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Family of 5 'shop from home'food storage challenge...
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Interested to see cuddlymarm that you have £50 per week. I hadn't a clue how much I spend on food/cleaning mats, so set myself £200 for January, just to set myself a limit, with the intention of decreasing this over time.
How many of you are there?
PI[SIZE=-1]"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad"[/SIZE]
Trying not to waste food!:j
ETA Philosophy is wondering whether a Bloody Mary counts as a Smoothie0 -
Kethry - thanks for the veggie moussaka recipe link - I will be trying that on my lot!
PI - we have a budget of £50 a week for food, toilet rolls, occasional nappies, dog food (£5 every 6 weeks ish), binbags and washing up liquid. I buy vinegar and bicarb in bulk every so often for cleaning. There are 2 adults and 2 children plus 2 dogs here. We don't eat meat every day and I do rubber chicken etc... and I would say we eat well on this budget.0 -
yategirl, thanks for your reply.
For years I've felt that food was something that I didn't really want to compromise on, never bought huge quantities of convenience foods. Now things are changing. We don't have unmanageable debts, but I'm realising that the supermarket is somewhere it is easy to make modest changes and make a regular difference in what I spend. Have taken on slightly bigger mortgage and extra credit cards (no interest for first year) to pay for rest of extension, but want to have this paid off as soon as possible, as dd is on gap year next year and then off to uni. WOuld be good to get as much of this debt out of the way by then. Would also be nice to get some new furniture in new extension, though I'm fairly happy with the old for now.
We are 4, ds is 14 and dd is 17 and vegi. Plan goes along the lines of days that dd isn't here we have a definite meat meal. The rest is a combination of either veggie meals or meals that are adaptable to suit all, e.g quiches with different fillings. DH and DS amenable to Vegetarian food as well, as long as it tastes really good and as long as they get meat sometimes.
No nappies or dogfood. DH takes fruit for lunch and gets a cup of hm style soup there. This is very subsidised so it isn't worth the hassle of him taking his own. It's also a chance for him to leave the office, so a good thing. DD has lunches included with her school fees (courtesy of MIL) and DS takes a packed lunch, which he prefers on the whole, he thinks that prices at school are exhorbitant, but if he has too much to carry, will have a lunch at school. I have leftovers or similar. I get home for lunch on the days I'm working normally.
I keep reading about people mixing washing powder with soda, will try that I think. What sort of vinegar?
I haven't got onto OS cleaning in a lot of respects, but am using things like my ecloths and microfibre cloths a lot more. My new kitchen units (the dark brown wenge laminate) are an absolute fingerprint magnet. Have tried with just the ecloths, but it must be the grease. I like products to smell nice, maybe I need to mix a bottle of something up?[SIZE=-1]"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad"[/SIZE]
Trying not to waste food!:j
ETA Philosophy is wondering whether a Bloody Mary counts as a Smoothie0 -
sausgaes were cooked before went in. as for bacon forgot to add it. but i would have cooked it first yes. i didn't pre-cook the mushrooms tho.
i had a slice of it today with my lunch with some extra tomato sauce. oh it was scrummy.
having a bit of a blitz in kitchen , well bit or a re-organising as well.
want to try and make it more easy to use.
while goign throguht cupbaords and things i got loads of ideas for meals , just from what i had. i think i need to keep a notebook handy so i can write down any of these ideas i have. My meal plan is done up til next wednesday. but i could easy do another whole month. which is great as our car gonna cost a fortune to get sorted. so i have decied i am gonnna use my store cupboard and only buy a few items as and when needed. so shopping from home really.
i have built up quite a stock as i kept on top of things after my huge shop in november.
i am now gonna give myslef 5 mins chiling time as belly feels a little pulled. so gonna have cup of tea and slice of lemon rice cake. yummy.0 -
Brilliant thread! Have tried a few of the receipes and bought a doughnut maker:D .
I fancied having a go at french stick, I have ordered one of those special baking trays but wanted to have a go tonight. This is where i need help, is it just the normal recipe you would use in the BM if making a loaf? And whats the technique? Any hints tips gratefully received.0 -
I'll add comments in to your quote PI:yategirl, thanks for your reply.
