April 2008 Grocery Challenge

fedupnow

Hi - I have been very busy on here since joining and have found a couple of ideas to include in my first weeks menu.
The only meat we eat in our house is free range organic chicken, everything else where meat is required I will use quorn or other substitute.

Tonight we will be having hm lasagne with roasted veg with my hm garlicky dip stuff (mine so no name - just ya know ..... stuff.).

1st April - Fishcakes with peas and a mixed salad thankyou SOAPIE

2nd - Roast chicken , roast parsnip, roast pots, mashed swede and carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and gravy

3rd - Pot pie with roast veggies thankyou MHE

4th - Chicken curry & veg stir fry (chicken left overs from 2nd)

5th - Poached salmon, jacket potato, peas and sweetcorn

6th - Sweet & spicy chicken (again my errr stuff) with veg stir fry (left over left over chicken)

7th - Home made soup with hm bread (made with tinned toms, lentil, beans, chilli, left over veggies and the very last of the left over left over chicken)

what do you all think?

My only twang of concern is counting tonight I will be requiring the oven on 3 times in a week, but we do like our roasted veggies. Perhaps I will swop them about a bit - spread them out. I presume it won't hurt if I do the 3rds on the 5th for example. mmmmmmmmm

Thanks again to all those who are sharing the recipes - I am spending many a happy hour trawling through them all.

angle08

Hi can you count me in please, could you put me down for £250 for the month already spent £15 of it. There is the 4 of us and the kids eat as much as an adult lol thanks

phoenixchick

Hi Mrs M,

Can I join for this month? I'm aiming for £150 for the month, with a view to gradually reduce it without OH noticing, for health and money saving purposes.

I picked up a tip from March's thread - about adding oats to meals - and thought I'd try it. I made a chili with about 250g mince, a handful of lardons - I was a bit worried at first as it barely covered the bottom of my big saucepan. But then I added veg (grated carrots, onions, celery, chillis, 2 tins of toms), lentils (red and green) and two big handfulls of oats - it made enough for 3 meals for 2, so I have frozen 2. And best of all, OH never noticed, even the carrot and celery (which he insists he doesn't like).

funkyfunkymonkey

I've finished my figures for Jan-Mar, March being the only month I managed to come in under budget.

But I feel that I have been more than 100% successful, in the first quarter of 2008 I have spent £610 less than the first quarter of 2007 on groceries :j

In 2007 my quarterly spend just grew and grew so that my annual spend was a whopping £7k spend in supermarkets.

If I can continue at my current rate I should be able to save £3-4k on groceries alone.

Put this with the live on £4k for a year challenge, which I have to admit I'm not going to succeed in, I will be saving even more because I am watching every penny - I'm not hanging on to as many as I would like but at least I am now mindful of what I am spending.

Thank you all for your continued support and ideas :T

FFM

MRSMCAWBER

Hello everyone

Well i have broken into this months budget hubby nipped me to the supermarket as it has a huge garden centre attatched :T .... only item out of my grocery money was a new block of parmesan -€2.99, I don't need it yet but i want to have a go at making a batch of parmesan crisp biscuits for hubby -and that will use the last of the old stuff up..and i can't be without it
Have made a new loaf of white bread for hubby and made myself a loaf that is :-
300ml warm water
14g fresh yeast
200g white bread flour
150g granary flour
150g dinkel flour :rotfl: which is actually spelt flour -but i prefer the Gegman "dinkle"
and 3 tsp salt
its out of the oven and looks lovely, and has risen well...so i think its going to be quite light :j

The last of the old bread has been turned into stuffing .. it made 15 X 40g balls so I have frozen 12 :T
I have stipped the chicken off i cooked this morning...have:-

• enough for me n hubby today
• 2 thigh and drumstick joints
• enough meat left for tortillas
• and the darker meat (my fave)... is going to be turned into 2 chicken, leek and potato pies -
• oh and the carcass has been turned into stock -which later will become a pan of soup for me n hubby for lunch

