I managed to start tackling the garden again yesterday. Everything is growing so fast, especially the lawn and hedges. I pulled all the forget me knots, etc, out that are now seeding and no longer the vibrant blue that they were. I feel so much better when the garden looks nice. Why is that?!

I don't want to defrost anything today but tidy out the fridge contents. I have an assortment if things to use up such as radishes, cucumbers, eggs, bacon, cabbage, sage, lettuce. Nothing that readily lends itself to a meal but I am NOT going shopping.
My freezers are bulging with wonderful things but I don't want the sad fridge contents to end up in the bin so must use them up somehow.
Maybe a tidy-up soup for dinner and omelette with side salad?
Hmmm *rubs chin thoughtfully*

Edit:
Gonna do a Cheesy bacon quiche and a slaw type of salad with the cucumber, radishes and cabbage and red onion.
That will use quite a bit up. Will incorporate what's left into a meal for tomorrow...

Mrs_Addicted_to_Spending

sonastin wrote: »

I have recently mastered the art of "proper gravy" - mainly through not having an oven for 9 months! I have been cooking joints of meat in the slow cooker and using the combi-bit of the microwave for the spuds. Basically, when the spuds have about 10-15 minutes left, I take the joint out of the SC, pour the juices into a pan and return the joint to the empty SC to "rest". I put a teaspoon or two of cornflour into a wee jar (like the sort that mint sauce or horseradish come in), add a bit of water, put the lid on and shake like mad to get a runny flour/water mix. This is added to the pan with the SC meat juice and it goes on the hob to bring to the boil - stirring to make sure it don't go lumpy. When its thickened, taste & add salt, gravy browning and/or a wee bit of stock cube if the colour/taste dictates. Not sure what I'd use if I did the meat in the oven. Probably just a stock made with stock cube but haven't been that adventurous yet - particularly as OH still says he prefers b!sto :rotfl:

Thanks very much I'll be trying that on Sunday :T!

jumblejack wrote: »

I don't worry about it at all as they have a fab diet. They have yoghurts etc quite a lot too.

A lot of folk dont even realise that coke/caffeine drinks prevent calcium absorption. My kids don't touch the stuff so their bodies can utilise all the calcium that their diet includes pretty well.

I totally understand your point though :beer:

Just a quick note that calcium absorption is helped by drinking orange juice or eating food containing vitamin C .

Possession

Yes if you use Fry Lite, syn-free. And even better with an egg or two cracked in to them about 6 mins before the end of cooking, chips and eggs! We like cut up peppers too (put in with chips at the beginning of cooking) for a complete one-pan meal. Haven't done this for ages, think I might know what we're having for tea tonight!

chelseabun wrote: »

I love these! If you parboil them, then you don't need to add much fat at all, and end up with Sl!mming W*rld syn free chips! You can add a sprinkle of your favourite herbs & spices as well, or use the ready made Schw@rtz or equivalent packets, so you get spicy chips or wedges. We prefer them to normal chips now!

Thanks for the link to the breakfast bar recipe, Possession, I'll make some of those next weekend!

At college today, so unlikely to be an NSD as we go for coffee at lunchtime . However I have managed to reduce my spend from £20 every Tuesday to £5, which is good going I reckon!

Have a good day, everyone! CBx

jumblejack

Mrs_Addicted_to_Spending wrote: »

Thanks very much I'll be trying that on Sunday :T!


Just a quick note that calcium absorption is helped by drinking orange juice or eating food containing vitamin C .

Good point!!!

Actually I used to buy 4 of the 4pint bottles of while milk every week.
I only get 3 now as i water it down so I have saved a quid off the weekly shop.
Not much I know but when your budget is £30 it makes a difference!

As I drink soya milk, that still means 4 pints of milk are being consumed per week for each remaining member of the family. Not bad! It's over .5 pints a day per person.

That's why I'm not overly concerned about calcium intake as it's reached anyway and supplemented by their food with leafy veg, fish, etc.

I have cut back on my own stuff too. I STILL haven't bought myself redbush tea as the cheapest it gets is £1 for 40 bags:eek: it's normally much more than this.

Water has been serving me well and it means I have been using less soya milk too as I use loads in tea! Also it means the kettle hasn't constantly been on these last few weeks;):money:

Florenceem

Possession wrote: »

Cut up potato and baste in a little oil in a baking tray, stick them in the oven for about half an hour depending on the size of the chips at about 190 degrees. You could make them really nice by parboiling them for a couple of minutes first but I don't bother. In fact I'm so lazy I really prefer potato wedges that I don't even have to peel!

Not lazy - healthier to eat with skins on - loads of goodness just under skins which is lost when peeling.

fozziebeartoo

sonastin wrote: »

The brand is Alfez and its an Apricot and coriander Moroccan Tagine Sauce. I've seen other flavours of Alfez sauces in one of the really big SMs I sometimes use - either Mr T or Mr A can't remember which. My usual Mr A doesn't stock it and my usual Mr T used to do the Apricot and coriander but they don't seem to stock it any more. Don't tend to go to Mr M very often these days but that was where I first found these to try. Before I got adventurous enough in the kitchen to have a go at DIY.

Ingredients are: tomato, water, olive oil, sugar, apricots, rice flour, coriander, garlic, salt, mint, paprika, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, cumin, lemon powder, parsley, caraway, pepper, citric acid. Have quite a few of these in the cupboard so might just have a go at throwing something together...

Thank you - that sounds lovely!! I got some M&S Moroccan tagine paste a while back (very cheap with YS) and I have used it all.......if I had realised how delish it was, I would have bought the whole shelf!

Might venture into the city centre on Thursday, the Asda there has a really diverse customer base and loads of ethnic specialitites.....yum! :T

helen_jelly

Hi and welcome to all our new people - very nice to see you on here. Please read the first post, especially Spiggles bit - lots of helpful tips. Ask lots of questions and try to post everyday - it really helps on the focusing bit.

I'm away from the 15th to the 22nd june - if any new people join and they don't post their budget in red and big could someone show them how to do it - I can then just skim through the posts when I get back - thank you lovely people

I'm supposed to be packing but I'm lacking serious motivation to get it done, I had a migraine yesterday and its left me feeling very tired today - oh well, must get on and do something!

Helen x

craigywv

Florenceem wrote: »

Not lazy - healthier to eat with skins on - loads of goodness just under skins which is lost when peeling.

FLO, your brilliant you just seem to "be there" when someone gives advice that could be "better" i have a vision of you standing in a long white toga looking into a pool of water like the Greek Gods and when someone writes a comment you just arch an eyebrow and mutter to Zeus or whoevers beside you " here we go again".:rotfl:well thats what i think lol:D YOUR FAB!!!!!!!!!:)