June 2025 Grocery Challenge

goldfinches

Afternoon all and I hope the weather is as nice for you as it is here today; positively postcard perfect blue sky with fluffy white clouds and golden sunshine.

I have two occasions of temptation to confess to today and thankyou to @LadyWithAPlan for your kind words about my falling so frequently, much appreciated.

First I went to Sainby's where the bulk fund bought 4x Mutti chopped tomatoes (Nectar Price £1) and 3x Gold Blend Intense (Nectar Price £6.75) which I notice has been reduced from 200g to 190g in the jar very quietly but was still better value per 100g than the refill pouches. I also bought fresh tomatoes and ys mushrooms for £1.78.
Then I went to Waitflower to buy Fairy non-bio powder after spending ages comparing prices online because each of the supermarkets seems to stock a different sized box which I assume is to make it difficult to do direct price comparisons! I also bought red and green chicory and spent £12.40 in total.

That makes my new GC total £94.66/£150 which is rather a long way ahead of where I ought to be so I'll have to be a bit creative about the menu this week.
The Bulk Buy Fund now stands at £73.23.

I need to buy some lettuce and a cucumber as well as a small amount of Roquefort for the chicory salad and will need more milk tomorrow but otherwise I hope that's it for the week. Excitingly my salad leaves on my allotment are going great guns and will soon be large enough to start picking which should reduce the ongoing costs somewhat.

My meal plan this week is to bake some bread, make hummus, make coleslaw with vinaigrette, make marinated tofu skewers to go under the grill, make a carrot and red lentil dip and a white bean and garlic dip and have all those in various combinations with salads for lunch and dinner. Breakfast is always fruit and yoghurt and at the moment I am eating the gooseberries and a few early raspberries from my allotment.

For baking this week I'm wondering about these chocolate chip cookies, Surina Seghal's No-bake Dark Chocolate and Nut Tart or Nigella's Bitter Orange no-churn ice cream made with the Coconut Collab Vegan Cream I bought the other day and using up the ys oranges and limes I have.

t14cy_t

£77/£33 oops. luckily olio is helping tremendously!! another collecion yesterday!!

Suffolk_lass

Gosh, the price of chopped tinned tomatoes has taken me by surprise. I last bought them when I could get them for 33p a tin (440g). I have been making my own for the last (probably) three years, and bottling it and have run out after last year's poor harvest here. Even the Morries OB are 45p on special offer in packs of four

TravelCrystal

Good morning guys 
Just a few things to mention.
@Suffolk_lass I was amazed how the tomatoes had gone up. I bought 6 at farm foods the other day, can’t remember how much they were but cheaper than Lidl’s

We are lucky now a few things are ready to pick in the garden. We have had a really good crop of strawberries, sugar snap peas and lettuce which I have to keep picking. Hopefully later on some cherry tomatoes. Broad beans should be ready from next week onwards. A bit of advice please? Is it best to blanch then freeze or can I just throw them straight in. Thanks in advance.

Went to Lidl on Saturday, first shop this month so had a free cake. 😊
Bought 2 lots of frozen fruit, eggs, veg, yoghurt (on offer on my app) 
Bleach, milk, coffee, cereal (as feeling a bit lazy)
Tartare sauce, baked beans, ketchup and both chicken and beef gravy granules. Mushrooms, margarine, fresh fruit and vegetables.
£29.63  spent 
Fingers crossed I can stay within budget.
We have guests at the weekend but apart from buying a lemon or lime for my fruit Charlotte/Betty and milk, shouldn’t need anything for a while.

I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine.

Total so far this month £367.22/£400

T.C

Soontobeoap

£3.50 spent on basics in Aldi yesterday. We are looking a bit bare in the freezer and deidge now. Quite a few heavy meals in there roasts etc. had beef yesterday and making up pies and pasties today with leftovers but we are fancying lighter meals. Hoping to keep away from the big supermarkets for a while longer though. Shopping from stores has been fun but I am beginning to get a bit wobbly about not having any stores behind me.
Having said that the freezer is still half ill so is the tin cupboard and the baking cupboard is still looking good. It's the fridge that gets so empty. I see a beans on toast meal coming up one day this week!

