Family of 5 'shop from home'food storage challenge...

jcr16

wow i had a fantastic xmas.

i got a laminator and new pretty folder. so this evening i been laminating all my hand writtign recipes. i love it. i been really poorly yesterdya dn today had doc out. i just got a flu virus but feel awful. so laminating has been so relaxing.

i also got a new stainless steel bread maker. will keep old one tho , just incase anything happens to it. and hubby bought me a pasta maker.

i didn't end up getting the donut maker or waffle maker, but not a prob i will get them in feb , as need to tighten up the belt through jan. as hubby had a low wage this month.and had to take cat to vets as he got biten by another cat and that was an unexpected bill.

i have so much food in , as we had vistors booked for every night , but only 2 nights out of 7 we had anyone. as everyone phoned up and cancelled due to being ill, which is fair do's as i have been feeling poorly. can't be helped.

waiting to get some more ink for printer then will print out recipes from this thread. exciting stuff.

hope everyone had a fantastic xmas.

lil_me

I haven't tested mine yet, not much point as noones been eating anything because we're all full of cold here too, I think we're surviving on vitamin supplements and fruit juice/water. Today I have managed to get DS2 to eat half a bowl of cereals and DS1 half a banana, I haven't had anything.

Christmas dinner is nearly all in the freezer as that was hardly touched so my stocks haven't budged, freezer still have to be careful when opening/closing the doors.

I've realised what I am worse for than food stockpiles is cleaning stuff, toiletries etc. I got twitchy at the low stocks so put a massive order in with Wilkos so now I have soda crystals, soap flakes, shampoo, showergels, soaps, deoderants, white vinegar, washing powder etc etc all enough to last probably a year. It doesn't 'go off' so nothing apart from space (trust me everywhere is full now!) stops me.

rosieben

lil_me wrote: »

... put a massive order in with Wilkos so now I have soda crystals, soap flakes, shampoo, showergels, soaps, deoderants, white vinegar, washing powder etc etc all enough to last probably a year. It doesn't 'go off' so nothing apart from space (trust me everywhere is full now!) stops me.

lil_me, sorry to hear you've all been ill, hope you're all recovered soon.

I didnt realise that wilkinsons delivered, just never occurred to me to check, very good news as its a long and tedious bus ride to my nearest branch so thank you! I can blame you for the order I'm just putting in then :rotfl:

ravylesley

Wow isnt it amazing how many people have been poorly with what I can only describe as a sickness/flu type bug.We've all had it and most of the Christmas food has ended up either being crammed into the freezer or being binned (shameful I know).Hopefully everyone is feeling a little better now I know my four kids are slowly coming round.Have to admit it was really weird the other morning when all four got up so poorly they led on the sofas in total silence for hours!

Well I got my dehydrator for Christmas but I havent even unpacked it yet.Has anyone else tried theirs out yet?

Lesleyxx

Kaz2904

I've been working so not had much chance to pop on here.
I'm off to a party tonight as one of my colleagues is leaving on Monday to go and volunteer in Africa for 3 months. She'll be working in an orphanage looking after the babies.
I got a donut maker from dh. My recipe is a lot less fiddly than the simpsons one. 125g SR flour 30g caster sugar 1 egg 80mls milk, whisk until smooth and dollop 1 tsp on mould. Shut and cook for 3 minutes.
I also got a new frying pan- the handle broke off mine earlier in the week and I gave it to my uncle to get it welded back on. They mended it and then bought me a fab non-stick tefal jobby. Now I can have ommelette!

We got money from my other Uncle- £200:j so are putting that towards our new fireplace. We're decorating the front room and dining room in the new year as it hasn't been done for about 30 years (maybe more!).
I've seen some lovely fireplaces on ebay and can get one for £325 inc delivery. So we then have to save up for wallpaper and a carpet. We'll probably need a few bags of plaster and I'll get my underlay from ebay as they have some fabby stuff on there! We would LIKE a new suite but we NEED a new dining table so will probably hang fire on both until we are able to source them really cheap.
Looking at the prices from the land of leather boxing day sale, I might order one next year on boxing day so that we can save some towards it.
I have some quidco money pending so that will go towards the decorating budget.
Lots of work still to do outside the house, so need to get my bum into gear and get it finished ready for planting up all of my lovely home grown veggies.
Can anyone explain to me why we get hundreds upon thousands of slugs out the back of the house yet I've never seen any at the front of the house?

