May 2008 Grocery Challenge

FelineFantastic

the_cat wrote: »

I would line the tubs you have with a large freezer bag before putting it into the freezer. Then when it's frozen you can just bag it up and re-use the freezer tub. Then you could slowly get a stock of margarine tubs etc and pay nothing:D

Oooh this is a genius idea! I have just been to Poundland (not pundland as I said previously!!) and got a stock of the plastic containers like the takeaways use- these are a great size for my fairly limited sized freezer but lining them and then re- using them is even better

Feeling very chuffed I asked this question now- thank you all for suggestions. Also going to add porridge oats to the shopping list for tonight- and obivously to the spag bol in the week!! :T

clair2305

....on the day's posts. So are there lots of you refilling your Heinz bottle with value...I did fine it funny. I don't buy value toiletries, I buy store brand and my own comes out of my money, not the household budget. I buy nice loo rolls and alway try to buy them when on offer.

As for ketchup and sauces, I try the value ones and if I like them then that's what I stick with. I don't like ketchup, so the only one in the house is value. Mr S's brown sauce is nice and I did try the Smartprice pasta last week, which was nice. Basically it's thinner, so cooks quicker and to be honest, if you are want meals that are less stodgy then it's perfect.

I noticed 1kg basmati rice which is £1.45 in Mr A, is £1.29 in Aldi and £1.25 in Iceland.

Still waiting for tomatoes to start sprouting...rhubarb is on the way and started the second stage of my mushrooms last nite. Got some more compost so gonna do my lollo rosso lettuce. And next week the housing come and take the shed we've been trying to get them to take for years (asbestos) so I can get cracking in the garden.

Made twinks hobnobs last night, 30+, they are yummy. Used the value Mr T spread as well, but will try them next time with spread with a higher fat content just for comparison. They are sitting in my lovely airtight biscuit barrel.....wonder how long for. I was surprised that DS didn't have one last nite!!! He's not normally fussy. Well that's all there will be this week, so he will have to eat them. I know DH will like them.

May try the banana flapjacks this evening and freeze them, was annoyed last week when I had to throw away half the chocolate brownie....don't tell me the teenager is getting health conscious or actually taking notice when I say don't eat everything at once.

Birthday tomorrow, so will be offline, have to get PC fixed and my cronw fitted.

Re value items and reducing your grocery bill, the way I see it is that if I can reduce my grocery bill then that means there is more money for me and my family for fun things (or for other house improvements but pref fund things)

FelineFantastic

Don't suppose someone could point me in the direction of the hobnobs recipe please- and if poss also the banana flapjacks

Sorry am busy at work and don't have time to trawl :mad:

Ax

SAVVYMUMMY_2

Just a quick update, have changed siggy already and now read all of the threads. Not sure where all the money has gone, but will check out the receipts and see if I can come down any more. It`s a constant battle with the food prices going up all the time, as well as petrol(although seperate budget for petrol). Not sure I will come under budget this month, have a feeling I will go over as the half term is almost upon us, but we shall see. Was hoping to try for £250, but I will proberly stay at £300 for next month(will let you know MrsM at end of month). I think I will have to re-think my planning and maybe try meal planning for a whole month instead of weekly, do one big monthly shop and then just get fresh items on a weekly basis. Wondering what other peoples thought were. Anyway off to pick the kiddies from school.

angelnikki

FelineFantastic If you look just below where the page numbers are at the top of the page you will see it says "search this thread" click there and type what you are looking for. HTH

angelnikki wrote: »

Twinks Homemade hobnobs
8oz sr flour
8oz sugar
8oz porridge oats

8oz margarine
1tbsp golden syrup
1tbsp hot water
1/2 tsp bic soda

mix flour, oats and sugar
melt marg, syrup and water in a pan
stir in bic soda and add to dry mix, mix well,
make smallish balls and put on greased tray and flatten slightly with a fork,
180oc Gas 4 for 15 mins,
cool on the tray, you just want them golden in oven not brown

MRSMCAWBER

Afternoon all

Just a quick update on the spend front... Nipped into the NAFFI whilst we were on the way back from the golf course -its a Germand bank holiday so everywhere else is closed...
Got quite a lot for my money..mainly thanks to the lovely chap on the checkout -who i think was doing some kind of silent protest at working the Bank holiday either that or his boss had upset him this morning :rotfl: ... or he is trying to get himself sacked ...when i checked my receipt in the car- my shopping went something like this....

• 500g waffer thin turkey... he didn't scan it
• 2 packs roast pork ... he scanned one an charged less than the whoops price
• 2 bags organic baby potatoes... he scanned 1
• frozen peas... those I paid for
• 2 x 7 hula hoops for hubby -1 was scanned
• 2 large tubs cottage cheese with chives.. 1 was scanned
• 1 bag SR flour... I paid for that
• 7 litres of milk .... 4 scanned
• 6 huge jacket potatoes -should have been 59c each... he didn't scan

In the end i paid €7.80 for nearly €30 worth of stuff the price didn't register when i paid as i had forgotten i had delicious and GF guide (seperate budget) but it bumped the price up :rotfl: Guess who i will be looking for next time i shop there...assuming he hasn't had the chop :eek:

most of the milk has been stashed in the freezer.. was getting a bit nervous as i only had 3litres left in there....feel much better now ...

