November 2025 Grocery Challenge

carboot_karaoke

Afternoon everyone,

I have this weekends spends to declare.

Asda £12.89 for cheese, humous, squash and chicken breasts. Tesco £76.14 this included £29.21 on meat, sausages, bacon, 2kg chicken drumsticks, 3x mince beef, and 1kg pork steaks. £8 for 5kg basmati and 7.10 on cleaning products.

New Totals 

Grocery Budget £195 / £360
Bulk Fund £24.32 / £50
Grocery Challenge £ 219.32 / £410

Very happy with the totals at this point in the month with all the main ingredients brought for the coming weeks meals...

Pork chops, rice & veg
Muffin top stew (with mince and lentils) instead of expensive steak 😉
Tuscan Chicken with spaghetti
Chilli and rice
Brunch
Caribbean stew
Hunters chicken
Pork, mushroom and butternut squash curry.   

carboot_karaoke

As a side question I've inherited a 1.5kg bag of grated mature cheese from Costco.

Any suggestions / recipes for how to use it up quickly? Kids don't like grated cheese in sandwiches for school (because it goes everywhere apparently). Toasties are the exception.  

I usually freeze opened mozzarella to add to pizza's but l am not as confident with mature cheese.

boultdj

@carboot_karaoke do they like cheesy mash? If so do a load and freeze it. But grated mature cheese freezes really well, I put mine into 100gram bags to use for recipes, I've done it ever since I seen the tip in the dairy diary I had 30 years ago. hth.

carboot_karaoke

Oh thanks for that @boultdj l do happen to have a 7.5kg bag of potatoes (free from Lidl) this meal could be quite the bargain.

Freezing in smaller portions is a good shout to 😊

itsthelittlethings

I’ve spent £300 excluding my coffee supplies. I was speaking to someone who said that £200-400 is a reasonable price for a single working person. Then obviously you have economies of scale which make it possible to feed a family cheaper than a single person. 

I’m happy with this budget and will roll it over to next month.

Soontobeoap

@carboot_karaoke, cheesy pasta, cheese and bacon cooked in ready made flaky pastry, make up lasagnas and freeze with cheese on top, cheesy on toast, potatoes onion potato and cheese layered and cooked in oven served up with salad. That's off the top of my head. Hope you find lots more lovely recipes.

@Boultdj I love my dairy diary. I return to it again and again for tips. Believe it or not Wendy Craig's recipe book often comes toy aid too. 🤣

Suffolk_lass

@carboot_karaoke cheese twists (Christmas prep) - a sheet of puff pastry, sprinkle with grated cheese (like a thick layer, season (maybe chilli flakes, salt and pepper, then another sheet of puff pastry (cut one widthways, is my answer) - cut them, twist them, freeze them on a sheet pan. At Christmas, paint them with egg, and bake for 20 minutes while the oven is on. Yum!

I always freeze leftover cheese (there is such a thing if you hide it), grated. Cauliflower and pasta bake, top of lasagne, sprinkled on pasta, for a decadent topping

carboot_karaoke

Oooh these are great ideas @Suffolk_lass @Soontobeoap thank you very much.

I think i'm going to do a combination of freezing in portions for toasties, to top off pasta bakes, mac and cheese etc.
And some meal prep, cheesy mash (l think adding some bacon would be delicious) and those cheese twists sound amazing, don't see them lasting till Xmas 😂

PipneyJane

K9sandFelines said:

PipneyJane said:

K9sandFelines said:

First spends were £6.21 (I had a gift card aswell) at Am@zon on Aksoy Bulgur wheat. - 10kg. So, should keep me going a while 😄. Got two x 5kg bags; as no doubt next time, it will have gone up in price.

That’s a really good price on bulgar wheat @K9sandFelines, especially as supermarkets charge £2 for 500g.  I think I’ll have to go and investigate.  Did you buy coarse or fine?  

- Pip

Hi Pip I think it's course, but I'm not entirely sure as I've only ever bought it once before, and that was the Bodrum brand. I had some tonight and the grains seem quite large. Very nice indeed.
Definitely, go and stock up whilst you can. I'm going to use it instead of brown rice  

The price was for each 5kg bag, but the way I've worded it looks ambiguous reading it back now.

Done @K9sandFelines.  10kg ordered.  I'm just waiting for the delivery to arrive this afternoon... < taps foot impatiently >  I went with the fine, since it looks the same as the bulgur wheat I buy from MrT's and is the grade I grew up with in Australia.  £13.94 spent from the Bulk Fund.  (2 x 5kg sacks at £6.97 each, normally £11.99.  Almost half price during the Black Friday promotion.)

Definitely use it instead of brown rice.  Bulgur wheat has 4 times the fibre and 8 times the protein and takes far less time to cook.

- Pip

Soontobeoap

Another £31.00 shop today. Had to send DH so a few treats went in too. £31.00 spent.