August 2016 Grocery Challenge

Coxy11

Good morning everyone,


Budgets list updated to here


Welcome/welcome back to:
Says chezza, Geldsparerin, newlywed, amydoll83, ohhlaloo, Sylar321, Pinkwhisk, elsiepac, bluesky1989, JellyBox, dumpling (:D), K9sandFelines, Doom_and_Gloom, XSpender and skint breeder 5


Good luck all
Coxy

elsiepac

Hi all
I caved last night and got chips and mushy peas from my local chippy - they are ok for vegans. Only £3.15 but I have plenty of stuff in the house and was just being greedy and lazy. Must try harder! I should probably also admit that it was on my way back from Weight Watchers!! I'm a terrible person!! :rotfl::beer:
Yesterday lunchtime I also got a few bits from the local shop, 2 packs of 4 A1pr0 dark chocolate desserts - for some reason reduced to 79p per pack! Date wasn't until March next year! If they'd have had more I'd have snapped them up, they are yummy and a real treat and only 5 WW points so not too bad either! I'm going to look out for them again if I go in over the
weekend!

Right then, I'm working this weekend (from home but still) and when not working I am on call - as I start at 7 there is no going out for me this weekend so will hopefully limit my spending! I am popping up to my mums on Saturday for a desperately needed haircut - we have a hairdresser who comes over and does me mum and dad all at once, as I have no colour any more mine is only a tenner and I have that put aside separately ready...can't wait!

My big challenge this weekend is to USE WHAT I HAVE IN and not buy more food!! I have loads of veg, grains etc and although annoyingly no tinned beans (except a can of kidney beans in chilli sauce I bought by mistake instead of the ones in water!) I do have loads of dried so must get my bum in gear and make use of my time at home this weekend and get some of them cooked up and frozen!

I also want to get a cupboard clear out/tidy up done, plus freezer stock take so I know where I am! Also a bit of meal planning so I don't just end up with roast veg all the time!

On Wednesdays my mum comes over and I make dinner and we watch a film, this week we had a really delicious Thai Peanut Noodle Salad which if anyone wants the recipe I can share





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
27/07/16: M&S (Mezze bits etc) ......£21.85.......£53.55 remaining


Hmm, so basically in 3 days I've spent nearly £25 and not got a lot to show for it! Even more annoyingly because I had the chips for tea last night, I didn't make any lunch for today so will be buying something at lunchtime to eat too! Sigh, it's a slippery slope!
Edit - Spent £21.85 on various mezze bits, salsas, bread and salad and houmous in M&S, so had some bits from that for lunch and have loads of fun stuff for the weekend now... also, something went wrong with the till and I actually didn't get charged for two things which were a fiver each - giant jars of exciting salsa and relish, so it should have been a tenner more! Yes, I went mad but I got lucky too!

dumpling

Good morning, I have just had my 1st weeks shopping delivered at £78.71. I had a good substitution of Roses Lime cordial for Tescos own brand one. I'm sure they both taste the same anyway . They also sent me 8 or 9 massive pork chops for under £6 as it's on offer at the fresh meat counter for £3 a kilo. That will do us 2 meals as chops or if I cut them up I can probably get 3 or 4 meals for the 5 of us. I've put them in the freezer for now while I sort out the meal plan again for the week.

Florence_J

After yesterdays top up shops from MrT and Home Bargains I have now spent £103.92, meaning I have £64.08 left of the food shopping budget.

That means I have about £16 left for each week remaining in August till the 27th when my next months food budget begins, which I think is actually perfectly reasonable for a few top up items each week and maybe a medium sized shop mid month.

It will be a challenge, but one I am very much up for.

K9sandFelines

5 x19p spent on Uncle Bens Sweet and sour sauce with today's date in work. I've blended all five to go in the freezer and use tonight. DD2 doesn't like chunky bits in, so she has the goodness of the extra pineapple without the texture.
2 x 29p on thin bagels in the Co-op and 59p on a large garlic.

DottyBearP

elsiepac wrote: »

we had a really delicious Thai Peanut Noodle Salad which if anyone wants the recipe I can share

I'd love the recipe please (fellow vegan here!), the photos themselves are making me hungry!

I had our first spend today on what I see as essentials but others may not... coffee and bananas! But I did buy loose bananas and a store brand refill pack of coffee so I see that as a positive :rotfl:

I'm sure OH will have spend something as Friday is his day to buy lunch out so I'll update that tomorrow.

29/07/16___Coffee & bananas____________________ £4.47___ £4.47___ £235.53

elsiepac

Hi! Nice to "meet" another vegan!

The recipe is from the Oh She Glows book (not blog) and goes like this:

454g edamame beans (frozen ones not in pods, just boil for a few mins to cook and let go cold)
1 red pepper (I only had small ones so used a red and a yellow) diced
Half a cucumber diced
4 spring onions diced
A big carrot diced (or julienned)
114g noodles (original recipe is soba but I had rice in so used them)

For this first bit just cook your noodles, rinse well under cold water and put them in a big bowl and drizzle with a little oil (I used sesame) and mix so they don't stick together
Then just add all your veggies and mix well (I used my hands as impossible with noodles otherwise!!)

Then the sauce is:
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp ginger (paste or fresh grated, whatever)
3 tbsps peanut butter
3 tbsps lime juice
2 tbsps soy sauce
1 tsp sugar (I used brown rice syrup as don't have any sugar lol!)

Whizz up the sauce ingredients in a blender or just chop garlic and ginger very finely and mix well

Add to noodle and veggie mix

Top with fresh coriander and spring onions

Original recipe said 4 portions but with the above amounts I made three... Maybe I'm greedy!!

Using rice noodles (which I get in a big pack from the "ethnic" aisle and cost about £1.50 and I used just over a quarter) makes this really economical if you have all the bits for the sauce in which I usually do, except maybe ginger but that's so cheap anyway! Very MSE recipe!

Enjoy! x :beer:

kayjay1809

Budget of £550 for this month please

tighteningthebelt

Hi. I would like to join you all for August please.
My budget is £200 for 2 of us, plus a 3rd adult for evening meals, no pets, but to include cleaning and toiletries.
I feel confident I'll improve my target over time with the accountability of the challenge.
Hope everyone has a good weekend.

just_trying

Spent £21.50, though could increase no car just now. Will add as and when. No spending since last Saturday.