January 2016 Grocery Challenge

Cleosmum

Sorry, not been on the thread but have been careful and mindful. Just updated my signature with total so far which I am happy with £184.58 so far with a budget of £400.

XSpender

I'm pleased with my efforts in the kitchen this afternoon, helped by DS 5 who after cake making and cheese grating insisted on doing the washing up (I have a dishwasher!) and cleaning up after our cooking. :rotfl: We made enchiladas and a double chocolate and banana loaf to add to the loaf I made this morning. All GF.

I had one portion of enchiladas for dinner, I have left one out for DH for when he gets back from his night out so he doesn't ram raid the fridge and eat all my ingredients, and have 2 portions to go in the freezer. Only used 2 chicken breasts and used up 2 ys GF wraps that have been in the freezer for ages, so I kind of made enchilada lasagne with them as they are rectangular and are too thick to enjoy rolled as they would be with normal enchiladas.

Half of the banana loaf will be sliced and frozen for another time.

I did spend £2.94 on tin foil at Mr T local today. I usually buy the value stuff as lining baking trays is essential in a GF/non GF household but wanted something thicker to use in the freezer.

I have defrosted the last 2 packs of turkey with stuffing, bacon and gravy frozen at Christmas for lunch tomorrow. DS spotted some pigs in blankets Mr T last night so these will help pad the turkey out especially with a couple of yorkies.:) We will either have the banana loaf or I will make an apple crumble for pud.

I have received a £12 off £60 spend from Mr T as haven't shopped on line for ages. I have booked the cheapest spot at the end of the month/end of the offer to start Feb and am adding to it as I go along. At the minute it has about 10 packs of chicken to make up the total :rotfl:

jayII

mrs-moneypenny wrote: »

:T

That's how my month is panning out as well, it's a lovely feeling isn't it to start the year ahead. I'm using up things that have just been lurking in the freezer and cooking from scratch much more this year so far we are eating better and cheaper as its using up rather than buying in and having the freezer rammed full of things we never eat because it's too full to check what's in there.

It's a great feeling and so good to know that we'll be healthier, as well as saving money! :j

Zed42

Evening all .... sorry for not checking in earlier, seem to recall it was last Sunday.

So, this week has been, as per expectations .... lacking in energy and motivation, which equates with take out and general apathy.

groceries - 87.07
take out - 47.55

The groceries, included 6 x 3kg bags of IAMS at half price (£7.49 each), which ought to keep the moggies content for a while!!

Full disclosure on spend is in the signature ... bar tonight's Chinese, for which hubbie hasn't yet supplied me with the receipt .. expect another £20 to add to the pile.

Tomorrow we're off to the panto and afterwards we're eating out, which I didn't include in my budget for dining out for the month, but I will include into the overall eating budget.

Mealplan for the week, doesn't exist

But, goes for the beginning, something like this:

Sun - Sushi (eating out)
Mon - chicken wrapped in bacon, filled with Philly and whatever veg is salvageable from the fridge
Tues - spag bol ... although the mushrooms are looking distinctly iffy.
Wed - either fish or sausages

And that is about as far as it goes so far !

Now to go and catch up with how you're all doing and hoping you're more motivated than I!

Kitchenbunny

Morning, a lovely clear day dawning here with the promise of cold. We've had a minor dusting of snow overnight - enough to make things seem like a very heavy frost - but thankfully no more otherwise driving will be tricky. I'm sat working out my shopping list now as the mealplan is done, and trying to make meals that won't seem repetitive. I think that is my main problem when sticking to a budget. Everything starts to feel a little bit samey and if it was just for me I know I'd be fine, but when cooking for DH I feel I should make a bit more of an effort. Although, bless him, I know he'd eat whatever I'd put in front of him, but I'd feel it ... if that makes sense!

