August 2021 Grocery Challenge

goldfinches

Trying very hard to stick to my budget and not go near a supermarket; I had my first overnight oats breakfast this morning to which I added some foraged blackberries and a spoonful of a blackberry and apple chutney I made last week that came out rather sweet and didn't set.
I decided that I really don't like oats in this form no matter how cheap/nutritious they are so this afternoon I made some breakfast biscuits instead from this recipe Healthy Oat Cookies Recipe - olivemagazine. I didn't have quite enough dates so subbed in some dried apricots which needed eating and I got nine biscuits using my ice cream scoop to portion them onto the baking tray. Here they are.



I've made them before with a different flour and they were very tasty so I'm counting on these to see me into September without having to buy anything else to eat for breakfast.

ancientmum

Those breakfast cookies look tasty gf.

I've gone over my budget this month  by getting some storecupboard tins using a Tosco voucher, and meat from the butcher.  Still,  it will last me a couple of months. I'm hoping not to have to spend any more until  September, 

LadyWithAPlan

Those cookies look fabulous @goldfinches
I make some GF oat ones with raisins and raspberrys that everyone loves but the amount of sugar in them is scary.

Aug 16th to 31st  Groceries Challenge £60.79 / £70  half month. 

2 days to go! I definitely don't need anything but I have to stop myself going into shops for sweets or yellow stickies.. I can then move the difference into my house savings account 

Spent yesterday  Grocery £3.23 on   some sweets and mushrooms   again plus £4 too good to go from a local pop up Caribbean – Sunday   lunch is sorted . 

I will have to stop these little unnecessary extras - at least I am starting to see where my cash flies off to.

I may try this tracking of what I buy specifically food wise as I  see some of you doing. A spreadsheet feels a bit excessive, how are you all doing it? Checking receipts and then counting quantities of things bought? 

goldfinches

LadyWithAPlan said:

Those cookies look fabulous @goldfinches
I make some GF oat ones with raisins and raspberrys that everyone loves but the amount of sugar in them is scary.

Aug 16th to 31st  Groceries Challenge £60.79 / £70  half month. 

2 days to go! I definitely don't need anything but I have to stop myself going into shops for sweets or yellow stickies.. I can then move the difference into my house savings account 

Spent yesterday  Grocery £3.23 on   some sweets and mushrooms   again plus £4 too good to go from a local pop up Caribbean – Sunday   lunch is sorted . 

I will have to stop these little unnecessary extras - at least I am starting to see where my cash flies off to.

I may try this tracking of what I buy specifically food wise as I  see some of you doing. A spreadsheet feels a bit excessive, how are you all doing it? Checking receipts and then counting quantities of things bought? 

Thankyou for your kind words about the breakfast biscuits. May I ask for the recipe for the GF cookies you mentioned please? I have a friend who is GF so I'm always on the lookout for tried and trusted recipes that will suit her. TIA.

I don't track items I buy specifically so much as I keep a detailed list of what I have in the larder, fridge and freezer and what has been opened and needs using by whatever date as well as entering anything that has been finished and needs replenishing.
This is my master list for meal planning and I am currently trying to make dishes where I do not need to purchase any new herbs or spices, condiments etc. while using up the open items in the fridge.
I then make a list of actual needs to take with me to the supermarket as well as having some loose categories e.g. seasonal salad or y/s bargains and so on.
This works well for me but may not suit everyone, you do what will work best for you. 

Another no spend day for me and two stems of the lilies I bought on the 16th are still going strong so I've no excuse for weakening yet.

Suffolk_lass

LadyWithAPlan I use a spreadsheet cut by monthly total and also look at the receipt. I exclude store-cupboard things from my £200 a month by marking them as "S" and totting them up separately (and just add the total to the annual Stores running total) - it is supposed to be £400 per year for stores but the last two years I have stored more and subsidised the total from the monthly average. I also highlight alcohol, treats and cat things, but mostly I include them, just note them so it does not get out of control (200 bottles of wine was my worst excess!). Still, not as bad as the person on the grocery challenge who could not resist a Bogof and had insulated her loft with packs of toilet rolls. A few years ago now.

