May 2020 Grocery Challenge

Mrs_Cheshire

Hi all final total for May is £464.37, so a little over where I wanted to be, but still not as bad as it could have been. 
I'm off to join to June chat, see you all there. 

PipneyJane

Pixiehouse55 said:

I counted 10 tins of chopped tomatoes in my cupboard!!
Will look to see if I can find a recipe for tomato soup 
Also 2 tins of spinach need to find a recipe using them.
No spends in shops this week
Pay day Tuesday we have done well. Do need to get some veg for tomorrows  Roast
Hope everyone is ok coping with the lockdown.?
Are beach was mega packed last few days!!

10 tins of chopped tomatoes?  That's a month's supply in my house.  I use them in curries, chillies, bolognese sauce, etc. (There is a reason why I buy 24 cans when they're on 4-for-£1.) 

If you have an onion and some garlic, you have the makings of a simple Italian tomato sauce.  (Fry the onion and garlic, add the can of tomatoes and a quarter teaspoon of dried basil, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Puree in a blender if you want it smoother.  Taste it.  If it is too sharp, add half a teaspoon of sugar; too sweet add a dash of lemon juice or red wine vinegar.  Season with salt and pepper.)

Simplest recipe I have for tomato soup is to blend a tin of tomatoes with a tin of baked beans and then heat.  Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce if it tastes a bit bland.   

HTH

- Pip

ETA:  Spinach goes well in a curry e.g. any curry that has a name starting with "Sa'ag" or "saag". 

joedenise

I'm like you Pip!  I use masses of tinned tomatoes.  Haven't got the room to buy 24 at a time but do keep a dozen in the cupboard and top up when I'm down to the last 3 or 4!

jam2019

Final shop of the month! Spent £21 this week, mostly on essentials (pizza, oreo ice lollies... ) but also ingredients for fajitas and my usual stand-by of lentil stew-thing. Looking forward to next month!

Doom_and_Gloom

We finished May on £304.57.
That is £4.57 over our budget which isn't too bad. Yes I know this amount is considered high for two adults, one vegan (having to be careful avoiding certain foods) and one omnivore, and a chinchilla but we buy mostly organic as it helps with our health (mine more so than OHs) as well as shopping as ethicaly and sustainably as possible which costs more a lot of the time. 
Most important thing is we can afford this. As it includes all food and drink (minus special occasions such as birthdays or anniversary and alcohol is also a different budget), chinchilla items (food, hay, treats etc), cleaning, toiletries etc I don't think it is too bad. 

Pixiehouse55

Well food shop came in at £302. 24 so I'm pretty happy with that😁
Pipneyjane thank you for your suggestions. Much appreciated 
Sadly one of my service users does not like pasta, probably why I have so many tins of chopped tomatoes and he doesn't like Bolognese either. He's in his 70's bless him so don't think he will change now and neither of them like Curry.
I've found a recipe for Tomatoe soup using tinned tomatoes and so will use them for this. 
Got paid today so will start again. 
Hope you've all had a happy sunny tuesday and maybe a spend free day

Chloris

Sorry for reporting so late. I finished the month under budget £536.79/£600, so I am very pleased. I'm dropping the budget a little next month to encourage myself to keep up the momentum. 
See you all in the June thread 😊

Purple_kitten

Sorry, I seem to be generally late for everything at the moment. Just about in budget coming in at 9 pounds under. I need to get planning for June as we are 3 days in already.

Anzac_Biscuit

PipneyJane said:

Fingers crossed when the job offer comes through, we’ll have a vaccine and you won’t have to quarantine for 14 days.

- Pip (I have very vivid memories of the Blue Mountains.  You live in a lovely part of the world.)

Thanks Only pushed out a few weeks so quarantine is almost certain but hey, might be a good chance to have a rest after all the packing! The Blue Mountains is indeed a stunning spot - I'll miss it if we leave! I've enjoyed living here.