January 2013 Grocery Challenge

Bluegreen143

Ok... although I usually do my shopping & some extra cooking on a Sunday, I don't think I've ever been so productive before :rotfl:

First off, made chicken stock with a carcass in the freezer (what was left after cutting the legs, breasts & wings off a whole chicken, plus the leg bones which I froze after roasting the legs). Scooped out enough to freeze for making gravy next time we have a roast, then made chicken soup with it and all the meat I'd picked off the bones - didn't weigh it this time but normally get 250g max. I padded it out with a couple of tablespoons of brown rice, carrots, onions, leeks & cabbage, and it made SEVEN portions of soup, which I have frozen individually for next weeks's lunches



Also made a loaf of brown bread, to go with the soup:



We're having filled pasta as an easy dinner tomorrow (both out at the gym after work) so I made a fresh tomato, basil & olive sauce to top it:



I had tinned salmon sandwiches for lunch today, and had half the tin left for tomorrow's lunch (OH doesn't like it), but after I made the soup I knew I wouldn't want it, so I cooked up a couple of potatoes and mashed it all in with capers, lemon zest and mustard to make a fishcake mix to freeze. It'll make two cakes for one evening OH is away



FINALLY, I made mushroom risotto and salad for dinner!



Knackered now :rotfl:

Suzexxx

Evening all

Had another NSD today as i've had another lazyish day and not left the house. Making the most of it as DP starts his 2 days off from tomorrow and these are the days we tend to fall off the waggon and spend lots of money.

Spent the day selling bits and bobs on the internet that otherwise would be going to the charity shop. Made £20 from selling some old clothes i'd bagged up, so i've put this into an envelope and will be seeing how much money i can save.

Have almost finished writing this weeks shopping list and i'll be going big shopping on Tuesday, will start my February budget that day even though its still January most of the week consists of February so i'm happy to take it out of next months target. We don't need as much this week, so hopefully won't be a £100 weekly shop again.

Hope everyones had a good day!

Suze

dizzy_lizzie

Bluegreen your food looks so colourful. Love the look of the loaf. Mmmm warm fresh out of the oven...
x

katholicos

Well done on all your cooking Bluegreen, it all looks super tasty!

tessie_bear

that food all looks very nice...i am making some soup today well the stock for the soup if that makes sense..still plugging away with jan but will move to feb after tomorrows shop...i like the 2 threads running together at this time of the month as it makes me think about the spends each month needs...jan is a long month

off to do a bit of cooking and if really pushed a bit of house work

tata tess

Helsbels8080

Good morning everyone

Just popped in to update my spends. Was so intent on sticking to my months budget that I planned my meals up until the end of January and only bought what I absolutely needed. Mr Ts - total spend £49.73.

This brings my total to £391.62. I purposely left a little spare (£8.38) in case I have forgotten anything or the kids ravish the cupboards and I run out of packed lunch items.

This is my first month cooking (and budgeting) for 4. I must admit I thought it was going to be easy (I had upped my budget from approx £70 pw for three of us) but I have really had to think about what I have bought. Don't get me wrong, we haven't gone without, but I might need to start working out how much some of our meals cost and try to reduce them (or reduce our portion sizes)!

Will pop over to the February board now and post next months target.

lizalloareds

Spends today

£2.20 mr a
£1.30 al

sig updated

liz-paul

Hi, folks - been impossible to keep up with the thread this month, it just moves so quickly! Anyway I have about £9 left of my £250 budget until Thursday. Only things I should need before then are diet coke & maybe a loaf of bread.

I have a couple of cleaning questions:
First I have a couple of slow running sinks in my house that every few months I pour a bottle of mr muscle plug hole unblocker down. Just wondering is there anything cheaper/home made I could use?

Second, the inside of my car windows (in the back where the kids sit) are filthy! I tried cleaning them yesterday but nothing worked. I tried a spray bottle of window cleaner & some warm soapy water. They seem to have a layer of scum/grease over them that at best just gets moved around the window. Any ideas? I'm not a complete slob but these have gotten quite bad

Thanks!

mrs-moneypenny

total spends over the weekend on food and household stuff were £120 have added it to my sig, went slightly over budget this week but im still under for the month.
which is a first in the 3 years ive been doing this challenge (so yeah me:j:rotfl:)

im going with the drawing budgeted money out and not using the card in shops plan as well as writing down what i am spending and noting which 'pot' its coming out of.

mrs-moneypenny

Liz-Paul white vinegar is brill for cleaning windows, put some on a cloth, give it a really good rub to get the gunk off, then polish dry with some scrunched up newspaper.

a bag of soda crystals is always worth having in, at night put a handful sized amount in the plughole area pour boiling water from the kettle over them to dissolve them so they melt and run down the drain, leave it over night and they should help cut down any grease etc in the waste pipes

hope this helps