Spending £10 per Week on Groceries

Ainsty

Hello 

I've been without internet access since Friday morning due to a problem with the wires on my street. Although I had access to the world wide web through my phone, not having a laptop felt very strange. It came back sometime today just as I was getting used to staring at a small screen.

The good news is that I remembered I had some Nectar points that had been totally forgotten. There is over £8 worth which was a massive lift out of all proportion to their actual value. I haven't decided what to do with them yet but they feel like money in the bank. I might have a few Co Op points too if I can find the card.

In the garden, I have sown some lettuce and spinach seeds in pots in the greenhouse. They were a few seeds left in the packets, it might be too cold but they may produce a few fresh leaves.

Week 1 review

The vegetable curry provided three good meals so one of the unknown leftover meals is still in the freezer. I did not spend any more on food during the week, but I can't find the receipt from the last time I went shopping. It was less than £10, but I won't count it as part of my accumulator.

Spend - ?

Week 2

This week I am continuing to eat mainly from the freezer, garden and cupboard with minimum spending. The idea is to build up a surplus to purchase new supplies.  Although I am paid monthly and I have allocated £50 for November and £30 for December (I have other arrangements for Christmas week) I would prefer to get ahead and save to buy things later in the month to replace the meat, fish and pulses I am using. This will be better than buying in advance and finding I don't have enough in the last week. 

The meal plan for the week commencing 31st October is

Breakfast

7 x Porridge

7 x 80g HG Frozen fruit

Lunch 

3 x Leek and Potato Soup (HG leeks and potatoes) 

3 x Carrot and Lentil Soup (HG carrots)
1 x Mushrooms with nana bread

Dinner

2 x Sweet Potato and Beetroot Curry (should be three meals so one can go in the freezer) With yoghurt nan bread

2 x Bubble and Squeak with Bacon (HG potato and cabbage) plus another veg 

2 x Beef Chilli (100g minced beef, mushrooms, remaining peppers, tinned kidney beans, HG onions, rice) I'm not sure how far this might stretch to an extra portion(s) (fingers crossed)

1 x mystery frozen meal from the freezer

I'll probably have lettuce and cucumber as a starter but I've used all my homegrown tomatoes.

Desserts

Rice Pudding

Banana Custard (Bananas donated by a friend who was going on holiday so did not want them)

Yoghurt and Stewed Apples

Onwards and upwards.

RobM99

Ah! Glad I saw this. Now a radish story. A while ago I planted radishes and they grew very well. I harvested one ( as a test) - all leaf, no radish. Tried another -  same. Hmmm...  read the packet "Edible leaf radish"! never knew they existed!

Makingabobor2

Just found your diary and wanted to say good luck. Looks like you are doing very well so far. I will subscribe to your diary and cheer you on. Some interesting tips to pick up as well. 

Ainsty

Hello everyone,

Well, that's another week over. 

Week 2 Review
The sweet potato and beetroot curry was not at all nice. I found the recipe on the internet but I will not make it again. I took the beetroot out, throw it away and added half a tin of kidney beans. Note to self - beetroot does not curry well! Conversely, the yoghurt nan bread was a revolution, I love it and will be making more this week.  Cutting up and adding mushrooms is a great tip too. The rice pudding was lovely too, very warming and comforting. A couple of green tomatoes have turned red so I'll have those with a few salad leaves to add to dinners.

Shopping 

4pts Milk - £1.55

Yoghurt x 2 - 90p

Custard Cream Biscuits - 42p

Cooking Bacon - 75p

Mushrooms - 85p

Total = £3.62

Remaining £10 - £3.62  = £6.38  carried forward

Week Commencing 7th November

I am using the cooking bacon I purchased the last week to go with the Bubble and Squeak, the tin of chickpeas, tinned tomatoes and homegrown vegetables.

Breakfast

7 x Porridge

7 x 80g HG Frozen fruit

Lunch

3 x Leek and Potato Soup (HG Leeks and Potatoes) 

4 x Mixed Vegetable Soup with Lentils (HG Veg)

Dinner

2 x Pasta and Bacon- tinned tomatoes, HG onion, chilli, garlic and bacon x 2

3 x Squash Stew - HG squash and onions, tinned chickpeas, tinned tomatoes 

1 x Bubble and Squeak with Bacon, HG potato and cabbage

1 x Vegetable Curry - mainly HG potato with other HG vegetables

Desserts

Stewed Fruit and Custard

Jelly

Yoghurt
The rice pudding was so nice I might make some more.

