March 2022 Grocery Challenge

wannalot

I’ve managed to stay away from the shops so far this week, although I have a small list of things I need to get tomorrow. 

After reading so much about war, energy costs and inflation recently, I’m actually wondering whether it might be a good time to invest on stocking up on frozen veg, tinned goods and stuff like washing powder and dishwasher tablets. It’s hard to know what’s going to go up in price though.

bargainbetty

@Suffolk_lass Thanks for the suggestion, but sadly too late. I am lucky to have a small second freezer and managed to pull out things like rolls and cheap things and play tetris to get all the meat/expensive stuff in. In the meantime, I'm eating the defrosting things and trying to keep the fridge door shut as much as possible. 

I'm in the 'say no to brioche' camp for burgers too. Brioche is breakfast or pudding. Then again, I demand potato bread for BBQ things - you can't put pulled pork in a brioche, just too much sweet stuff!

Smoosh

I must be the odd one out, I love brioche! A brioche bun filled with grilled halloumi is especially delicious! 

DawnW

I am already up to £154.13 / £200, so am likely to go over budget again this month. This was mainly caused by stocking up on a few things that I was low on, or on special offer. I think that next month I will need to increase my budget a bit   I know that I am fortunate to be able to do this.

thriftwizard

£96.13 has left my tender care over the last couple of days, between the supermarkets (both - for different items) the bakers, and the market. So I'm up to £282.73 /£450, with two more main shops to do this month; possible, but it'll be tight. Main meal plans are as follows:

Tonight: salmon steaks with Pink Fir Apple spuds & purple sprouting broccoli
Tomorrow: Slow-cooked gammon/grilled halloumi with savoury rice & HG (frozen) runner beans & sweetcorn
Sunday: roast chicken/nut roast with roast potatoes, broccoli, HG leeks and carrots (Pudding - profiteroles, made by DD2) 
Monday: pasta with a tomato & ham/creamy mushroom sauce
Tuesday: chicken/potato curry with rice, peas & HM flatbreads
Wednesday: omelette (provided The Girls have laid enough eggs & the DDs haven't eaten them all! 4-5 being laid per day currently) or corned beef/halloumi hash.
Thursday: Either baked potatoes & leftovers OR HM pizza, except for DS3, who will buy himself a supermarket version if he isn't eating out.

Lunches, as usual, will be soups or salads, and breakfasts something eggy, pancakes, or muffins; 14 blueberry & lemon muffins made today, as I got 4 punnets of blueberries for £1 at the market, and a bag of 15 lemons for another £1. Mind you half of them have gone already! Thinking about making lemon curd tomorrow, but I don't think I have any jam-jars left, after emptying the old freezer last month.

I will need to top up bananas, supermarket bread (preferred by OH & DS3) & yogurt at some point early next week.

Greying_Pilgrim

Morning 😊

Ducking in to admit a £1.53 spend yesterday, on a 2.5kg bag of wonky potatoes and some bananas from MrM.  I'm glad that the tatties were no more expensive than the MrL offering, as although the MrL were Maris Piper, they all looked small tatties, whereas the 'wonky' Scottish tatties I have were assorted sizes, and I have 4 that will provide good 'individual' baked tattie options with beans (for example).  

I only have 2 potatoes left from the 25kg bag I bought from the farm gate in October.  LG and I had gone for a day out and came across this farm selling bags of Maris Piper for £5.  They've been a good purchase.  I had to throw out several that had started to rot (thankfully I found them early), and a couple which were green.  But the tatties have made the most sublime mash, and tasty baked potatoes too.  This is predominantly what I buy farmgate tatties for, so am happy with the 'floury' varieties.

We've stuck to the meal plan - but I didn't bore you with a pic of an omlette, or a veggie burger in a (non-brioche) bun 🤣 - that would have been a step too far! Pasta bake tonight, which I will prepare earlier so that I can watch at least some of the rugger matches this arvo, without being stuck in the kitchen. This will use the YS'd pasta sauce I bought in MrA a week ago, and I'm currently wondering what to add to the pasta to make it more appealing but not alienate LG. Black olives are a contender, but I'd like to add red onion and mixed peppers too, but not sure they will go down well.  I bought a 'budget' mozarella ball too to top the bake.  But there is the risk this will totally put LG off .  I must have the only child on earth that doesn't like 'melty cheeeeese' 🙄

bargainbetty I was sorry to hear about your freezer - that happened to us about a year ago, although it was our 'new' freezer failing about 1 week before the warranty was up 😬  It got 'fixed', but I still lost alot of food 🙁Partly because of the initial fail, and then about a month later when I had to do what the engineer said I would have to, shut it off for 3 whole days 🙁 I will never buy 'Notthepoint' again......

DawnW - I'm in a quandry about 'buying for now' and also to maintain a (reasonable) storecupboard.  There isn't sufficient budget this month (but that hasn't stopped me trying 😬), but the future isn't looking overly rosy either.  But I've always tried to keep stores (by-product of having grown up in the countryside), so will try my best to purchase wisely.

