April 2022 Grocery Challenge

MissRikkiC

@Pinwheel I’ve never experienced this but would have purchased it there and then, then walked around with it anyway. 

Sour cream and yoghurt tend to last a lot longer than their expected dates. Sour cream usually does us a fortnight before I’ve used it up and green yogurt at least a week or more. I personally wouldn’t bother freezing it 

Pinwheel

Thank you for replying @MissRikkiC, I'll be a bit braver and do that next time.  She caught me off guard and I was in the wrong mood I think.

I'll also take a bit less notice of the use within 3 days thing and see how we get on, thank you!

Bluegreen143

I’ve not left soured cream longer, but I can second that yoghurt lasts ages when opened, I’ve had opened tubs last 2 weeks.

Bluegreen143

Spends so far (with a week to go as it’s for the calendar month):

Food £398.97
Treats £38.08
Cleaning & toiletries £17.65
Household misc £33.35*

*this is things like bin bags, lightbulbs, stamps, stationery etc which we usually buy from Tesco with our weekly shop 

So safe to say I’ve already well overshot the budget. Hmmm. It’s all good learning for next month I suppose.

nannygladys

Well it's been over a week since I last shopped so I called in Lids last night on the way back from dds. Got almost everything I needed but they didn't have any flour of any sort, just when I wanted to make some cakes, scones and pastry to go in the freezer, ah well I'll keep looking in other places. Anyway, signature updated. I did buy a few sweeties though and I'm not expecting them to last very long but I will enjoy them, my one naughty treat!!!!

Vanlady

Nannygladys, it's good to have a naughty treat now and again  .
Mr Van's today was 6 packets of crisps and 2 bars of chocolate! 
Also, there was plenty of SR flour and plain flour but no bread flour in Aldeee's today.

Pinwheel i dont know about soured cream but we buy large tubs of Greek yoghurt weekly and once opened, takes about a week to get through. Weve never noticed it going off.  

An update to declare, £33.60 spent today in Aldeeee, bringing a total of:

 £132.30/£180 for 11th April to 30th April. 

Pea soup to be made tomorrow in the slow cooker using a whole bag of dried green peas, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, gammon stock frozen from xmas day, marigold dried stock powder, mint sauce and fresh mint from the garden. Maybe with a blob of leftover cream. 
If I have any veg lurking in the fridge then than will be slung in too.

DawnW

Shopping today which takes my grocery spends to £224.06 / £200 I will need to pay the milk bill and probably buy a few extra bits begore the end of the month, so will be well over - again!  No Lidl £1.50 veg boxes this week. I don't understand why they keep them beyond the tills - are you supposed to pay for one and pick one up on the way out (I wouldn't do this without looking at them first, as sometimes they seem to contain only dead lettuces and green potatoes!), nip out and get one while the cashier is putting your shopping through (hardly practical as it is pretty manic at the checkouts) or go round again after you have paid for your shopping? What do other people do?

As for the yogurt, I have never noticed the edict to use within 3 days, never do so and am still alive A large tub lasts me a week at least.

Soontobeoap

Regarding the lasagna that I had defrosted for guests and didn’t use. Thank you all for your advice however I reluctantly binned it as I felt so poorly with a tummy bug that I couldn’t face the idea of food poisoning somebody. So I feel this was a big fail on my part.

in my favour this month I did make the leftover beef that we had on the Monday into 9 pasty’s and 2 portions of meat for beef stews. 

This last week I have been staying with my daughter helping her to spring clean her house and freeze up some family meals ready for her to start her new job in 2 weeks time. Thought that I was coming back home for a quiet few days before going to London to babysit Granddaughters for a few days. Daughter decided to come back for a holiday break with us for 2 days. As I havnt been around I had nothing in the house for the skerry children. 

DH spent £2.10 on milk and bread whilst I was away. I spent £16.75 on meatballs 
, mince, potatoes, fruit, sauces and onions to feed the masses when I got home today so I have gone over budget again this month! I didn’t plan for the unexpected! Spending the last week of the month at sons so hopefully all my spends for the month are recorded. Watch this space!.

Greying_Pilgrim

Morning April GC'rs

We're skipping along and trying to keep chipper 😊I have to say, the caponata was nice last night.  Like any stew, it benefitted from being made the day before, and it was a change in flavours from what we've had recently.  So nice to know that there is another portion in the freezer for another day too.  I served it with pasta, using the casarecce pasta that was 3 for £1 in H3r0n f00ds.  

I was going to make dishes from Rose Elliot's 'The Bean Book' for the last week of April.  I had picked out a few recipes that Rose had included that were wartime recipes, or adapted from wartime recipes.  I figured that they would be thrifty and frugal, but then had a rethink, as something like 4 out of the 6 recipes were reliant on using the oven - and a couple were very similar in make-up (albeit using different ingredients).  So I've had a bit of a re-think, and now my menu for the 6 remaining days of the month, will be from my cheap/cheerful/frugal/thrifty repertoire, using ingredients from stores or what I have in already.  The soup recipe IS from Rose Elliot's book though, as I have the main components in, so....

M:  Savoury Qu0rn mince with baked potato
Tu:  Bean & carrot soup with potato farls
W:  Mixed salads plate
Th:  Peach & chickpea curry w. rice
F:  Fish nuggets/fingers, chips and mushy peas
Sa:  Curry plate (from freezer) with rice

As yet I've not set Sunday May 1st's meal, as it will depend how the week works out, as to what we have left/what pay day brings etc etc.  At least our council HAVE made the CT refund payment, so we have that in hand now to put towards future fuel bills.  In order to make best use of resources, I may yet swap around Monday and Wednesday's teas, as I will use the oven on Sunday - so can bake 'extra' potatoes, and they will keep/freeze, whereas 'fresh' vegetables from the MrL box, may well be struggling to be edible by Wednesday.  

Greying X

Hettyhound

Morning, did the last big shop last night and this months total has come to £160 exactly! (My budget amount).  However need to venture to as*a today as I need to buy tights for the first time in 2 years as I’m at a funeral on Wednesday.  There were a couple of things on my list last night I couldn’t get (dried lentils, chickpeas, couscous) so I’ll see if they have any.  That will push me over sadly.  I have to say I’ve got out my Jack Monroe book and been looking round the website.  Not sure I could ever get it quite as low £s but giving it a good go.  I also noted no bread flour in Aldee so will make do with plain (worked fine for the courgette bread), I also overhead one of the staff saying they can’t get hold of salad stuff.  Hoping my allotment will help over the summer; my kitchen looks like a plant nursery and 2 cold frames are stuffed full.  I’m channeling my inner Monty Don and keeping everything crossed.