October 2012 Grocery Challenge

Suffolk_lass

liz-paul wrote: »

Who uses dried beans and stuff? I soaked my chickpeas last night but they need to be simmered for 1hr 30mins and I'm just wondering if they really end up being cheaper than buying the tins which don't need as much cooking?

I do when I have room in my freezer. I soak a whole bag overnight and then cook them in the pressure cooker for about 40 minutes - I use what I need and freeze the rest in can-size portions... No room in either freezer means I am using canned at the moment though and the Azbo's smaller cans are really good value at 39p

HTH
SL

[Deleted User]

Another little spend yesterday, 87p in Sainsbobs (forgot my take-to-work- snack grr).

Today should be a NSD though as neither DM or myself are going out.

Hopefully should come in under budget as I have 7 days left after today

[Deleted User]

tattycath wrote: »

Please can I have some suggestions for a reasonable budget for a family of 5 for a month to include groceries and cleaning products, toiletries etc.
Thanks x
As it stands I think we probably spend about £400 ish :eek: + takeaways.

Personally, i think you can feed a family of 5 on £200 per month, so if you usually spend £400 without giving it any thought, maybe drop it to £300 and see how you do. If you do a stocktake and mealplan, it will help greatly. There are some fantastic recipes on the front page and also suggestions on how to pad out meals to make them go further, eg grated carrot or lentils etc in mince. You could have a cheap meal once a week like pasta, the value stuff is only about 30p a bag last time i looked. And there are not many things that smartprice vinegar will not clean. Anyway, good luck whatever you do and post if you need help with things.

russetred

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

I do when I have room in my freezer. I soak a whole bag overnight and then cook them in the pressure cooker for about 40 minutes - I use what I need and freeze the rest in can-size portions... No room in either freezer means I am using canned at the moment though and the Azbo's smaller cans are really good value at 39p

HTH
SL

I also soak any beans then use my pressure cooker to cook them but not for 40 minutes they'd be mush by then.
Prestige pressure cooker instructions are weigh dry beans cover with boiling water and leave to soak for one hour. Drain beans and add 1 pint of fresh water per 8 oz presoaked beans. Put in cooker do not add salt then bring to the boil and skim well. reduce heat to gentle boil and bring to pressure. Cook for recommended time which ranges from 5 min for aduki beans to 25 mins for soya. I have a comprehensive list of cooking times for every bean or lentil if anyone needs it. I cool my beans then freeze in tin size portions.

tessie_bear

hi...i have x2 stews in the oven and to use up the space i have put in some jacket pots...might have one for lunch if they are cooked in time

just done a meal plan for next week and have had a think about what we are going to do over half term and halloween bits....we got some fun bits to decorate the table in the £ shop yesterday which will make the table look nice...i also have a pumpkin and plan to carve and make a pumpkin pie...never done that before

good luck to everyone with their budget hope the month is going well
tess

flubberyzing

A £15.91 spend in Tescos this morning. It seemed busier in there than normal for a mid-morning time. I guess because it's Friday.
A few store cupboard bits and a few up-and-coming meals. Plus a YS quiche that'll do 2 meals at least.

They were selling the larger size bottles of Fairy Liquid 2 for £2 so I grabbed some of them. Won't need any for quite a long time now!

I have updated my sig. I've only got to get through next week really, as I'm off to stay a few days with my parents at the end of the month, so I'm reasonably confident of coming in under-budget again.

TheThriftyScrumpers

Firstly well done on stoptober! I am a bit behind so you may have had some responses, but here are my ideas :

tattycath wrote: »

Thanks. Yes. Sorry if I sounded a bit
off-I'm doing the stoptober thing and my family think I'm a bit of a stress head at the moment
Yes, I would like some help please. Meal planning, budgeting-i'm great with budgeting for other stuff but when it comes to grocery shopping i'm rubbish.:o It doesn't help that I work near a large supermarket.
At the moment we have:
20 sausages [I]i posted a recipe in the index for spicy sausage casserole, it uses beans, tomatoes and carrots. It freezes well and is nice with rice or on a jacket pot. If you cook extra sausages you can use the leftovers chopped up and cooked with veg to bulk out and served with pasta sauce & pasta. Any leftover sausages could be chopped up and added to a baked risotto[/I]
2 lamb chops-frozen
frozen chicken portions[I]if you have a slow cooker I would defrost and bung in to cook. I find I get a lot more meat this way as the chicken stays really moist. You could strip the chicken and have roast, then use the leftovers in a curry, pasta dish, risotto. Or get some puff pastry, roll out and mark a border. Spread middle with cream cheese and pesto and add lo chicken, tomatoes, cooked onions or peppers or mushrooms etc and either grate over cheddar or mozzarella and bake[/I]
3 pizzas
baconthis would be nice on the puff pastry too or in a carbonara
eggsomlette or frittata and salad
2 x family size meat pies
chips
potatoes
onions
mushrooms
salad
frozen veg
tins of:
beans, tomatoes, spaghetti, soup
jars of curry sauce, pasta sauce

I forgot to say the slow cooked chicken will generate stock. You could add potatoes, onion and frozen veg to make soup. Hope that helps xx

Nicky_Noo_Na

I haven't been shopping for a few days as I'm not well, got a virus that is going round work and felt rough!! Lovely hubby went and got me orange juice, tablets, sweets and he found a couple of YS items so £5.01 to add. Hoping to be feeling better tomorrow so we can do a proper weekly shop - need to stock up on a few things so might spend £40 and get the £5 voucher from Mr A.

Suffolk_lass

Suffolk_lass wrote: »

I do when I have room in my freezer. I soak a whole bag overnight and then cook them in the pressure cooker for about 40 minutes - I use what I need and freeze the rest in can-size portions... No room in either freezer means I am using canned at the moment though and the Azbo's smaller cans are really good value at 39p

HTH
SL

russetred wrote: »

I also soak any beans then use my pressure cooker to cook them but not for 40 minutes they'd be mush by then.
Prestige pressure cooker instructions are weigh dry beans cover with boiling water and leave to soak for one hour. Drain beans and add 1 pint of fresh water per 8 oz presoaked beans. Put in cooker do not add salt then bring to the boil and skim well. reduce heat to gentle boil and bring to pressure. Cook for recommended time which ranges from 5 min for aduki beans to 25 mins for soya. I have a comprehensive list of cooking times for every bean or lentil if anyone needs it. I cool my beans then freeze in tin size portions.

I'm sure you are right but the seal on my PC is not great and they take ages to get up to pressure so my timing is based on turning on the heat under a cold pan with the soaked dried chick peas covered in fresh water with a pinch of salt and left until the steam bursts forth when pressure is reached (I turn the heat down then but that's all). Works fine!
SL

TheThriftyScrumpers

Hi,
Hope everyone is well. Ds and I have been baking. Last week we made tiffin and today we made blondies (similar to brownies but without cocoa and using white choc). It was a new recipe which I spotted in the Sunday supplement magazine. It uses set honey and we have had a jar languishing in the back of the cupboard for ages

Tonight I am making a recipe from the hairy dieters cook book. It is Spanish style chicken bake. We had everything in already so NSD for the scrumper family.

Wishing everyone a thrifty weekend xx