January 2017 Grocery Challenge. NEW BEGINNINGS!

Soworried

A spend of £19.56 today on cheeses & meats etc for NYE.

sitesafe

Save_Dosh wrote: »

Well done on completing a nutrition course. I'm not fussy about what I eat, but I don't like eating rubbish. I find it very easy to eat a healthy diet on a budget, moreso than if I was eating junk. I guess it depends on whether you buy organic or not - I don't mostly, so that really does keep the cost down, though tinned stuff usually aren't organic, so i'm assuming you don't always, which will help. I'm Vegan, try to mostly make things from scratch. Now make my own oat milk, houmous, etc. Bulk buy when there are good offers, like the ones at the moment, veg packs for 19p, which I make into healthy soups, stews, curries etc and freeze, or just blanch and freeze. I buy wholemeal seeded bread & rolls for pennies, as they are always reduced (not sure that is healthy though). Gonna try and make some more brussels balls, which is a work in progress. Last ones were brussels and sweet potato burgers, which were lush, these are going to be brussels with stuffing, as I have loads of boxes (27p), but you can make them healthier with potatoes, or other veg etc. I will have with a tomato herb sauce and cous cous. I try to stay away from rice because of the arsenic levels, but do eat it occasionally. I do chuck in some packaged food, but try to limit it. Sure you will do well, be interested to hear what cheap healthy meals you make. Good luck.

Thank you Save Dosh - I bought some cheap brussels the other day so having those tonight with some (reduced) carrots which were organic but very cheap (think supermarket trying to get rid of stock). Sweet potatoes are one of the most nutritious veg I believe so thanks for sharing the idea about the burgers. I would probably do what you do re soups etc but I don't have a freezer or even a frozen compartment in the fridge so I'm a bit restricted. It's not my house as I do 'live-in' work so I can't go out and buy one either. Still it will add to the challenge!!

sitesafe

iammumtoone wrote: »

Hi sitesafe

that course sounds really interesting. I also have the problem where I dont like eating the same two days in a row but with a small family its difficult no to, if you are trying to avoid waste.

Will you be posting your meal plans? As I would like to follow your progress and hopefully get a few suggestions.

Thanks iammumtoone - The nutrition course was great - it was an online one NCFE Level 2 in Nutrition and Health - and you get a certificate too..quite challenging in areas as you had to devise a weight management plan but also the food had to fit nutrition demands but within a certain amount of calories. Lots of reading labels etc. What's even better is it was FREE with a certain college (I shopped around). I will post the link later so everyone can see if they might be interested. It took about 3 months part-time in my own time. Good luck with your challenge too. Hoping to get lots of ideas on here!

sitesafe

sitesafe wrote: »

Thanks iammumtoone - The nutrition course was great - it was an online one NCFE Level 2 in Nutrition and Health - and you get a certificate too..quite challenging in areas as you had to devise a weight management plan but also the food had to fit nutrition demands but within a certain amount of calories. Lots of reading labels etc. What's even better is it was FREE with a certain college (I shopped around). I will post the link later so everyone can see if they might be interested. It took about 3 months part-time in my own time. Good luck with your challenge too. Hoping to get lots of ideas on here!

Here are the links
http://www.distance-learning-courses.co.uk/distance-learning-course-information.php?id=1208
http://www.distance-learning-courses.co.uk/distance-learning-fees.php

Florence_J

Back at home in Wales after visiting family for Christmas which meant an emergency run to the shops.

£6.89 on cucumber, bread, milk, Orange Juice and non alcoholic beer. MrT have put their prices up on the bread and OJ.

Tealmummy

long time lurker here- can i be put down for 80.00 for the month.
there is me, dd7 and one dog :j
will be starting on the 1st of jan. bit tricky as i get paid mid-month and taxcredits/CB are all over the place as every 4 weeks lol.

NewShadow

[Deleted User] wrote:

There is also a full chicken that we can roast. But this will be experimental as I have never cooked a full chicken so I will have a look around for recipes.