For years I've felt that food was something that I didn't really want to compromise on, never bought huge quantities of convenience foods. We don't buy any convenience food - bar baked beans for beans on toast!! I buy free-range meat and eggs from the butcher, fruit and veg from the greengrocers. I buy bakery bread at the supermarket most weeks but trying to swop onto HM bread or bread from the bakery. I buy value baked beans and tinned tomatoes/kidney beans. Value rice is fine but I do tend to buy BIG bags rather than the smaller value ones. I do buy value loo rolls and none of us have a problem with that plus with 2 young children I'd rather they put cheap stuff in wads down the loo than the expensive stuff!! Now things are changing. We don't have unmanageable debts, but I'm realising that the supermarket is somewhere it is easy to make modest changes and make a regular difference in what I spend. I watch what we spend and meal plan, I include flour etc for baking for snacks plus I buy plenty of fruit. We don't go hungry, the kids and dh have as much as they need, by limiting what we have.. I stop snacking for "the sake of it"! DH and ds take packed lunches - this can be leftovers sometimes for DH. I often have soup or a sandwich or leftovers for my lunch. Have taken on slightly bigger mortgage and extra credit cards (no interest for first year) to pay for rest of extension, but want to have this paid off as soon as possible, as dd is on gap year next year and then off to uni. WOuld be good to get as much of this debt out of the way by then. Would also be nice to get some new furniture in new extension, though I'm fairly happy with the old for now.
We are 4, ds is 14 and dd is 17 and vegi. Plan goes along the lines of days that dd isn't here we have a definite meat meal. The rest is a combination of either veggie meals or meals that are adaptable to suit all, e.g quiches with different fillings. DH and DS amenable to Vegetarian food as well, as long as it tastes really good and as long as they get meat sometimes. We have meat 2-3 times a week. If we have a joint then I will plan meals around that as leftovers can be stretched and it makes everyone feel as if they have had more meat!
No nappies or dogfood. DH takes fruit for lunch and gets a cup of hm style soup there. This is very subsidised so it isn't worth the hassle of him taking his own. It's also a chance for him to leave the office, so a good thing. DD has lunches included with her school fees (courtesy of MIL) and DS takes a packed lunch, which he prefers on the whole, he thinks that prices at school are exhorbitant, but if he has too much to carry, will have a lunch at school. I have leftovers or similar. I get home for lunch on the days I'm working normally.
I keep reading about people mixing washing powder with soda, will try that I think. What sort of vinegar? White vinegar - I buy from Summer Naturals in bulk. I use bicarb and vinegar to make cleaners for the bathroom, in the kitchen I use vinegar with soap, water and ess oils (and a little borax) and I use this EVERYWHERE! it cuts through grease, you may need to scrub a little but it is great and cheap!
I haven't got onto OS cleaning in a lot of respects, but am using things like my ecloths and microfibre cloths a lot more. My new kitchen units (the dark brown wenge laminate) are an absolute fingerprint magnet. Have tried with just the ecloths, but it must be the grease. I like products to smell nice, maybe I need to mix a bottle of something up? see above [/quote]
hope that is helpful?0 -
Well I can see I still have some way to go. I had an empty spray bottle in my cleaning bucket, so have mixed up some stardrops ( the builders left it!), the end of the bottle of vinegar I found in the cellar and some water.
Have used it on the cupboard fronts and work tops and they look good, used the microfibre cloth to shine. Hob now sprayed, but letting it soak for a while.... must get on actually, have to finish my nails and I have to go out in a bit to do an interview session at college.... the only thing now is the smell. It still smells a bit vinegary... how many drops of essential oil? I have a load that is out of date, but still fragrant, so didn't need to go and purchase this.[SIZE=-1]"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad"[/SIZE]
Trying not to waste food!:j
ETA Philosophy is wondering whether a Bloody Mary counts as a Smoothie0 -
jcr thanks for the pie recipe.0
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*trying to remember my recipe* I think I do 1 cup of vinegar with 1 tbsp of borax (for kitchen/bathrooms, use 1 tsp for elsewhere) then top bottle till 3/4 full with very hot (not boiling) water and shake till borax dissolved... then top up with liquid soap (dishwasher liquid is ok) and then add about 15 drops of an essential oil. The vinegar smell shouldn't linger too long - remember you are noticing it as it is a "new" fragrance. Stardrops is supposed to be good but I can't get that in my local tesco....0
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... I had an empty spray bottle in my cleaning bucket, so have mixed up some stardrops ( the builders left it!), ...
An OS builder or his wife maybe
Well I finally got around to making the braid today. I split it in half and made a cheese and onion one (and its lush!) and a plain one for icing (not sampled that one yet). It was a bit sticky as someone warned earlier (thanks whoever posted that) but some extra flour soon sorted it out. Its such a brilliant recipe, will be a regular from now on, Thanks D&DD :T I'll be trying JCR's egg and sausage variation, also fancy a sausagemeat and stuffing one.
Now a question please - I've just made some pizza bases. Would it be best to top them, bake, then freeze or can I freeze the bases plain and top them when I take them out to cook? Never cooked pizza in my life before so any advice would be appreciated. TIA... don't throw the string away. You always need string!
C.R.A.P.R.O.L.L.Z Head Sharpener0
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