May 2008 Grocery Challenge

angelnikki

Hi everyone :hello:

Hope you’re all getting on OK . My DS has been ill this week with a cold which has made my PVFS play up a bit . This has meant I've not been able to do much baking so I've been buying loads of junk. I'm only half way through my month and have already spent three quarters of my budget And my mum is visiting next weekend as well which means I have no idea how to plan for the meals while she's here. We will probably have a takeaway one evening. So because of this I have decided to increase this month's budget MRSMCAWBER to £350.

I've been doing a stocktake and updating my spreadsheet this afternoon I have a total of 10.5KGs of various types of flour and 7.5KGs of different sugars, 7KGs of Rice and 7KGs Pasta & Cous Cous! And 57 Tins!! :rolleyes: No wonder I'm having trouble finding room when I put the shopping away!:rotfl:

I have enough food in the house for a month at least, so for the rest of this month and next month I will be doing a store cupboard challenge. I will only buy fresh stuff like fruit, veg, milk, eggs, cheese, bread etc and NOTHING ELSE. Unless its on offer Wish me luck!

Oh and I've worked out that our average cost of meat per family meal for us is now 66p (and I have enough in the freezer for 30 meals!) I'm well chuffed with this :A

Nikki
x

angelatgraceland

YoungBean wrote: »

(I do like your name, even if you do make me feel ancient lol)

Hehe, thank you!

I did want my username to have Sooz in it somewhere, but all taken up! *tsk*

So YoungBean was the first thing that came into my head!

I woke up this morning feeling alot better about our money situation. Went out today with the OH to play snooker, demanded he kept EVERY receipt!! haha

Now I'm home, preparing myself for the sunday roast!

Just a quick question to everyone....what are basic ingrediants for Yorkshire Puds... for two people???

I always do it my mums way, and make enough mix for 20+ yorkshires!!!

Well youngbean, I would make the complete big batch and freeze the rest-it will save you time and effort(and washing up)over the next few weeks if you have room in your freezer for them. Also, yorkys go with so many other meals-doesnt just have to be sunday roasts!

Ive just made a couple of lots of wholemeal sultana muffins for today and lunchboxes-a few will go in the freezer for another day. Thats how I fill it-a bit here and a bit there!
Also made some homemade pitta bread. DD23 had some filled with cheese as a snack but the rest are for the freezer for when I next have curry.
Yoghurt maker on-cheapo trifle setting in the fridge(the sunday norm). going to make pizza dough for tomorrow now-as I bought the SP mushrooms in Asda yester day.
Went to Somerfield for a Daily Mail today as DH wanted the Macca cd. Bought 6 loves of small Warburtons for 24p each-well might as well!
Resisted the price cut sarnies as I can do them a lot cheaper! Im now like a walking calculator when I shop. But I dont feel sad-I feel educated. Lol!:j :j :j

angelnikki

pink_princess wrote: »

hi all i need some help we ve had a chicken dinner and i ve got loads of meat left over and i used the bones to do stock as well but does any one have a way of turning these into a casserole as were sick of soup since starting this challenge
were way over budget so i want to use them for a family meal it doesn t have to be casserole just any hearty family meal that you s can recommend would be great
thanx in advance for any suggestions

How about this?

Chicken Casserole/Stew

1 tbsp olive oil
4 chicken portions
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
450ml chicken stock
2 tsp mixed herbs

Heat the oil and cook the chicken pieces over a high heat for a few minutes, turning to get all sides golden.
Remove chicken from the pan to a plate while you cook the onion in the same oil and heat until soft.
Add the rest of the ingredients including the chicken to the pan, stir well and bring to a simmer. Put the lid on and leave to simmer on a low heat for one and a half hours.
Mash a couple of the pieces of potato down to thicken the gravy a little and serve straight to the table.

