April 2008 Grocery Challenge

galacticgreen

Hi, we are in again for April. I'm going to keep the budget at £200. I promise I will do some proper menu planning this month....

TheBees

Hi all,

Thanks mhe for the meal plan!

Here's ours for the next two weeks but please provide ideas for the blank spaces!!

Sat-Fish & Chips in Bude (DS canoeing all day)
Sun-Beef Bourginon (BOGOF jar), Dumplings and Veg
Mon-Sweet & Sour Rice (batch made last week)
Tues-Sausage Veg Mash and Gravy
Wed-Grill steaks (BOGOF) Mash Eggs Beans
Thurs-Savoury Mince Potatoes and Veg
Fri-HM Pork Meat Balls and Spaghetti (delicious!)
Sat-Fish in Batter Mash, Egg and Beans
Sun - Help
Mon-Pork in stuffing, Veg and Gravy (delicious)
Tues-Baked Pots
Wed-All in one Savoury Mince and Rice
Thur-Macaroni Cheese
Fri-Help
Sat- DH's homemade Cornish Pasties just like his Mum used to make!!!
Sun-Toad in the Hole, Pots and Veg

Please feel free to post some tasty options to fill the blank days!:j

The Bees

witchmabel

Hello everyone Mrs M can you put me down for £250 this month please:o

My month started last Thursday - and last week I spent £120 :eek: Hence I've gone up to £250 this month. Better this week - spent £24 this evening.

I really come apart when we have people come visiting - firstly, I'm never knowingly undercatered :rotfl: so we always have sooooooo much food. Then I worry about making sure that there's something for everyone, no matter how fussy they are :rolleyes: And then my budget just wanders off...

So - this month will be better - she says hopefully. And I'm going to try to post on this thread a little more often - having to put my spend down in black and white might help Good luck all - love to read how you're all doing!

WitchM - xx

mrssnowy_2

Kaz2904 wrote: »

I'm in for £200 €€€€€€ Ctrl Alt and 4 works for me too!

Still putting cheap coffee into the nescafe jar and DH doesn't seem to have noticed yet. Hope not to need more but we'll see.

!

€€€€€€ and me
I'm doing the coffee thing as well,and DH hasn't said anything-YET :rotfl:
J

mhe

potato pie is really nice
Just scrub and slice some pots and layer pots, onion baked beans, pots, onions, baked beans, pots in a casserole dish. Dot a bit of butter on top and cover in foil to stop it crisping too much. BAke at 200c for an hour but take foil off for last 15 - 20 mins to crisp up. Its nice with grated cheese on top (I cant cos of weight loss) and its quick and easy to make.

Id also say have ago at MRSMs tortillas - easy and quick again and more filling than you might imagine. MY DSs and DH love them and as MRSM will tell you her DH is also rather partial to a tortilla. Dont some people make a tortilla sandwich thing with bolg in the middle. Its called quasidillas or something like that - someone help out here please!!

DO you like spicy things? Veg curry is cheap and a good way of using up all those sad bits of veg that no one ate that you fing lurking in the bottom of the fridge. Some times I use these bits of veg up by throwing them into a frying pan with some cold sliced pots and gently fry them for a bit then add a couple of whisked up eggs and cook slowly until the whole lot sticks together like a very thick omlette - it has a name but i cant think of it at the mo. You can cut it into wedges and serve with HM potato wedges and HM coleslaw

teedy23

Just thought I,d let you know I bought Flora Omega3+ in Tesco today at 60p, inside was a 30p moc, on the foil inside. No mention of it on the tub, have a peek inside before you buy though it,s a good price anyway.

mhe

QUESAILLAS

1/4 lb pepper Jack cheese, coarsely grated (1 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 (7-inch) flour tortillas (not low-fat)
1/2 cup chunky salsa
Preparation

Stir together cheese, beans, corriander, and cumin.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then add a tortilla. Top with a scant 1/2 cup cheese mixture, spreading evenly, then top with 2 tablespoons salsa. Cover with another tortilla.
Cook until underside is golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Carefully flip and cook until other tortilla is golden, 1 to 2 minutes more. Repeat with more oil and remaining tortillas, cheese mixture, and salsa. Serve cut into wedges.

applemella

Well.....I've been lurking for a while and have decided I need to make it official!!!
So for the first time can I join in with a budget of £400 for April. Am not including cleaning stuff or things like toilet roll. Think I will separate toiletries as well as if I included them I would definately go over budget!!!(2 teenagers and a pre-teenager in house! All female!!

JayJay14

I can't do the cheap coffee in the decent jar thing - OH treated us to a Gaggia bean to cup machine so we have no instant in the house:D We have to buy lovely beans but there are some quite good deals online.

It is rather nice to get up in the morning, put a mug under the spout, press a button and 20 secs later a real coffee appears:j Not very cost effective but oh so good.;)

izoomzoom

MrsM - Please put me down for £200 again.

I have had a busy and stressful day.

It is school holidays, so two children at home, plus baby and it was raining :mad: .

Went to start the car this morning and it was dead dead dead :mad: :mad: . This is the third or fourth time that I have had to call the AA out to start it, eventhough they put a new battery in a couple of months ago. DH has booked it in for next week, and they better find out what the problem is because we leave nothing on in the car - radio isn't even on standby mode anymore :mad: :mad: :mad: . This is all under warranty so :money: .

Anyhow, as the car needed a good old charge up, decided I would go up to Asda, about 12 miles away, to give it a good run. Got there, parked, and then carried 15lb baby and 15lb car seat all around car park looking for a blasted trolley that you can sit car seat on. Couldn't find one, so eventually went inside and trolley man (bless him) says there are only two for the whole store :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: . He very kindly offered to go and find one for me, and I joined the queue for customer services as I wanted to hand in my coupon for baby's bounty pack (wanted to get it from Asda as you get a £5 coupon for George in it) and they didn't ****** have any :mad: . I then complained about the lack of trollies and she told me to write it down in some book . I was already starting to get stressed by this stage, as children were starting to play up, and I basically growlled at her .

Anyhow, trolley man eventually came with my trolley :j , and off we went along the aisles. DS2 was really playing up and running amock, and DD (baby) got really upset too, and as I am not familiar with the layout, it took forever but the worst was the ******* trolley that had wheels of its own. I couldn't keep the thing in a straight line :mad: .

Anyhow, bought lots of staples and few fresh things to see us through for meals until next week and spent £ 46.36. Got home (seemed like I had been out for over 3 hours :mad: ), and later on realised I had forgotten to feed a neighbour's cats this morning . Quickly ran down there, and emptied the box into their bowl, texted DH and asked him to get some cat food (this now being the third time we have run out of cat food for them) and he came home with 4 boxes :mad: . Neighbours are back on Tuesday, so a bit of an over purchase there, and DH also bought some downlighters, as we seem to have 5 that have blown in the last month. Think he bought two boxes, so that must have been around £15 but I need to get the exact amount from him still.

Anyhow, hope you had a less stressful day than I did :A