March 2022 Grocery Challenge

MissRikkiC

@nannygladys i remember my late mum and I making the tallest carrot salad from that book and it was delicious. We ate it for days afterwards. I’ve made all of the curry pastes like @Greying_Pilgrim mentioned and they’re all brilliant and often have the broccoli pesto tagliatelle! It’s a great book. 

So I wanted to make scones this week and thought I’d got flour in so bought eggs but I don’t, so I think tomorrow I might buy some flour and bake as I’ve taken a rare day off! 

After that I’ll declare for the month as i get paid Friday. Wahoo! It’s felt a long month 

PipneyJane

Greying_Pilgrim said:

elsiepac you do sterling work on this thread - THANK YOU

I've spent the morning baking.  I wanted to have a bash at Spiced Parsnip & Apple cake, which is off the RebelRecipes blog, and I also made MemoryGirl's Jamaican Ginger Cake because ginger cake usually gets better for leaving a day or two after making and before eating. 

I'm afraid I can't find a link for MemoryGirl's recipe - does anyone else remember Elaine from MSE?  I'm reasonably sure that the recipe was on MSE, but I know that it was also on MemoryGirl's blog, so she may well have taken it off here to avoid copyright issues.  I'm not sure if MG has a blog anymore......

Now, despite me wanting to have a bash at the spiced parsnip & apple cake - to use some of the parsnips/apple I got in the MrL box, I didn't have; neither can my budget sustain, a bag of buckwheat flour.  Undeterrred, having seen some spelt bread flour on special in MrM (£1 for 1kg), I researched to see if bread flour could be used in place of cake flour.  Now, the cooks amongst you will be shrieking at the screen that bread flour is completely different to cake flour as they have to have different properties to perform differently in the creation process.  But I found reference on the internet to adding cornstarch to breadflour to make it 'more' like cake flour.  I have cornflour in my cupboard, so thought I would give it a go......It worked.  Kind of........  Have I got a 'cake', well yes and no.  I would liken it more to a pudding.  If anyone has ever eaten bread pudding from an independent baker, then it's MUCH more like that, than like fruit 'cake'.  

Greying X
  

@Greying_Pilgrim. I am 15 pages behind so apologies if someone’s told you this already, but bread flour is perfectly fine for making cakes. It has a bit more gluten in it than “plain flour” but that is the only real difference. I only have one type of flour in the house, MrT’s cheapest-on-the-day atta/chapatti flour, which I buy in the “convenient” 10kg sack. (10kg fills two of the largest Lock-n-Lock boxes.) 

Atta flour is a light, wholemeal flour.  It makes very good bread.  As well as making bread with it, in the bread machine, I use it to bake cakes every couple of weeks.  If a recipe calls for self-raising flour, I’ll add baking powder at the ratio of 1 teaspoon per cup.

HTH

- Pip

MissRikkiC

Good morning everyone. 

Just dropping in to add my final spends and declare for the month of March! 

I’ve just picked up the afore mentioned flour, a few bags as I need to make 3 batches of sweet treats today, something nice for my pregnant self to drink that’s not squash and some actual squash as it’s cheap and often out of stock when I most need it! 

Spends total £297.64 with £2.36 remaining. 

A few things which I did this month but may have helped but also some which I just want to make note of. 

Bulk purchase of £20s worth of chicken breast from the butcher 
Last month I did this with Tuna and thought it’d helped tip me over budget but I can’t agree that was the case now having done the same again. 

Bulk (ish) purchase of a case of farmfoods chopped tomatoes. 

Big shop at the start of the month, buying lots including items which we’re substitute take away items like pizza, fish and oven chips. 

Meal planning 4 weeks ahead. I know this is daunting for some and at the start of the month I was antsy because it took me a few days to get around to doing it and as a result I didn’t know what to eat (I know, how silly!) but I do think it’s really helped. 

