April 2008 Grocery Challenge

jessie18

Hi there everyone,
First of all thanks to you all for the great advice on this site.
I just wondered if anyone can tell me (please excuse me for being stupid) how do you grow potatoes? Can i grow them in a tub, as i have a mad border collie who loves digging everything up in the garden. Also could someone tell me i noticed on an earlier thread about freezing mushrooms, what do you need to do with these first as i always seem to waste loads.

teedy23

jessie18 wrote: »

Hi there everyone,
First of all thanks to you all for the great advice on this site.
I just wondered if anyone can tell me (please excuse me for being stupid) how do you grow potatoes? Can i grow them in a tub, as i have a mad border collie who loves digging everything up in the garden. Also could someone tell me i noticed on an earlier thread about freezing mushrooms, what do you need to do with these first as i always seem to waste loads.

Hi jessie , yes you can grow spuds in a tub or an old compost bag if you want. You dont have to do anything to mushrooms before you freeze just wipe them and chop them then when your ready use them for cooking.;)

faye1978

Hiya, I bought a special bag thing for growing pots in - do you dig them out? or just open the flap at the bottom? I would have thought if you did that the compost would come out and you would have to replace it? Is that right does anyone know?

jessie18

Hi there Teedy, many thanks for that i shall freeze the mushrooms today, do you know how long it takes to grow potatoes and how do you know when they are ready? Sorry for being a bit thick its just that i use loads and just though i would give it a go.

faye1978

JayneC wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Only went to butcher's yesterday and spent £7.25 on a large chicken and 2lbs of mince which should make enough meals for the week!! (used to spend £20+ every week at the butcher's:eek: )

Will have roast chicken today and then will make a chickn n veg pie and chickn n veg curry with the leftovers, plus some chicken stock/soup from carcass.

1lb of mince will make burgers for 5 and the other 1lb will be split in half to make a tomatoey based mince (spag bol for 3 and tacos for 5) and a mince in gravy (shephards pie for 2/3 and cornish pasties for 5).

I will probably not eat them all this week tho, will add in some non meat meals too, might even have enough in for 2 weeks worth of meals.

Last night we had HM pizza toasts (made with crusts of the loaf that i used to bin) and crispy potato skins (with potato peeling also used to go in the bin), with salad and HM coleslaw:j

What a FAB idea about the potato peelings...Do you just fry them? Or dry them out in the oven? I guess you could top them too? :T

faye1978

miss_saver wrote: »

Thanks ever so much for those recipes, I will be trying those out this month! Can I put shepherds pie in the foil trays too? Fully cooked with the potato on top too?? I know I sound daft asking all these questions but want to make sure first. Also can a chicken casserole made in slow cooker with fresh chicken be frozen and reheated in the foil trays?? Also veg sausage casserole - I have seen one on here somewhere with veg sausages and baked beans which sounds nice and something my little boy would eat too.

Many thanks for your help in answering my questions. It is most appreciated.

Jen
xx

Hiya! I don't know if this has been answered (i'm reading the forum backwards :rolleyes: ) I ALWAYS make things like Shep Pie (if to be frozen) in the foil trays. I usually just put the mash on top then put in the oven to brown once defrosted. Works Perfectly.

Also the chicken thing, you can freeze previously frozen chicken IF it has been cooked since defrosting. So a Raw Chicken defrosted needs to be cooked and you can Freeze it but if it's cooked and defrosted you MUSTN'T refreeze it. Hope that makes sense.

Regarding the veg sausage casserole, I would make some veg stock, stick a tin of beans in with it and some sausages and leave in the SC for 5 or so hours!

HTH

BigMummaF

We've got proper snow:j All thick, fluffy & laying in drifts & everything:D Normally It's a light dusting & blink n you miss it, so a real thrill for us southerners:p Before now I'd be thinking of ways to get to the shopsSIZE=1][I]driving is a necessary evil for me at the best of times, without the addition of dodgy road conditions[/I][/SIZE][SIZE=2but this morning I smiled & mentally worked thru my stash!:T yay GC Thread![/SIZE]

I tried "Landgut Bread Baking Mix" from Lidl, cuz I enjoy a granary & this is supposed to be a "Multi Grain Bread" mix......I defy anyone to find the grains in it tho:o Not too bad a taste, but a bit of a let-down when you're expecting a bit of texture.

One of the offspring has gone to MrT with a mate, so I've asked for a book each of first & second class stamps cuz I'd forgotten they go up tomorrow but think that's all the expenditure from my pocket for today.

the_cat

Hi all

First update of the month for me due to having a few days away last week.

Seems to be going OK so far as I have just got back from weekly shop with most of what's needed for this week and just 2 more shops before payday. With just under half my budget still this should be fine.

Grrrrrr..... just realised I forgot to get golden syrup for Twink's hobnobs. Anyone know if I can substitute anything or miss it out? If not I will get it tomorrow.

Fi27

Hi everybody,

This is week 3 of 4 for my GC this month and i think i'm doing ok. I shop weekly and each week i have spent a little less than the previous week which is great. I love all the recipies posted and appreciate all the help and motivation this thread provides. It's certainly keeping me focused :T

I put porridge oats in my bolognaise last week, it tasted great and OH didnt even notice! I even added a handful to some ckicken enchiladas i made on Friday night to mop up the sauce and bulk it out a bit, it worked a treat and again, even i didnt notice the oats. They seem to totally disappear

I did my weekly shop yesterday and spent £58.93. I went to lidl for bits and pieces and then Mr t's. I'm still nipping back to mr T's through the week for milk & bread which i need to try to avoid as i am prone to impulse buys such as bottles of wine etc but generally spending less and making everything from scratch so that can only be good!

Keep up the good work everyone and keep posting as i love to read how everyone is doing. Ooh better update sig while i remember!

Fi

faye1978

the_cat wrote: »

Hi all

First update of the month for me due to having a few days away last week.

Seems to be going OK so far as I have just got back from weekly shop with most of what's needed for this week and just 2 more shops before payday. With just under half my budget still this should be fine.

Grrrrrr..... just realised I forgot to get golden syrup for Twink's hobnobs. Anyone know if I can substitute anything or miss it out? If not I will get it tomorrow.

Maybe Maple Syrup? Prob give a slightly different taste but you never know?