September 2007 Grocery Challenge

Angelraesunshine

Went to buy kids shoes at asda could not find what i wanted got the friut and potatoes i needed spent £6.44 which was good my asda are still taking any vouchers i got £2.50 off a almost £9 bill.

meanmarie

Teedy...my mother made the best colcannon I have ever tasted and she made it as follows:

Peel and cook whatever potatoes you require. While they are cooking finely chop some curly kale and a small/medium onion. When pots are ready, drain and throw in kale, onion, lots of butter and salt and pepper to taste. Mash together and serve with another knob of butter on top...I love it with fish, fried eggs or anything at all really!

I suppose that you could make extra and freeze surplus but I don't find frozen potatoes very palatable so just make what I am going to use, or a little extra to fry with bacon and egg the next morning

Marie

Jacks_xxx

The_shuffs wrote: »

Hi all joined the challange last month but im finding it really hard to get going and organised has anyone got any tips PLEASE im sure it cant be that hard mybe im over complicating it you all seem to be doing so well Rachael xx

Hiya Racheal, :wave:

I'm pretty new to this lark, but I'm trying to read as many threads on here as I can to get ideas, and planning meals ahead and shopping with a list really helps me.

I've had a hiccup this week...

I popped into Lidl stressed out after finding out that my daughter's braces could cost us £3000 and definitely went off list and bought more than I planned - which was extra stupid cos I live 8 miles from Lidl, and I had to call a cab to get it all home! :doh: Doh!

I kept all my receipts in August and I kept up with the Aug thread, set myself a budget and then I just started when we got paid.

I got a bit confused with my weeks early on, and had to remind myself that our weeks go wednesday to wednesday and just because a weekend has gone by another week hasn't!

Jump in hon!

Love Jacks xxx

faye1978

Hi guys,

Just reading this thread and waiting for the Oct challenge to start. There are only 2 of us and I spend in excess of £250 per week on food and stuff. Usually shop in Mr T's. However, I have a bit of a difficult situation as my OH only eats 'simple food.' No veggies, not really any fruit unless I put it in his lunchbox. Not really a carb man (other than bread and even then, only eats HM to keep me happy), so I can't usually bulk out meals with veg unless I cook in 2 pots (double washing up) or pick each and every one out. We end up eating the same every few weeks and I like to experiment with food. He won't eat anything herby or curry like, or even chilli, cos it has Kidney beans in it.

He does eat salad though so we end up eating a lot of that, and he will eat processed peas.

Does anyone have any ideas that could help me reduce my food bill whilst feeding him well?

You lot are so inspirational.

Thanks

trying-very-trying

Bobbykins wrote: »

that website where you put the ingredients in is Cooking by Numbers, I think. Here's the link

http://www.cookingbynumbers.com/frames.html

Thanks bbk I've just bookmarked that site. I think I'll be needing to use it quite a lot for the next 2 weeks. Less than £100 left and almost 2 full weeks.

lil_me

Well todays shopping was put to a stop quickly, I popped into Marks and Spencers in town as we needed sugar thinking I'll get the other 'bits' I needed there too. Well the £1.09 for sugar put me off, I bought that because it'd cost me more in petrol to go elsewhere but that was all I bought I was in shock.

Quite pleased so far as haven't even spent £100 yet I'm trying to run the stocks down however incase the move happens, don't want to take my stockpiles with me

Faye maybe it will be easier to start with the question of what will he eat ? You said same foods/meals etc so what are these foods, then maybe someone can help from there. (PS at least he eats salad my partner eats peas and sweetcorn usually and that is all, wouldn't even touch salads)

faye1978

lil_me wrote: »

Faye maybe it will be easier to start with the question of what will he eat ? You said same foods/meals etc so what are these foods, then maybe someone can help from there. (PS at least he eats salad my partner eats peas and sweetcorn usually and that is all, wouldn't even touch salads)

Hi Lil_Me

He will eat any meat, no fish, processed peas, raw carrots, raw cabbage and all other salad stuff. No fancy salad leaves, no onions. We usually eat chicken marinaded in stuff. Shepherds Pie (no veg/just mince), spag bol (again, mince and dolmio), chicken and ham pie, gammon egg and chips. Chicken drummers etc etc.

I think I have pretty much covered it all. If he gets a snif of a vegetable in a dinner he will sit and pick at it. It drives me nuts.

Moniker

Thought I would save money at the Co-op this week, but don't think it was actually cheaper than Sainsbury's. I had a voucher for £3 off £30 spent, but stupidly threw it away as I didn't think I would be going near the branch it was valid for before the expiry date - doh!

I spent £59-44 but will still need to top up veg and milk during the week. However, I am cautiously optimistic! I have £80.62 to last until 28th. I find I am getting better at resisting temptation though and haven't shopped for 'fun' since I started the challenge in August. I just picture you lot reading my posts and that helps me stay firm!

Keep up the good work!

Moniker

lil_me

Tricky one, try the meals for 50p threads etc. Also with a spend of £250+ a week are you wasting a lot ? My biggest change when trying to get spending down was writing a waste diary, I threw out a LOT of money every week, helped me realise how much and where I was going wrong. To be honest sounds like the struggle I have with my partner, I do put peas and carrots in stews which he'll have sometimes as long as it's cooked very soft, like I said raw veg for him is just a no, not keen on carbs either, another meat eater (his family had a butchers) I have said to him it's up to him if he wants to eat healthy now, sick of worrying about him, be lucky if he eats 5 fruit and veg a week never mind a day I don't even remember the last time he ate a piece of fruit I think it was last year. You're not on your own, definately not.

Making your own pasta sauce will save you some money and you also can put less sugar and salt in than they add making it much healthier, you could try experimenting adding extra veg in this.

mikeD

Try this link: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0e/Colcannon_4215w.jpg

It comes from a recipe by Helen Mirren (the queen of all actresses) who I suspect is an Irish lady.

My DSiL who died a couple of years ago made colcannon to go with a bacon joint on Christmas eve. It was a tradition in his Irish family but he used cabbage instead of curly kale, and he was heavy on the butter. It was delicious. My DD and I have tried making it since but could never quite come up to his standard. He was a natural cook and could provide amazing dishes without any training whatsoever.

Still on track to make budget.......I think........Hopefully:D