January 2025 Grocery Challenge

cheerfulness4

Wow, DH spent a further £17.74 at Tesco this morning, but  we bulk bought coffee which is expensive.  This will keep him going in his coffee for two or three months. 

Have decided to buy more basic ingredients like flour, oats, pulses etc and scratch bake more things to avoid buying lots of packets.  Tortilla wraps are so easy and cheap to make using MrsMcs recipe and they freeze great before rolling. 

 CHEWY SOFT FLOUR TORTILLA

2 CUPS PLAIN FLOUR 300g

1 ½ TSP BAKING POWDER

1TSP SALT

2TSP VEG OIL

¾ CUP WARM MILK- 180ml

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl

Whisk milk, oil and salt

Pour into flour -stirring to mix

Once mixed -turned out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead for 2 mins

Cover and leave for 15 mins -it won’t rise but needs to relax

Cut into 8 balls (approx 50g each)

Cover and leave to relax for 10 mins

Roll each one out into a round -approx 8”

Heat a heavy frying pan (preferably cast iron)

Drop in one tortilla and turn after about 2 mins -the surface should bubble

Place inside a dry tea towel to keep warm whilst you cook the rest

I used to make these all the time and regret stopping now. 

I'm planning to try out a falafel recipe from the recipe collections as those were lovely in the wraps in the past with salad but I find them expensive to buy ready made now. I love the 'gosh' ones but am sure I can bring them in at a much more favourable price.

Cassingtonbear

£162 of £650 budget spent already

It includes two mid-sized shops, one restaurant for lunch, a few bits and pieces like bread, milk and fruit, and 2 cafe trips.

Need to go back to work on Monday so we can spend less money eating out!!!

Quantaqa

cheerfulness4 said:

Wow, DH spent a further £17.74 at Tesco this morning, but  we bulk bought coffee which is expensive.  This will keep him going in his coffee for two or three months. 

Have decided to buy more basic ingredients like flour, oats, pulses etc and scratch bake more things to avoid buying lots of packets.  Tortilla wraps are so easy and cheap to make using MrsMcs recipe and they freeze great before rolling. 

 CHEWY SOFT FLOUR TORTILLA

2 CUPS PLAIN FLOUR 300g

1 ½ TSP BAKING POWDER

1TSP SALT

2TSP VEG OIL

¾ CUP WARM MILK- 180ml

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl

Whisk milk, oil and salt

Pour into flour -stirring to mix

Once mixed -turned out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead for 2 mins

Cover and leave for 15 mins -it won’t rise but needs to relax

Cut into 8 balls (approx 50g each)

Cover and leave to relax for 10 mins

Roll each one out into a round -approx 8”

Heat a heavy frying pan (preferably cast iron)

Drop in one tortilla and turn after about 2 mins -the surface should bubble

Place inside a dry tea towel to keep warm whilst you cook the rest

I used to make these all the time and regret stopping now. 

I'm planning to try out a falafel recipe from the recipe collections as those were lovely in the wraps in the past with salad but I find them expensive to buy ready made now. I love the 'gosh' ones but am sure I can bring them in at a much more favourable price.

Thanks for this recipe @cheerfulness4, I am definitely going to give it a try.  OH and I have been promising ourselves we'd try making HM tortillas for a while now so I'll save this recipe and give it a go.

Quantaqa

Shop done this morning at my local butcher.  Rolls, Bacon, Lorne Sausage (to make Stovies) and a stock up of mince for the freezer.  £31/£150

I will be doing a stock up today:

• Laundry products from Lidl as they have offers on the stuff we normally use
• Sharwoods/Dolomio Sauces that are on offer in Asda (£2.50 down to £1.50)
• Firewood, it is freezing here just now and set to get colder.  This comes form a separate budget.

We don't use alot of cook in suaces but on a lazy/busy day it's easy to just bung a sharwoods sauce and some chicken into the slow cooker for an easy curry. 

EcoIntent

Weekly food shop done between Lidl, the local zero waste refill shop and Tesco this morning. £83.09/£130 for this week (sat to sat) spent. Plus to report I came in under unexpectedly last week after just making a real effort to use up leftovers. I have been really careful about the meal planning, and had a 10% off shop coupon for Lidl due to spending £250 in December 24 there. 

diminua

Ate half the veg soup and half went in the freezer (labelled or I'll never remember if it's soup or something else). I feel I'm not using the freezer as much as I could - it's rarely more than a third full - but on the other hand don't want to buy stuff purely to fill it and then have it sitting there. Will give that more thought. 

Shopping - bought lunch and breakfast pastry yesterday and some basic grocery shopping (including the inevitable bread and milk) on the way home, all of which came to £15.98. 

cheerfulness4

Quantaqa said:

cheerfulness4 said:

 CHEWY SOFT FLOUR TORTILLA

Thanks for this recipe @cheerfulness4, I am definitely going to give it a try.  OH and I have been promising ourselves we'd try making HM tortillas for a while now so I'll save this recipe and give it a go.

You should find them great, Quantaga.  At one time that recipe was being quoted nearly every day on these boards along with Twinks Hobnobs!  They were really popular.

They are also really good used in a lasagne instead of pasta sheets. Makes a lovely soft texture. 

Blackcats

@Cartmay - sometimes a Belgium bun is exactly what is needed.  Sorry you are feeling sad.  Be kind to yourself,

AnimalTribe

I used the last of the blueberries and yoghurt yesterday, but there are plenty of alternatives in the house, so there’s no need to buy replacements yet. Tomorrow I’ll use the last of the 8p Xmas parsnips to make chilli parsnip soup and I’ll include the broccoli stems that I saved, some home-grown onions, and the last stalk of celery. I’ll see if I can figure out how to put NSD in my signature (as I’ve managed 4 so far).

Tjh1412

£3.15/£80 spent so far, 4 pints of milk and some fruit. Will need to plan a proper shop out for the middle/end of next week though as stocks running low, so must find time to meal plan on Wednesday. Those tortillas sound fab, may have to give those a go soon