August 2016 Grocery Challenge

WantToBeSE

Afternoon All

Spent £20 on fruit and veg today. Also wrote a meal plan.

Today i want to make some bread rolls, has anyone got a recipe they'd recommend?

I also want to make some veggie pasties. I remember seeing a recipe for pastry in the food processor, so i will hunt for that too today and then make and freeze the pasties.

I did some meal prep at the start of the week and it's proven to be very useful! I pre chopped loads of veggies and tofu, and boiled lots of rice. So far it's done every evening meal, plus some lunches.

I am thinking about making 3 meals every Sunday and then keeping them in the fridge and having them on Mon/Wed/Fri.

elsiepac

Florence_J wrote: »

Hi there, there's not much more to the recipe than that. I just lightly cooked the leek for a couple of minutes and then added the barley and stock and cooked until the barley was tender. I hope you enjoy it

Florence, I made leek barlotto last night! Absolutely delicious! Great idea using barley! I used barley, a knorr veg stock pot, 1 tsp olive oil to saute the leeks, 3 cloves garlic, leeks and some button mushrooms which I couldn't resist! Very economical, healthy, tasty and filling!

August Grocery Challenge:
26/07/16: Tesco (Breakfast Things) ...£7.75.......£92.25 remaining
26/07/16: Tesco (Stir Fry Sauce) .....£0.68.......£91.57 remaining
27/07/16: H&B (Tofu - 20% off ) ......£3.58.......£87.99 remaining
27/07/16: Veg Man ....................£3.48.......£84.51 remaining
27/07/16: Tesco (Flowers for mum) ....£3.00.......£81.51 remaining
28/07/16: Tesco (Snacky Things) ......£2.96.......£78.55 remaining
28/07/16: Chip Shop ..................£3.15.......£75.40 remaining
29/07/16: M&S (Mezze bits etc) ......£21.85.......£53.55 remaining
29/07/16: Tesco (Veg Bits) ...........£4.14.......£49.41 remaining
30/07/16: Tesco (Frzn bits, looroll) £22.80.......£26.61 remaining
04/08/16: Tesco (Wraps) ..............£0.89.......£25.72 remaining
05/08/16: Tesco (Big Shop)...........£27.95.......-£2.23
09/08/16: Tesco (Broccoli, Mushrooms) £1.29.......-£3.52


I was very careful when I did my big shop last Friday - I picked out 5 recipes I wanted to make, made a list of the ingredients I needed, plus extras like cereal and almond milk, and I stuck to my list! Unfortunately I have gone over budget but not by much - of course there is a lot more month to go until the 25th, when my budget month ends.
At the moment though, I am still stocked up and sticking to my recipes (it's only for me and each one makes several portions so should be good for a bit.

I made split pea soup on Friday, from a recipe I found on tasteofhome.com (listed as Vegetarian Split Pea Soup) - it was really delicious and I got three really big portions from it. Also cheap ingredients and nice and healthy!

Also the leek and mushroom barlotto mentioned above.

I have ingredients for the following:
1. Tomato,Basil and Walnut sauce with Pasta (making this tonight for me and mum for our girls night - she comes over, I cook and we watch a film) - if there is enough sauce for three portions then I'm going to spiralise some courgettes to have it with for lunch tomorrow as I won't want pasta, plus it's Weight Watchers tomorrow night!
2. Slow Cooker Lentil Soup - I'm planning to prep everything for this tonight and set it off on low to cook through the day so I have it for tea tomorrow and probably lunch Friday unless I make a salad.
3. Cuban Black Beans with Kale - This is a tomato based recipe, looks like it'll be sort of like a chilli. I'll probably make it on Saturday as doubt I'll have time Friday night - I'll be rushing off to the Bristol Balloon Fiesta after work, yay! My company has a balloon so we get a certain number of tickets to the VIP enclosure with free parking and I've managed to wangle 4 for me and my friends and their two kids (free) so that'll be fun!

