December 2021 Grocery Challenge

DanielleNic87

Just added up all my spends over the last week and spent £90.56. 

I stocked up on tins etc at L!dl with the £10 off voucher. 

I have been rather lucky with the ys at L!dl this week. I have no more space in my freezer now 😬 but who couldn’t say now to a 5 pack of steak for £2? 🤣 

I now need to try hard to eat from the freezer this week so I can clear some space for the ys turkeys on Xmas Eve. 

Suffolk_lass

It's very tempting in the shops at the moment. So I am not going this week. We will make do with what we have in. My priority today is to write and post my Christmas cards, which have been on my desk since Friday. And a dental appointment - the first check up for two years.

elsiepac

Morning all! 

As always, lovely to read all your planning and meals and bargains! I've had a few small spends but honestly, I've lost track and things have gone haywire.  Minimal spends now until payday next week.

I'm going to try and get the January thread up today as I'm sure some peoples' budgets will be stretched and changed with Christmas and with potential early paydays etc.  I'd just rather get it up now - no pressure!

I had a really lovely and I think quite economical dinner last night - it was from the Speedy Bosh! book and was so tasty I'm thinking of having similar tonight!  I'll post a simplified version of it below:

Speedy Goulash and Little Dumplings

1 large onion
2 carrots
2-3 cloves garlic
2 peppers

Slice/chop all above and saute in some olive oil for about ten minutes.  Add:

1 tsp caraway seeds (I didn't have any so left them out but you could also sub fennel or dill seeds)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
500ml stock
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp smoked paprika
Pinch of chilli flakes or a chopped fresh red chilli
salt and pepper to taste
2 tins drained cannellini or borlotti beans

That's the goulash done, let it simmer while you prep quick dumplings:

150g plain flour
Handful chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
50ml olive oil
75ml unsweetened plant milk (obvs you can sub cow milk)
2 tsps dijon mustard

Mix the first 4 dry ingredients, then make a well and add the 3 wet ingredients
Stir until just combined then oil hands a little and form into 16 little balls
Place on top of the goulash, put the lid on and let simmer gently for 8-10 minutes

Done!

The dumplings were so genuinely easy and tasty with the tang of the mustard and the little crunch and freshness of the parsley and I already had everything except flour in so it felt super cheap!- 10/10 will make again!

Its_time

Oh well, the budget is blown but I shouldn't need to go to the shops for a while.  Just need DD to pick up some pop when she goes to do her shop but literally only a few bottles, maybe one coke and one lemonade.  The Tesco order has finalised and is due tonight and I also popped to Lidl.
Grand total as of today:

£278.37/£253.05

I am not going to think of it as a failure, it is only £25.32 over and I have paid for Christmas treats, meals and have also bought lots of food which will last a few weeks at least which might mean January will be a lesser spend.  Certainly hoping that todays spends are the last until January (other than the pop).  First two months of budgeting has gone well considering I wouldn't have had a clue what I had spent in October and wouldn't have cared either.  So pleased we are on this journey and finally putting things right.

goldfinches

@elsiepac - thankyou for the speedy goulash recipe, I've never seen dumplings made with olive oil before now so that's been copied into my useful info folder.

I haven't been keeping up with my spends very well as I seem to have mislaid my receipts and am resorting to checking my account balance online to tell me that I still seem to be going in the right direction. I will have another go at finding the missing receipts tomorrow.

Suffolk_lass

@elsiepac that recipe would work well with the very simple flatbreads or a cobbler topping too.

Sitting fast and buying nothing more here. I checked the bank account and realised that in the next week it will be hammered by DH's credit card and his mobile phone charges

elsiepac

@goldfinches the dumplings were so good! I was a bit dubious but Bosh have never led me wrong before, and the texture and taste was just perfect!

@Suffolk_lass Those options sound delicious as well, thanks for the ideas!

Doom_and_Gloom

£6.59 spent today.
400g mushrooms, 300g tomatoes, 2 romaine hearts, cucumber, yellow pepper, 250g double Gloucester and a 2 litre bottle of cola.

Vegetable stew for my dinner today; made in the pressure cooker.
OH is out with a friend for their birthday.

£144.02/£300.
£155.98 left.

thriftwizard

£98 added today, consisting of £63 at the market (its last weekend, alas!) and £35 at the supermarket. I'm missing something, I'm sure - I'll have to go back over the thread armed with my phone & work out what it was I haven't added in yet. Doing all right so far this month, considering there's just the one weekend of this month left & that will mostly be funded from the Festive Funds. 

Mrs_Cheshire

Evening all, not doing too badly this month currently at £224.19/£562. With the current c&c and delivery orders, it's looking likely that I'll end up around the £400 mark. 
Got a small c&c to last over the weekend, then the main Christmas shop being delivered on Monday evening. A small delivery on the 28th to last until the new year too.