January 2017 Grocery Challenge. NEW BEGINNINGS!

Wysiwyg49

£19 in butcher and £53.31 in Sainsbobs so far...so £72.31 in the main shop then £2.90 for milk and oven chips.

Must say I am having a brain freeze about ideas for meals! DH protested at spag bol yet again although the kids love it. So I made a sort of moussaka instead. Need more ideas for fish and veg dishes as I'm very reliant on chicken and mince but keep repeating myself !

Watched the 50 healthiest countries programme the other night and then "How to lose weight well" which were both interesting and reinforced the point about eating less processed food. Must try convincing the kids next!

meg72

Wysiwyg49 wrote: »

£19 in butcher and £53.31 in Sainsbobs so far...so £72.31 in the main shop then £2.90 for milk and oven chips.

Must say I am having a brain freeze about ideas for meals! DH protested at spag bol yet again although the kids love it. So I made a sort of moussaka instead. Need more ideas for fish and veg dishes as I'm very reliant on chicken and mince but keep repeating myself !

Watched the 50 healthiest countries programme the other night and then "How to lose weight well" which were both interesting and reinforced the point about eating less processed food. Must try convincing the kids next!

Have you had a look at the recipes on the first page of the thread,? there are loads of good ideas.

CRANKY40

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Hi, i posted this in my DFD (Debt Free Diary) but thought i might get more advice/responses here, so i hope it's ok that i post here too.


The boys (17 and 13) are back to school today, so that should mean i can spend a little less on food! We've run out of snacks and the boys are constantly asking when I'm going food shopping. I am hoping not until Friday.

I feel so mean. We have plenty of food for meals (breakfast, lunch and dinners) but no snacks at all. Am i being mean? They are constantly looking for food (and by 'food' i mean snacks) in the kitchen..even straight after dinner.

I am trying a new thing where i ONLY go food shopping once a week (Fridays) and if they eat all the snacks in the first day or 2, they will have to go without until the following Friday.

Someone tell me i am not being a cruel mother who starves their children? My 17 yr old was saying that he is starting to get fat last night...he told me this while moaning that we dont have any unhealthy snacks in the house.

Home made scotch pancakes, home made fairy cakes, or something I discovered before Christmas which my 12 year old loves - mocha squares (an oat and cocoa based baked base with coffee fudge icing or chocolate fudge icing). The mocha squares seem to be more filling and don't taste too "oaty". Twink's hobnobs - oat biscuits which are a favourite on this forum and also oat based so they fill hollow legs.....all popular in my house.

I finished the weeks shopping today by buying fresh bread and fruit and also some stir fry veg. I didn't eat that much junk over Christmas but still my body is telling me it needs green things :rotfl: The pasta sauce that the boy child likes was half price too so I bought a few of those to keep us going and some chicken to make a korma at the weekend. £22.54 spent and total updated.

freyasmum

WantToBeSE wrote: »

Hi, i posted this in my DFD (Debt Free Diary) but thought i might get more advice/responses here, so i hope it's ok that i post here too.


The boys (17 and 13) are back to school today, so that should mean i can spend a little less on food! We've run out of snacks and the boys are constantly asking when I'm going food shopping. I am hoping not until Friday.

I feel so mean. We have plenty of food for meals (breakfast, lunch and dinners) but no snacks at all. Am i being mean? They are constantly looking for food (and by 'food' i mean snacks) in the kitchen..even straight after dinner.

I am trying a new thing where i ONLY go food shopping once a week (Fridays) and if they eat all the snacks in the first day or 2, they will have to go without until the following Friday.

Someone tell me i am not being a cruel mother who starves their children? My 17 yr old was saying that he is starting to get fat last night...he told me this while moaning that we dont have any unhealthy snacks in the house.

I definitely don't think that you're a cruel mum!

To put it into context, my OH made our daughter (10 years old) a lamb chop, chips, dippy eggs, peas and bread while I was working and before he left for work. She just told me, not much more than an hour later, that she was hungry and was there something she could have to eat! And while she's not quite skin and bone, there's not a pick of fat on her - she's all muscle!

I agree with telling them that this is the snack allowance for the week - whether you decide to buy/make them yourself, or give them the money you would spend - and once it's gone, then it's gone.

jedi82

£3.25 spent on bananas, eggs and milk at local shop. Proud of myself today, had planned cottage pie but forgot to get mince out of the freezer. Normally I would stop at coop on the way home and get mince (and I nearly did) BUT instead I came home made cauliflower cheese and gave DH a gammon steak that was lurking with it. So going to get mince out for tomorrow and have cottage pie then instead �� And hopefully have an NSD tomorrow, I need one as clutch is going on the car and will need every penny to pay for that �� Xxx

Redshank

Asked my lovely hubby to pick up a bag of rice from the co-op on the way back from the school pickup as I forgot to get some during the weekly shop. He came home with a bag of rice, 2 bags of doughnuts and a twinpack of garlic bread. So £3.89 spent instead of £1.89 :doh:

CountingPennies

Another one here to echo the "Your not being cruel". My kids always moan when we run out of crisps. They are told they shouldn't eat them all at once then.

NSD so far today, however, I have to go to Tesco to pick up a prescription. I will need milk tomorrow. So not sure if I should pick it up tonight then maybe have a look to see if I can pick up any YS items. Its been a while since I've done that, but needs must!

CP xx

[Deleted User]

I haven't spent yet, but am intending doing a shop tomorrow.

WantToBeSE wrote: »

I made some veggie burgers yesterday, with beans and stuff i already had in the house. Does anyone know at what point i freeze them? Do i have to cook them first, or can i freeze the uncooked mix?

When I make veggie burgers, I freeze them uncooked.

elsiepac wrote: »

I had a chickpea salad sandwich for lunch yesterday and it was delicious!

Chickpea Salad:

Wow, that looks so lovely. Never thought of putting chickpeas in a sandwich.

WantToBeSE wrote: »

We've run out of snacks and the boys are constantly asking when I'm going food shopping.

My kids as teenagers were constantly hungry. Maybe start the meal with soup, with beans, keeps u full. Snacks, I think brown bread toast, pitta bread, dips - you can make them with beans etc and spice them up, fruit - like bananas or maybe make some cereal bars. If they eat them in one go, tell them that's it - its not cruel. Good luck

Mrs_Cheshire

Really need to gather all my receipts together and work out how much I've spent. Have had a couple of good days where we've not had much in, but I've made things with what I've had rather than going to the shops. I really need to defrost my little freezer and get a meat delivery but have a couple of large items which I'm not sure will fit in the other freezer. It's pretty cold here so I may pop them in a cool bag and do it during the day when the heatings off.

Mrs_Cheshire

Not as bad as I though. I've spent so far £68.15. Lots of small top up shos rather than 1 big one. Although I did go to Boots and spend a bit on baby food and nappies as they had some good offers and I had a coupon for money off.
Once the warmer weather comes I'm going back to reusables but due to have 3 kids and no tumble dryer I can't get the washing done quick enough in the winter.