By the way on breakfast oat things, if you add (substitute) a little oat bran for oats it soaks up LDL cholesterol and helps keep cholesterol in hand. I have always looked for Gluten free oats and made exactly the same recipe but I am not coeliac

LLM2018

Oh dear, I've not stuck to my budget over the Summer holidays lol. I've spent £153.73 lol. Overspent by £78.73 I will try again for September. lol

LadyWithAPlan

Groceries Challenge  £64.17/ £70   - Aug 16th to 31st    - just 2 weeks. One more day to go.

I meant to have a NSD today but then realised my free £10 Ubereats voucher expired today so it had to be used.
I tried to spend it at Sainsburys via UBEReats but .. minimum £20 spend or they charged you £3 extra,  + 10% charges plus delivery fee  on top plus everything was more expensive. The cheapest I could get it down with their charges  to was to pay £12.50 on top of my £10 free voucher and looking at it it was not a deal..

So I ended up buying a treat of a Leon breakfast  - Shakshuku + hash browns plus  their coffee beans (I can do own brand a lot of the time but cheap coffee is not something I can do, I have tried)   £3.38 all in
I cant say I enjoyed it that much tbh, I am turning into my dad here - I cook really well and have done lots of cookery classes.  I need to buy takeaways next time for things I cant be bothered to make.

@Suffolk_lass in seeing where/what I buy grocery wise.
 I will be aiming to cut dow the crisps and sweets as I really dont want to face the truth of how much I eat of them on a weekly basis... 
I track household cleaning stuff  etc separately.

Thanks everyone - this was my first (half) month doing this challenge and it was quite eye opening.  Not planning to spend tomorrow but lets see.

LadyWithAPlan

@goldfinches I use this recipe as a base  but then use GF flour (a mix of plain and SR) plus I add chopped up raspberries - which give them a tang  and sometimes lightly toasted chopped nuts as well.

I use oil (coconut/olive) rather than butter as I have DF issues and it works fine- I always mess with recipes so I will look at the consistency rather than being a recipe slave ..

My sister has a sugar issue so I also tried using coconut sugar in as well but I prefer it with normal brown/white sugar mix 


Having said that - having the time and space to put the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 30 mins, I often do a minimum of an hour,  really makes a difference.  I also make a double batch and then cook the next batch the following night . Leaving a yellow sticky on the (cold) oven for the morning saying 'COOKIES ARE HERE' always is a lovely treat for everyone.

https://www.livewellbakeoften.com/soft-chewy-oatmeal-raisin-cookies/

Money_Choices

Hi
On 27 Aug I spent £9.95 at C00p and have gone over my target by 15p. My spending total for August is now 
£80.15/£80.00 for food only items. 

Money Choices

goldfinches

LadyWithAPlan said:

Groceries Challenge  £64.17/ £70   - Aug 16th to 31st    - just 2 weeks. One more day to go.

I meant to have a NSD today but then realised my free £10 Ubereats voucher expired today so it had to be used.
I tried to spend it at Sainsburys via UBEReats but .. minimum £20 spend or they charged you £3 extra,  + 10% charges plus delivery fee  on top plus everything was more expensive. The cheapest I could get it down with their charges  to was to pay £12.50 on top of my £10 free voucher and looking at it it was not a deal..

So I ended up buying a treat of a Leon breakfast  - Shakshuku + hash browns plus  their coffee beans (I can do own brand a lot of the time but cheap coffee is not something I can do, I have tried)   £3.38 all in
I cant say I enjoyed it that much tbh, I am turning into my dad here - I cook really well and have done lots of cookery classes.  I need to buy takeaways next time for things I cant be bothered to make.

@Suffolk_lass in seeing where/what I buy grocery wise.
 I will be aiming to cut dow the crisps and sweets as I really dont want to face the truth of how much I eat of them on a weekly basis... 
I track household cleaning stuff  etc separately.

Thanks everyone - this was my first (half) month doing this challenge and it was quite eye opening.  Not planning to spend tomorrow but lets see.

@LadyWithAPlan - I entirely agree with you about Leon overpromising and under delivering on taste. I've also tried it once when my local branch first opened and never bothered to go back as I can make better for far less cost myself. I also don't rate the cookbooks published by the various people involved in the chain even though Allegra Mcwhatsit did publish some good recipes originally in The Guardian.

I've also had another NSD and now have just the one day to go before my new month so hopefully I'll be able to say that I'm a mere 15p over my monthly target this time tomorrow; fingers and toes are crossed in this household and I'm touching wood!