Greying X

elsiepac

Budgets updated to here

Wow, sorry for my absence guys - I didn't realise so many days had passed! I've just spent an hour binge reading the thread and firstly - welcome back @Greying_Pilgrim - lovely to read your posts and fab pics!

I am delighted with all the meal plans posted (and sad that I haven't been posting mine!) - I have had fun collating the ideas into a jumbo list which I'll post in a moment once I've prettied it up a little bit - it may provide inspiration to see everything in one place!

Meals I've been enjoying have included:

- One pot creamy mushroom pasta
- Tofu and salad rolls with Leon burger sauce (their sauces are vegan and the burger sauce is... *chef's kiss* - all tangy and dilly)
- Green shakshouka (Bosh recipe recently remembered!)
- One pot Thai Coconut noodle soup/curry thing
- Pasta and roast veg
- Linda M sausages, new potatoes and green veg (a costly but VERY worth it vegan butter I now use exclusively is "Naturli" - it's a game changer honestly)
- Stir fry 

Porridge has made a comeback to my breakfasts, which are usually just toast - I bit my tongue in my sleep the other week and took a nice chunk out of the side which has been very painful so I've been trying to eat softer foods!

I need to reverse meal plan today as I have a decent amount of veg in - some of which needs using sooner rather than later!

elsiepac

Meal Planning March

Most popular re-occurring items:

Spag Bol

Sausage and Mash

Roast Dinner

Sausage Pasta

Various Curries

Various Chilis

Soups, sandwiches and leftovers for lunches 

Porridge, toast, yoghurt and fruit for breakfasts

Super List of Ideas (apologies for any duplicates):

·      Bacon & leek quiche

·      Baked potatoes with anything left over and/or tuna & sweet corn/cheese & baked beans

·      BBQ coated Pork Belly, Rice & Peas

·      Beef stir fry with HM plum sauce

·      Black bean chilli and egg fried rice

·      Black olive/mushroom pizza and HM wedges

·      Brazilian black bean stew

·      Bread & Cheese Pudding with added tuna and sweet corn

·      Breaded fish and HM oven chips, carrots and peas

·      Breakfast for dinner - beans, veggie sausages, hash browns, eggs & mushrooms

·      Buddha Bowl

·      Burgers - beef or veggie, with chips and corn on the cob

·      Burgers and wedges

·      Cajun chicken and sweet potato mash 

·      Carrot and Lentil Soup

·      Carrot, leek and butterbean soup

·      Cauli-brocco-macaroni cheese

·      Cheese Fondue

·      Chicken burgers, mash, broccoli, (home grown) and carrots

·      Chicken chasseur

·      Chicken Curry & Rice

·      Chicken Pasta Bake with salad

·      Chicken thighs baked with peppers and something else

·      Chicken with peperoni sauce

·      Chicken/potato curry with rice, peas & HM flatbreads

·      Chickpea coconut curry and rice

·      Chilli

·      Chilli and jacket potatoes

·      Chilli bake with sour cream

·      Chilli sin Carne

·      Chilli with kidney beans and rice

·      Chilli, rice & salad

·      Chipotle steak salad

·      Corned beef/halloumi hash

·      Creamy mushroom and leek pasta

·      Crispy Duck Pancakes

·      Cuban Black Bean Stew cooked in the slow cooker

·      Curried carrot and parsnip soup

·      Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls

·      Dhal, spinach, and rice

·      Duck breast salad

·      Fish & roast veggies

·      Fish and chips ( home cooked)

·      Fish fingers or fish, chips, beans, tinned tomatoes, savoury rice

·      Fish in breadcrumbs

·      Fish Pie

·      Fish Stew

·      Greek-style roast fish recipe | BBC Good Food

·      Green shakshouka (Bosh recipe recently remembered!)

·      Ham and mushroom pasta

·      Home made steak and kidney pie, roast potatoes and veg

·      Homemade Pizzas

·      Jacket potato and beans

·      Jacket potato and sausages, carrots and sprouts

·      Japanese curry with rice and salad

·      Japanese curry, soya chunks with vegetables and rice

·      Kedgeree

·      Keema mince with HM flatbreads and/or bulgur wheat.

