No Shopping Challenge

nicmalauren

Welcome to the thread little_green!

It's never too late to make a change, so push on for the rest of the month - set yourself a target and aim for that - it doesn't necessarily have to be every day.

Good work on the lentil soup bobbiz22 - I'd never have thought of using the sauce like that! I may also try your rice idea as I have LOADS of rice to use. A lot of it is sushi rice, but I don't have any fresh ingredients for sushi left - wondering if I could make a sort of asian-style rice salad with frozen/tinned veg and soy sauce. Watch this space...

Used up the last of my smoked trout and finished a packet of crackers as my packed lunch today. Was gifted some seafood chowder this afternoon, which doesn't help me clear my freezer, but I did use up an egg (cracked it into the bottom of the bowl and poured the hot soup over - it gently poaches) which made for a delicious, free, dinner - and prevented some food waste.

Plan for tomorrow is the rest of the seafood chowder for lunch, and a mystery tupperware out of the freezer for dinner. I have a training event for work tomorrow night, so will be short on time.

I still have some pastry left, and I know there's some beef in the freezer, so i'm going to chuck that and whatever frozen veg I can find into a pastie, because pastry makes everything better. Plus, the made pasties can then be frozen and reheated when necessary.

13/31 days done!

little_green

today was spend free (yay!)
hoping tomorrow will be too.

bobbiz22

Sushi rice should work well with soy sauce, ground ginger & some garlic which i have tons of in the freezer (asda frozen chopped garlic is a saviour!)

I ended up making rice and beans with the above additions - tasted lovely! Reminded me of a takeaway dish, similar to chow mein flavours maybe?. And as I have tons of the above in the cupboard, I can re-make this several times this month if needed

Ooh the pastries sound good - I'm re-introducing meat into my diet from the 3rd February, which is good because I have 2kg of chicken in my freezer to be used up!

Welcome little_green

I'm 8/10 no spend (I finally had a chance to buy a vegan greggs sausage roll yesterday (totally worth it) but my total spend is really low since starting, only £4.39, including my £3.39 on my other spend day. Way less than usual though so I'm pretty happy with that. I'd like to keep total spend under £5 until 8th February...I wonder if that's possible haha!

nicmalauren

Actually that's quite a good idea - working out my total spend from the start of January. Hadn't thought of that!

Freezer mystery dinner last night turned out to be vegan chilli, which I really quite enjoyed. Total fail today though as was home late last night and therefore didn't prep any lunch (ended up buying a sandwich) and I was out for dinner with colleagues. :mad:

Determined to be back on track this weekend though. Might also work out an estimate of what I've saved as an incentive.

nicmalauren

Another week almost done! Went to a seafood demonstration on Saturday so got a fabulous free lunch out of that one. Then tried to replicate the effect by being fancy with a piece of salmon from the freezer on Sunday...and gave myself food poisoning! So sent home from work on Monday morning, spent the rest of the day between bed and bathroom - at least it was a no-spend day! lol

I had baked a loaf on Sunday as well, so post food-poisoning I've just been making my way through that this week topped with various things including my last avocado and a small tin of beans (as I've been sticking to slightly plainer food).

I had however removed some steak from the freezer on Sunday night (pre-poisoning) so since it had defrosted, it needed used. Last of the Christmas cream, my last onion, nearly the last of my garlic, some mushrooms, the end of a jar of gherkins, plus spices, stock cube, mustard and tomato puree from the cupboard and hey presto - beef stroganoff. Had a bit of it last night as I was feeling brave and it's gorgeous - will probably make it again deliberately! The rest of it is destined for the freezer, but I did take out a portion of moussaka to have for dinner tonight and I will have to come up with something for tomorrow's lunch as well.

Checked my bank account as well today - I'm guessing that I've saved about £150 this month which is a cracking result! If that holds true, I'm going to keep trying to clear stuff out and just top up with fresh fruit and veg (I'm really missing fresh fruit now) - then I can throw the spare at my credit card debt.

20/31 days done!

nicmalauren

Nearly there!

Made a sausage casserole on Sunday, so that used up some frozen sausages, last of the frozen onion, a tin of butter beans, tin of tomatoes and a packet mix. Bunged it all in the slow cooker overnight for a cheap and filling meal. Lasted for days too.

Really looking forward to some fresh veg this weekend. Today's lunch is probably the strangest one yet - couscous, the last of my home-grown tomatoes, feta cheese, black olives, the last few of a jar of pickled onions, and some gammon (from my sister - exchanged for some of the aforementioned sausage and bean casserole).

Dinner tonight is not planned, so I'll have to be inventive. Think I will lift some veg broth out of the freezer for tomorrow's lunch, and then go all out with some fried chicken for my last meal as I know there's still some chicken pieces in the bottom drawer of the freezer.

26/31 days!