March 2008 Grocery Challenge

redsquirrel80

candygirl wrote: »

Red Squirrel are you a veggie like me?I made the hummus before and it's lovely:beer: I haven't been put of the house today, so a NSD for me yipeeee:j:j

Glad you liked it!

I'm not but I don't eat a lot of meat, mainly for cost reasons I'll admit, and because I try to only buy organic free range stuff so unless that's reduced/ on offer it's a treat! I've actually found that the less I eat it, the less I want it, but I don't think I could ever manage to be completely veggie.

Well I got soaked on the way back from Tesco, and they'd only just started reducing stuff, and I got supermarket rage and couldn't be bothered hanging around so I ended up buying mostly tins of stuff (tomatoes, fruit, tuna). As part of the 'eat less cheese' campaign, I got some off that powdery grated parmesan - I tend to put big chunks of cheese on top of pasta etc so thinking if I use this I'll get the cheesy taste for less money and less calorie content! Also got a fresh coriander plant reduced to 47p to liven things up a bit - can't wait till I've got my own herbs growing again.

Can't imagine I'll need anything else before payday (week tomorrow).. but I have overspent my budget by £1.22! Next month I'm trying for £40.. wish me luck!!

MRSMCAWBER

Evening everyone

Finally got my meal plan for April sorted today :T I know its early..but with hubby being away this week..i have been fighting off boredom plus whilst im reading and thinking about food...i don't have my head in the fridge eating it :rotfl:

Have also figured out that i can make it to Monday without topping up fruit n veg...:j which will give me 9 NSD in a row

Have put a jar of cherries out of the fridge into 7 dishes and topped with SF jelly... so that will give me something to eat for the next few days to make my oranges n yogs last longer -1/2 a cherry yoghurt on top of the jelly and its like triffle well a lowere cal/fat one

When i shop for april im going to get some more cherries in -only about 45c for a 700g jar..and im also going to get some apple mousse.. pretty much stewed apple -again only 25c for a 500g carton..thought it would be nice stirred into my porridge in a morning or whipper into yoghurt...
I seem to have an obsession with shaving off as many cents as i can

Had a lovely dinner tonight... salad with avocado and the last of the organic feta.. then roasted some slices of sweet potato and raw beetroo and drizzeled it with balsamic syrup when it was done mmmmm and all using up odds n sods out of the fridge/drawer:T

right im off again -need to turn my meal plan into 4 shopping lists

mumzyof2

Ok i went tesco today and bought:

soft white rolls (24) for £1.39
baking cases 28p
potatoes 69p
orange squash 16p
ketchup 25p
easter egg BOGOF 85p
squash 16p
baby wipes 3 for £3
swimming nappies (for hols) £3.32
cheese £1.25
Corriander (fresh) to make carrott and corriander soup 49p
cooking bacon 70p
areo easter egg 99p (will get this back of OH)
mince £1
semolina 39p
whole chicken reduced £2.59
ketchup 25p

total £19.08

also spent £47.50 on holiday clothes but my mum sent me money for that

sashanut

Hi all!

Well, after all the good advice on here made a shopping trip to Lidl to try their famous fruit & veg. Spent £5.23 altogether - the grapes were wonderful for 49p - got 2x pkts of those - MUCH better than Morribobs whose grapes were a shocking £2.12 last week & inedible. It really pains me as there is nothing you can do with them - they taste kind of 'mushy' IYKWIM!!

Then on to Mr Ts which is really my downfall since I discovered they take my Sainsburys coupon £3 off a £30 shop - weekly - so I have to go every week - right? Then of course I got there as they were just reducing the broccoli from a very keen 44p to only 22p & of course DD loves it. Yes, I bought 6 packs of that, plus 2 big bags of carrots for 37p each & a load of other stuff.

Any broccoli recipes anyone??

Tonight was HM tuna fishcakes with potato skins which were left over from making the fishcakes. Never realised how much better they are when made this way, potato is not soggy & you can make them chunky or smooth to your taste. And of course, you can have the skins with them - I spray them with oil & sprinkle with spices - or you could have them for another meal/snack with a dip or salsa. BGC (before grocery challenge) I would have just binned them. We had the tuna fishcakes, skins, a tin of value mushy peas & - yes you guessed it! - broccoli.hehe with Twinks hobnobs to come for afters.