I have been shopping and I hope not to need to go again during the week.

Gosh hasn't milk shot up in price? I used to buy 1 pint each week from the Sainsbury's Local near work to use in hot drinks during the day. For a long time, the price was 49p but it is now 89p. I would not complain if the extra was going to the farmer but I suppose it is distributed across the process, a few pence here and there. I no longer buy it preferring to buy 4 pints and take some in a flask each day.

That's all for now.

Makingabobor2

Bubble & Squeak...ooh yummy. Not had that for ages.

Singlespeeder

linz said:

You've probably thought of this already, but definitely consider looking to see what yellow stickere'd stuff you could get to store in your freezer meat-wise once it starts to run down

When we were in Northampton our local Co-op used to be excellent for yellow stickered bread ... like 20p ... we used to do a nightly trawl of the local supermarkets for yellow labels... parsnips often found at 14p etc & make the best curried parsnip soup. We're in Ludlow now and there's noticeably less offers  

Singlespeeder

Just looked for Lentils online ... KTC are a good enough brand in the Asian aisles ... 1kg available variously for about £2 ( I'm going to Coventry on Friday/Saturday so will price up in an asian supermarket) ... bizarrely you can buy in bulk ( obviously cheaper ??? ) 5kg seem to be about £15 - £17 ... unless it's the shipping... still be much cheaper to buy 5x 1kg. 

Ainsty

Hello

@Makingabobor2 - I love Bubble and squeak with bacon. I have loads of both potatoes and cabbage together with added other veg like HG beans.  ASDA's Cooking Bacon (what other type is there?) can be a bit hit and miss but for 75p for 500g, it goes a long way when added to other recipes.

@Singlespeeder - I don't seem to have much luck with YS things. The items seem to be either highly processed like meat pies or things like large loaves of tiger bread so even when reduced still too expensive. Perhaps it's just bad luck, I don't have time to walk to the supermarket and check every day.

I still have a few 100g of red lentils and two tins of green lentils. Red lentils are useful to bulk out soup and make it more filling so there is no need to eat it with bread. On Sunday ASDA did not have any lentils in either the Asian or pulse aisle. Lentils are another food which has increased in price, they used to be 50p for 500g but are much more expensive now. I think the last time I looked they were £1.50 or £1.25 for 500g. I'll have to check again when I am next time I'm in the area.

satchmo1

Strangely, M&S is cheaper at £1.75 for 1kg of lentils than Tesco and HomeBargain ... and strangely Aldi have stopped selling lentils.

Do you soak your porridge overnight? It really cuts down the need for milk (only add the milk at the end of the cooking time). 

I've just made 5 litres of soup from 2 tins of tomatoes, about 2kg frozen veg (onions, cauli, peppers, 1kg stew-pack),100g red lentils, 2 veg stock cubes, about a tablespoon of tomato puree, herbs & spices (basil, thyme, smoked paprika), a dash of Worcester sauce.

DH and I will have 1 litre of this throughout the week, the rest is donated to the local "Warm & Cosy" hub - a community initiative to host people so they don't have to turn their heating on. All the local churches in my village have agreed to host people one day a week Monday to Saturday.

Ainsty

Hello,

@satchmo1 - There is an M&S in walking distance, I'll check on the lentils next time I'm in that direction. I only ever add a dash of milk to the water I use to cook porridge oats. I don't soak overnight just add cold water and a dash of milk and boil until it gets to the consistency I like, then I add defrosted HG soft fruit and heat gently to warm through. I'll soak some oats tonight as I have an early start tomorrow to see if it makes a difference to the cooking time.

Your soup sounds lovely. I make something similar on a smaller scale with odds and ends of vegetables. I still have lots of HG leeks, potatoes, parsnips, cabbage and frozen green beans and a small amount of frozen peas. The sprouts and kale are ready, there are still a few carrots but I want to save those for Christmas Day. The onions are starting to run out, there are only about a dozen quite small ones left. Onions did not do very well for me this year, no idea why.

The Warm and Cosy hub must be a great community resource and very welcome in these difficult times.