January 2008 Grocery Challenge

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there charleypink

I usually stick it in a 2lb loaf tin...but i don't see why you can't just shape it onto a tray... i just get better slices from a tin

i will post what i do in case anyone who hasn't had a go wants to try

i just mix the flour and salt, make a well and pour in the yeast mix and cover over with flour from around the sides...cover with a carrier bag until it "errupts" then i stick the bowl in the sink to mix (im a mucky pup):p

once its mixed i stick it back int he bowl with the carrier bag over the top like a tent and once its doubled in size i tip out and shape and shove in the oiled tin, cover with the carrier again-like a tent so it doesn't touch the dough as it rises... and then when its about 2" above the top i wang it in the oven.. on about 230 for about 1/2 hr... you will know when its done as if you tip it out and "knock" on the bottom it should sound hollow...

it makes a lovely crusty loaf...although i do cook it well done as we like crusty

It won't keep as well without any fat in it.. but ours doesn't last long enough for it to matter

Ihatedebt....

Oooohh where abouts are you going to be? is OH in the forces by chance?
you get different stores depending on the area...

its odd here as in the UK i always found ALDI nicer than LIDL but more expensive - here it is the other way round... ALDI is more basic but cheaper...:T

one called Plus has a similar layout to ALDI and LIDL -but is much nicer and quite reasonable,

you get seriously HUGE supermarkets out here... great for getting a better selection -but generally more expensive ..when we first got here i had several :eek: moments in there :rotfl:

If you can there are several things i would consider bringing with you -if you use alot of them...
Sugar free dilute -hard to get a good selection unless you can use a NAFFI -which is then expensive
Bread flour... i found it very difficult to get any decent -so stockpile that LIDL flour
Decent cheese if you like good strong cheddar, lancashire etc.. they do loads of cheeses but im not a fan

Cleaning stuff is cheaper here (no stardrops though) 10kilo boxes of washpowder for as little as €10 ..you can get big boxes of persil etc for a bit more if you are bothered...im not

im sure i will think of loads more things.. feel free to ask me anything and if i can , i will help...
Hope you will love it out here..i do...:D
Plus more MSE ers joining me out here :T

rosieben

tranquil wrote: »

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...

Tranquil, please dont give up. It is hard at first, but I'm sure you will get there in the end. We've all been through something like this

Have you seen the weekly meal planning thread? you may get some ideas from that

But dont meal plan if it doesnt suit you. Someone posted a thread about 'doing it backwards' - ie she looks to see what bargains she can get and then makes her meal plan accordingly. We all have different ways of working. Maybe you could just do a rough list, say

sun chicken
mon pie
tues pizza
weds casserols
thurs sausages
fri fish
Sat curry

but be flexible if you find something on offer when you shop, and change the menu if you fancy something different. Really its just a starting point.

Please dont stop visiting the thread, it really helps to keep us motivated

Jacks_xxx

Blimey! I can't keep up this month.

I'm having a bit of a hectic week so I haven't been on here much either.

Just wanted to say Goulash went down a storm and I'm still in budget! (It's day 14 for me today as I go pay day to payday.)

Those meatballs sound scrummy Scotrae. I haven't got any sausage meat in at the mo' but I might have ago at the weekend.

I'm off to watch Martin's new programme It Pays To Watch which I sky+d while I was cooking.

Big Mwah! to everybody. I'll try and make more effort to catch up on my days off.

Love Jacks xxx

charleypink

hi mrsmcawber,
thankyou for your advice.
charley:p

tattycath

Hi everyone. I watched 'It Pays To Watch' tonight-didn't we all!!! lol
Regarding menus. When I check contents of freezer, I do make lists of what meals I can get out of the food in stock, but I don't have a set menu. My mum always had a strict menu when I was little. We knew what we were going to eat nearly every day of the week-every week. We ate the same every monday, every tuesday etc etc. Mum had a weekly menu and that was it. She used to change the sunday roast every 3 months ish. So personally for me I would be bored rigid with menus. Anyway, I digress... So because I have a rough idea in my head (of what food we have got in the house) I just think about what we might eat either the day before or on the day. I just make sure we always have something in the cupboards and freezer. If I happen to go to the supermarket I may buy something -either on offer or reduced just for a change. Hope this helps.
God I've just read it back hope you don't think it sounds like I'm waffling!!!

nopot2pin

jackiegibbo wrote: »

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

In addition to the link that rosieben has provided, a couple of things that I freeze are...
Mushrooms, if you need to use them up. There was another thread about this... and basically, you cook the mushrooms in a little butter, cool then freeze. I always used to throw out the last few mushrooms, but now I dont have to because of this.
I do freeze onions, as rosieben suggested.
Sometimes little things like this make or break the GC... and also, if your short of time it is a massive help.

Oh and of course... how could I forget my favourite frozen items...
Lemons and limes... sliced... for the G&T's;)


charleypink ... MrsMc's bread recipe is fab.
She posted it a few months back when I first started the GC.
Unfortunatley, last month when I broke my right hand, I was unable to knead the dough. But now I am getting back into it.....
I have just taken a loaf out of the oven 5 minutes ago.
<sniiiiiiiiffffff> <aaaahhhhh> Lovely. :T
I use half water, half milk for a slighty softer crust, info again provided by MrsMc.
And I have to say, that the kneading of the dough is great physio for my hand now

My total spends this week so far...
£9.60 in Iceland yesterday.. milk, potatoes, and other stuff which escapes me now
£4.29 in Co-op today...sugar for the HM wine, brussels (reduced) and will be going into the freezer.... and Guiness Marmite:cool: ... special edition..was out last year around St Patricks day, but I could never find any, and soooo wanted to try it... And there it was, virtually on my door step :rolleyes:

Sorry... Im wittering now...

My total spends this month £52.60..... so far

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

musnt forget - you can freeze bananas when they're going black - they're great for banana loaf, banana cake, tea bread etc!

waddy80

Just a quick hello! Quite proud of myself, have not spent anything since saturday, which is really weird as I work in the town centre so always just picked something up, nearly every day.

I menu planned this week and have really stuck to it. Although I did forget my lunch today, but I used my boots points for a meal deal, so no spend again!

Re freezing stuff. I always freeze everything I can now. I try to buy fresh herbs that I will use when reduced. I then chop them and freeze them in ice cubes. Think I got the tip from thriftlady's thread, but it works a treat. Really livens up a stew or soup.

millionaire_in_training

Apparently Morrisons have ARIEL soappowder (the box about £9) for £4 odds. I'm going to get hunners lol

galacticgreen

Think I've caught up with what all the posts! Its great to read how everyone is doing.
We are doing OK here. No spend since Saturday, which is what I hoped for:j . Will get our local veg, fruit and dairy order tomorrow so will update totals then. Day off tomorrow as well, so will do the meal planning for the next week. We've foud that really helps us.

All in all quite happy how its going, but we did have a freezer full of food at the start of the month, so I'm hoping for a good month this month for motivation as I know it will get harder as the freezer empties, but we are determined to keep it up