Going to steam one bag of the potatoes and have it with sliced pork and salad for dinner.... all the salad leaves are coming out of the garden again :j .....any leftover potatoes will get turned into potato salad to go with tomorrows meal

All the veggies are looking rather good at the moment except for a couple of beans that are suffering a little.. but with how much i have planted a few dodgy beans i can cope with

i really need to get some stuff used up out of the freezer... but im on full scale summer menus now... so its a little more difficult.... although i am planning another thai curry soon -the one i did at the weekend was stunning...so that will use some of the many steaks i have in there :T .. and the HM sausages are going to have to come out and get turned into sausage rolls for hubby lunch box... I will come up with ideas sooner or later... luckily i have one of those daft mind that remembers pretty much everything that i have in the house so no rumaging through the freezer/cupboards :j

right i had better make a move..hope everyone is having a good day
Im going to sit with my new cookery mags this afternoon and my old ones and try and come up with junes meal plan... to try and use up as much as i can....

Frugaldom

Quick hello to everyone.

I'm still on this monthly challenge but have merged my signature, as I have too many challenges to fit them all in now. I've dropped my grocery target from £100 per month to £1000 over the full year and hope I can succeed by padding it all out with homegrown veggies through summer/autumn. I've been bulk buying but still need milk, cheese & eggs. (I can't keep a nanny goat and hens in the garden of my rental but if I could, I would. :rotfl: )

Stick with it, it's geat fun seeing how everyone else manages and pinching their ideas - the 'twinks' can be found most days in my biscuit tin and get made at least once a week here. They vary in colour because I only bake them whilst oven is heating up or cooling down for/from dinner but it seems to work. Back to developing the herb garden now.

clair2305

FelineFantastic wrote: »

Don't suppose someone could point me in the direction of the hobnobs recipe please- and if poss also the banana flapjacks

Sorry am busy at work and don't have time to trawl :mad:

Ax

FF, here's the banana flapjacks recipe


125g butter or marg
3 tbsp sunflower oil
125g demerara sugar
2 tbsp maple syrup (you can use golden syrup but I think maple healthier?)
1 or 2 very ripe bananas (or 100g chewy banana chips)
200g porridge

melt butter, oil, sugar, syrup over a low heat. Mash your bananas with a fork and add to the pan or add you banana chips snipped into small pieces. Add the oats and stir well. Put the mixture in a tin and press down evenly. Bake for about 20 mins 180C/350F/gas 4. Let it cool for 10 mins then cut into about 12 flapjacks."

I'll let you know how mine go.

Whenever I see a recipe on here I like I copy and paste the text into another document. I have a document on email with all the recipes I want to try

THE WEEKEND IS NEARLY HERE :j :j :j :j :j

BigMummaF

OK...hang on tight cuz this is gunna be a doozie!

Loo Rolls..MrT value were not very well received by the offspring, so I've a 4-pack of Floralys 4x240 sheets @ £1-49 in Lidl...if they're given the thumbs up, I think they had 9-pk for £3-35.
Freezer Boxes..Line the box/container/dish with a freezer bag or similar BEFORE putting the stuff in if possible. Once the food is frozen, lift out the bag & you have the container to use again whilst the frozen contents will stack easily in the freezer. I have also lined the dish with double layer of foil before making up a lasagne to freeze, just unwrapping the foil & putting the food back into the dish to reheat it.......does this make any sense
Recipe Requests..to AngelatGraceland for pitta SIZE=1]must have missed that one![/SIZE][SIZE=2 & GreenT for soap please:p 3 out of the 4 of us have sensitive skin, so I would be very interested in finding something we can use effectively without paying over the odds. At the mo, we are using MrT 'Pure' because Pears has become a rareity in both price & location:mad: [/SIZE]
OT..hope you feel better really soon Lainz:oI've not felt 'right' for months now & it does annoy me so, but there are a good few folk who will say I've never been right in my life:undecided The other thing is, does anyone know what's happened to MrBadExample? Does he still post here somewhere? Oooh, & what about our other male challengees--not heard from them for a while have we:rolleyes:
Spends..Lidl=£13-09; MrS=£39-50; Somehopes=£3-26:mad: ; MrT=£45-79:mad: :mad:
Got some whoopsies in MrS---think they were TTD fresh burgers with--supposedly--cheese & onion in them, but I'm blowed if I found any in mine!; 2pks of dill & some chillies for Iggy, plus they're Bounty k rolls are BOGOF.
MrT's total includes Phillie cheese BOGOF; couple of the frozen bbq range & 6 clothing items for a b'day prezzie...all reduced in the sale plus an extra 20% off:T BUT they've charged me full price for a pair of jeans so hopefully I'll get four quid back:mad:
The Somehopes was a chicken pie that one of the offspring thought was on offer but wasn't.....a little more tuition needed there methinks;)

Talking of BBQ.....does anyone have a recommendation for a good marinade, or better still is it fairly easy to do yourself? The offspring only discovered the delights of the 'full works' last summer, so again it's all new to me. Bludding pain int I:o but I do try to help with traditional UK food when I can:) Does it involve honey & herbs & stuff...really want to start off mild & work up IYSWIM, cuz they don't eat chilli con carne! Tough that bit of info might give you some idea of what I'm up against:wall:

FelineFantastic

clair2305 wrote: »

I'll let you know how mine go.

Whenever I see a recipe on here I like I copy and paste the text into another document. I have a document on email with all the recipes I want to try

THE WEEKEND IS NEARLY HERE :j :j :j :j :j

Thanks v much- already cut, pasted and printed!! :j

Am loving all these receipes- although I am not sure my waistline will! Have to restrict myself to one very gorgeous treat a day :rotfl:

Off to shop soon- list in hand!