Lastly, hub had a great idea of him wanting to eat better so a small sum was used for that. As predicted we’re back to the same routine as before now so whilst I think that was approx £15 I may have scope to purchase another bulk item this month. 

I know I want to spend £30 at a local farm on rare breed pork as a treat, there is a deal in farmfoods on the washing powder we use and items such as baby wipes are always better value when they’re bought in bulk. I already know that’s approx £60 so possibly might add in a touch extra this month to manage rather than feel short so soon into the month. 

Sorry for my ramblings. I need to get stuff out of my head somewhere 😂

Greying_Pilgrim

PipneyJane - thank you so much for taking the time to post affirmation of bread flour use for cakes, and your baking powder tip.  Much appreciated.  I did use the bread flour in the end.  The cake was ok (and certainly edible), but if i made THAT recipe again, I would ensure that I blitzed my dates first.  I think I overbeat the batter a bit - which I might have got away with with conventional flour, but I think I awoke the gluten slightly.  The cake is a little chewy - but as it also tastes like a protein bar, that is certainly no barrier to edibility! 😉

Back from shopping.  MrL was heaving - is there something I don't know about gonna happen??

I managed to get a MrL box.  I must admit, I was dithering whether to buy one today.  I think it is still a bargain, and I will certainly use absolutely everything in the box, but not as useful today as perhaps other boxes have been.  Having said that, with a squeaky-tight budget, satsumas and mushrooms wouldn't have been on my list at all today, neither would so many bananas, so it just about squeaks in at worth £1.50.  



I also had to pop into h0me barga1ns on the way home.  I did manage to get some eggs at the bargain price of 20p for 6 (i bought 2 boxes), as they were short-dated until 31st March.  But this will cover my meal plan and baking needs for this week coming, so again, I bought what I know I will use.  I also bought some crisps, as packed lunches will be needed next week, and got the 6 pack for 6p less than they are advertised in any of the supermarkets.  So the shopping gods were all standing in a row, and I felt that I certainly received help from somewhere to make my pennies stretch.  I am so grateful.

Shopping expenditure for today is £15.48.  Total for month (to date) is £94.74, leaving £5.26 for 7 days.......... "Gulp".  I always knew it was going to be tight.  In theory, I am meal planned all the way up until the 31st, and have everything that we need.  I'm grateful for the safety net of a fiver, and hope I don't have to use it.  I was thinking about it all in the MrL car park this morning though, and it's been so tight, and I've got down at times, but realistically, I've got to do this all over again next month, and maybe May too...........

Greying X

Soontobeoap

Keep going @Greying_Pilgrim. You are doing so well.

who ever said that you can’t teach a grandmother to suck eggs was totally wrong. I have always thought that I am careful with food money but with all you guys for support and a renewed will I am saving even more.

new tips that I have taken on board are

A) one big shop at beginning of month ( which I worried was going to leave me short later!) is really paying off. Not only have I saved on grocery’s but I have saved £12.00 on delivery charges for this month alone. We have only needed to pick up bread, milk and fresh fruit veg in the weeks between.

 baking more. I am loving making little treats rather than buying them and have even had great reviews. This is going to save so much money especially when the gluten/ dairy free grandchildren come for their holiday stays!

C) I always thought that shopping around was a real faff but have discovered that Iceland are often much cheaper for sauces in jars on the rare occasion that I buy them.

D) not thinking of the month as a 4 or 5 week month. This has been helped by not having a weekly delivery. 5is month I have just stretched what is in the cupboards and freezer an extra few days! It seems to have saved me a whole week in money!!! Not sure how that works but it has!😅.

E) using cheap supermarket soups as a sauce for mushroom or chicken pasta dishes. It’s amazing!!! So quick!!!! Just throw in bits of mushroom chicken or even ham that you have left over and hey presto!!!

