October 2024 Grocery Challenge

Blackcats

Did our weekly shopping trip to Lidl today, prepared with a meal plan, a shopping list and activated vouchers on the Lidl + app.
I chose a large punnet of raspberries for our free fruit item and a large Greek style yoghurt for the other free item.  That will be a nice treat for breakfast plus we use the yoghurt a lot so it will be a great freebie.

I made a banana cake tonight to use up some very ripe bananas.  It's an air fryer recipe so I'm looking forward to tasting it.  OH is making a use it up risotto with 1/2 a leek, couple of spring onions, 2 rashers of bacon, handful of prawns and a few mushrooms.  Lots of sound effects coming from the kitchen and a lovely smell of garlicky leeks.  We are really making an effort not to waste food and banana cake and risotto are no hardship 😋

Pennypincin

I came in just over £5 under budget last week, so the money has been put into the bulk fund.
2 online deliveries delivered and put away Friday, so the cupboards have plenty of tin tomatoes, pulse's, cartons of milk and a few odds and sods for the time being.
£9.88 spent in Tesco on salad vegetables, cereal bars and a few odd bits.
I will need fruit soon.
Not sure what I will otherwise need.

TravelCrystal

Morning everyone 

A few things to report since last week 
£4.50 spent in A spent on fresh lasagne sheets and I can’t remember what else 🤣

£39.04 with Grape tree, lots of baking items, nuts, fruit herbs and spices. Haven’t bought anything from them since January, so quite cost effective.

Today usual Lidl’s shop £38.18 which also like @Blackcats had a free Greek yogurt. Lots of fruit and veg and thought I would buy some fish fingers on offer. Haven’t had them for years, with a few potato wedges that I will conjure up should be a relatively cheap meal.

Had to also stock up on washing machine liquid and washing up liquid.

Total spend this week £81.72
This month so far £182.96/£300

Have a good rest of the week all

T.C

Pennypincin

I've spent £8 in Tesco on a bag of frozen salmon and a bag of frozen haddock.

LotsOfTea

£27.33 spent in Aldi today on a whole bunch of stuff I needed but I'm annoyed that when I got home and took the strawberries out of the punnet to use them they turned it to be all soft and mushy. They look absolutely fine and are in date but are squishy. Bleurgh! It's more effort than it's worth to make a journey back into town to return them so I'll stew them tomorrow and at least they should be ok as a porridge topping but I won't be buying berries from there again in a hurry.

Anyway, on the plus side I'm doing pretty well so far at £102.48/£300.

diminua

Went for a long walk Sunday in the Surrey Hills, ending up in a vineyard (this was planned, we didn't stumble across a vineyard) for a drink. Also came away with a bottle of orange vermouth (had to try it). So with that and the usual I've spent £145.88 and I'm halfway through the month. I am away next week (in Italy with family) so that will save a few pennies as it's a different budget. 

Nelliegrace

We spent £7.96 at Lidl when we stopped for milk on the way home on Saturday, the extras were cream, peanuts and fruit.

We shopped at Aldi when we were out this afternoon, £19.37 spent. We have had haddock, salmon, and pork steaks from the freezer, and I have just got some bacon, and chicken portions out. I bought frozen blueberries 400g for £1.99, as fresh ones have increased in price. I like some on my porridge. 



Grocery Budget £155. £61.48 spent, £93.52 left.

thriftwizard

Well, somehow that loaf of bread turned into a loaf of bread, a jar of local honey, and a fair amount of full-price fruit & veg, as DD1 appeared for the day yesterday & her BF joined us for dinner too. So £18.60 added but we really shouldn't need anything else until the weekend shop!

LadyWithAPlan

Hope all are doing well and squeezing their grocery budgets ... 
Sadly my local Lid* closed down  + the Aldi is a 15 mins in the wrong direction to where I normally am.

£12.10 spent   so £106/£200  + 0 bulk
Finally popped into Morries on way back from gym. looking largely for dried beans and some greens, walnuts.
The brilliant suggestion to presoak then freeze beans before cooking to help break down the cell walls and thus make beans easier to digest   by @PipneyJane has been super useful.

I love pinto beans to make Mexican refried beans and had been told they are in Morries by a fellow mse-er but sadly not my local  (only found pinto so far in Waitr** at £1.95 for 500g.)
However I did pick up 1kg  dried blackeyed beans at Morries for £2, will pick up more but had loads frozen veg to carry 

I will have to start batch cooking/prepping  the  beans though as its taking up loads of time. Given I have now been on this slow carb plan for 6 weeks (and lost 7-8lbs and kept it off) I am loving it as feel healthy, always full and tasty foods with no insulin spikes i am staying on it. (I have one day a week as a eat whatever you want day)
So I do need to start making bean recipes up and freeze ready to heat up for time..Plus my kitchen is trashed. Luckily I have a pressure cooker 6 in 1 so that does help.

Anyone got any great bean recipes apart from dal and Mexican refried beans ? I need some inspiration!

joedenise

One of my favourite bean recipes is the Jack Monroe mixed bean goulash :  https://oursouthend.wordpress.com/2018/02/19/mixed-bean-goulash-31p-vg-v-df-gf/

I just use tins of mixed beans and not the washed off baked beans!

I find it really tasty and it's a great quick dish to make when I'm in a hurry.  I'm sure it would work just as well using a mix of your cooked dried beans.