January 2008 Grocery Challenge

Sunnyday

morning all
I`m going to have to spoil my planned nsd later as i now have to get some yeast, the asda yeast i bought this week is rubbish and my panny has spit the dummy out.
Hopefully DH will pick it up but i bet i end up having to go, imagine it, just me on my own in a huuuge supermarket :eek:

I made a lasagne yesterday with creme fraiche in the sauce and found a do not freeze on the side of the tub, does anyone know if i can freeze it now that it`s cooked into the food?
I really don`t want lasagne for 2 to 3 days in a row lol.
Catch up later
SD

MRSMCAWBER

Hi sunnyday...

I freeze it..but then there isn't much i don't freeze :rotfl: ..you may find that the sauce might seperate a little -but mine never has..and as long as it tastes ok...who cares -you can always hide it under a bit of extra cheese when you re-heat it...;)

right mission accomplished for me... tootled off to Aldi to get the items that i refused to buy in the other supermarket yesterday :T glad i did as i was allready saving myself about €5 on a few items, only when i got to Aldi today the lettuce was 24c cheaper than normal, the apples 49c cheaper and the potatoes 14c :j which saved me 87c on top of the original €5 :T
So i got :-

1. 2 x 1lt full fat fresh milk -1.46
2. 2 x 500ml passatta - 0.50c
3. tin sweetcorn -45c
4. 300g tub of low fat crem cheese 99c
5. 500g broccoli 49c
6. 2.5kg potatoes- 75c
7. 2kg onions -69c
8. 1kg carrots-45c
9. 2kg apples-1.49
10. eisberg lettuce 55c
11. oh and i took a couple of pop bottles back so got 50c refund... so my shopping came to €7.32

Apart from some milk, and a bit of salad stuff im thinking that will be me done for the month -fingers crossed and the cream cheese, onions, potatoes and passata will last through next week...
and the meat i got yesterday with the broccoli, some onions, carrots and potatoes and stuff in the cupboard is going to make hubbies soups for the next couple of weeks at least :-

• chicken n sweetcorn
• spicy goulash soup
• cream of broccoli

so that will be hubby happy -along with some of the rolls like i made last night that worked out at about 2p each :rotfl: which were very nice -if i say so myself

I have become totally addicted to this money saving lark you know .. i can see next month being a good one -as long as i behave myself.. as i have enough toiletries, cleaning/laundry stuff to last ages not to mention Tea bags, coffee, bread flour, etc

right i had better get off and finish those soups.. cooked the chicken, pork and made the stock last night..so hopefuly it won't take long...

Have a good day everyone..and keep up the good work

Sunnyday

Thanks Mrs Macawber.
I posted the Q on the daily too and now that i`ve seen that two people have frozen it the lasagne is now portioned up and in the freezer.
It`s huge and i got 6 portions out of it when i only really expected 4.:D
I`m off to sort out the kitchen now cos it`s ike a tip!
SD

scotrae

Thanks for the advice on my bulk-buy dilemma. I went for it and bought the 3kg bag os pasta today, as well as a large box of washing powder - although I only paid 60% of the rrp for the latter as it had been taped up in store. It doesn't have any 'give' in it and feels heavy enough so I reckon I got myself a bargain!

Thanks too for the comments on the diet cola issue. Unfortunately DH "likes to have" (ie "I'm not compromising on this one, DW!") a can of Diet Coke when he gets thirsty. In fairness he drinks lots of water too and I've stopped buying his fresh fruit juice til I get a job, plus we haven't bought any alcohol for ages. Tesco do 2 of the 10-packs that sit in the fridge nicely for £5, so only 25p per can if I buy in bulk - which I did after much deliberation in store today!

I bought more fresh fruit and veg than I have for a while today. My boys are 8 next week and both seem to be having a growth spurt, plus with me being home I'm feeding them in the evenings rather than MIL, who used to do their tea at hers twice a week.

I bought the 2 Crunchy Nut c/flakes for £2.50 (one box is around £2.58), half price on some 'ladies things' (the offer should have ended yesterday but was still on the shelf talker), and half price yogurt drinks to save buying indiv juice drinks or yogurts for lunch boxes.

All in all, I went well over the weekly budget again but that's more because I was a little over-ambitious in setting it than not being careful. So long as I can pick a couple more days teaching up here and there and if I get a move in with the books that I've just signed up to sell, it's not crisis level just yet, although an alarming chunk of DH's salary that went in yesterday went out today on the mortgage etc etc!

Oh - on the plus side, i rang T's customer service line the other day after discovering that 1/3 of the ready-to-roast beef joint I'd got cheap and frozen after Christmas was inedible blue fat! They sent me a £5 gift-card this morning, which I used against today's spend. Not bad for a phonecall and we still had enough edible beef left for our budget roast and a sandwich or two for The Ravenous One!

I'll update that signature in a moment or two, before setting off along some very wet roads to do another afternoon's work. Keep up the great effort everyone.

oldMcDonald

Almost 4 hours into my new shopping week and I have spent £19 already!!

In fairness, it was our fruit and veg delivery, which is already put away (usually takes me the better part of a day to get round to it!)

