April 2008 Grocery Challenge

funkyfunkymonkey

ifonlyitwaseasier wrote: »

right my first batch of hob nobs are in the oven and smelling lovely, added a little cinnamon to them and the next batch will get some ground ginger added.

I've just cooked my second batch (first batch was a few weeks ago) I don't know if I've done something different but these ones smell even more wonderful and they taste 'wow'.

First time I used Scotts Porage Oats, this time Tesco Value Oats

FFM

ifonlyitwaseasier

omfg, i made a half size batch, added cinnamon, and am now in love with hob nobs! these things are delish!!!

i did use butter and honey as i didn't have enough marge or any syrup, i think i might be making these a few more times this week!

~jules~_3

Hi everyone,
Hope you're having a good weekend, just updating my sig.

Does anyone have a good toad in the hole recipe...
I've made it twice now(and it was really good) but the middle was soggy.

TIA

boredofbeingathome

Well done jennybee, i go to the farmshop for most of my veg if i can..
I buy a large sack of potatoes for £7. and a full tray of free range eggs for £3-£4, depending on the sizes she has in.
Whilst the potatoes will last me ages, the eggs don't, but they are very versatile and i would say almost the ultimate in fast food.
I too am a hobnob fan, recipe great. Haven't tried honey ones yet, but they sound yummy as do the others.

purplevamp

faye1978 wrote: »

Would it not be cheaper to get a Brita filter if it's really that unbearable?

I have a Brita filter jug but we used to forget to change the filters (laziness or forgetfulness - take your pick ) so we got a Brita filter kettle, again never changed the filters. Then it leaked so got another one, that one leaked and got a Tefal kettle. I don't mind tap water if it's mixed with something or boiled (as long as the water hasn't been sitting in the kettle for ages). I may look into buying the filters again for drinking water, thank you for giving me a virtual kick up the bum :rotfl: . I know you can now recycle the old filters in Argos so I that's a good incentive. Hubby had some tap water when he woke up during the night which had been in his glass for 2 nights... made him nearly gag!!

I've just updated my sig with this weeks shopping (including 6 bottles of water :rolleyes: ) and it came to £85.07. This will definitely last us this week and hopefully next week as it includes a chicken for when my Dad and my "lovely" step-mother come down. This leaves me a grand total of £30.57 to last until the end of the month :eek: - wish me luck

MRSMCAWBER

Evening everyone....

Only just managed to log on today...:eek: and was stuck as to which thread to visit 1st... this one or the weightloss one... you guys won as i realised that i would have more to catch up with here..daren't leave it too long

Anyhow.. went for a walk round the golf course at 7:30 this morning :eek: which im sure is really classed as the middle of the night:rotfl:
on the way back we stopped off at the naffi and i got:-

4 X 3litre whole milk @ €1 -stashed in the freezer :T
2 kilo of red potatoes 50c
1 kilo parsnips 50c
big box tomatoes 50c
iceberg 20c
4 granny smiths 50c -so i spent €6.20... but i can't think of much i will need/want this week...
Hubby loves the german version of ryvitas with sesame seeds... he picked up a pack in the naffi and promptly shoved them back declaring "not bl**dy likely" :rotfl: €1.89 -nearly £1.40 :eek: ..i only pay about 40c for the german ones and they are lovely:T
not as many offers as last time..but we were later than usual :rolleyes: .... nothing to do with hubby having a mare of a game of golf...in places it resembled hockey :rotfl: so took longer;)

Have spent the rest of the day upto my elbows in compost :j ... have counted up that so far i have 15 X 1m troughs... 10 X 60cm troughs, 8 x15" tubs and 3 big baby bath shaped tubs oh and then im setting hubby on lining my 8 colapsable crates with thick card too oh and some spare growbags for cumbers etc .... I have so many things im having a go at growing..especially lots of different kinds of beans n peas and salad stuff mmmm and some things i have never had a go at before.. chard, broccoli, butternut squash, watercress, spinach etc....