You probably wouldnt need to cook it for as long as your meat has already been cooked. Maybe 30-40 mins until the veg is nice and soft. you could also add a tin of beans or chopped tomatoes aswell to bulk it out further. HTH

Nikki
x

victory

procrstinator I always used to buy the expensive teflon M&S school trousers and he would end up with a hole in them or outgrown them so started to buy Asda £5 ones and they are just fine, last the same, look the same, wash the same and the best bit is the do not need ironing

savingfrotravel freecycle is a great idea for your freezer, that is exactly what I need after last nights practically booting the freezer shut to get the whoopsies in:rotfl: :rotfl: seems a crime not to make the most of them but I also knew I would have a real fight on my hands to get them in but bought them anyway:rolleyes:

lil-me I have started doing that with the washing powder only putting half in and also with the softener as I was very wasteful and whatever came out was what I put in, very wasteful:rolleyes:

youngbean you will be just fine on this thread, it is so great to get loads of tips, recipes, advice, it really saves a lot of money:D

bigmumma I started buying Mr T value toilet rolls, OH does not seem to mind, strangely they are not very asthetically pleasing:rotfl: but they do what they are supposed to do for a fraction of the price and after all it is literally money dowin the toilet:rotfl: :rotfl:

mandy-moo 9p each:j :j :j :j now you know how I felt last night with my whoopsie:D

catnap53 we do that only buy the weekend papers and now I never buy the weekly mags, fortunately if my boss remembers she eventually brings them in for me so it is a free read and then she lets me donate them to my local doctors surgery or the local hospital so others can benefit too:D

I am going to make the coconut biscuits, tomorrow is pizza on a whoopsies Tase the difference ones for £1 instead of £5:D

angelatgraceland

pink_princess wrote: »

hi all i need some help we ve had a chicken dinner and i ve got loads of meat left over and i used the bones to do stock as well but does any one have a way of turning these into a casserole as were sick of soup since starting this challenge
were way over budget so i want to use them for a family meal it doesn t have to be casserole just any hearty family meal that you s can recommend would be great
thanx in advance for any suggestions

Hi-I freeze my chicken stock. Freeze in containers then you can transfer blocks of stock into plastic bags when solid. I then use a couple of blocks of stock when I make a sausage casserole, lasagne or curry-whatever you fancy. Ive not even tried them for soup yet as its no really my favourite.

Rowan9

Am doing well this month. Went to Morrisons today and got sorted for the week + Sunday paper and it came to about £24. We still have loads of fruit and veg from our delivery box. Have made soup with the left over veggies and their stock from today's lunch and also defrosting a chicken and leek soup that gilliana made before she ventured north of the border again, so I'm going to add those 2 together. That will be tea tomorrow night, with scrambled eggs on toast for main course. I have quite a few classes tomorrow so expect to be shattered. This preparation work and menu planning is such a hunger saver!!
Nearly there everyone - keep on keeping on
w

ed to add- nearly there everyone? What planet am I on - it's only 18th!! aarrrgggg

pink_princess

thanx angelnikki and angelatgraceland i ve never thought of taking things out of the containers once there frozen and my freezers full of them i ll have to do that to free up more space i ve already got loads of stock in the freezer that i haven t used yet so i d rather not put anymore in
i only started this challenge last month and already have so much stock and soup that if my freezer defrosted id have my own kitchen size tidal wave lol
the casserole recipie sounds lovely i think i ll try that tomorrow but could i be a pest and ask for the sausage casserole recipie as well please (told you i was new at this )

Bargain_Rzl

Pinkprincess/angelatgraceland - what I do (following another OSer's suggestion) is line my containers with freezer bags to begin with, before pouring the stock/soup in. Then when they're frozen you can just take the bag out and put in the freezer on its own...

Incidentally, I think I'm still pretty much on budget for this month's spends :j

angelnikki

hi pink princess you could just replace the chicken in my recipe with cooked sausages to make sausage casserole. Or you could do:

Sausage Casserole

Brown off the sausages under the grill and then cut into bitesize chunks.
Add the sausages to a pan along with a tin of baked beans and a tin of chopped tomatoes.
Add a sqirt of tomato puree/ketchup and a tsp mixed herbs then simmer for 10-20 mins
Great served with rice or mashed potatoes.

Nikki
x

skintscotslass

pink princess - I tend to make chicken risotto with my left over chook. If I have any left after that, I make chicken and pasta with a tomato sauce. You could also make chicken sarnies for lunches.