April 2008 Grocery Challenge

cheerfulness4

Disaster struck tonight and I've ended up splashing out on takeaway for the family so thats another £9.99 off my budget. Could ill afford it and OH was prepared to pay but I'm going to take it off my money as I want to be honest.

Sig updated.

Hmmm never tried krautsalat... am I missing something good?

angelatgraceland

JennyBee wrote: »

Quick question - can I freeze mashed potato? And if I can, what can I do with it afterwards? Is it best to put it on top of things like cottage pie or can I use it as just mashed potato? My final question...if I can use it as normal afterwards, how on earth do I heat it up? Is it a job for the microwave?


Oh - one more! Can I use normal flour to thicken casseroles?

Yes and yes.
When I do "real" mash I normally get the kids to help me peel the spuds and cook the whle bag!(assuming its about 2 kilos)
Then I mash it with milk and butter, put the unwanted portions into containers, and when cold, I freeze them. I buy the baco containers-not the cheapest but they are he best-Ive tried a few but these are pliable so don't crack. You can then rehat the mash in the micro-about 3 or 4 minutes per portion(think aunt bessies).
Regarding thickening casserolles I often use plain flour instead of cornflour. I always mix it to a creamy texture in a cup or jug then stir i in. I dont find any real difference. Ive done the same with sr flour and brown flour-they all work!

lil_me

Spent £7.49 in Lidl today on a small top up shop (Skips on offer 2 bags of 18 for £2.50!! I have been paying 99p for 6 locally so that's a few quid saved as they are DS1s fave), £107.92 is current spending for this month 2 weeks and 1 day left, 13 days gone so so far I'm not doing too bad. Going out spending has been put on hold with the hols and with studying so it's been a case of work with what we have as much as possible.

Hope everyone else is doing well x

angelatgraceland

Well today(well yday now!) I made some bolognese with some turkey mince Id bought reduced,some passata, chopped tomatoes and herbs.
Boiled up a whole packe of pasta which I got in my asda order(a lovely 19p) and served it all up in baco tubs so what we didnt eat today has been frozen.
This made 7 meals and cost:
passata 29p
toms 21p
herbs 10p
oil 5p
turkey 69p
frozen peppers 20p
pasta 19p

Total £1.73

25p per portion.

Ive still got the pinto beans I soaked last night and cooked this morning-going to do the chill tomorrow now.

Also made a trifle-no cream on it but the following:
3 or 4 sponge "fingers" 8p
I jelly(asda) 8p
1 tin peaches l(asda) 16p
i pack instant custard(asda) 8p

total cost 40p
Enough to feed 6.

May buy some cream in the morning-unless Ive got some dream topping hidden away-or we may just skip that!

got some surprise visitors for lunch so its going to be a quick buffet lunch. Also have dd friend on a sleepover so the girls will also be happy with that.
That will bump up my food bill unfortunately but I will see what Iceland have to offer.

mandy_moo_1

morning all :hello:

well its the last day of my grocery week today, as i get my money weekly
haven't done too bad so far, although i've got to pay a visit to Mr M's for a few bits, and then to B&M's for toilet rolls & tissues. i'm gonna see if they have any more bacon joints in, as i got one the other day......only 1.99 and i got 14 portions from it, once it was all sliced up. its safely in my freezer now, to make sarnies this week, as kids are still off school/college

think i might attempt Mrs Mc's tortilla wraps for tea tonight. haven't decided what to put in them yet...probably the left over chicken and some salad

anyway, hope everyone has a good day, and you don't need to spend much!!

Fi27

faye1978 wrote: »

:T My OH is SOOO Fussy!! So I did this the other day with some mince as spag bol and he also commented on how nice it was and that it tasted slightly creamier. I just told him I bought the mince at the butchers for a change and it must be that!!! Like you said - an extra mea or 3 for a few pennies.

I got 2lb mince and that made me 7 meals (5 for the freezer and 2 to eat) Usually it would have made me 4 and a lunch

Result Well done :T

Fi

egon

Damage limitation it is for us from now on. DH has to go shopping today, so that I can bake some snacks.

Still 2 weeks to go, and I have spend our whole budget!!!:eek: :eek: :eek:

How do you lot do batch cooking, with 2 little ones?
I find it really hard, to find time to cook and bake. What am I missing out?

Anyhow, will try a baking day today..... See what happens:rotfl: :rotfl:

ifonlyitwaseasier

morning all,

well today my OH has decided we need to get tomatoes, tortilla chips and a jar of chillis (???:eek: ???) so will spend as little as possible and get mrS basics tortilla chips as he seems to like those.

apart from that, i'll be making more hobnobs and another loaf of bread and i have a sausage and lentil casserole in the slow cooker already.

Girl_least_likely_to

Morning All , Hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

A NS weekend for me. Just went to Morrisons on Friday to get the rest of the F&V that I couldn't get/didn't like the look of in Aldi and spent £12.13. Hope not to have to go shopping until at least Tues then that'll only be for milk and fruit - famous last words :rotfl:

I've decided to get myself on a diet for a few weeks to see if I can shift some of my baby weight (she's 3 in August :whistle:). I've not rearranged my meal plan yet but I'm hoping I can cut down on snacking and eat healthly stuff for my breakie and lunch then eat a smaller portion of a regular main meal. Maybe I'll get myslef over to the weight loss thread for some tips :cool: .

KITTY_2-2

Girl_least_likely_to wrote: »

I've decided to get myself on a diet for a few weeks to see if I can shift some of my baby weight (she's 3 in August :whistle:). quote]

I wouldn't beat yourself up too much. My 3rd baby was 14 last week and I still haven't shifted it

I lost over 2 stones last year with SW so I'm planning on incorporating some of their recipes into our week and hope that helps me shift some more. Wish I had MrsMcawber's will power. I am amazed by her losses and it has pushed me into trying again.

Have done my meal plan from my cupboard contents plus the stuff I bought last night so will add to sig later. Off to "Flylady" now as house looks like a tornado hit :rolleyes:

Happy Sunday everyone :A