January 2008 Grocery Challenge

jackiegibbo

Hi everyone hope you are all well and keeping to your challenge.
I was just wondering what sort of different things you all freeze i have read through some posts and know about milk,bread,butter,cold meats,yogurt and now ive just noticed about the eggs but what else do you freeze to give me some ideas
many thanks:T

singlemum_4

tattycath wrote: »

Hi everyone. Needed to buy some milk today, and after OH spent a fortune on corned beef last night, I thought I ought to get a couple of tines. Last night OH spent £1.35 per tin at co-op. Today I spent 0.76p per tin at Lidl. I also got 10 x 1 litre cartons of long life milk @ 44p each. Dishwasher tablets were £2.99 for 40 (hopefully they are good) Mushrooms at 79p etc. Total spend £11.21. Had to spend £1.29 at local shop coz we only had 2 potatoes left!!! I have been really good and updated sig already!!! Hope everyone is ok today. I was on form last night, and to my shame I hadn't even had a drink!!!!!:D:D

Hi Tattycath I've been using lidl DW tabs for a while now and find them great, also swear by lidl loo roll (kids still think I get andrex!!!)

Anyway NSD for me but did have to feed the five thousand at tea as DD and DD brought friends home and swear I knew this was happening, likely story but would rather they were here under my beady eye than roaming the streets lol:rotfl:

bails

Hi all, I've decided to change my sig. and have now put my total grocery budget for the year. This is because I was getting v close to my limit (I know, being my first month I shouldn't have set one!) - the reason for this though is that I've been stockpiling on offers, so my spend isn't a fair reflection of the month, if you see what I mean. I'm not giving up, quite the opposite, it's just that looking at it was making me uptight, despite logical brain straining to be heard! It's just temporary, and I'll go back to monthly spend when I feel able (prob next month). We do now have 8 months of hay, 3 months of juice, 6 months of nuts, seeds and pulses (we're veggie - well, OH is and I'm 99%) etc, etc.... you see where I'm coming from?! Anyone would think there was a war on! Now if I can just get my hands on a 10kg bag of rice FFM...;)

MRSMCAWBER

Hi Bails

I think what you are doing is a good idea
It is soooo easy to feel disheartened if you don't quite come in under budget, so by looking at it "long term" instaed-you will no doubt come in under your yearly budget -without the stress of panicing that you "didn't quite" make it
Having stockpiled stuff, it will save you a fortune in the long run too.. i dragged loads of stuff back from the UK for that very reason...:T and what cost me just over £100 in the Uk would have cost me over £300 back here... Nescafe, bread flour etc :eek:

charleypink

evening everyone,
iv'e thought i would try out Lidl today, found some good bargains! and only spent a fiver. i bought some of the bread flour, thought i would giving the home baked bread a go tomorrow.
i also popped into sainsburys and got 4 packs of the scotch pancakes that had been reduced to 10p a pack, the kids love these for packed lunches.
My oh is going fishing tomorrow, so i think i had better get some chops out of the freezer for tea tomorrow lol ( he never catches anything!!).
charley:p

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there charleypink

Just a quick one... the LIDL bread flour is brilliant -i got 20 bags to bring home with me and it makes a cracking loaf... I do it by hand and use:-

300ml warm water
14g fresh yeast
1/2tsp sugar
then
500g flour and 2 tsp salt

it makes a really crusty loaf.... for under 20p a loaf :T

ihatedebt_2

I think I may attempt at making my own bread - i love the smell of freshly baked bread - yum yum!

Mrs M -I am hoping you can offer me a bit of advice as I am moving to germany at the end of the month and was wondering what places you would recommend for shopping, etc in terms of cost and quality of food?

charleypink

hi mrsmcawber,
thankyou for the recipe, i will give it a go tomorrow. will post on how it turns out.
can i just ask, do put yours in a tin, or just round it into shape and cook on a baking tray?
charley:p

tranquil_2

Ummm, hi all, uummmm. Have confession.

Went out on Saturday to Ikea and ended up buying lunch there for 4 of us (well, it's cheap for a meal out- £7.50 ish), then after a day of shopping ended up not feeling like cooking so... ordered in a takeway (£17.50 ish) . After blowing about £25 that I didn't need to (did have food in) on food that I could have cooked better and cheaper; I've since completely fallen off the bandwagon.

Due to a mature attitude I have dealt with this by avoiding this thread (sorry) and going back to popping into Waitrose for milk and spending £20.:eek: I know Waitrose is probably the most expensive supermarket, but I've always thought it one of the most ethical (although after watching Hugh's chicken run I'm now not so sure).

I had been finding it hard transferring from shopping daily to meal planning but am feeling abit like I failed already. I'm not sure where I'm going from here . Am going to try to get back to budgeting and being more sensible. Hadn't realised how hard this was going to be...

rosieben

jackiegibbo wrote: »

Hi everyone hope you are all well and keeping to your challenge.
I was just wondering what sort of different things you all freeze i have read through some posts and know about milk,bread,butter,cold meats,yogurt and now ive just noticed about the eggs but what else do you freeze to give me some ideas
many thanks:T

Its probably easier to say what wont freeze!

I grate cheese and open freeze on a tray (so it doesnt all stick together in a big lump!), then put into a freezer bag, its great for cooking. I also freeze value butter, trex, and clover when on offer

Someone posted that they freeze sliced onions, someone else freezes caramelised onions and I think there's a Thriftlady thread where she lists the meal building blocks that she freezes, that was very useful - I'll look for it and come back with the link

here it is http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=571339&highlight=building+blocks