April 2022 Grocery Challenge

Ginmonster

£20.66 spent today which included an Easter egg each for DH and DS and some hot cross buns as well as sensible foodstuffs. 

I've got the makings of plenty of meals but not sure yet the precise order they'll go in. Tonight's tea is leftover pizza and tomorrow's plan is egg on toast for lunch and cheesy pie things from the freezer with roasted veg for tea. 

Other meals that will be featured in the next few days will be veggie fajitas, butternut squash & sweet potato soup and pasta with wild garlic and purple sprouting broccoli. 

Total £23.12/£200

tessie_bear

i had a flier from sainsbobs today advertising cheap veg for a few days from i think next wed.. Carrots/pots/leeks/and unmentionable nasty nips (parsnips) 29p i think so might make some nice soup and veg for the easter roast if you do that
take care xx

Greying_Pilgrim

tessie_bear said:

i had a flier from sainsbobs today advertising cheap veg for a few days from i think next wed.. Carrots/pots/leeks/and unmentionable nasty nips (parsnips) 29p i think so might make some nice soup and veg for the easter roast if you do that
take care xx

Thanks tessie_bear - that is useful to know, as it might also highlight that other SM's might follow suit (like at Chrimbo), and there will be opportunities to get some fair priced veg..... super for us lovers of parsnip 🥰

Well, I came on to show a pic of us tea, but the camera didn't play ball, so the pictures I took didn't really illustrate anything, so I gave up 🙁 However, the buddha bowl provided nourishment, didn't break the bank and allowed me to use up some things, and try out a new recipe.  I made boiled rice, red onion and radish pickle, Jajig and beetroot and apple salad (from the Happy Pear recipe) and served it with a portion of (bought) hummus.  The radish pickle actually worked well, and I would definitely make it again.  I also had 6 cherries (random) in my £1.50 box, which had been shoved on top of the mushrooms (even randomer), and whilst one was beyond salvage, the other 5 were actually OK, but underripe.  So I thought that I had heard of pickled cherries before (but never made them), so I de-stoned them, quartered them and shoved them into the radish pickle.  Do you know what, it worked - kind of.  OK, so the pickling didn't suddenly make the cherries ripe, but it did seem to make them taste at least of 'fruit', and it worked OK with the crunchy radish, and sweet/sour liquour.  It also added to the colour of the pickle, turning it the most wonderful shade of red.  And I utilised 5 lone cherries 😊 Whilst I don't think I shall go out of my way to buy radish, I would use that pickle recipe, should i have radishes again.  I made the Jajig recipe from my Arto der Haroutunian vegetarian cookbook, but the recipe I have linked to is broadly similar (I didn't have coriander/cilantro in my version).  

The trifles were munched for dessert, although LG is not sold on the cream/custard of a trifle, and gave up three quarters of the way through 🙁However, I would rather that they gave up on a 7p version, rather than a 50/60p version........

There is a smear of hummus left for a lunchtime sanger tomorrow.

I cooked the mushrooms from the box with onions and garlic, left them to cool and then put them in the freezer.  I was originally thinking I would make a curry, but then changed my mind and will have a mushroom risotto later in the month -  - possibly at Easter (I shall look out to see if I can spot any fairly priced British asparagus to accompany - THAT would be the perfect treat for me 😊).  Although I had to trim the mushrooms slightly (mostly the ends of the stalks that had gone over/were encrusted with compost), I was able to process every mushroom, so no waste 😊

Greying X

MissRikkiC

Greying_Pilgrim said:

tessie_bear said:

i had a flier from sainsbobs today advertising cheap veg for a few days from i think next wed.. Carrots/pots/leeks/and unmentionable nasty nips (parsnips) 29p i think so might make some nice soup and veg for the easter roast if you do that
take care xx

Thanks tessie_bear - that is useful to know, as it might also highlight that other SM's might follow suit (like at Chrimbo), and there will be opportunities to get some fair priced veg..... super for us lovers of parsnip 🥰