Need to go and get glammed up so will pootle off now. TTFN, Kaz.

natzini

Hello everyone...

I wondered if I could join in the discussions and recipe swapping on this thread? I've only got a family of 2 at the moment (me and OH), but I think that this thread will help me get the boost I need for budgeting and keeping the kitchen busy, our tummies full, bodies healthy (and treated!) and less money spent.

I don't really have resolutions but would love to be able to spend less on food. We're hoping that £100 will be an easy target for a monthly food spend, even though OH is a big, strapping 6ft4 meat craver! I'd also like to have a variety in the food we eat, which will be hard as OH is a picky eater, but he has warmed to 5 new dishes this year, so there's hope for him yet.

I live in Sussex (v. near Brighton) and teach as a profession. I suffer from a couple of illnesses which affect my mobility and energy levels, particularly the Fibro. I'm not going to let them get in my way though and try and use my healthy time as well as I can. We hope to move by the end of 2008 and I'd love to have our first child by 30 (I'm 25 now)

rosieben

natzini wrote: »

Hello everyone...
...
I don't really have resolutions but would love to be able to spend less on food. We're hoping that £100 will be an easy target for a monthly food spend, even though OH is a big, strapping 6ft4 meat craver! I'd also like to have a variety in the food we eat, which will be hard as OH is a picky eater, but he has warmed to 5 new dishes this year, so there's hope for him yet.
..

Hello Natzini :wave: this is a great thread! You might also be interested in the monthly Grocery Challenge - January thread is here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=7487061#post7487061

lil_me

rosieben, stop, redo it via quidco for cashback!!! Wilkinson plus on there. Oh my delivery was huge, 16 boxes :rotfl: the delivery drivers (Amtrak) are a bit hit and miss, they packed food stuff with cleaning in one of my orders and one of the boxes today the vinegar lid had come off but they are resending what was spoilt.

natzini, welcome, know how you feel completely, my partners a bit taller and grew up next to his families butchers, I find what keeps him happiest is better quality but slightly less of it and smaller plates!!!! He also has tried a couple of new things this year, Mexican is a big hit here now but still, has to be meaty.....well worth a try...

Kaz possibly food, whatever they are scoffing is there. Copper is supposed to work well to repel them, I have copper coins round my strawberry planter, they haven't been touched by slithery things. I hate them as in the summer I have a bad habit of wandering round barefooted and have stood on several slugs and snails, bring out the bleach, urgh!

natzini

rosieben wrote: »

Hello Natzini :wave: this is a great thread! You might also be interested in the monthly Grocery Challenge - January thread is here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=7487061#post7487061

Thanks Rosie!
I think what I'm going to do is set myself a challenge on the fridge, a private January challenge and see how I go, then start Feb with a grocery challenge. The reasoning behind it is that I want to see how much I'll need for the extra fruit and veg I'm wanting to have in our diets.

I got a lovely money box from my Aunt and Uncle so we are aiming at putting £1 a day into it so that when Christmas comes next year, we'll not have to worry about needing to budget. OH decided to tell my parents that if we're in a new home by next Christmas, we'll (read I'll) be having Christmas at ours next year, so we'll need those pounds!

natzini

lil_me wrote: »

natzini, welcome, know how you feel completely, my partners a bit taller and grew up next to his families butchers, I find what keeps him happiest is better quality but slightly less of it and smaller plates!!!! He also has tried a couple of new things this year, Mexican is a big hit here now but still, has to be meaty.....well worth a try...

I deffo agree with you lil_me, Mexican is becoming a big hit here too. I think I might have to collect a huge load of Mexican recipes, or invest some of the money I'm only allowed to spend on things for myself, on a Mexican recipe book I was looking at some amazing pictures of a family preparing for Christmas (they were a Mexican family) and they made Tamales, oh now those are something that I'd love to try, although where on earth I'll get corn husks from, who knows!

You've got me on the Wilkinson Plus site now though, our closest Wilkos is about 10 or so miles away, bit of a trek! I miss having one very local to me, where I grew up there was one within 15 mins in each direction!