September 2013 Grocery Challenge

WantToBeSE

kayester wrote: »

Can I have some advice please.
as you can tell im not very good with best before dates ect.

I have an old el paso enchiladas kit in the cuboard. the best before date is 13/09/13 which was ten days ago. shall I use or throw away.

I would use it. I had one that was 2 months OOD and i used it

aliwali

I'm thinking I was a bit ambitious with my challenge target. I have £72 left to get shopping this week. I have written a list and it comes to more than that, not a lot though. I'm going to keep at it though and see if I can do it next month.

WantToBeSE

Small spend of £3.32 today. I popped to tesco to get Courgettes, mushrooms, lockets and a tin of tomatoes.
Am making a vegetable curry tonight, trying to get everyone recovered from various coughs/colds/flu like symptoms.
Used loads of garlic and chilli And having garlic bread with it too...bring it on!!

kayester

i have been told that not to use the corn tortillas as thats why the date is on there.
the sauce and seasoning is actually still in date.
im goign to buy tortillas from my corner shop for £2 and use the rest of the kit....and i phoned old el paso to check they said dont eat it and they are sending me a voucher out

CountingPennies

2 quick questions.... Freezing dumplings. Can you do this?

And microwave tubs....safe for the freezer? By microwave tubs I mean from a ready meal. DH had a ready meal yesterday (he gets in from work at 1am, lol) and i washed the tub this morning. Usually i put them in the recycling after washing, but this one is a deep oblong one and I was wondering would it be safe to use in the freezer for say, left over pasta or dinner and then it could be reheated in the microwave? Yes? No? Not very good at freezing leftovers

Thanks in advance

CP xx

Pandora_2

Well, just a couple of quid to add to my spends from over the weekend which means I'm under budget! I've got my big online Mr T shop coming this week, but apart from a few bits I need fairly urgently, most of it will be coming out of October's budget (and other budgets) so (fingers crossed!) I should just about keep to my target this month!!
Got a question about best before dates - I've discoved an unopened pack of frozen puff pastry in the freezer with a best before date of December 2012!! Do I throw it away or do you think it will still be ok? Anything a few months OOD I just eat, but when the date is nearly a year ago, it makes me wonder if it will be ok or not! Have tried looking it up online but can't find an answer so hoping one of you lovely people will know!

dramarama

Good morning...nearly afternoon!
I am declaring my total for this month at £140/£140!!
First time of really doing this GC and I've really enjoyed it, it's stopped me from eating out of boredom and also kicked my butt with meal plans.

I am finding the meal planning really useful for me and my OH with the random hours we both work, I am also looking out for more bargains and finding that I'm able to stretch meals a lot more.

I'll definitely sign up to October's challenge, looking forward to it.

Well done everyone on your totals and great ideas, see you in October!!

XSpender

My October challenge started on Friday and I have spent a huge chunk of my budget on a massive stock up shop this weekend as well as our only takeaway this month and a couple of lunches for DH as we have been running around all weekend. I have decided to add in every spend at the supermarket so will include the clothes horse I bought at HB. I don’t have another pot for these spends so it’s cheating a bit not to include them.

My spends were:

£85.53 Aldee – big top up on store cupboard, cleaning and baking supplies
£9.48 HB – clothes horse and ginger beer
£54.73 Tesco – stock up on stuff cant get at Aldee and GF £3.19 – Gr3ggs – lunch for flagging DH
£25.52 – butchers – 22 big chicken breasts, 2 massive pork chops and a lb of steak mince
£15.00 – takeaway
£4.00 – M&S – GF sausages
£5.19 – Maccy Dees – hungry DH again
£2.50 – drinks for DS and DH when out

£203.14 Total

I didn’t manage to get any GF brown bread flour or tahini paste in Mr T but the bread flour can wait a week or two. I might look into ordering this in bulk on line.

This leaves me approx £43/week for the next 4 weeks which is very doable as Fridays list consists of fruit, salad, tahini paste and GF yogurts and the Friday after hasn’t got much more than that on either.

This week’s meal plan is:

M – Pork chops, mash, redcurrant and mint sauce (if I can remember where I put the recipe if not gravy) and cabbage and carrots, followed by Toffee Apple Crumble and ice cream
T- Sausage pasta bake (uses up the Savoy cabbage from tonight) & left over crumble
W- Mexican crunchy chicken, vegetable rice, salad and salsa
Th – Cheese and Bacon omelettes with beans and HM oven chips
F – Sundried tomato and chorizo risotto
Sa- Chicken nachos, cheese and bacon potato skins, corn on the cob, salad, salsa and jalapenos for DH
S- Toad in the hole, mash, broccoli, carrots and green beans with onion gravy followed by either Chocolate Jaffa Surprise pudding with ice cream or Berry Slump with custard

zafiro1984

iammumtoone wrote: »

Will this help http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/ucm109315.pdf

?

iammumtoone - good site. I never look at the packaging either. The only thing I make sure of is that I wrap them very well so they don't get 'freezer burn'

Kayster:- I have reared my own pork and chickens before today and you certainly can't eat a whole pig or 50 chickens in under a month :rotfl:

My rule of thumb is :- Freeze it once raw, freeze it once cooked.
I never defrost raw food and refreeze it in its raw state but if it is cooked (casserole joint etc) I will freeze it again to use in another meal.
I have been freezing food for the last 45years and my mother had one before me. (back in the 60's) We are all still alive

K9sandFelines

I wasn't sure whether to add this to next month's shop or split it, as i won't use all the stuff, but i still have grocery bits put away from ten shops or so ago; so i am adding it now.

AF order for £29.74, definitely must stay away from here now as it's mostly fattening treats which we can do without. whereas previously i have managed to get store cupboard ingredients and cereal.

I may need milk later too, and possibly bread.

Tomorrow i have Mr T coming, as the girls are practically out of fruit juice. I have added a few bits to get us through the week for the freezer.

I will start October's challenge this month on 30th Sept. That's when my Asda pass runs out, but i will not be the consuming the goods til Oct. Is there a new thread going yet?