March 2018 Grocery Challenge

[Deleted User]

purpleybat wrote: »

i have an old fashioned pressure cooker i use on the stove top and love it but i've been toying with the idea of getting a pressure king pro. have been looking at them on amazon and they have great reviews. it seems they slow cook and do manner of stuff too.

Yes, I have been looking at them. The Pressure King Pro has a model that does 'canning' and the Instant Pot has the yoghurt facility. I'm looking for one that does both, but would opt for the 'canning', if not, as I have an EasiYo.

Theoretically, if I was to stick to my 'store-cupboard challenge' I have set myself, of £7pw, then I would have £5.04 left in the budget, to last until 29th - so 10 days. Physically, it's really not a problem, as I have more than enough stuff in, but mentally it's hard, and I have a tendancy to run out of momentum and 'flag' near the finish line. so maybe a reason to push myself. I love grabbing 'random' items out of my stores and seeing what I come up with, which was the whole point of it and I really have used up so much. Maybe if I meal-plan before I go out, I'll decide whether i'll continue. As long as I have an abundance of 'salad', all is well in my world.

kkffoo

I have a modern version of an old fashioned pressure cooker and I'm very pleased with it. it hardly scares me at all.

Just got our Iceland delivery, which goes into its own micro-budget within our four weeks 'accounting period'.
I get the main bit of all our weekday evening meals for around the minimum delivery (£35), and threw in some washing up sponges this time to make it up to the total.
The snow meant my son used the bus instead of his motorcycle so I asked him to get cheap noodles and other stuff which doesn't fit on two wheels.
My hubby does lots of our grocery shopping, and he unexpectedly nipped into Asda to get their high bran.
So with that, our 'occasionals' budget has all gone in week 1.

If we now spend less than £50 per week on regular stuff (mostly in Aldi) we will be winning.

Ginmonster

We finished the last of the marmite yesterday which is a bit of a disaster in our house as all 3 of us love it. The 5 year old instructed me to go and buy some today so I did and picked up some butter, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli and bananas while I was there. £9.15 spent.

I set the bread maker off this morning and have come home to find a brick had been baked for me. I must have measured something'wrongly as usually I get a lovely loaf. How annoying!

81.58/100

purpleybat

Ginmonster wrote: »

We finished the last of the marmite yesterday which is a bit of a disaster in our house as all 3 of us love it. The 5 year old instructed me to go and buy some today so I did and picked up some butter, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli and bananas while I was there. £9.15 spent.

I set the bread maker off this morning and have come home to find a brick had been baked for me. I must have measured something'wrongly as usually I get a lovely loaf. How annoying!

81.58/100

you've probably tried it but i have store brand marmite (morries) i can't tell any difference and it's quite a lot cheaper.
thats a shame about the bread, i've done 'brick bread' a couple of times, i think its where i've put the yeast near the salt and it got 'killed'. if it's no good even for toast you could whizz it up as crumbs and pop in the freezer for breaded chicken and stuffings.

pamsdish

£16.62 in Aldi, on not much of any use. I only wanted carrots.

kkffoo

We had 'cheese on brick' last week. Sliced very thinly. User error in that case, I forgot the yeast! If it happens again I'm going to try bread n' butter pudding.

Ginmonster

I'm pretty sure I didn't put enough yeast in the brick bread at I was using a half teaspoon measure and the recipe needs a teaspoon. I must have forgotten to add the second half teaspoon. I've tried a slice and it'll be fine with cheese. Everything tastes fine with cheese!

I did my shopping in Aldi today and they only have real marmite but I'm not averse to a store brand. I'll be honest though I usually buy a catering tub in Costco. It lasts ages.

Mrs_Cheshire

Hubby spent £3.21 on wraps, bananas, mushrooms and mini muffins. I'm going to have to be inventive over the next few days as I'd like to make it to Thursday without spending much. I do however need to buy wipes for the toddler.
I'd planned cottage pie for tea tomorrow, but will probably only have enough mince for 2, so will give the kids something else with mash and veg. Then Wednesday I'd planned stir fried pork and noddles, but might change it to chicken korma as I've got a jar of curry sauce that needs using up and some rice but no noddles.

selloptape

Quite proud of myself - have found my overpriced multi-vits on sale on Am4zon and 3bay cheaper than they are in the H&B sale. Urge to stockpile resisted

Have also managed to use up enough of my hoard of canned foods that it now fits in a cupboard instead of displayed in the kitchen like a Farmf00ds shrine. Good times. An NSD today and tomorrow should be too.

JingsMyBucket

Hi everyone, just a quick update before trip. Sunday OH bought bananas and strawberries at the market for €3.60. Monday was a NSD.

Totals So Far:
€159.74 / €400.00
12/10 NSD
£0/£150 UK stock up

I genuinely think my non-shopping happens out of inertia now. I just can’t be bothered to go out in the cold or stop my work to buy something. “Doing without” until a next convenient time feels normal. I hope it continues while I’m in the U.K. I’ve planned to go mooching about the biggest Holland & Barrett in London today before meeting friends for dinner. I just want to make a list of stuff to buy there closer towards the end of the trip so I can return there. I don’t want to lug around heavy stuff all week!