Hi Allie - I'm not sure what you're looking for when you say 'recipe', but if you're looking for roast chicken try putting a whole lemon in the cavity and cooking it upside down (breast down) in a casserole dish.

Cover the whole dish in foil so it steams in it's own juice in the oven at around 200c for about an hour (assuming it's around 1.5kilos) then take the foil off, flip the bird right side up (and drain some/all of the liquid from the dish) and roast it uncovered for another 30/45 mins. I use a meat thermometer to make sure it's cooked (170 at the thickest part of the breast).

When it's cooked, take it out of the oven and put the foil back on top for around 15 minutes - while you're plating up the rest of the meal - to let the meat 'rest'. It makes it easier to carve and makes the meat less likely to be 'dry' when used as leftovers.

That makes chicken that's moist and delicately tasting like chicken. If you're looking for something a little more flavoured - stuff with an onion rather than a lemon and when you flip it right side up sprinkle the skin with cumin seeds and salt.

If you're looking to maximise the meat you can get off it and don't want a 'roast' as such, cook it in a slow cooker. All you need to do is put in enough liquid to cover the bottom of the bowl and turn it on - the bird will be cooked in 6ish hours and you'll know it's cooked because if you try to lift it out the bones will fall out. Then all you need to do is pick out the bones and portion up to add to other dishes.

HTH

ETA - Oh, with all of the above (obviously) make sure the bird is completely defrosted first.

catznine wrote: »

(((Hugs))) Coxy so very sorry �� My Nana used to say
"Looking back - give thanks
Looking forward- take courage"
All to often I have had to remember her words - more (((hugs)))

That's beautiful - I think that needs to me my motto for 2017

Redshank

£5 today on woodshavings for the hens. £82.77 down. They've been spending a lot more time in their coop recently because they're supposed to be indoors because of Bird Flu (DEFRA thing) but we don't have an indoors except the coop so we've just been letting them out later and putting them to bed sooner. Poor sods are roosting in about two inches of droppings at the moment (6 hens in a small space doesn't take long to build up, even with daily clean up of the worst of it)

Question RE no spend days....is that no spending on groceries, or no no money spent *at all*?

[Deleted User]

Redshank wrote: »

Question RE no spend days....is that no spending on groceries, or no no money spent *at all*?

I would assume its on groceries. That's what I used to do, but maybe others are different.

freyasmum

Hi

Being lucky enough to never have been in that situation, I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through Coxy, and I know that words are meaningless, but I was thinking about you today. I hope all went as well as it could have x

We are aiming for £3650 this year again.

We're going to do this by actually lifting the money from the bank and using cash only, rather than card to see if that helps. We're going to eat from the stores and use up food that we've had for a little while.

I am going to do a full freezer/cupboard inventory (OH already did the stock cupboard), but from memory, I have pork chops in the freezer and hoisin and garlic sauce in the cupboard. I had been threatening to make pork chops with mash and veg but, because of the way OH's days off have worked, this hasn't materialised. Instead, the chops and sauce will to together, along with veggies (mushrooms, julienned carrots and some water chesnuts/bamboo shoots), to create a stirfry. I would love it with noodles, but we have rice in, so that's what we'll have it with. Perhaps egg fried? There are also nuts in the cupboard, so I will add a handful or two of those towards the end of cooking.

We also have left over party/buffet foods, so those will be a couple of stranger meals for my daughter and I - think cheese rolls with beans and chips So much for eating healthily!

Oh, and I still have the tin of pumpkin puree (thanks, wholefoods...) that I've been threatening to use up for months

missyp123 wrote: »

As well as securing a part time job I'll also be dieting and trying to cook most of our meals from scratch!
I have been lucky enough to be gifted a bread maker which I can not wait to get my hands onto :A

Just be aware that, on account of HM bread being amazing - especially straight from the oven/breadmaker and slathered with butter, you may end up eating more than you intend and this negating the hard fought efforts of dieting. Just me then?

JackieO wrote: »

stuffed to the gunnals

JackieO xx

It's AGES since I heard this and it fair tickled me tonight!

Good luck everyone; I'm excited to see how we do in January :j