Suffolk_lass

TravelCrystal said:

We are lucky now a few things are ready to pick in the garden. We have had a really good crop of strawberries, sugar snap peas and lettuce which I have to keep picking. Hopefully later on some cherry tomatoes. Broad beans should be ready from next week onwards. A bit of advice please? Is it best to blanch then freeze or can I just throw them straight in. Thanks in advance.

When I freeze broad beans I peel the outer skin of each bean and freeze them raw. I think it's a cheffy leftover to use them peeled, but it does mean there is no need to blanch them before freezing as you are losing anything potentially tough.
Us too in the garden with mizuma, pak choi and lettuce threatening to go to seed, gooseberries and blackcurrants are ripening, garlic drying, radishes and cos lettuces going mad!

It'll be a while before my tomatoes ripen this year!

TravelCrystal

Many thanks @Suffolk_lass, I’ll remember that when they are ready. Yes, our tomatoes look nowhere near. We have flowers, that’s a start 🤣

T.C

Soontobeoap

Have just checked freezer and I will manage to cobble together some meals this week without going shopping

Tonight - beef and mushroom pies made with LO beef ( another 2 in freezer)

Tuesday - shepherd's pie ( last of the mince from freezer)

Wednesday - I am eating out with friend. DH will probably buy himself a pie or pasty 🤷

Thursday - beans on toast ( we are both out in evening)

Friday - chicken rissoles with salad ( made when we last had roast chicken)

Saturday - pasties made from roast beef. ( 2 more in freezer

Sunday - lamb ( bought half price at easter)

Monday - fish and chips.

Tuesday beefburgers.  ( DH has gone off of meatballs. I have loads in freezer so will be reshaping them to see if he notices) 🤣

Wednesday - sausage casserole should bulk out the 5 sausages in freezer.


That gets us through to  the last week of June without too much expense hopefully and I bought 2 bulk buys this month. ( 5 tubes  of shampoo and 12 jars of gf cheese sauce.) Feeling a bit smug I have to admit bit it could all still go wrong!

It is so good to hear about all of the produce that people are growing. I have given up this year but due to not being very good at it!!!!!  still have a few raspberries in the garden though and it's nice to graze on them whilst I tend my flowers.

PipneyJane

Suffolk_lass said:

Gosh, the price of chopped tinned tomatoes has taken me by surprise. I last bought them when I could get them for 33p a tin (440g). I have been making my own for the last (probably) three years, and bottling it and have run out after last year's poor harvest here. Even the Morries OB are 45p on special offer in packs of four

@Suffolk_lass I paid 39p/can for chopped tomatoes in L!dl in February.  Cheapest I could find around here.  I bought a cardboard tray's worth - 12 - and am slowly using them up.

@weenancyinAmerica I really feel for you, re the ICE agents.  It must be very scary.  Several of my American friends were at "No Kings" demonstrations this weekend.

It's been over a week since I visited this thread and I have multiple shops to declare.  Far to many to list.  What I will mention is the £1.50 F&V box we scored at L!dl last weekend:  3 hands of greenish bananas (15 bananas in total), plus 4 onions, 5 potatoes and 2 aubergines.  Best value I've seen for a long time.

Anyway, my current total is £146/£165, leaving £19 for the rest of the month.

It's going to be very tight. Luckily, I have a well stocked pantry, fridge and freezer.  If nothing else, we will need to purchase yoghurts, skimmed milk, peppers, broccoli, spring onions and mushrooms before 30th June.  Hmmm...

- Pip

LotsOfTea

I forgot to log my big shopping delivery for the end of last week which came to £124.01. We've got everything we need to last until early next week when we'll need more fruit and salad bits at the very least. 

£229.78/£300