For £19 we got:

Big bunch bananas
Couple of lbs of apples
Couple lbs pears
Bag white potatoes
Bag salad potatoes
Bag carrots
cauli
3 huge heads of broccoli
swede
mushrooms
iceburg lettuce
bag mixed salad leaves
couple lbs toms
cucumber
celery
bag of lychees
pineapple
6 avacados
4 onions
couple lb clementines
2 x mangos

So off to menu plan for the coming week

angelavdavis

Well, so far so good this month. Well within budget so far and the freezer is full.

Stocked up on veg, dairy and some wine/beer at Lidl last weekend.

We had trout on Saturday - I steamed it with lemon and we had it with saute!d potatoes and steamed spinach. It was delicious and as I had filleted it, I used the bones and bits to make up some fish stock.

I made a lamb stew in the SC on sunday while we were out - we actually were due to eat out anyway, but I was driving to Cardiff and back on Monday, so didn't want to have to cook when I got home. I just put two portions into a saucepan when I got home to heat through and cooked some dumplings in it. It was delicious. I had another smaller portion for lunch on Tuesday and froze one large portion for another day.

Am out tonight for a meal with a mate, then it will be something from the freezer tomorrow night. I think the fish stock will go into a sauce for some salmon I have in there.

Have got a garlic herb tear n share on the go in the BM at the moment. Hopefully the dough should be ready so I have enough time to get it in the tin to rise before my 2pm conference call!!

witchypoo

oldMcDonald wrote:

I've never used fresh yeast before, and whilst I have many bread recipes, I was wondering if anyone has a tried and trusted handmade bread recipe they would be kind enough to share? I'm usually a bung-it-all-in-the-BM-and-push-a-button kinda girl!

Here's mine (adapted from a Nigella book - she says bung the yeast in but I prefer to blend it into the water first):

300ml warm water (2 parts cold to 1 part boiled)
15g fresh yeast
5g sugar
500g Strong Plain Bread flour
7g salt
15g sunflower oil

Oven preheated to Gas Mark 7, 220°C or 425°F.
In a basin, mix the fresh yeast with the sugar till it is runny then add the tepid water. Leave in a warm place to froth - I often just wait till it is at least showing signs of activity, don't bother to let it froth any more. Then add the Sunflower oil to this mixture.
Put flour and salt in bowl, then either using dough hook on mixer, a large blunt knife, or your hands mix the yeast and water into the flour and bring together into a ball of dough. Knead. I usually leave mine for about 15 mins before I work on it because the flour seems to soften and become silkier with time. Leave in a warm place to prove until almost doubled in size (covered with a cloth/bag/cling film).
I don't always do this step (if I put it in the tin before first proving) but knock back and knead some more, form into shap then pop it in it's tin or on a baking tray then leave to prove a second time. Slash top if desired, maybe some flour or whatever you like to put on top, bake for approx 35 mins, might require turning to finish off bottom till sounds hollow.

This is what I have settled on in my own experiments with Nigella's recipe. Butter can be used instead of oil, and she says potato water is good but I found it made no difference!

mikeD

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

Scotrae I figure it's swings and roundabouts with the bulk buys. EG this month I needed loo roll so I bought a big pack, but because I'd bought a lot of fizzy water and cheese before Xmas I didn't need to top up on them. So I figure over the longer term it all balances itself out, what you buy in a bigger size this week you won't need to buy again for however long.

Lots of luck. You will find a way that will suit you eventually, it just takes a bit of experimenting I think.

Spot on BG23. Savings on purchases in one month can be translated into less cash spent in the next month, ad infinitum.
BTW thanks for asking about my DW, she seems to be improving as she can dress herself mostly. Her next appointment at the hospital is on the 24th.

Have not spent too much so far but need to get some veggies for the remainder of the week and will have to go to see Mr T tomorrow. Next big delivery due next Wednesday.

Good hunting bargainwise!!!:D

oldMcDonald

Thank you witchyypoo, I will definitley try this recipe - in my usual excitment and haste at trying something new (eg fresh yeast), I didn't wait for any recipes, or bother to look any up, and used my usual BM one - mixing the yeast with warm water and sugar first as I have some vague memory of making bread like that once! The dough was very 'wet' and I ended up putting much more flour in whilst kneeding. I cooked them and they look and smell like bread, so they can't be too bad, but I would rather use a tried and trusted recipe next time!!

Thanks again

orchid-96

Hoping for a nsd today (apart from the £4 spend at the kids playcentre this morning but I don't take that out of grocery budget - just my sanity budget

I have got some new/salad pots in the fridge (39p a pack bargain from aldi) dh cooked them with dinner on sunday (like mini roasties with herbs/garlic) does anyone have an easy thing I can make with the rest that freezes well?

I am hoping to be really good next week so could do with some 'accompanyments' that aren't chips in the freezer and havn't got a meal to go with them planned this week.....

You are all doing so great with all the baking/batch cooking etc. I find it hard as I don't have a lot of time with my little ones, but I do have a breadmaker on the way...so I will need to get to grips with that as I am fed up with the expensive and rubbish bread in the supermarkets...