January 2014 Grocery Challenge

joedenise

BlueCow1975 wrote: »

I think we need to include more veggie options in our meal plans for the future but my hubbie is very much a MEAT man!! Little steps though./QUOTE]

My DH is also very much a MEAT man but I find meals which include things like Aubergine, chickpeas, butternut squash seem to be quite "meaty". Another veggie thing he really likes is stuffed mushrooms - I use the stalk from the large mushroom (portabella type), mixed with chopped roasted peppers, onions, celery etc stirred through either cooked rice or couscous and use this to stuff the mushroom. A bit of grated cheese on top is nice as well. Cook in the oven, about 180-200 degrees for about 10 minutes, check to see if any water needs pouring off (this seems to vary with mushrooms, some are more watery than others) and then put back in and cook again until the cheese is nice and brown, about another 10 minutes. Serve with a nice salad.

Another way of making a veggie meal taste meaty is to use Beef stockpots as they have a really meaty flavour - I often use these when I'm making a vegetable soup just for the flavour.

Hope these little tips help.

Have been reading the posts since I got back from holiday and will be rejoining the challenge next month - starting from payday 24 Jan! I'm just off to check what I've got in the freezers and cupboards and will then be able to sort out the next month's meal plan. I've found it quite difficult planning weekly since I got back, think I'd got so much into the mindset of monthly planning it just doesn't seem to work so effectively for me doing it weekly!

Denise

XSpender

Good Morning

I have totted up my spends after visiting M & S on Friday and Morries on Saturday. DH was making his first curry from scratch and insisted on fresh chillies as per the recipe only 24p for 4 but needed extra chicken as he wanted to make it for 4 as per the recipe and not half it for the 2 of us and I had only defrosted enough chicken for 2.

There was hardly any chicken left in morries so we bought the value/saver stuff and it was great but I was shocked at how much more it was than the chicken I buy in 2kg packs from the local butcher. I haven’t bought supermarket chicken for months now.

The curry was lovely and apart from the chillies everything else was store cupboard stuff. Even better, DH has decided he wants to cook on a Saturday night to try out some more recipes from his curry books he got for Christmas. Woo hoo! night off for me.

My total stands at £96/£130 which is better than I thought. I am popping to Aldeee on the way home from work for fruit and a couple of other bits but aiming to spend under £15. I think I will probably go over my budget by the end of the month but not by much.

Meal plan for this week:

M – Pasta bake using a jar and HM garlic pizza bread
T – Gammon steak, hm oven chips, egg and beans
W – Shepherds pie and 3 veg
T – Lemon chicken risotto (new recipe)
F – Cheese and bacon omelette, spicy wedges peas and corn
S – DH cooking. May be chicken pilau
S – Sausage and leek casserole, mash and berry crumble and custard

I made a garlic pizza last night and have frozen enough dough for another one on another day. I hope it freezes OK.

I want to make a double batch of chilli for the freezer for when I start doing long hours as part of my new secondment. I have no kidney beans so thought I would use a can of baked beans and a can of canelleni instead but I need 2 tins of green lentils. I have one tin and half a bag of dried.

Does anyone know what weight of dried lentils would be a 400g tin when cooked?

Gorgeestwo

Hi,
Had a £10 off £50 spend for sainsburys so used that over the weekend.
The grocery budget has taken a bit more of a hit than we were expecting, we've taken on a new cat, who is unfortunately very underweight & not too healthy at the moment, so she's on a fairly expensive diet, I've done a massive pet food order with vet uk for all the animals food a bit sooner than I would have done, so we'll be lucky to come in anywhere near £400 but will keep trying
Just off to update my sig
Hope everyone has a good day :j

sausageandonion

Ok so last week when I was laid up full of cold with a nasty snotty eye I discovered MSE and the grocery challenge! Thanks for all the advice on ways to change my shopping habits and budget ideas. If you know how much others are managing on it really spurs you on!
Right! So I have done what everyone suggested: made up a menu plan with reduced portion sizes since it is now really just the 2 of us. Been threw the freezer (i'd forgotten most of whats in there as it's in the garage so just send OH down to fetch stuff) and all my cupboards. Wrote a comprehensive shoppin list based on this and went shoppin on Sat at Lidl. OH was listenin to the football as we went round so he didnt add anything sneaky to the trolley! So headphones is a good idea if your husband is as bad as mine for adding things when I'm not lookin!
Anyway spent £52! thats half what I normally spend.
My great buys that have made a huge differenceare: 5kilos of fresh chicken fillets for £19.95 from Makro, there were 19 breasts in it each weighed 350 gramms at least so ive bagged them individually. 1 will do fahijats, jambolaya, curry etc so thinks they will probably last a month.
Sorry this is such a long post but I think I will only get on once a week so had alot to say!
Thanks again for everyones suggestions.:j

LittleBill

XSpender wrote: »

Does anyone know what weight of dried lentils would be a 400g tin when cooked?

I used some lentils yesterday to add a bit of bulk to a batch of Spag sauce .. I would say around as much as you could heap in one hand .. That amount should bulk up to be around a tin's worth

LittleIDon'tHaveVeryBigHandsBill

joedenise

XSpender wrote: »

Does anyone know what weight of dried lentils would be a 400g tin when cooked?

100g of dried beans is the equivalent of a 400g tin; I would have thought it would be the same dried lentils, although I've only used the red ones and puy lentils, both of which I just tip out until it looks enough:rotfl:.

Denise

Bluegreen143

mags50 your apple & date chutney recipe has been added to the index

Bluegreen143

In_it_not_to_giveitaway your clementine sauce recipe has been added to the index

Bluegreen143

Popping on to update spends - did a small Mr M shop at the weekend so now standing at £106.49.

Mealplan as follows:

S - minestrone soup with homemade bread
M - sweetcorn fritters and spicy wedges with garlic mayo & salad
T - lemony black eye beans and spinach with homemade bread
W - haddock with a tomato sauce, homemade chips and veg/salad
Th - mince and tatties with peas and carrots
F - roasted veg arrabiata with homemade foccacia (if I have time!)
Sa - roast beef with Yorkshires, veg, roasties and gravy

Lunches - the rest of the minestrone or else leftover chicken casserole (in freezer) for me; tuna or ham sandwiches for OH

BlueMoo

4.43 spent last night on apples, milk, bread, and biscuits.
Didn't buy eggs as £2 for 6! It's amazing how much more expensive these local shops are.

*****

Dinner last night of slow cooked beef with white onions, red onions stuffed into French baguette with au jus.
I was going to do roasted veg but just couldn't face it after long day.
This will be enough for OH lunch as well today.

*****

Had to top up on petrol as well - only £10 to get me through until payday next week Friday. Fingers crossed won't have to go again - but likely with all these doctor's appointments and driving back and forth I will have to.