So 6 meals for 2 and its a cornfed one i got whoopsed to €3 :j .. glad i have 2 more in the freezer

Got 6 lavenders and 6 pots of herbs for €2.99 a pack..and 4 huge bags of compost so i an get on with more veggies :j
right i had better get off.... going to look for more "snacky" items to try for hubby
Hope everyone is off to a good start

Just spotted your post funky ....well done :T its amazing isn't it... since the begining of January i have stashed €1200 from our grocery money..:D mind i have used €400 to have the car repaired...but its still €1200 that we would have eaten :eek: ..makes it all seem so worth while doesn't it

JayneC

Hi,

Went to Sainsbury's today and spent £5.28, got milk, bread and cereal (which is now rationed;) )

It's been a lovely sunny day and I'm off work this week so been out in the garden (well yard really:D ). Planted loads of raspberry canes that I got from Freecycle (4 pots full and 2 lots in the border), some spuds, lettuce, spring onions and radishes. I'm going to get some troughs for more salad stuff and grow courgettes in hanging baskets too. My mum has sowed some tomatoes, cucumber and sweetcorn for me so will bring them when she comes to visit in a couple of weeks. And then I won't have any room left!!

Hope everyone's doing ok on their challenge.

getting-sorted-sarah

Those of you dying hair - have you thought about using henna? This works best if you have (or want) red/dark/brunette hair - no good if you want blond highlights! On the downside henna is a bit time consuming and takes some getting used to - but - once you do get used to it it is great, really cheap, leaves your hair in lovely condition and is soooo much better in terms of no nasty chemicals for both you and the environment.

I get mine from Lush (cheaper alternatives are available but this is the best IMO) and it costs £7.25, this lasts me for 3 goes - I do it about once a month. Hair afterwards feels thicker and lovely - and, if you have grey (ahem) the grey streaks are a brighter colour - natural highlights!

If anyone wants any more info please shout, as I am a Lush nerd as well as debt nerd!

ubamother

first spend of the month - £37 in Aldi - that should cover two weeks' basics - toilet roll, etc as well as frozen stuff for a week or so. Butcher and Greengrocer shop tomorrow for the week's fresh stuff. first month's challenge - am quite looking forward to it!

Jacks_xxx

Bargain_Rzl wrote: »

...etc

Jacks, is there a reason you're paying good money for contraception when you could get it for free from family planning?

(If there is a good reason, I really don't need to know what it is - a simple yes will do )

Yes.

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Our nearest family planning clinic that caters to over 25's - (which sadly I am. I know, I know - you all thought I was a mere slip of a girl - yeah right!) - is 35 miles away and a total PITA of a bus trip.

I made the effort to go there once, and paid the £7 bus fare thinking it would be worth it cos I'd get a lot of condoms but they only (begrudgingly) gave me three, and it took me all day to get them.

I can usually get 24 for about £7 on a BOGOF at Tesco or Boots so that's what I do. I'm trying to persuade my son to go to the under 25s clinic for an MOT (his last girlfriend was um...not especially classy :rolleyes: ) - and to get all of us some free condoms - but I haven't had any luck so far!

A coil would be cheaper, but since I was born with my Mum's one still in situ I don't have much faith in them - especially as even after they rejigged it for her my brother was conceived just a few months later.

Hubby could have the snip I s'pose, but he doesn't really want to - and I'm not going to try and force the issue cos I'm definitely not being "done"!

So that's it really isn't it?

Massive apologies to anybody who finds this all too much information.

And you said no explanation was necessary didn't you?....

Love Jacks xxx

PS Mike have a lovely break and good luck with giving up the fags. I'll be rooting for you. xxx

Gemmzie

Spent £14.50 today in Iceland on fish. Got four salmon fillets, four tuna steaks, four smoked haddock fillets and a Fray Bentos Pie (£1). Is that good value for fish?
I've also discovered leeks, they are very yummy. Any suggestions for things to do with them?