April 2022 Grocery Challenge

QueenJess

Some updates. Forgot a £4.30 top up shop for cheese etc, although more than offset by £4.90 of refunds from the milkman for incorrect deliveries.

My bulk shop came to £82.96, helped by a £10 off voucher and a £10 gift card we had from complaining.

It’s touch and go. Total spend £279.05 / £300 (£200 + £100 bulk shop).

Greying_Pilgrim

Just made a pan of aubergine curry (used the last 2 aubergines from the MrL box), based heavily on the ingredients for Baingan Bharta - although I make it much more like a vegetable curry, rather than a roasted aubergine dip.  I like the simplicity of the ingredients, and it makes a vegetable curry that can accompany a bean/pulse curry along with rice or flatbread etc imho.  I used a tin of chopped tomatoes and threw in a handful of the cherry vine tomatoes (halved) that were in the MrL box on Thursday.  I will be putting both containers of the curry into the freezer, so will wait until I'm ready to use/cook each portion to add 'fresh' coriander.  My citrus was lemon, rather than lime, as that is what I had.



Greying X

DawnW

That looks lovely @Greying_Pilgrim

mumtoomany

Dadtoomany bought milk, and sweets, so another £2.63 spent. Should stop sending him really! Total now at £729.27/£2640. Amazingly still on target. Curry looks lovely Greying, mine wouldn't eat it, nobody will eat aubergine and there's no meat! Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xx

PipneyJane

joedenise said:

Don't know if it work for you but I keep a piece of paper on the fridge and if anything is getting low it gets added to the list.  It's taken a while to get DH trained but he does at least do it now!

That system works for me, too.  The only difference, is that my list is in a notepad propped on the top of my Kenwood mixer, with pen attached.  For dried goods, I operate on having one packet open and one in storage, so when I open the one in storage, I add it to the shopping list.

I have a spend to declare £24.38 in L!dl yesterday.  DH and I walked down there after work and, since we both finished quite late - after 6.30pm - ended up buying dinner from there.  We got home after 8pm and ended up eating at nearly 9pm.  Dinner cost us £4.02 (£1.49 spent on bacon-and-cheddar stuffed mushrooms plus £1.54 on a YS quiche plus 99p on coleslaw).  

Last night’s planned Toad-in-the-Hole will be tonight’s dinner instead.

The above brings our April GC spend to £118.16/£142.10, leaving £23.94 for the rest of the month.

- Pip

SausageDogSandwich

Hi all, I’ve got a bit confused with my budget as I didn’t finish and post my last amount before we went away for a few days last week. After going through everything I think I am on £123.85/£217.
I have 6 days until my new budget starts and need to get some shopping today as have no fresh food in because of being away. 

Going to have to rethink my budget as when I sorted all the “pots” out when bills increased, I did £50 a week grocery x52 divided by 12 = £217 a month for groceries. However I don’t have any money for grocery the first week of the month (other than what’s left over from the week before for milk, bread, fruit etc) Also getting paid weekly, the last weeks money is for the week ahead so that is a new month. I am probably over complicating   

hopefully will have it sorted in my mind ready for mays challenge, will come back and update my total after todays shopping is done. 

Greying_Pilgrim

Did a bit of baking this morning.  I used a budget chocolate cake recipe to make some chocolate buns.  I don't say £1 chocolate cake, because the original costings were done in 2014, and we all know how much prices have changed since then.  But it's still a good, simple recipe to use, and I had everything in for it - and I tossed in the last 1/3rd of a packet of white chocolate chips and chopped up some glace cherries and threw them into the mix too.  The mix made 11 buns - i should have made 12, as there could have been a bit of room left to put a ganache topping on, but there ya go. 

I made a lemon cake too - it's Miss Morton's lemon cake from Leon Bk 4, but i can't find a link to it on the net - but essentially it's a lemon drizzle cake.  It does taste beautifully lemony though 🥰The lemon cake has been cut into 10 slices and put into the freezer, for 'tin cake' (snacks) for next week, with some of the chocolate buns.  The remaining buns will have a ganache topping added, and will be munched over the weekend. And the lemon cake does look much darker in RL - not too sure why it looks so anaemic in the pic!



Greying X

otb666

i am calling it for this month as mine run from 24th to 24th 441/600 pleased with that  This weeks menu 2 beetroot salad/ leek and potato soup, carrot and cabbage soup, roast dinner, Choi sum pasta dish with squash spaghetti instead of pasta,and creamy veg soup,  I add grated cheddar to soups and have yogurt with fruit for afters I might change one of the soups but really they are more casserole than soups. I make double so i just duplicate following week.

Money_Choices

Hi

I've just looked over my budget and spent £80,51/£100 covering groceries and meals at work. I have been suprised how much I've spent on meals at work even though these meals are cheaper for staff its still costs more than I feel comfortable with.

Next month I'm going to follow the principles of this challenge and slowly reduce buying meals at work.

Money Choices

Soontobeoap

@Hettyhound, I would love an allotment but am making do with small garden. I have set up a huge wigwam with grandchildren today to grow runner beans up. They can also use it as a den. We planted carrots and some strawberry runners too. My cherry tomato plants are ready to pot on and potatoes are planted, so hopefully we will get some produce from the garden. Our week is going from bad to worse.

 DD is staying with her 3 boys for 2 days. She got the sickness bug as soon as she arrived and we have been looking after her as well as occupying and feeding 3 under 9 yr olds with food allergies. Have not been able to work out why we have found it so hard when usually they are so easy to look after.

just worked it out. When their stays are planned , I arrange activity’s to do in the house whilst I am occupied with preparing meals and tidying. I also usually have quick easy meals made up in the freezer without allergens too. I never realised how organised I was until this week!
with DD in bed for 2 days we are exhausted and we are not sure when they are going home!! We are off to London to babysit Granddaughters on Tuesday. 🤷🏼‍♀️ . 

No meal plan for this week as we will be away.