June 2022 Grocery Challenge

Blackcats

OH did the shopping last week - with a detailed list, set out by aisle ....anyway he wandered off list and bought steak 🤷‍♀️.  All week I've been looking forward to Japanese seared steak, full of fancy pants umami flavouring with griddled broccoli .... well OH did the cooking and I could hear a low level, continuous muttering coming from the kitchen - when dinner was served it was steak, chips, mushrooms and peas which was very tasty but I suspect was always what he planned.    Can't complain as it was a lovely dinner but I'm definitely doing the shopping again this week and there definitely won't be steak. 

Kaylataste

I have £58 coming out tomorrow for a tesco home delivery,so im down to £126/£230.

Money_Choices

Hi Elsiepac

Please can you put me down for £100 grocery spend this month. I've spent £46.59 at Asda and £8.64 at my local shop. This means that I've spent £55.23/£100.

Money Choices

Suffolk_lass

Good spot @Greying_Pilgrim - my signature has reverted to March too. 

My sweetcorn seedlings arrived from the seed-merchant I use (Kings Seeds in Kelvedon) yesterday and went straight in - they were £7.50 for 12 plug plants in February and I remember thinking, that is a lot, they had better be good - well there are 27 and even if it is one cob per plant, I shall be pleased. NSD this weekend after my Friday purchases

Crazycatlady2

Really trying to cut food spends but I expect that my spend of £700 is high due to it including all toiletries cleaning alcohol pet food and medical items etc too as well as any eating out/takeaway. 5 of us plus cat and dog. Maybe next month I should split into categories instead? I know our food spend is high too due to me not liking cooking and is all being a bit fussy. I see recipes on here I know we wouldn’t eat and that I’ve never heard of some of the foods 

diminua

I'm up to £90.88 spent. That does include some coffee and cake lunches as I'm doing London Open Garden Squares this weekend and went to a British Library exhibition last weekend. I've also stocked up on sauces - ketchup, mayonnaise and salad cream, which are all running out at the same time, and then milk, bread, broccoli, salad veg, orange juice, garlic cheese, a diddy bottle of wine and (as always) coffee. The only things I need now are flour, potatoes and margarine. 

Greying_Pilgrim

Morning!

£4.61 spend in MrL to report.  Because we had a change of tea on Thursday, and ended up with the old standby 'cheese on toast with baked beans', I won't be able to make the cheese last until next Thursday (DH takes cheese sandwiches to work daily), so I bought a block.

There were a couple of £1.50 boxes in-store today, but nothing that really floated my 'usefulness' boat, so I didn't indulge.  

Greying X

Soontobeoap

@Crazycatlady2,  I find that the vegetarian recipes on here would not be eaten by Mr Soontobe but still find some amazing simple ideas like omelette and chips and pasta dishes using very little meat. People on here are inspirational and you can make a lot of pasta food nearly as quickly as warming up a ready meal. I started off just trying one new recipe a fortnight and now my picky husband sometimes chooses to have cereal or beans on toast for his evening meal if we have to eat separately. I used to feel guilty (bought up to make sure that I looked after my husband) but it's healthy and doesn't happen often. Try making a tomato sauce base in bulk that you can use for bolognaise, pasta, lasagna or shepherd's pie. Freeze in meal size portions and you are part way there.

There are 2 of us. My budget is for all cosmetics, cleaning, toiletry and food. We don't eat out very often but that is a separate budget. If you are determined  you can cut your budget quite a bit although obviously some people are much better at it than others. I am a beginner. 

Would just like to know if others wash and reuse food bags. I have been doing so since January. My daughter thinks it's a step too far and my son who is in catering was concerned about bacteria. I soak them over night and then give them a thorough scrub. Also don't reuse ones that have previously had meat in. 

Suffolk_lass

Soontobeoap said:

@Crazycatlady2,  I find that the vegetarian recipes on here would not be eaten by Mr Soontobe but still find some amazing simple ideas like omelette and chips and pasta dishes using very little meat. People on here are inspirational and you can make a lot of pasta food nearly as quickly as warming up a ready meal. I started off just trying one new recipe a fortnight and now my picky husband sometimes chooses to have cereal or beans on toast for his evening meal if we have to eat separately. I used to feel guilty (bought up to make sure that I looked after my husband) but it's healthy and doesn't happen often. Try making a tomato sauce base in bulk that you can use for bolognaise, pasta, lasagna or shepherd's pie. Freeze in meal size portions and you are part way there.
Well said. There are lots of recipes in the index at the front that newbies often don't read through but even someone who hates cooking could not fail to like the range of 2 minute microwave pudding desserts in cups or mugs!

There are 2 of us. My budget is for all cosmetics, cleaning, toiletry and food. We don't eat out very often but that is a separate budget. If you are determined  you can cut your budget quite a bit although obviously some people are much better at it than others. I am a beginner.
Mine is for food, toiletries, cleaning, pets and cosmetics for two plus a cat and a dog - average £200 a month still

Would just like to know if others wash and reuse food bags. I have been doing so since January. My daughter thinks it's a step too far and my son who is in catering was concerned about bacteria. I soak them over night and then give them a thorough scrub. Also don't reuse ones that have previously had meat in. 
I do with the ziplock bags that have had wonky fruit or cheese from the SM and with the ziplock bags I bought to store garden produce in the freezer. I peg the washed ones to a hanger in the airing cupboard after washing them out, then turn them inside out and wipe them again with a clean cloth. I have a roll of super thin bags that I portion meat into and they go straight into the bin for incineration at the county facility (that has all the filters and feeds energy from waste into the grid)

Spot on @Soontobeoap

Ginmonster

Crazycatlady2 said:

Really trying to cut food spends but I expect that my spend of £700 is high due to it including all toiletries cleaning alcohol pet food and medical items etc too as well as any eating out/takeaway. 5 of us plus cat and dog. Maybe next month I should split into categories instead? I know our food spend is high too due to me not liking cooking and is all being a bit fussy. I see recipes on here I know we wouldn’t eat and that I’ve never heard of some of the foods 

We all like different things so don't worry if some of the recipes you've seen don't appeal to you. It's probably worth making a list of all the meals your family likes and working out which ones might be easy to batch cook and freeze to make life easier for yourselves. I don't know who else is in your household but you don't necessarily have to do all the cooking, maybe your partner and any teenaged kids could share the task.

If you're looking for recipes that suit your tastes just ask, there will definitely be someone here who will have some good tips no matter what kind of food you like.