December 2017 Grocery Challenge

JingsMyBucket

XSpender wrote: »

Please could you share the recipe for the baileys and chocolate trifle as this would be ideal for a NYE party we are going to (if we have any baileys left by then )

I got the "recipe" from a different forum and it's more so a method than recipe. Here's what the person wrote:

"I make boozy chocolate hazelnut trifle. I hate fruity, jammy trifles with madeira cake. Mine has chocolate sponge (from a mix) drizzle Frangelico (kahlua would also work as would baileys) then layer with whip cream and so forth until you get to the top where you add chocolate shavings. Set in the fridge for a day and it's the bee's knees!"

I hope that helps Xspender. The person then went to say that Bailey's really would work well. I can't wait to try it. I might do a test run of chocolate cake because it's not my specialty. I'm more of a cook than a baker.

thriftwizard

Another £5 spent as the market packed down at lunchtime today. That bought me a bag of bananas, 3 punnets of strawberries, 2 of raspberries and a big bag of carrots. The strawberries are ridiculously cheap at 3 punnets for £1 and I don't expect them to last, but we've eaten 2 punnets already! Not very seasonal eating, though, apart from the carrots. Though some years we've still been picking autumn raspberries from the garden in December, down here; not this year, though. Those are from Morocco, as are the strawbs.

To be honest, we have plenty of carrots at the allotment, but as it's "new ground" with a hard-pan in the soil about 3" down from the surface, I've grown the most ridiculously bendy & multi-limbed carrots you have ever seen. They taste great, but it takes a good 10 minutes to prepare one! Interesting how dock roots can go straight down, though...

taka

£34.80 spent so far but it is time for a Costco trip on Wed. :eek: That is never good for my food budget!

JingsMyBucket

@thriftwizard I am totally jealous of your superior fruit/berry haul! I love berries and am surprised you found them so cheap right now.

purpleybat

my nephew has decided to come and stay with me for a fortnight so cos of that can I up my budget to £260 please.


I did a mega morries shop so in theory I shouldn't need to buy potatoes and meat til mid jan, maybe some mince and maris pipers.


my 'vegetarian' nephew doesn't generally mind what he eats but has requested fisherman pie, I suggested to him he was a pescetarian (sp) but he said it's only here he eats it. I've bought some linda mcsausages as they're his favourite and a few other bits just for him.


total so far this month is £154 so higher than I wanted but I think it's all fresh stuff like cheese, veg and bread I need... maybe a few frozen nibbly bits to have with salad for lighter dinners.


snowing here too since 3am yesterday

thriftwizard

@JingsMyBucket we live quite close to the port-of-entry for a lot of imported food. The biggest market greengrocer is actually part of quite a big chain of high-street & market greengrocers stretching up & down the south coast from the port; we can often get exotic stuff at very good prices, things that the supermarket buyers have rejected for being odd-shaped, too close to ripe, not "in season" (like pumpkins in November or nuts after Christmas) or having too small a potential market. It's knowing what to do with it! We can also get good locally-grown stuff like blueberries, being close to the UK's main blueberry grower; their "seconds" usually make their way onto our market. We're very lucky, here...

Need2bthrifty

Finally got out to shop, my street is still like a skating rink but okay on the main routes. I had hoped to get some aubergines last week - been craving Moussaka for days - ended up having to freeze the mince part and resort to freezer alternatives.

In L1dl spent £8.28 on wash-up liquid, medjool dates, nuts, 2 aubergine, 2 red peppers and a huge chunk of mature stilton. On the online leaflets the peppers were 39p each but receipt has them at 29p each so I was very happy .

A quick detour to sainsbobs - I have a huge weakness for the "authentic" greek yoghurt - also bought some of their all butter mini mince pies so another £4.50 spent. At least I have started on the festive purchases will freeze most of the mince pies to limit my intake.

I'm getting really low on fresh veg but hanging off for a few more days using freezer stock and tins until L1dl seasonal offers are available and I can buy what I need for the festive period.

BrassicWoman

£30 today; lot of fruits, some cake and bread, and ready meals - very very busy week and I won't be looking after myself at all well. So some vegan meals which at least have some fresh-ish veg in them.

[Deleted User]

£2,96 spent in Morries on some carrots, 2 x cartons of plant milk, 2 x jars of pickle & some crusty rolls. I did buy 2 bottles of Tia Maria, but that will be coming out of my bulk buy. I have run out of laundry liquid and some salad stuff, so will try to get 2moz. Finish work Wednesday, sorry work is so overrated, not that I overdo it, these last two days are just going to last forever. I will be skipping up the street mind when they are finished. Have updated sig.

JingsMyBucket

NSD today! Finally, another one!

For dinner tonight I took one of the bags of homemade beef & garbanzo soup out the freezer for me to eat tonight and breakfast tomorrow. I also made butternut squash and carrot soup for OH using up the three last thick souping carrots that were in the fridge and half a pack of cubed butternut squash in the freezer. I added some stewed chipotle peppers in there, blended it up then added coconut milk. OH loves it. I realized it's vegan too as I fried the onions, garlic and carrots in coconut oil.

He had two servings and there are about 2.5 servings left for tomorrow. In terms of food prep and using the freezer, I think I might make a batch of tomato sauce later this week using the remaining spinach in the fridge and some of the frozen spinach and mushrooms. After that I'll portion it up in freezer bags to use as needed when we're feeling lazy.


TOTALS SO FAR:

2 NSD
€49.58 / €350.00 for groceries
£179.86 / £200 London stocking up fund