Well, I came on to show a pic of us tea, but the camera didn't play ball, so the pictures I took didn't really illustrate anything, so I gave up 🙁 However, the buddha bowl provided nourishment, didn't break the bank and allowed me to use up some things, and try out a new recipe.  I made boiled rice, red onion and radish pickle, Jajig and beetroot and apple salad (from the Happy Pear recipe) and served it with a portion of (bought) hummus.  The radish pickle actually worked well, and I would definitely make it again.  I also had 6 cherries (random) in my £1.50 box, which had been shoved on top of the mushrooms (even randomer), and whilst one was beyond salvage, the other 5 were actually OK, but underripe.  So I thought that I had heard of pickled cherries before (but never made them), so I de-stoned them, quartered them and shoved them into the radish pickle.  Do you know what, it worked - kind of.  OK, so the pickling didn't suddenly make the cherries ripe, but it did seem to make them taste at least of 'fruit', and it worked OK with the crunchy radish, and sweet/sour liquour.  It also added to the colour of the pickle, turning it the most wonderful shade of red.  And I utilised 5 lone cherries 😊 Whilst I don't think I shall go out of my way to buy radish, I would use that pickle recipe, should i have radishes again.  I made the Jajig recipe from my Arto der Haroutunian vegetarian cookbook, but the recipe I have linked to is broadly similar (I didn't have coriander/cilantro in my version).  

The trifles were munched for dessert, although LG is not sold on the cream/custard of a trifle, and gave up three quarters of the way through 🙁However, I would rather that they gave up on a 7p version, rather than a 50/60p version........

There is a smear of hummus left for a lunchtime sanger tomorrow.

I cooked the mushrooms from the box with onions and garlic, left them to cool and then put them in the freezer.  I was originally thinking I would make a curry, but then changed my mind and will have a mushroom risotto later in the month -  - possibly at Easter (I shall look out to see if I can spot any fairly priced British asparagus to accompany - THAT would be the perfect treat for me 😊).  Although I had to trim the mushrooms slightly (mostly the ends of the stalks that had gone over/were encrusted with compost), I was able to process every mushroom, so no waste 😊

Greying X

I recently got asparagus in either a TGTG bag or MrL box and it was such a treat! We never buy it due the the cost and whilst I’d love to grow it, I do not have the patience for 3 years of waiting 🤷🏼‍♀️ So I think because it’s not always readily available, I can’t grab it at a low cost and am far too impatient to grow it; it’s feels very special!

Vanlady

Hello everyone...waves....
I've been AWOL from the boards for a while now, y'know, life etc , but really need to get back and take account of spending, as I'm a bit panicky about all the carp that going on.
So , please Elsiepac, can you put me down for £180,  that's for 2 adults  from 11th April,  when I'll be doing my next shop, till the 30th. I've kind of plucked that figure out of a top hat, so would prefer to spend less, so here goes.....
We have a furry friend, but her food isn't included in the GC as that's non negotiable.
 We never have takeaways as we have been disappointed in the past and prefer to experiment and improve ourselves.....oops, I think weve become a bit picky....
We eat mostly vegetarian, and believe me, it's taken..... a...long.....time.....(yawn), to get the big meat eater ( now ex  big meat eater) Mr Van to this point, but now hes much prefers alot of the vegetarian meals to meat based, so whoop whoop!
On the topic of 'treat food', a treat for me is some homemade cake or pudding, as I dont make very often.  We also haul out our new-to-us ice cream machine (£5 from cs, what a bargain! Already paid for itself) to make the occasional delicious, preferably low fat, ice cream in the warmer months, but most importantly, when I can be a***d.
I'll post my menu once I've been shopping next week, which isnt my greatest hobby by the way
But tonight for dinner, we had hm bean chilli and brown rice, hm garlic and parsley ( both dried from stores) flatbreads, followed the most delicious juicy oranges. Oh, and a bit of LO flatbread with butter and jam.....another yummy treat.
Breakfast tomorrow will be porridge for mr Van, and I'll be having a mix of SF muslie with bran flakes.

Good luck everyone.

Ps I've read back through April, and really enjoyed seeing how everyone manages and meal plans.