Hope everything is having a great month so far and enjoying being back accountable again like I am!

pamsdish

WantToBeSE wrote: »

I am thinking about making 3 meals every Sunday and then keeping them in the fridge and having them on Mon/Wed/Fri.

I live alone too, I always make a roast Sunday, plate the veggies to give 5 in micro, gravy in a mug , goes in for 2 mins approx while veg standing, meat I just bring out of fridge about 30 mins before eating, don`t warm it as I think it can be tough and overcooked.
Pastry is easy in processor, normal quantaties of flour and fats cut into small chunks, pulse to breadcrumbs, add water a little at a time, pulse after each addition until coming together, done.

Sayschezza

Spent £6.50 in mr t on bits for my lunch and dinner for both of us because I forgot to take anything out of the freezer before I went to work.

WantToBeSE

pamsdish wrote: »

I live alone too, I always make a roast Sunday, plate the veggies to give 5 in micro, gravy in a mug , goes in for 2 mins approx while veg standing, meat I just bring out of fridge about 30 mins before eating, don`t warm it as I think it can be tough and overcooked.
Pastry is easy in processor, normal quantaties of flour and fats cut into small chunks, pulse to breadcrumbs, add water a little at a time, pulse after each addition until coming together, done.

Thanks Pamsdish

I think it'll save time and also money if i do the microwave meals.
My son (16) can be really funny with texture of reheated food (he has autism) so the veg will have to be fresh (but i can still pre chop it all).

I am looking to find a full time job in September, after being off for 6 months to look after my son. So the more i pre chop/pre cook etc, the better.

tumptyteapot

Freezing home made tomato sauce is the way forward for me I think. I'm eating through the freezer because it needs defrosting and I've got a few pints of tomato sauce, made with whatever veg I had around, tomato puree, garlic and tinned tomatos. Todays defrosting made a nice baked pasta (value penne with unfrozen cheese sauce on top) and the tomato sauce cooked up with lentils then whizzed made a totally different tasting tomato soup.
We ate it with courgettes from the garden, coated in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs, baked for a while with a sprinking of chilli, olive oil and paprika. I've no idea how to cost that meal but it has to be extremely frugal, with the exception of the egg :-)

I'm starting to really enjoy making delicious food out of what we have instead of going shopping for something else.

Islandmaid

£45 spent at Aldi, needed a 'proper' shop, loo roll, cat food, shower gel etc

Scrimps

we're down to £73.44 from the original budget of £180.

We have to do a bit of a store cupboard top up - olive/coconut oils etc. Also, when out at the weekend, we didnt pack a lunch and both got hungry so bought additional food, usually I would have just bought that out of my own account but I have taken it out of the joint account and the food budget, Im trying to keep it all more honest.

I am very conscious that I have spent more than hoped but also hopeful that we can keep it under till given how cheaply I can eat for a few weeks when needed.

freyasmum

Well, we're now at 109 and some odd pence.

Oh went to Aldi yesterday to pick up some bits and pieces including thins and the galia melon and peaches from the super six. They were turned into a lovely fruit salad for our picnic today.

We have a few more bits and pieces to collect tomorrow - veggies, toilet roll and some brioche buns to go with our turkey burger treat on Saturday but we should spend more than £30, so I reckon this week will be well on track. This should see us through to Tuesday when I will do a full shop again.

I do want to pop to Tesco to get a few weeks worth of to bed tomatoes (we use them a lot) but won't make a special trip for this.

Were going to see how much the local farm shop wants for their sacks of potatoes as they may work out cheaper than Aldi. We've been eating a lot more potatoes recently than normal due to baked potatoes with chicken and salad becoming a bit of a lunch staple.

We have plenty washing powder ( ), other cleaning Essentials, and could practically bathe in shampoo so won't need anything like that for a while

milasavesmoney

$112.96 added today. Includes dog food for old man Toby, a bottle of vitamins, cans of beans, potted meat, :eek: loads of cheese, snacks galore, meatballs, bacon, salami, hamburger patties, and dry pasta. Can you tell DH was doing the shopping? Not one veggie!

I sent him to shop while I was getting my hair cut.

Signature updated.