April 2008 Grocery Challenge

MRSMCAWBER

Morning all

Heck..some of you stay up late don't you

TheBees our meal plan has changed -Again...hubby is off work all week and has some golf competitions so will be in and out at some odd hours... so i will decide what we are having on which day as i go along

1. roast chicken, hm stuffing, potatoes n veggies
2. tortillas with meatballs, caramalised onions n peppers + tzatziki with salad
3. potato and onions baked in the oven with hm sausages
4. jacket potatoes with broccoli, leeks + carrot gratin
5. feta salad with hm coleslaw and bread
6. pasta bake
7. thai turkey curry with rice and hm naan bread
8. hm cornedbeef and vegetable slice with potatoes, veg and gravy
9. tortillas with coleslaw, southern coated chicken and salad
10. thai steamed salmon and veggies(ME) chili + rice(HUBBY)
11. hm lamb n veg pie with vegetables
12. jacket potatoes with salad and tuna/sweetcorn mayo
13. Prawn pasta salad
14. savoury meat roll with veggies

I think that should sort us out for the next 2 weeks... Lunches will vary for the 1st week as hubby is at home... he usually takes his hm soup n bread..

Im going to be rummaging through my recipes this weekend -so i might make some changes -but only if the bulk of the ingredients are in the freezer/cupboards allready . I want to get quite a bit of it used up so i have room if i spot any more "whoopsies".. don't have room for any more ....ahhhhh but when the weather picks up a bit i won't be doing soups for hubbies lunches... think of all that extra space those tubs take up :j


Im going to start mixing hubbies coffee with a slightly cheaper brand -mind he will drink maxwell house ... i dragged 9 jars of Nescafe back from the UK at xmas.. hubby is on number 7 :eek: ... i swear he needs it on a drip ...and he is out at work all day-mind he does take a flask :rolleyes: .... nescafe is soooo expensive out here too -mind its one of the few things that are -so i shouldn't complain really:o

right i will get off and add everyone to the list
have a great weekend everyone :T

cheerfulness4

jj171 wrote: »

Iceland milk is £1.10 - not on special either. It's just gone up from £1
JJ

Thanks JJ, that's still a really good price as far as I can see. Must keep a closer eye on Iceland.

Little_Miss_Naughty

Hi All

Put me down for £200 again, this month I will try and not go over budget!

Good Luck everyone!:p

TheBees

Morning all
What on earth am I doing up at 7am on a Saturday morning? :eek: Well I actually got up at 6am as DS was going off canoeing. After he caused havoc looking for his shoes I found everyone else was still asleep and MSE calling me!:rotfl:

Thanks MrsMc for the menu plan. There are some lovely ideas on there, some of which I will be copying. To all the newbies I can recommend the Twinks Hobnobs and Mrs M's wraps. I would like more packed lunch fillers and nibbles. Anyone got a good recipe for large cheese straws?

Today we are treating ourselves to fish and chips when we go to collect DS from North Cornwall. (This doesn't come out of our grocery budget as we very rarely get takeaways or eat out.) Tomorrow I must do some baking as there are no HM cakes or treats in the house.

Have a good day everyone.
TheBees

TheBees

Sorry, me again

Mrs McC - please could I have your recipe for Southern coated chicken? We used to buy "Coatncook" but I haven't seen it in the shops for ages and yours is probably cheaper anyway.

Thanks,
TheBees

MRSMCAWBER

Don't know if this will be of any use theBees...

I haven't tried them yet but am thinking of doing some for hubby
Im sure you can get away with less cheese or use some parmesan..and what about swapping the marmite for ketchup for children hmmmm or that smooth branston ...nom nom nom

Its a BM recipe..but im going to be doing them by hand and with fresh yeast... so will report back how they turn out when i make them

Cheese and marmite twists

1. 1 cup tepid water
2. 1tbs milk powder
3. 2tbs oil
4. 1tsp sugar
5. 1tsp salt
6. 3 cups bread flour
7. 1tsp yeast
8. 1tbs marmite mixed with 1tbs water
9. 125g grated cheddar
10. 1 egg beaten

• Place the first 7 items in the bread machine and set to "dough"
• transfer to a floured surface and knead for 2-3mins
• roll out to approx 20"x25" - 51cmx63cm
• spread marmite over half of the dough
• sprinkle cheese over marmite
• brush the remaining dough with the beaten egg and fold over
• using the rolling pin, press down well to seal the edges
• use a sharp knife, cut the dough into thin strips
• divide strips between 2 greased baking sheets -twisting them as you lay them down
• cover with a sheet of lightly oiled clingfilm and leave for 45 mins or until almost doubled in size
• place in an pre-heated oven -200c/400f/gas 6 and bake for 15-20 mins

Missed your last post
At the moment i am using a pack of ready done chicken steaks -only as they were whoopsed to €1 for 4.. didn't expect hubby to be as keen on it as he is so i am going to go onto doing my own when they have gone... found this recipe the other day..so im going to give their seasonings a go

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-southern-fried-chicken-2

CRANKY40

April is a 5 week month for me, so £150 (£30 per week) for me please. DH is away at sea, so there is just ds and me at home, so in reality I would like to spend less than this.

My freezer and cupboards are reasonably full, but I spend £7 per week on milk. I don't want to cut down on this, or dilute it or anything as it's semi skimmed anyway, and most of it goes into the boy.

Should be an interesting month (I'm trying to lose weight too).

Good luck everyone.

lilmisskitkat

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

I just thought, we are away from the 4th -11th April but will be using the budget whilst we are away as we are staying in a caravan and we normally mealplan ect whilst we are away...sad or what!!!....the diesel may be a bit higher though as we are travelling over 300 miles away.

PP
xx

Not sad at all lol, when we went away last year i had a meal plan and shopping list written before we went. I kept it hidden though and tried to look as though i couldn't think what to have for dinner/tea and then say casually "Oh we could have xxxxxx" which was on the plan all along I just know that if i'd said i had brought a meal plan i'd get told off for not relaxing and going with the flow on holiday and comments like "can't you leave that Martin bloke at home?!" lol

Enjoy your break

Kate xxx

mandy_moo_1

oh mrs Mc, do you have a recipe for the tortilla wraps everyone raves about? i've tried to look thru the march thread but i can't seem to find it

they'd make a lovely change and i'm sure they'll be loads better than the shop bought ones

~jules~_3

Hi everyone,
can I join this month please, could you put me down for £40 a week.

(err just wondering.... how do I do a signature, thanks)