Greying P, just wanna say, I love the photos of your food, you are inspirational!  Always look varied and tasty.
By the way, I buy a very large tub of tahini paste from the ethnic supermarket about twice a year when I venture into our nearest city, works out so much cheaper than sm bought. 

Right, I'll shut up now....

GreenCat80

@Greying_Pilgrim I’m intrigued by this parsnip cake! My kids all love parsnips AND cake so a parsnip cake is sure to be a winner 😆

I took the kids to Lidl with me tonight so ended up with ice cream, sweets, and pain au chocolate 🤦🏻‍♀️ I did get food for the next couple of days so hopefully I’m still on track. Creamy garlic (quorn) chicken with rice tomorrow (https://pinchofnom.com/recipes/creamy-garlic-chicken/) and homemade pizzas for movie night on Saturday ☺️

Cheery_Daff

Evening all 😊 Mr Cheery has done a stock up shop at @ldi this afternoon, but I'm not sure how much he spent so will wait for it to appear on the bank account before I add it to my signature.

Had a friend round for tea tonight. Mr Cheery did a lovely stir fry with a big pile of veg, black beans, and stripe of plain omelette, and we also defrosted rice and Dahl (slightly unusual combination but there we are!)

Didn't all get eaten so leftovers will probably do both of us for both meals tomorrow (maybe expanding the rice).

I did go out for lunch with some people from work today, but shared a pizza, and that will come from my fun spends, not the grocery budget.

nannygladys

I went to the community pantry and spent £7 and yesterday spent my mrts vouchers and a collection of 5ps I've been trying to get rid off!!! Anyway signature updated. I shouldn't need much now just the usual milk and a few bits until the end of the month.

Greying_Pilgrim

Morning!

GreenCat80 - I use Tristan Welch's recipe for Dark Chocolate & Parsnip cakes.  I can see from my recipe notes, I've cautioned to make a half mixture if making it as buns, as it makes lots (I think half mixture would still yield 12 buns), and I'm 99% sure I've made it as a whole cake too (probably didn't have any cake cases).  And if it's any help to anyone, there is no way I would have sprung for golden caster sugar, and generally use granulated sugar for baking - let's face it, I'm cooking for people who like cake, not for a WI judged competition 😉👍

Veggie 1/4 pounders for tea tonight, with chips, which will be after a whirly-gig-a-go-go of a day.  Mustache - reading homework to be done with small 😊

Have a great day all.

Greying X

Bluegreen143

I use granulated sugar for baking too, and Demerara if I need brown sugar - saves me keeping oodles of bags of sugar in the pantry as I use Demerara on porridge anyway (a little treat for me!). I do keep in icing sugar but three types of sugar is enough without starting to buy golden caster or soft brown types!

Meals for the last couple of days:

Wednesday
B - scrambled eggs on toast followed by a banana, kids had toast & peanut butter

L - mum made little wholemeal pizzas for the kids, so I had one too with some delicious soup she’d made the day before 

S - mum made the kids snack plates in the morning, not sure what they had, in the afternoon I made a platter with random bits and bobs (cocktail sausages, hummus, oatcakes, fruit and raw veggies)

D - chicken fajitas, delicious! I cut up and marinaded double the amount of chicken and popped it in the freezer for next week

Thursday
B - I had beans on toast, kids had cereal 

L - kids had cheese toasties, beans and raw veggies; I had tuna salad pittas

S - chopped fruit (pear and strawberry) in the morning; value tortilla chips with leftover HM salsa & Greek yoghurt to dip, grapes and peppers/carrots in the afternoon 

D - lasagne and purple sprouting broccoli  from veg box - I baked banana & choc chip muffins while the oven was on so we had some for dessert.

I’m trying to eat “proper” breakfasts, not cereal at the moment as I find myself hungry after an hour and it starts a vicious cycle of snacking all day, and, well, I need to lose a bit of weight 🙈 while having a substantial breakfast sounds counterintuitive it means I don’t need to eat again til about 1pm, or at the most I have an apple or banana. Hoping it won’t throw out the grocery budget too much! But we have plenty of eggs (keep chickens) and things like beans/mushrooms aren’t too expensive either. 

Will pop on later to update my spending.