So, my Mr Ts shopping was £36.03 - off to update my sig - still under budget for now for me, DH, DD17, 2 cats & 2 dogs...

icandream

skintscotslass wrote: »

Personally, I'd be happier with a pasta salad. I think you can get more variety. You could also think about cous cous. Depends how adventurous your kids are

Thanks so much :beer: - we will change: I've just finished a pasta salad for their lunch boxes tomorrow! They seem happy with the switch.

funkyfunkymonkey

weezl74 wrote: »

Crisps and choc have been replaced by HM millionaires shortbread, brownie, HM biscuits etc,

I made HM millionaires shortbread at the weekend, it is in serious danger of damaging my 'hard earned' waist line. It wasn't cheap to make though - can of condensed milk about £1.30, plus other ingredients brought it up to about £3.

But it was much much cheaper and better than Tesco's Finest version.

Do you use condensed milk too in your toffee layer or another ingredient?

I probably shouldn't be asking these questions, 'cos if there is a cheaper way I will be tempted to make more....

TIA

FFM

funkyfunkymonkey

funkyfunkymonkey wrote: »

This recipe is on the back of my Semolina packet:

Place 40g of semolina and 25g of sugar into a saucepan, stir in 600ml of whole milk. Bring to the boil, stirring continuously, simmer slowly for 20 minutes. Serves 3.

Sounds simple, I guess I should try it.

FFM

Guess what we had for pudding tonight? Yep, semolina :j

I used the recipe as above and OH and I enjoyed it, the little monkeys added Cadburys Drinking Chocolate to theirs (heathens :rotfl: ).

Not bad, but could do with a little 'je ne sais quois' - problem is I don't know what might have been missing to make it a little bit more special.

FFM

skintscotslass

jackie_w wrote: »

Bought:- Easy cook rice £1.49

The rice I bought is a big bag, and im dreading cooking it. Any time ive tried to cook rice myself, it never turns out correctly. Its all sticky and mushy yuck, and Ive always used boil in the bag rice, but, its so expensive.
So, tonight its HM chicken curry for tea, so, Im off to cook the rice. Someone told me, to use 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice is that right ?

Jackie xx

Jackie - sorry this is a bit late for tonights dinner! How did it go? I always wash rice several times before cooking. Then I chuck it in a pan and cover with cold water and an extra inch of water (hope that makes sense ) Salt, pop the lid on and keep on an eye on it. Once it boils, take the lid of and simmer. HTH

funkyfunkymonkey

Last night I thought I was going to be late home from work so left OH a detailed list of times etc to cook sausages, mash and veg.

I was actually home early so cooked the sausages, mash and veg myself - did a double lot of mash (as per my instructions) ready for Shepherds Pie tonight (mince etc already batch cooked and in freezer).

Tonight I was later home than I thought I was going to be, walked in and surprise surprise, OH is slaving over the cooker cooking sausages, mash (double lot) and veg. My face must have been a picture 'cos he just said 'what?', 'what?'

So, I asked him if he remembered what he had for tea last night - it took a long while for the penny to drop - his reason for cooking it was that 'well your instructions were on the table' - fair point I guess.

We agreed not to mention it to the little monkeys to see if they noticed that tea was exactly the same 2 nights running - nope, not a murmur.

We are really tempted to give them exactly the same tomorrow night and carry on until they notice - we won't though 'cos we can't face sausages for a 3rd night running.

FFM

budgetaddict

Hi everyone. 1st week in the grocery challenge and i failed misserably I stuck to my old £60 budget and didnt manage to decrease it to £55 HOWEVER did buy a HUGE pack of washing powder which last month lasted me 6 months and it was only £11 plus VAT!!!!!!!!!! Then when I visited Asda they had one of their fabulous deal on - 2 big bottles of comfort for £2.00

BARGAIN :j :j :j :j :j

Hopefully I will have better luck this week - I am determined to do £50 to make up for last week.

Looking forward to trying the pasta salads - brilliant idea for pack up (how boring are cheese spread sandwiches every single day) FAB tip :T