May 2008 Grocery Challenge

mandy_moo_1

rachelmk wrote: »

Just a quick hello....
Managed to spend nothing over the weekend (but did do a shop on Friday) and still have plenty of fresh stuff to see me through to the weekend.

I have a bit of a dilemma - Tesco sent me a £10 off voucher today (when you spend £50) that expires on May 18th.
I don'tneed tons of stuff but wonder whether I should do a big stock-up shop to use the voucher?
I could budget £20 from this month amnd £20 from next month for a total of a £40 spend?
What do you think?

Good offer or a waste of money?

i'd probably do what you suggest...budget £20 from this mth, and £20 from nxt mth, but only stock up on stuff that you KNOW you need!! if it was me i would stock up on dog food, pasta, flour, yeast, meat that can be frozen, cheese.....really just things i would buy normally over the course of a month, just to take advantage of the tenner off

bythe way, is that your little baby in the piccy? i can't fit a photo on of all 3 of mine!

WelshWoofer

Thanks for the reply
That's my pup in the picture although he doesn't look like that anymore now he's 4 and a big boy!
He's generally scruffy, mucky and eating anything he can get his paws on!

nessquic80

free tea tonight one of hubbys work mates goes fishing and had a good catch yesterday...so trout and new pots,yummy:D

ecangel24

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

It's too hot here to cook again !!

Any ideas for using up a savoy cabbage (the crinkly one) and an aubergine and loads of mushrooms also 3 swedes and a bag of green peppers(don't like the green ones raw

Have turned carrots and leeks into carrot soup


And grated some carrots for salad for dinner tonight and cooked some new pots to turn into potato salad

thould be a nsd form as staying home all day and [strike]gardening[/strike] weeding


bread is baking,gammon in the oven for tonights salad before it gets any hotter in the kitchen

hey shaz,

i'm abit of a lurker, but love thinking about what to do with random bits and bobs!

how about,
a vege mousaka? Make tomato sauce with mushrooms and peppers. Boil some potatoes. Cover potatoes with sauce. Then slices of cooked aubergine then a layer of nat youghurt mixed with an egg S&P and parmesan if you have it and bake. We had it the other day when it was sunny and it went down really well.

Or how about a roasted veg cous cous pasta or rice salad. Aubergine, Peppers Onion Carrots swede maybe and loads of fresh herbs. I made a delicious dressing the other day ( well we liked it )

• 4 large cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled
• 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil, for the dressing, plus 2 tablespoons for carrots
• 2 pounds long, tender young carrots cut into 3/4-inch slices on the diagonal
• 3 tablespoons water or as needed
• Pinch of sugar, if desired
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 small bunch flat-leaf parsley, leaves only, finely chopped

obviously you could adjust depending how much veg you had. Just drizzle on the hot veg and then leave them to cool slightly. I had it for lunch the next couple of days as well.

For the swede, roasted swede soup is really good. We weren't sure but I gave it ago and it was great! Might be too hot now but you could always freeze it untill the weather breaks (hopefully not for a while yet!)

you could maybe use the swede to make up some cornish pasties to keep in the freezer to take out for picnics in the summer.

to use the wrinkly cabbage I'd suggest a vege hotpot.

Soften leeks or onions. Add creme fraiche the cabbage and mushrooms. Cover with a thinly sliced potatoes. Top potatoes with some cheese and some thyme and bake in the oven till potatoes crispy. I use cooked potatoes to speed up the process. Goes really with with gammon or sausages.

thats all i cn think of right now. Hope some of its useful! and sorry for the long post.

