July 2012 Grocery Challenge

XSpender

I was expecting a NSD yesterday but we took DS to the beach yesterday and stopped at the ice cream parlour on the way home so £8.00 spent on 3 tubs of ice cream:eek: But yum it was extra special:drool::drool:

We are going out for a picnic today which is also an unplanned excursion so popped to Mr T on the way home for some ham and crisps and more beer for DH. Yes I know I avoided crips on purpose at Ald1:o but in my defense Mr T do S&V flavour that are GF and no where else does so I bought 12 packs for £2 which will last me ages. DH also bought a bag of crisps but scoffed his last night so he's not getting any of mine:p

Also bought GF soy sauce for the store cupboard, a storage box in the sale for DS wooden train set, some value squash and a £1 pastie for DH.

Bit fed up though as this spend was half of what I spent on the weekly shop on Friday:(:mad:

We ended up having ham sandwiches for tea as by the time we got back from the beach I couldn't be bothered to make the fajhitas as planned. Must remember to get some chicken breasts out of the freezer for tonight as I am going to stuff them with goats cheese and fresh basil and roast with garlic the last few new pots that need eating up and some veg.

The GF choc cake I made last week needs eating up so I will have this with some custard for pud.

Ooo I forgot to say that the bendy veg soup I made for lunch was lovely. Embarrassed to say that I have made soup before but not one to use up the bendy bits so will certainly be making it again when I need to use bits up. Especially with JJ's cheese bread:D

The sun is shining here, hope the weather is good where you are and you all have a lovely Sunday.

fozziebeartoo

keza wrote: »

i need some advice, i made some muffins yesterday and they are delish and everything but for some reason they have stuck to their cases and have burnt underneath......any ideas? did i have the oven too high?

Not sure about the burnt bit but I find HM muffins often stick to the paper cases, I assume its because there is a lot less fat in the recipe than say fairy cakes.....????

rosieben

jumblejack - banana ice cream link is now in the index

kezlou

Hi everyone,

I haven't taken part in the challenge has i have been too busy sorting stuff out.

But found these in sainsbugs a few days ago

3 pack of 500g natco red lentils for £2
four tins of chopped / plum tomatoes for a £1 too.
4 tins kindneys beans for a £1
basic beans back to 26p
basic pasta back down to 29p for 500g
basic long grain rice 40p a kilo
They own brand extra mature cheddar is on offer too, BOGOF

But be careful when looking for value brands as they is hardly any in stock. The staff were really apologetic and had checklists and dates of deliveries pasted on to tills for when stock was coming back in.

hth

savesummore

Tigerfeet- Thanks for the support and advice re 'wine cubes'

Me and OH walked to the mini Mr A by us today partly for some exercise in the sunshine and partly because OH said the Anch*r Butter was £1- we got there and it wasnt :rotfl:But even better than that offer was 2 packs of Lurp*k butter in a brownie tin for £2 :T so i brought 2 of these from 2nd purse

Should really have too many spend this week- Im out on the road for work on Wed so will probably buy a sandwich

Have a good sunday everyone

Suffolk_lass

Honey_Bear wrote: »

Long time lurker, posting because she needs help... when I tried to make the marrow and ginger jam I planned, it never seemed to get to setting point. I split the recipe between two pans, and the smaller one was fine, but the bigger pan almost caremalised in the pan. I potted it up but this morning it still hadn't set and the jam has no flavour. This has happened to me in the past with batches of marmalade.

If it were a lack of pectin, the smaller pan wouldn't have reached setting point, so I'm very confused.

I use the saucer in the fridge test because the sugar thermometer I bought years ago was utterly useless. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what it is I must be consistently (but not always) doing wrong?

