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March 2022 Grocery Challenge
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Over this last week I've spent £13.82. A good chunk went in the market on sausages, cheese and eggs, then the milk machine and Mr.S and Mr, A. The market veg stall came up trumps yesterday as I was passing just as it was packing up and they were selling off the fruit - a dozen apples and a dozen satsumas for £2.
Grocery challenge 2025: £650/1500 annual budget6 -
Loving seeing people's meal plans. I do it a bit differently - I tend to make a couple of 'big' things, and they last for several days, interspersed with quick (often veggie / salad) options. For example, yesterday I made a large pan of bolognese (with lots of added vegetables) which did last night with pasta and grated cheese, and will morph into a chilli for later in the week. I also cooked a batch of stewing meat in the SC, with onion and mushrooms. I have thickened the gravy and will make it into a pie, which will do the two of us for 2 meals again. I will also make a batch of cakes or biscuits while I have the oven on for the pie - they can go on the lower shelf. And I have some cream which has just reached its date, so will include that in a rice pudding.I will use up some rather small and sprouty potatoes to make a pan of mash, some of which can go with the pie, and the rest will make fishcakes for later in the week.9
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The cherries from the MrL box were turned into a chocolate cherry cake yesterday, and cooked in the oven with the wedges before our mushroom pizza went in. A slice of cake (I get 12 slices out of the size I make), doubled up as 'pudding' last night, as it was still slightly warm from the oven, and a ball of MrL Cornish ice-cream sat alongside it. As the cherries were mostly ripe, they were quite easy to de-stone. LG had HM black olive pizza from the freezer, we ate 3 slices in total of the mushroom pizza, so 5 slices have gone into the freezer for another day. Whilst I like black olives, it's nice to have variety 😉
I chopped up and cooked the chestnut mushrooms from the MrL box with some red onion, and have cooled and frozen them for use in a future recipe I have in mind. The mushrooms on the pizza were MrL family pack (£1.40).
A 'Roast' tea for us tonight (veggie sausages), but I will put in some extra baking potatoes to fill the oven, but to have for tomorrow night's tea. I shall also make apple crumble, using some of the green apples from the MrL box.
NSD yesterday, and fingers crossed I'll bag another today.
Greying XPounds for Panes £7,005/£10,000 - start date Dec 2023
Grocery Spend July 2025 £265.78/£300
Non-food spend July 2025 £96.71/£50
Bulk Fund July 2025 £9.10/£107 -
£17.95 yesterday on dog food and treats for the month.
£136.34 left.5 -
zafiro1984 said:
Yesterday, I bought a whole fallow venison carcass, from the local game farm. I did the same last year, lovely lean meat, everything from fillet to mince, liver and kidneys as well. This year it works out at £5.38 per kg affordable at that price.
All I can find is expensive 'meat boxes' which really don't seem to be much value for money - also I don't get a choice in how I want my meat prepped, chops are not much use to me.
2024 Fashion on the Ration - 10/66 coupons used
Crafting 2024 - 1/9 items finished5 -
DawnW I also tend to cook like that. I have a long-term illness and will make something that will last a few days on my better days. If I am well in between I might make a 'one off' decent meal like a roast but if I am unwell it will be something quick and simple. On the days when we are eating something previously made I will make some soup or something like an apple crumble. This flexibility works well for me. I gave up meal planning a long time ago as buying things and then being too unwell to cook led to waste. Now I mainly buy things for a couple of recipes plus some staples rather than do a highly planned weekly shop. Every time we run low on staples I add them to my list and pick them up the next time I am shopping.
Only £12.50 so far this month, but that is because I had spent £18 on Monday 28th.7 -
Went to lidl this morning to get shopping which will hopefully see us through to next weekend (with the exception of milk and probably a bag of salad). Bought one of their reduced veg boxes for the first time as it had in things I needed and worked out cheaper than buying them separately. Can't say it was as good as @Greying_Pilgrim amazing box, but it had some loose potatoes and onions, a cucumber, just over a punnet of white mushrooms, a punnet of black grapes, a couple of pears, an orange, 2 lemons and 4 or 5 apples. I didn't need the potatoes or onions so gave most to my parents when they popped round. Spends of £29.59 in there.
Olio collections on Saturday night were smaller than the previous weekend. Had 1 portion of the boneless fillets unrequested from my KFC collection (which is 10 pieces!) so we both had a couple of bits on Saturday night and the rest has gone in the freezer to have as salad wraps for hubby. Nearly everything was requested from my Tesco collection which I was chuffed about, a few new to Olio too which is always nice. For my bits I took a quiche lorraine, bag of potatoes, bag of salad and a pack of pain au chocolat which have been put in the freezer.
Meal plan for the week
Today: Quiche with jacket potato and salad
Monday: Vegetable stir fry for us, boys will have quorn nuggets and chips
Tuesday: Trying a new recipe Summer in Winter Chicken which we'll have with mashed potato and brocolli
Wednesday: Veggie stir fry for us, boys will have spaghetti and meatballs
Thursday: Lasagne with salad for us, boys will probably have burgers and chips with salad
Friday: Trying another new recipe for a Chicken Pasta Bake which we'll have with salad
Really trying to not buy anything that needs to go into the freezer and actually use up some of the things in there!
Total spends are already at a rather alarming £100.69/£4606 -
£2.63 spent on a few items from Mr S earlier.
£27.06/£170.50.
£143.44 left.
We have an A&C delievery tomorrow so we didn't want to get more than needed today.I am a vegan woman. My OH is a lovely omni guy4 -
£30.33 today spent at Tesco as hub declared he wanted to eat a bit healthier than we/he has been recently. He is also up at 4:30am half the week so getting himself organised with food prep needs to be at the top of his list. It’s often not hence cheese sandwiches for lunch is often the case.We wants boring for a little while so he can get into the swing of it, so likely chicken rice and greens for lunches. It’s great he’s suggested it, but he is often what my late mother would call fly by night so I don’t expect we will continue for long. Please don’t think me mean, I support whole heartedly, I am a nutrition coach but he doesn’t like paying much attention to what I say so I leave him to his own devices. I also know him well! Anyway.Shop was some YS things, a few items for my daughter, GS yogurt (SO expensive!) and Organics biscuits which she loves, a few store cupboard items but chicken, rice, flavourings, etc for hub.I meal plan about as far in advance now as I can mentally cope with (before I forget what we will be left in the freezer etc despite my lists) which helps me manage waste, provide varied meals and take a daily job off my list of having to think about dinner.I’ll post the plan next post, but I love reading everyone else’s for food inspiration!£104.88 left from the budget of £300.Use the freezer supplies!Follow here for the daily life of an ADHD mum with 2 children and a new mortgage to pay
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6570879/life-in-our-forever-family-home-and-the-mortgage-that-came-with-it#latest9 -
Hi can i pop my spends on here Just trying to keep track 130 iceland+20 deliveroo+50 dominoes.(forgot to get joint outta freezer)
hoping next 3.5 weeks better as normally spend 600pm 3 adults. So 50 over 150pw thanks to missing sunday roast21k savings no debt6
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