Anyway, my mealplan for the coming week:

Monday - Ribs with Sauteed Potatoes and possibly a small salad using up leftover lettuce
Tuesday - Jambalaya
Wednesday - Fajitas
Thursday - Shepherd's Pie (keeping any leftover mash to make croquettes)
Friday - Black Bean Chicken with Noodles
Saturday - Spicy Sausage Pasta
Sunday - Mince & Dumplings

Tomorrow will be another 'main shop' day and I'm hoping ribs will be on offer at Mr M - if not I may see if belly pork will be any cheaper and do the same thing with that instead. I'll try to keep all extraneous spends to a minimum too. I'm halfway through my month and am slightly under-budget, but I know that I've been 'making do' an awful lot lately!

Hope everyone has a lovely Sunday. Keep warm.

KB xx

Suffolk_lass

Going shopping this morning to top up on F&V and Dairy stuff - and something to roast. As predicted a week ago I still have food left from my first shop of the year so may come in under for this month overall.

DH now fed up with chilli! We had it on Monday, then he had it Thursday evening after a late meeting and again on Friday when I was out for a meal. He gently suggested he was chillied out last night so we had JPs with salad and grated cheese and optional smoked salmon (pack left over from Christmas - it's fine as smoking is a form of preserving). I might put fewer red lentils in the next chilli as they really do make 500g mince last for four days...!

I have got another pack of mince out of the freezer and intend doing a spag bol and lasagne with that but need the milk or it will be with powdered milk in the sauce (works OK but not as nice as fresh).

I have this massive 1k+ piece of cheese that I got from the deli counter when it was on offer last week so I think the lasagne may have cheese in the sauce too! Also got some chicken thighs out of freezer for a casserole later this week.

I shall probably also get a chicken which I will roast in big le creuset with stock, and have roasted today, use for another meal and then sandwiches this week. We will have non-meat dishes other than that - cauliflower and broccoli cheese and maybe JPs with that last bit of chilli(!)

Keep it going everyone, the last two weeks are for "what can I make out of nothing" and "freezer weeks" - if you are close to your target spend!

Good luck
SL

craigywv

hi all need milk today so a qid shall be spent after work and that's it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!she hopes xxx

XSpender

Bit annoyed to say the least this morning. DH came in from his boozy night and ate the strategically placed enchiladas I had left for him to distract him from eating the things I didn't want eating then one box of the frozen turkey I had taken out to defrost for lunch today:mad: He will have to have sausages with his instead. Annoyed as it has spoilt this nice lunch I had planned for the family before I have to leave at tea time for a 5 hour drive :mad:

May make some peanut butter cookies later as they are quick, easy and GF

candygirl

XSpender wrote: »

Bit annoyed to say the least this morning. DH came in from his boozy night and ate the strategically placed enchiladas I had left for him to distract him from eating the things I didn't want eating then one box of the frozen turkey I had taken out to defrost for lunch today:mad: He will have to have sausages with his instead. Annoyed as it has spoilt this nice lunch I had planned for the family before I have to leave at tea time for a 5 hour drive :mad:

May make some peanut butter cookies later as they are quick, easy and GF

Grrrrr no wonder you're annoyed.My DD used to come in piddled, n eat almost the entire contents of the fridge :mad:

dingdongsaving

Another nsd here, but hubby's been away since Friday & ds is antsy without much spare attention (tiny tot has a horrible cold...& with her being 1 she doesn't leave much room for spare time/relaxation!) Hehe.

We planned breakfast/brunch out using clubcard vouchers y.day & played in the garden and play shed on and off all day...and even managed to squeeze in some Uno & a movie together once she was asleep. :T It was lovely.

Today we've had a snuggly breakfast of toast (still with the Christmas selection of jams and curds), fruit, and a never ending pot of Earl Grey for me. :coffee:

We've already had a play in the garden, but it really is chilly and we're back inside after just a couple of hours! :eek: Hot chocolate time me-thinks, and then we're aiming for a walk to the local garden centre and park. :smileyhea

If dd doesn't have a nap by 2pm we may drive to the nearest library too...just to force her to have a 25 min sleep! :rotfl: We usually go to the library every other week when our stash is due to renew/be swapped, but I think today it will be a 'needs must' situation of grumpy or not grumpy for all of us!

Stay warm! Happy Sunday.