Honey Bear - I can't say definitively but I have had the same thing and found adding some sugar and lemon juice resolved it (both flavour and texture) I regularly end up adding bottled pectin (C3rto) to low pectin mixtures (Strawberries are my personal nemesis so I now stick them in Jumbleberry instead)

KatyReed+5 wrote: »

A bit not GC related but i'm going to make some jelly with fruit in for the kids puddings and wondered what fruit stops jelly from setting. I have got bananas, strawberries, grapes, blueberries and oranges, hoping they're all ok,
Katy, X

KatyReed+5 - others have mentioned pineapple and kiwi - the other one is papaya. I thought some might be interested in why:
The pineapple contains an enzyme called bromelain and kiwi fruit another enzyme called actinidin - both of these enzymes are proteases, which means that they will chop up protein molecules (in the same way that the digestive enzymes in your intestines break up proteins to allow you to digest them).

This means that when they are mixed with gelatin, the proteases chop the gelatin protein up into pieces which are far too short to tangle, so the jelly doesn't set.

sonastin wrote: »

I need some inspiration from you good folks. My ma gave me 1lb of strawberries from my gran's garden at the weekend. So what can we do with them that's not just a bowl of strawberries?

We have a load of rhubarb in the garden which looks ripe for the picking. Do strawbs go with rhubarb?

sonastin - Just wanted to say that one of our favourite puds is rhubard and strawberry crumble - we don't add any sugar to the fruit, just put it in the crumble (150g flour, 100g sugar, 100g butter/spread - whizz in a mixer or rubbed in). My DSis also makes yummy rhubarb and strawberry jam. If you do this, chop the rhubarb quite short or the jam can be "strandy". - You only need a big pan and a spoon and a few jars to fill. I can post a recipe if you want

Keza - re your burnt muffins - this could be that you are using a fan oven so they cook hotter and quicker, or, as someone else said, it could be not enough fat in the mix - that's why many use paper cases (or you can use oil to paint the muffin cases). I have resorted to paper cases as I think my muffin tin is just plain sticky!!

Welcome back Tigerfeet2006 - we've missed you!

It has taken two days of intermittent reading to catch up - I was only away for three days. Slow down you lot!!

Enjoy the mostly nice day
SL

Kitchenbunny

Yaaaaay! Today is an NSD for me I am a happy bunny today! Now, got to make my minced beef & onion pie for tea - debating having a go at rough puff pastry!

Main shopping day tomorrow. My list is already made and thankfully it look somewhat sparser than normal. Have a lovely evening, everyone.

K xx

rosieben

I just found a really interesting recipe for 5 minute bread - will be adding it to the index shortly

Bluegreen143

Did the 'big shop' today - well chuffed as I only spent £28.92 even though I had OH with me and he added around £5 worth of stuff to the trolley! :j This is just a bit more than a third of what I would usually spend, so I reckon the stocking up thing last week worked!

I'm totally convinced we have PLENTY to last the week, OH is a bit sceptical that we can get by on such a small shop though :rotfl:

Thing is, we have so much in stock - chicken, sausages, mince, salmon, scones/cookie dough and some soup all in the freezer, some leftover veg in the fridge, plus cereal and all the store cupboard stuff (lentils, sugar, pasta, rice, tinned toms, coconut milk, spices etc).

I only had to buy milk, fruit, bacon, some veg, ham and coleslaw for OH lunches, wraps, sour cream and jalapenos for fajitas later this week, mozzarella and salami for tonight's HM calzones, a toothbrush and brown bread flour. OH added some snacks as he was hungry in the shop, some toiletries for him and kitchen roll (he has a weird obsession with it :rotfl:).

Suffolk_lass

Did my big shop for the month at Mr A and bought enough of our favourite coffee in refill bags for 3 months and enough shower gloop for the same period. I'm going to keep them in July so I don't forget to pay myself back in second purse. Got stung for breathe easy strips for DH (3 for £10) but as it's in my best interests I went for it :rotfl:

Also bought A$da own brand hayfever stuff for DH and DS - I take a prescription preparation all year round as hayfever seamlessly blends into leaf-mould allergy! Bought six packs of toilet moist wipes which were £1 each too - 98p cheaper than the other offer of 3 for £3.98. Also spent over £25 in B00ts on just three things - face preservers and hair dye - it's tough being me!

I've made two batches of jumbleberry jam this weekend (both are yum!) and I'm just waiting on some JJ's herby cheese bread with fresh sage to leave for the boys. I'm off on business again this evening.

Have a good week everyone
SL