February 2017 Grocery Challenge

Mrs_Cheshire

Hi all, not been on for a while, need to go back and calculate spends from the last week or so. New budget starts on Thursday and we've got loads in so just need to check I've not gone majorly over!

ETA: Spent £397.43, Just shows if you don't keep a check then you can go over without realising.
The total does include a huge meat order from a local butchers place, that will last way into March if not the start of April. I also have loads of store cupboard bits in so should be able to keep the spends low in March

sitesafe

Well, I've gone over on my target but I was passing Tesco and as I have to drive 12 miles to get there I thought I might as well take the opportunity to go while I could. So some of the food will probably last in excess of a week when my challenge end. Hard to be precise on costings for the month as I didn't want to just buy enough until the end of the month which would have meant I'd have to make a special journey to Tesco iyswim.

New spends
£5.69 - Co-op - 4.19 wine; 1.50 choc
£27.69 - Tesco - 22.19 food; 3.50 wine; 2.00 choc/goodies

New totals
£98.72 - food
£7.94 - indulgences (choc etc)
£29.76 - wine
£2.87 - McD's pitstop

TOTAL £139.29/£130 (-9.29) - I'm hoping not to spend more than £6 until the end of the week, for milk, bread and fruit top ups...

elsiepac

Fruittea wrote: »

That bread looks gorgeous Elsiepac I wish mine turned out like that.
Ginmonster is right Flat Eric we all count different things - I do just the food but I must admit that the meal planning is working out to be the best thing for me as I'm getting through the freezer stuff. I won't be needing the veg box again this week as most of the veg it will come out of the freezer.
On the home grown front I still have 4 large butter nut squashes and plenty of onions that won't last much longer so I'll be planning them into meals.
The thread has really opened my eyes though.

Thank you! I was very pleasantly surprised, particularly with the rolls, as the first couple I mucked the knot up, then when I got the hang of it I went back and redid them!

I'm very jealous of your butternut squashes!! I remember a lovely recipe I tried years ago before I was vegan from BBC good food website - it was essentially a whole halved butternut baked with toppings on including goats cheese I think - I'll try and find the recipe!

Ok I couldn't find it online but I DID find it on my computer! I think I'll veganise it for me too!!

Here you go:

Roasted Butternut Squash with Goat's Cheese

Ingredients

2 small butternut squash
garlic clove , crushed
3 tbsp olive oil
a pinch dried chilli flakes
1 tsp thyme , chopped
courgette , cut into 2cm chunks
red pepper , cut into 2cm chunks
2 small red onions , cut into thin wedges
200g cherry tomatoes
50g pine nuts
100g goat's cheese , crumbled
1 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp parsley , chopped
1 tbsp parmesan

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
2. Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds then cut criss-cross patterns over the cut-side of each one.
3. Mix together the garlic, 2 tbsp olive oil, chilli and thyme and brush this mixture over the flesh.
4. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the flesh is tender.
5. To make the filling, put the courgette, pepper and onion in a roasting tin and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil.
6. Season and roast for about 20-25 minutes until tender and starting to brown at the edges.
7. Add the cherry tomatoes and pine nuts and cook for another 10 minutes.
8. Mix the breadcrumbs, parsley and parmesan.
9. Arrange the roasted vegetables and goat's cheese in the squash halves, scatter with the breadcrumb mix and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

Ginmonster

Ooh that butternut squash thing looks scrummy. With a few tweaks to take into account what I have already I could make that.


Just to make you all jealous I had dinner cooked by Mum again last night. It was pasta with roasted sweet potatoes, lemon, almonds and ricotta. I've got leftovers of it for my lunch today too. For some reason Mum went out and bought a packet of pasta to make it and I've got 5 packets in the cupboard! Well, 5 and a bit now. I'm making the most of being looked after though as they're going home tomorrow.


Re: things in the freezer, I haven't ever found anything really crazy in there but I did once put a bottle of wine in to chill and forgot about it. That was a big mistake. The next broke as the wine started to freeze and expanded but as it hadn't frozen completely the rest of the wine seeped through the freezer and made everything smell of booze. It almost put me off wine. Almost.

Ginmonster

Just realised I'm getting confused between the 2 threads I've been posting on. If any of my last post makes no sense it's not 'cos I'm batty (well not just that anyway) it's because I'm also mentioning things said on the Eating Out of the Freezer and Cupboards thread. Sorry!

Fruittea

Thanks for the recipe Elsiepac and would you believe I have all the ingredients except goats cheese but I have Feta and I think it would work with that. I still have a couple of bags of frozen courgettes as well which are better when incorporated into a dish. So that will definitely go on the plan. So thanks.
Ginmonster I read the other thread to get a bit of inspiration - so it made perfect sense to me (especially as I have 3 freezers!).
Well I'm doing well on the target of £150 and I only need bread and eggs for next week but I'm going to cheat a bit and place an Ocado order on Monday but only because I have a £ off voucher which must be used before the 28th. So I'll take that shop out of the March target. I don't actually intend to use the stuff until March anyway.

[Deleted User]

Third and last shop in February I now have £14.41 left in my food purse and nothing at all to buy for the rest of the month Very pleased with this months budget and the left over will go into my holiday account for treats :):)

Still got lots of stuff in the freezer to live on during march so fingers crossed a low food spend next month as well :)

Ginmonster

I bought veggie chorizo, cheese and dark chocolate today at lunchtime and spent £6.52. Still scraping in under budget at £140.51/£150.


I'll probably need bananas for my little monkey before the end of the month and possibly some extra milk as my MIL is coming to stay tomorrow and she drinks even more tea than me. I'm feeling positive. :-)

Franalamadingdong

Lol I had to laugh ginmonster. Thankfully plenty of us on here are on the freezer thread too.

Spent £33.73 today. I noticed some of the everyday value stuff has been removed from the shelves. Bought a really long roll of tin foil and a bulk pack of apple juice which should last us until the end of the month. Still got £16.05 of this month's budget left, but no shopping to do. Got my goats milk to make cheese with today too!

caronc

Shop today of £23 bringing total to £122/100, not great but still well under my previous minimum of £140 (which I usually exceeded) so not beating myself up about. Should be my last food spend for February.