How long can I make £187.15 last?

mumtoomany

Trying to post! This is my fourth attempt! Don't you just hate rural internet?

@beckstar1975, still going strong. I've spent £3.40 on milk since I was last here. I'll update the signature in a minute. Have you thought about stir frying your greens, for the teens?

Tuesday night's tea was the rest of the bag of chicken "ribz". I put them in the slow cooker along with pork stock, made with the bones from the leg joint. I then stripped the meat from the bones, looked like much more chicken than when i served them whole, even through there were fewer of them. A bit of meat is left over, this will be added to the pie filling in the freezer for a pie today. Served it with cauliflower, carrots and potatoes. I made a big pan of rice pudding, served with home made raspberry jam.

Last night i cut up some of the rest of the pork leg, stir fried it with carrots, onions, mushrooms, the last of the, fresh, HG peppers, and HG chard, cabbage and kale. Added YS hoisin and garlic sauce and instant noodles. I hadn't made desert as the grandchildren never eat it all when I make stir fry. Last night two ate it all and the third age almost all. Fickle children!

Today will be chicken and bacon pie. 

I made a loaf on Tuesday and got the last bought one out of the freezer. I may need to make another tomorrow.

I'm quite pleased that I'm still going with this challenge. I started on 19th October with £187.15. We are now into December. In the last 43 days I've only spent £154.10. I've fed seven people most nights, provided much of the other meals, and toiletries, and fed three visitors. Still plenty of food left, though less variety. Hope I can go a bit longer. 

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

beckstar1975

Honestly you're such an inspiration, other than my mum's birthday I'm planning a no spend January and so I need to start making notes and plans now to get ahead of the game

The fickleness of children has continued to teens in this house, served spinach the other day and they all went on about how much they love spinach - such an odd thing for them to love!

mumtoomany

Hi, all.

Had to get chicken feed and had use of DD1's car. So got some shopping. Vegetable shop, 13 apples, 18 satsumas, 4 lettuce, 3 pears, and two packs of chocolate biscuits. £5. Cash and carry, 9 loaves, 4lb bacon pieces, 2 packs Welsh cakes, 2 tubs of chicken gravy granules, 11 pots natural yogurt. £6.84. Aldi, frozen veg, milk, ketchup, reduced sausage, multipart crisps, tortilla chips, chipolatas and streaky bacon. £19.99. The chipolatas and streaky bacon were to make pigs in blankets. The bacon said 14 rashers , but there were only 7! The chipolatas are now, apparently, made in vegetable based casings, (why? They contain 90% pork and used to be animal casings) this makes them impossible to twist into halves. I'm not happy! I complained to Aldi. They have said to take the packaging back for a refund. Happier now.

I've individually wrapped one pack of the biscuits, KitKat look alikes. 19 in the lack for £1. 
Can't manage to get the £20 Lidl voucher to work! They keep emailing to ask for our email address? 

So the budget is now blown!!!! Total spent today was £31.83! I think I'll work on damage limitation now, see how much over we go by the end of the year. 

Last night's pie went well. Served with mash, green beans and broccoli. I also made a batch of twinks hobnobs. 

Today was spaghetti carbonara, my version. Apple pie for dessert.

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

Slinky

The 7 rashers of bacon, are they quite wide? I've had streaky like that in the past, and I think they mean each 'layer/slice' is two rashers joined in the middle.

mumtoomany

Hi @Slinky, I've had them like like that before too. These however were single rashers and a few tiny scrappy bits. I'd not looked at them very hard, when I picked them up. We were pushed for time, as we had to have the car back and emptied in time for the school run.

Hugs, mumtoomany.xxx

PipneyJane

mumtoomany said:

No money spent today. Had porridge and blackberries for breakfast. Cheese on toast for lunch and chilli and rice for tea. Ice lollies for pudding, trying to get them so eaten now, as the weather turns cold. 

 Heard of two deaths today. A cousin, and nieces step mum. Sad, both well loved, and lovely ladies. 

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

De-lurking to say that I’m sorry for your losses @mumtoomany.  Big hugs to you.

- Pip (just catching up.  Only 20-odd posts behind now.)

mumtoomany

Thank you, @PipneyJane, for your condolences. My mum always used to say deaths come in threes. We had my mother in laws funeral in November too. The problem with getting older, I suppose, is that all those around you age too.

I hope your enjoying reading my journey. I'll write slower so you can catch up!

Tea last night, the rest of the beef burgers, that turned out to be lamb! Served with chips and beans. I now have fewer than 100 tins of baked beans left!

Today I'm going to get some pork chips out and cook them somehow. Don't know how yet, watch this space.

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

mumtoomany

Hello all. Had a check up at the dentist yesterday. So i called into Aldi. They re-reimbursed me for the chipolatas and the bacon. I bought some more bacon, to finish the pigs in blankets, tomatoes and onions. The difference between the two means i have now spent £2.53 less. Damage limitation, now damage reduction.

For Sunday evening i got out three packs of two pork chops. I cut the bones and fat off. Using some of the barbecue spice things in the cupboard. (Pieces of paper with spices on to wrap the meat before cooking.) Somehow having done six, enough for the seven of us, i had a chop left over. We had these with potatoes, carrots and peas.

Yesterday, i cooked the spare chop, with all the bones i'd cut off. Scraped all the meat off, cut up the chop, added the last bits of roast pork from last week, in the freezer, and made a "shepherds" pie. OH says it should have been swineherd pie! Bulked it out with onions, grated carrot, and oats. Served with broccoli. Enough left for today's lunch.

Today will be bolognese with pasta. I will cook some garlic bread too, as i have half french sticks in the freezer.

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx

beckstar1975

I know you’ve gone over but what amazing value from your sis (other than Aldi!). 

The cash and carry sounds amazing, I can only imagine where you keep it all?! Our teeny galley kitchen means we have to store tins under DS13s bed (we’ve turned the dining room into his bedroom pending extension). And I think I may have only 6 or so, I works swoon if able to store 100!!!

 How are you prepped there for the cold? 

mumtoomany

Hi all. 
@beckstar1975, how are you? We are luck, our kitchen has 29 cupboards in it. We also have a utility room with a floor to ceiling shelving rack. And if I really get stuck several barns and out buildings. When we moved here the kitchen had only one cupboard, under the sink. We survived for the first six months with a collection of bookcases and dressing tables, retrieved from a skip. I was therefore able to plan the kitchen to have as many cupboards as possible. The kitchen is big! It houses a table that seats ten. 

Prepping for cold! As I sit here, I am wearing, underwear, thermal long johns, (men's are warmer than womens) thermal long sleeved t-shirt, normal t-shirt, jumper, jeans, thick socks and Ugg style boots. The heating has been on for couple of hours this morning. It will go back on around five till eight. The problem with a big house is it costs a fortune to keep warm. So we try to warm ourselves instead, especially when the children are in school. 

Tea last night. I made a big pan of Bolognese sauce, using half a pack of mince, about 250 gms. Added chopped onions, diced HG peppers from the freezer, diced the last two mushrooms in the fridge and some foraged ones from the freezer, two tins chopped tomatoes, lack of passata, and of passata sauce and two big handfuls of oats. Half was used for the bolognese, the other half will be lasagne at some point. Served with HM garlic bread. 

I've just put a chicken in the slow cooker, probably have some of that for tea with roast potatoes and veg.

Hugs to all, mumtoomany.xxx