·      Korean beef (using Quorn mince) with egg fried rice

·      Lamb Chops, Mash & Broccoli

·      Lamb soup

·      Lasagne with salad

·      Leek, carrot, potato soup

·      Leek, potato, and Wensleydale soup

·      Lentil bolognese, pasta and green beans

·      Lentil, barley vegetable soup

·      LO veg stew with cheese scones

·      Mackerel salad

·      Mugg, mixed veg curry & rice

·      Mung Bean Curry with bulgar wheat

·      Mushroom omelette 

·      Mushroom risotto

·      Mushrooms on sourdough with prosciutto

·      Not Sausage tomato pasta sauce

·      Omelette

·      Omelette - cheese or mushroom and chorizo, with fries

·      One pot creamy mushroom pasta

·      One pot Thai Coconut noodle soup/curry thing

·      Pancakes (savoury and sweet)

·      Pancakes/waffles with fruit

·      Pasta arrabiata

·      Pasta salad

·      Pasta with a tomato & ham/creamy mushroom sauce

·      Pasta with a tomato and olive sauce

·      Pesto Pasta, Salad and Haloumi 

·      Pie with mash and broccoli

·      Pizza and salad

·      Poached salmon, new pots & green beans

·      Pork chop, roast pots and parsnips, carrots and sprouts

·      Porridge with fruit. 

·      Prawn and spinach and chilli linguine

·       Puy lentil stew with winter vegetable mash 

·      Quiche with jacket potato and salad

·      Quiche, jackets, salad, (with hg lettuce), coleslaw, (home made)

·      Quinoa salad

·      Quinoa winter salad

·      Quorn nuggets and chips

·      Quorn nuggets, spaghetti/beans and mash

·      Quorn/lentil spag bol

·      Refried bean and cheese quesadillas with fries

·      Risotto

·      Roast a chicken to make: chicken curry, chicken in a tomato cream sauce & chicken soup

·      Roast beef/veg & trimmings

·      Roast chicken, asparagus, cauli, roast potatoes, parsnips and shallots roasted

·      Roast chicken/nut roast with roast potatoes, broccoli, HG leeks and carrots

·      Roasted aubergine and tomato curry

·      Salmon and leek pasta bake

·      Salmon steaks with Pink Fir Apple spuds & purple sprouting broccoli

·      Sausage & Veg Pasta Bake

·      Sausage and Mash

·      Sausages and omelette

·      Savoury mince and rice

·      SC chicken curry

·      Sea bass with stir fry veg

·      Shepherd pie  

·      Shepherdless pie and side vegetables

·      Shepherds pie from freezer with extra veg

·      Slow cooker pork steaks with leek, onion, soy sauce served with cauliflower and tenderstem broccoli

·      Slow-cooked gammon/grilled halloumi with savoury rice & runner beans & sweetcorn

·      Snert (veggie version of Dutch pea soup, made with tinned mushy/marrowfat peas)

·      Southern fried chicken oven chips

·      Spag bol

·      Spaghetti Bolognese

·      Spaghetti carbonara with peas using Quorn bacon or pancetta

·      Spanish Chicken & Rice

·      Spiced halloumi with roasted vegetables

·      Spicy bean chilli with potato wedges

·      Spicy peanutty beetroot, swede and quinoa stew

·      Stewed liver

·      Stroganoff with spaghetti and veggie sausages & mushrooms

·      Summer in Winter Chicken  with mashed potato and broccoli
spaghetti and meatballs
burgers and chips with salad

·      Sweet and sour chicken and egg fried rice

·      Sweet chilli salmon with cous cous which will include peas, corn and some spring onions

·      Tempeh salad

·      Tempeh stir fry

·      Thai green curry with l/o beef and green beans

·      Toad in the Hole with Leeks and Veg

·      Tofu and salad rolls with Leon burger sauce

·      Tofu, veg, egg noodle stir fry

·      Tomato and feta pasta

·      Tonyu nabe (basically a vegetable hot pot with soya milk in the broth. Very good for cold days 

·      Turkey burger

·      Turkey kofta kebabs

·      Twice cooked Jacket Potatoes with Leeks, Cheese and Bacon

·      Veg Omelette   

·      Vegan toad in the hole, served with a lot of veg

·      Vegetable stir fry

·      Vegetable stir fry with inari sushi

·      Vegetarian moussaka

·      Veggie Dumpling Stew

·      Veggie enchiladas

·      Veggie madras using up carrots, parsnips, potatoes and carrots with wraps

·      Veggie pasta

·      Veggie sausages, yorkies, mash, mixed veg & gravy

·      Yellow lentil and coconut curry

·      Yellow split pea soup

Soontobeoap

So far so good! Spends this week were £6.35. Just bread, milk, bread flour ( in case we have wheat shortages) and some baking ingredients to test wheat / dairy free snacks for summer hols when Grandsons descend!
plain chocolate covered shortbread was a great success but cinnamon rolls not so much!!
trialing apple, banana bars and coconut macaroons this week! 😋. Can’t believe how much I am enjoying this new cooking hobby. DH is very appreciative too although not sure how it is affecting his diet!

love reading all of your threads.

Smoosh

Wow, thanks so much for that list @elsiepac

I often find myself scrolling through this thread looking for inspiration for the meal plan, so having it all listed in one place is great!

In case anyone's interested this: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/korean-beef-and-rice/
is the recipe we use for the Korean beef (realised I never linked it before!). It works great with veggie mince too, mostly uses store cupboard ingredients (we often skip the spring onions if we don't have any in) and is good served with rice noodles as well as rice.