I still need to get better at finding the right timings for us items although I did pick up some bacon in sainsburys the other day and was very pleased with myself. I am also setting up a little veg patch so hoping to save even more.

wont declare yet as still have a week to go but meals are all planned so 🤞 that I am well on target this month. 😊

_Moving_On_Up_

Afternoon all! 

@Greying_Pilgrim I think you're doing amazingly well, you're a real inspiration! Your lidl boxes always look so much better than what's available at my store, some of the stuff in there really should just be binned, regardless of whether its reduced or not

A couple of spends for me. Needed to buy more food for the dog so £19.80 spent there which is just over 2 weeks worth of food so will see us through the month and into April. Then went to Lidl this morning and spent another £37.30 there including a bottle of wine for the weekend, a top up of things for my baking cupboard, some fruit and veg and bagged a couple of their deluxe lemon drizzle cakes which were reduced to 20p each. It should hopefully see us through to Sunday. Feel like a year ago that kind of spend would be a full weeks shop and now its just a top up shop and I don't really have much to show for it. Did get a couple of packs of sausages which were 30% off. Norovirus has hit our house this week and although my oldest is over it now he's not really eating for fear of being sick. He requested sausages and chips for tea so I'm doing that in the hopes he'll eat something.

 First month I've shopped pretty much exclusively there rather than Tesco and think I've probably saved a fair bit. Also now have a £10 voucher to use towards my next shop as I hit the £200 spend for the month. Hoping I'll not actually need to spend too much on my next shop which means I should come in well under budget, especially with having the voucher to use.

With that in mind I'm going to start reducing my budget for food from next month to try and have a bit more money to go towards all the other bills that are going up, my gas and electric is now £130 a month more than it was 6 months ago! With Easter and the kids being off I'm not going to go too mad so will reduce it by £25 next month and see how I get on.

Total spends £335.10/£460 

RandomOne

Hey Everyone

I'm new to MSE and am desperate to get a handle on my food shopping. I currently spend about £400-£600 a month for my family of 4 adults, 2 dogs and a cat. 

I NEED to slash this by 50% over the next few months so that I can pay off my debt ASAP. I'm currently overpaying my debt and should have it paid off in 10 months, but if I can do it in 6, that would be better.

I'll be keeping a very close eye on this thread and the OS board in general. But is there anywhere specific on MSE you'd advise me to look in addition to this? 

atrixa

I'm declaring for the month as I get paid tomorrow. £122.96/£123. Very pleased with that, I almost thought it couldn't be done I'll up it slightly next month to account for 10kg bag of rice.

otb666

625/600 thus 25 over May have to cut back on wine and dominoes

Suffolk_lass

RandomOne said:

Hey Everyone

I'm new to MSE and am desperate to get a handle on my food shopping. I currently spend about £400-£600 a month for my family of 4 adults, 2 dogs and a cat. 

I NEED to slash this by 50% over the next few months so that I can pay off my debt ASAP. I'm currently overpaying my debt and should have it paid off in 10 months, but if I can do it in 6, that would be better.

I'll be keeping a very close eye on this thread and the OS board in general. But is there anywhere specific on MSE you'd advise me to look in addition to this? 

Hello and welcome @RandomOne

My suggestions for looking are:

• The debt-free wannabe diaries where you can pick up lots of ideas on how to pay down debt and economise.
• Here, obviously, people talk about what they are buying and where they are saving a bit. Read the first few posts and try some of the methods to find what works for you in terms of systems (2nd purse was legendary before apps came along)
• Over on Reverse Meal Planning (I've tagged the most recent page as it's easy to get the idea without reading 278 pages) we talk about how we are meal planning from food we already have or acquire, and share ideas for substituting ingredients in recipes, but without going into the costs like this thread does.
• There's also a Frugal Living Challenge but that is a step too far for me at the moment. As an example of what you can do, check out some of Greying_Pilgrim's posts (- the easiest way is to click her name and then discussions and read down through some of her posts).

Good luck, you will find plenty of support and encouragement here