Phoolgrrrl

Off to MrT tonight and hoping for whoopsies, wont be there till 7 ish. Made a list and we only need bread, milk, sandwhich meat and fruit everything else is in freezer/cupboard. But we also need tin foil cling filim and freezer bags because of that!
Planing on makin weeks lunches as well. I remember reading that grated cheese froze ok so cheese and ham and cheese and pickle sandwiches is the plan.
Do ready made sandwhich fillers freeze ok? Just in case any are reduced

saffouri

Good afternoon all. I'm having an unexpected NSD today as my neck and shoulder muscles are all in spasm - never realised how useful neck muscles are until they hurt whenever I move! had spent up to now in bed so being at the computer is a good step. But it's meant I cancelled my work today and being self-employed that means no work, no money :( at least it is slooowly getting better today... and I've been able to catch up with a few people on the phone which is a bit of a luxury!

angelnikki - I have a reliable pastry recipe - can post it once I can move down to the kitchen more easily. And my mother, bless her, always said the cold water should be ice water - maybe that helps! I make it in the food processor which is dead easy.

We have several courgettes which need eating up so I might look again at that courgette tea bread recipe.... I also make a banana tea bread which is very yummy, and even better if you've got really ripe bananas, even black ones, you can still use them in this recipe. Handy if anyone in a market or shop comes across bananas discounted because they are overripe and very ugly! I'll post this recipe too when I can.

saf

dink1

Hi guys, been to asda today, some food i bought last week wasnt up to scratch so ended up with £15 back, was feeling quite clever till I spent £26 on veg n stuff from the whoopsie aisle.:mad:

Still thats only £11 from budget DH thinks I have lost the plot, the cupboards are so full and the freezers also. just need to do my meal plan. I bought some ham now I know from you guys its safe to freeze:beer:
Theoretically I have £33 for three weeks fruit and veg (including a bank holiday!!!!!) better start cooking some treats.

Searching me Hope things are ok with you.

clair2305

....just got up-to-date with all the weekends posts. Gotta get home PC fixed.

Just spent £7.75 in Mr T, got a pack of reduced haddock to put in freezer.

Like many of you, I stocked up with wintery meals this month and am now spending a fortune stocking up on salad, etc, so i reckon my budget this month will go to pot. DH hayfever also means he is going through the loo roll at an alarming rate!!

Giant Jaffa Cake - what am I doing wrong. I attempted to make this at the weekend, made the jelly, left it on the side for nearly an hour, poured it on the flan case and yes, it soaked straight through!!! Made jelly exactly as packet said to so not sure what happened!?!?!?!? :mad: :question:

Made jaxxy00's Chocolate weetabix Brownies and they were delicious - very sweet (should have took a pic to show you), made two batches, put one batch in freezer :j :j :j

Was gonna make herb bread but my smallest roasting tin is 11 x 8, so was a bit worried about doing this - what do people reckon, will this be ok? :question:

Bought oats, so gonna make twinks hobnobs this week, I hope to like them, but not a lover of oaty biscuits....but I know DH and DS will love them....and it will keep them away from my rich tea biccies

waiting for mushrooms to grow and tumbling toms....have to pot the lettuce as well this week, rhubarb looks like it's getting better :j


DON'T FORGET - tonight on IVT1 at 8pm watch The Tonight Programme: End of Cheap Food

chicken_pie_2

rachelmk wrote: »

Just a quick hello....
Managed to spend nothing over the weekend (but did do a shop on Friday) and still have plenty of fresh stuff to see me through to the weekend.

I have a bit of a dilemma - Tesco sent me a £10 off voucher today (when you spend £50) that expires on May 18th.
I don'tneed tons of stuff but wonder whether I should do a big stock-up shop to use the voucher?
I could budget £20 from this month amnd £20 from next month for a total of a £40 spend?
What do you think?

Good offer or a waste of money?

Hi, I have had a couple of these codes sent to me recently, seems a waste of a free £10 not to use it, I just stocked up on stuff I knew I'd need for this month even though it took me over budget in April. Meant I could aim for a lower budget in May as I already had lots of the basics in. I got things like cereal, flour, tinned tomatoes/beans, nappies, wipes, loo rolls etc. Hope that helps

saffouri

clair2305 - I made the herb bread in a loaf tin about 9 by 4 in and it was just right (was afraid it was going to rise over the top but nope)

saf