July 2023 Grocery Challenge

otb666

Thank you Pip @PipneyJane I am looking forward to the savings i can make on him not flushing toilet all the time and obviously sugar and food should come down as portion sizes will come down

Suffolk_lass

KajiKita said:

Crazycatlady2 said:

DH has requested pasta salads for lunch and we don’t want to buy the meal deal ones so trying to recreate them


how do I stop the pasta clumping together once cold? It says online to cook  pasta as normal then run cold water over it in colender and drain….does this work please? 

Already spent £360 😱 but well stocked up other than bread and fruit/veg for rest of month  

I believe that when you cook it you add a little oil (ideally olive, but other flavourless ones would work just as well) as well as salt to the cooking water - I think that’s meant to lightly coat the pasta and stop the stickiness. 

KK

That works. I also use a collandar to drain the pasta and dollop it back into the hot pan I cooked it in, just before the last of the water has disappeared. That and a salad dressing (mayonnaise or oil based) stirred through once it cools, keeps it separate (it works best with fusilli or penne pasta).

mucky_moo

Good morning,
this weeks spends were definately more than we had planned. hopefully we can stretch what we have in for the rest of the week. This weeks spends between 3 shops total to £82.01. this takes our total to £128.77/£200

SausageDogSandwich

Morning all, have spent £36.76 on fruit, milk, pizza for me and dh and then a couple of other things. Will need loo roll in a few days but food wise going to try and use what we have now it’s finally gone abit cooler here and I can think about turning the oven on. Aiming for a shop on Saturday, will see how far we get! Have a good week.
£144.77/400 spent.

LittleGem

Hi all, a £39.93 shop in Lidl this morning, I think I did quite well considering I couldn’t carry it home very easily! Big pack of mince for a bulked out bolognaise later in the week, and a chicken casserole prepped for dinner tonight. Anyone else struggle with summer meals? I’m still making the same as I did during the winter cos the kids are more likely to eat it!

total to date: £106.89/£250

Matron_Midge

Re cold pasta salad, I boil the past and then sit it in a colander with plenty of cold water running through it. When cold I add the other bits and give it a good mix, it’s fine without oil.
spme of our favourites are :- cold chicken, cucumber, spring onion and bottled hoisin sauce
cottage cheese, halved cherry toms, grapes and olives
pesto, chicken and tomato or tuna, sweetcorn and Mayo. I do a batch of  plain pasta and let everyone make their own up. It lasts in the fridge 3 days

Crazycatlady2

Pasta method worked 😁 will make some more today for wed/thurs, Thankyou for comments 

Thevalueofless

A third of the way through July with a spend of £86.34/£270 for general shopping and £5.82/£25 for stores items so on track. The allotment has started to give us french beans, courgettes, potatoes, salad leaves, spring onions, chard, spinach and the odd tomato. Although we still have courgette and beans in the freezer from las year, and beetroot and parsnip. 

We have bottled stewed rhubarb and frozen berries for our fruit but still have to buy bananas as we both have one every day. Feels odd but good not having to shop the veg and fruit aisles for much at all. Technically I should come in under budget for the month as saving on veg...

Hope everyone having a good month.

TVOL

joedenise

A couple of smallish shops since I last posted which was mainly fruit and veg and some bread.  Ordered a couple of TGTG bags from Morrisons and both cancelled (different days).  Total spend so far £49.05/£250 so £204.66 left.  Doing well so far this month.  Have also used quite a bit of the Bulk Fund to top up the freezers after our holiday. 

lianne1984

£14 shop for a few bits today
£85 / £250