Made a lovely tuna pasta salad for lunch and put a portion in a tub for lunch tomorrow whilst hubby is golfing..
Have a loaf of white bread in the tin for hubby and have knocked together a white/spelt/granary loaf for me -when the oven is empty..
Have a small boneless shoulder of lamb in there for dinner tomorrow and jacket potatoes for tonight...
right enough waffling..time to catch up with the weightloss thread have a great evening everyone

angchris

i got dragged to asda yesterday and treated to lunch in the caf by my luverly mum n dad :kisses3: i did an ickle shop consisting of just fresh stuff for the fridge which came to £18 but a fiver of that was a jar of oh`s nescafe :rolleyes: so a total spend of £108 for me so far since the 22nd of last month which is fabby dogs doodahs for me!!:T :T
my son has gone to Jersey yesterday dressed as batman :rotfl: with his rugby team "on tour" (big excuse for a p1$$ up!:rolleyes: ) so no need to feed him till mon night and oh is at work till teatime tomorrow so its just lil ol me n the pooch dining at chez angchris tonight.
i made burgers for us yesterday by mushing up mince n ketchup/grated carrots/onions/chilli/ bisto/herbs/egg/breadcrumbs in a big bowl, am i right in thinking i can use whats left (loads) as a meatloaf? have never cooked one before.
as fast as i pull stuff out of my freezer to use im getting a bigger tub go back in with leftovers :rotfl: im gonna run out of space soon as my freezer seems to be multiplying in meals by itself :eek: i thought the idea was to use it up oh well it will deffo help me with my food budget for the next month or 10 :rotfl:
thought i`d check in again with you guys and chat as it keeps me sane as you are all like me trying to do something proactive towards keeping the bills down, all my mates think im mad as they buy what they want when they want it and don`t seem to grasp the bigger picture. by saving an extra £100 a month it is extra to go in my savings account towards my moneysaving wedding :money:

toniwoty2009

afternoon everyone,
have updated my sig as we have been and done some more shopping.
OH has been to tesco and asda on a hunt for chorizo, turned out to be £2.16!!! :eek: oh well, need it for monday's tacos
i also went to m&s, got two packs of oatmeal rolls on buy one get one half price so two in the cupboard and rest in the freezer for my lunches.
a pack of percy piglets and mini chocolate biscuits did fall in my basket tho
anyway total spend today was £23.20 so only £30 left to last til the end of the month. :eek:

looking at my shopping list tho, all we (should) need is:
fruit, bread, milk, spring onions, pitta bread, light mozzarella, eggs?, baking potatoes, ham, green beans and cheese. obviously will need bread and milk each week but the other bits i just need to buy according to that week's meal plan.

fingers Xed i will manage!

MrDT

angchris wrote: »

i made burgers for us yesterday by mushing up mince n ketchup/grated carrots/onions/chilli/ bisto/herbs/egg/breadcrumbs in a big bowl, am i right in thinking i can use whats left (loads) as a meatloaf? have never cooked one before.

Sounds ideal for making meatloaf to me

Here's what I made during the week:

MrDT's 'gone wrong' meatloaf:

Ingredients:
350g mince
90g bread (2 slices)
100g oats
220g onion
220g carrot
2 eggs
400g tomato soup
115g mature cheddar
10g lard

Directions:
Preheat oven to 200c
1) Defrost the mince, put into mixing bowl
2) Blitz bread and oats in food processor, add to mixing bowl
3) Blitz carrot and onion in food processor, add to mixing bowl
4) Whisk the eggs in a small bowl, add to mixing bowl
5) Add half the tomato soup to mixing bowl
6) Mix it all up using your hands
7) Grease the tins with a little lard (this was enough to fill a small loaf tin and regular pie tin for me)
8) Push tightly into the tins
9) Top with the cheddar
10) Pour the rest of the tomato soup on top
11) Bake for an hour

I called it 'gone wrong' meatloaf as it was more of a 'hash' than a loaf... Still very very nice though Left in the fridge for 24 hours though it becaame a proper 'loaf', sliced onto sandwiches for lunch etc. Also made a nice omlette filling last night

To get a more loafy result straight from the oven I suggest reducing the amounts of 'padding' (carrots, oats) or maybe less soup/sauce and adding more meat. If your burgers held together you should have no problems using the same mix for meatloaf

I think the basis of meatloaf is basically just ground meat, onion, and egg. You can add anything you like to it then. I think next time I'm going to add some sage and onion stuffing :cool:

edit: i'm going to use greaseproof paper next time in addition to the lard... took a little while to get the damn thing out the loaf tin lol XD

JennyBee_2

By the way, please don't think I'm trying to make out I'm an angel! I still buy too much but at least nowadays I know about it and can cut back on other things if necessary