November 2013 Grocery Challenge

strandedinaber

First grocery spend of the month! I had to buy champagne for work (a colleague has just passed her PhD viva and we are celebrating Wed lunchtime) so this week's is £56.59/£150 - also had to get the ridiculously expensive coconut oil. If needed I will take the cost of the champagne from my misc budget and take the money back, but I'm hoping I can manage to stick with the budget anyway as this is only a four-shop month.

lynnejk

carlamarie wrote: »

Hi everyone, I hope no one minds if I join in with this challenge?
Looking forward to talking to you all

Welcome and sure you'll find plenty of help, inspiration and ideas on here.

flyinggiraffe wrote: »

I also got gifted my mums old slow cooker as my dad gave her a new one for her birthday (he's such a romantic - she got a slow cooker and a recipe for steak and kidney pudding! Lol)
Going to hit the slow cooker threads as I'm not too sure where to start!

I get a lot from 'All recipes' - just 'goggle' it but think that once you've used it a couple of times you'll get the hang. Basically any one-pot meals, soups, casseroles and stews are really good. It is excellent for batch cooking and I often brown all the ingredients in the evening, reheat them in micro first thing in morning while having a cuppa, add hot stock and bung it on low all day and it's ready for dinner You'll love it once you get going. Good luck

A NSD for me today YIPPEE

Have a good day tomorrow one and all
Lx

joedenise

I'm not sure what to do about a huge purchase of steak - I don't know exactly how much it will be yet but around the £50 mark. It will weigh between 4 and 6 kilos! Obviously we won't use it all this month but will spread it over several months - probably about 5 or 6.

Do people think I should say £10 for month for the next 5 or 6 months (depending on the exact cost!)?

Denise

mooomin

beth2242 wrote: »

Also on WW diet which means I'm budgeting what I eat which is helping to budget what I spend!! Will update tomorrow with my meal plans for the week.:)

I'm looking forward to seeing these because I do WW too and at the moment I'm really struggling with it

meg72

joedenise wrote: »

I'm not sure what to do about a huge purchase of steak - I don't know exactly how much it will be yet but around the £50 mark. It will weigh between 4 and 6 kilos! Obviously we won't use it all this month but will spread it over several months - probably about 5 or 6.

Do people think I should say £10 for month for the next 5 or 6 months (depending on the exact cost!)?

Denise

Yes I would spread it out like that.

First_Trouble

Spent £53.76 on my first Mr T shop, got most of the meat for the month, some veggies and basic cupboard fillers. Have £26.24 to spend over the next few weeks on veg and basics.

I may have to juggle my meal plan around or re-plan it as just discovered the chicken left over from sunday (that would have done another 4-6 meals) has been mostly eaten by the DH which he shared with the dog!! (there is now only enough for 1 maybe 2 stretched meals) Fuming! Even though I told him not to eat it as it was reserved for other meals. Any ideas on a solution for this?

Also have my first NSD yesterday :cool:

First_Trouble

joedenise wrote: »

I'm not sure what to do about a huge purchase of steak - I don't know exactly how much it will be yet but around the £50 mark. It will weigh between 4 and 6 kilos! Obviously we won't use it all this month but will spread it over several months - probably about 5 or 6.

Do people think I should say £10 for month for the next 5 or 6 months (depending on the exact cost!)?

Denise

Where did you buy your meat from?

mooomin

First_Trouble wrote: »

Any ideas on a solution for this?

Make him eat 4-6 plain/veggie-type meals if he's a commited meat-eater. If he complains, point out that he would have had yummy chicken meals but he ate it and the dog also got a good deed

(Not trying to say that veggie food is plain btw, I just know what my meatasaurus boyfriend would say to a week of vegetatrian food!)

CH27

First_Trouble wrote: »

Spent £53.76 on my first Mr T shop, got most of the meat for the month, some veggies and basic cupboard fillers. Have £26.24 to spend over the next few weeks on veg and basics.

I may have to juggle my meal plan around or re-plan it as just discovered the chicken left over from sunday (that would have done another 4-6 meals) has been mostly eaten by the DH which he shared with the dog!! (there is now only enough for 1 maybe 2 stretched meals) Fuming! Even though I told him not to eat it as it was reserved for other meals. Any ideas on a solution for this?

Also have my first NSD yesterday :cool:

I'd serve the meal you've planned minus the chicken.
If he moans say well you shouldn't have eaten the chicken.

K9sandFelines

Only intended to get milk and mozzarella today, as HM pizza for girls tonight and just low on milk; but got a fantastic haul of YS fruit and veg in Mr M :
500g mixed salad intended for salad bar 75p.
3 courgettes 19p
Medium swede 9p
6 large parsnips 19p
10 plums 19p
.... and the best of all 7 large peppers and 4 tiny ones for 19p - all yellow, orange, red; which are hard to come by, normally mixed with green..

God knows where i will store it all as freezer and fridge fairly full. May have to swop a few meals about on meal plan.
Think i will make carrot and swede mashed together with leftover YS carrot that was from there (another item intended for their salad bar) and freeze to have with sausage mash and possibly some parsnip. Peppers, roasted with some of my bulk buy of onions, and cherry tomatoes (on the turn), possibly the courgettes aswell ( though had Ratatouille last night, so very similar) with some pasta or stir fry type dish.
Can anybody think of a nice sauce to go with the pasta please?
Will eat the plums, use for packed lunch for DD1, or make crumble.
Possibly roast the parsnips and make soup. Can't think what else i could do with them.
Also got some naughty bits ... YS treat size Cadburys (295g) for £1.55. Don't need these but thought they worked out cheaper than the three Wonka bars i was going to pick up and put down. Plus the kids can have a bit more choice, and find it easier to stop eating when it's not one big bar.
Nipped in N*sa and forgot JusRol -pastry on offer; but got weetaflakes, for a £1, Cadburys fingers (not needed but on promotion and just fancied them) and four sachets of cat food for £1.

Whole total for today was £8.05 which i am pleased with as had four bags full. I am not intending to get anything til big shop now, unless any super hot deals pop up for Mr T or A, i will just go in for those instore.

Going to spend the rest of the day washing, and cooking off the veg ....