June 2008 Grocery Challenge

curly_cabbage

Well doing ish good, today is the 2nd NSD, no reason to go to the supermarket but, dosn't always mean i won't suddenly "need" to go, but i will have to be strong and stay away. We still have quiet a few meal plans which should last me until the end of the first week in July.

Think i will need to post every day without fail so hopfully it will keep me on track...................Maybe

CC

kittynortheast

NSD today, I'm still within budget, but just discovered it's a 5 week month in my little world drat, so might struggle -here's to trying though LOL. I've plenty of bases for meals to last so it's just perishables I'll need, will make some cakes and bics to pad out packed lunches for DD and DS as have been stocking up on stork and anchor butter which has been on offer in Mr Ts.

Generally have had a good OS week, have harvested (and eaten!!) our first rocket, salad leaves(although there aren't many) and coriander which is gorgeous in salads. We've had homemade pizzas, tortillas (Thanks Mrs MAC) and quiche tonight with leftover gammon (done in the slowcooker) from yesterday which we had with cauli cheese and lincoln new pots yum yum!! Huge chilli in the pot for tomorrow padded out with carrots and courgette - am not keen on kidney beans but have always suffered them until recently I think there was a bean flavour to the thread and I decided to try out some different ones - Yeh! blackeyed beans are much nicer and a huge tin of those went in as well (before I would add a token minimum of the dreaded kidney beans!!)

So thanks again everyone for such an inspiring thread, I always have been a cook from scratch person but now feel I have move up a level or three, I would never have made my own quiches, wraps etc... before and saved money with it Who would have thought!.
Kitty X

galadriel

poppyoscar wrote: »

how do you do chocolate for the month? in my house any chocolate which is there is chocolate for the day, and I have nobody to blame but me and the cat - I MUST speak to him about that!!


:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

PO xx

mmm I was wondering this too ........:rotfl:

angelnikki

OrkneyStar wrote: »

Just a quickie....DS is 1 on Wednesday- anyone got any recipes for a birthday cake but with not too much sugar in ? Long shot I know lol.

Have you thought about doing muffins instead of a cake? as these use less sugar.

Here's the recipe I use:

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I make lots of muffins. I use SR flour and baking powder, as I like them to rise lots. My main tip would be to measure out dry ingredients, then add the wet at the last minute, and get them in the oven. That way the raising ingredients retain all their oooomph!

My basic recipe:

300g SR flour
1Tbsp baking powder
80 g sugar (any kind - depends on other ingredients)

2 large eggs
220ml milk
100g melted butter

Pour into 12 muffin cases and bake at gas 6 for 30 mins. Eat fresh or freeze - they don't keep nearly as well as other cakes.

Favourite flavours:
2 bananas and 100g choc chips
100g raspberries, 100g white choc chips
200g blueberries, top with demerara

Nikki
x

galadriel

Couple of spends yesterday, went dogwalking and called in a lovely dog-friendly cafe for bacon cobs and a cup of tea. Then went to Tesco in the afternoon. Spent just over £30 in groceries and bought a bargain pair of work trousers for a fiver - free if you count the £5 off using the morrisons voucher.

Had DS no 1 staying for the weekend so loads of stuff eaten - he had at least three tins of soup, a tin of tuna, loads of pasta and rice and who knows what out of the freezer. Plus a whole loaf of my home made bread that he had laughed at me for baking.

Nospend day today as I didn't leave the office, but may need to stock up on fruit tomorrow as only one banana left.

arghindebt

hi! Can I join this or will there be a july one soon I can be added to?

I desperately want to pay off debts and this would be a good place to start. I currently spend £75 a week on grocery shopping (online from tesco). Plus odd bits during the week when I inevitably run out! I have the disadvantage that I don't drive, and don't have a freezer. I've had a brief nose through the thread, what target should I be working to and where can I get tips please? Thanks

ifonlyitwaseasier

evening all!

welcome arghindebt, the best thing i can suggest is to keep all your receipts for whats left of this month and then add up what your weekly spend is and then maybe take a fiver off per week to start? have a read through some of the thread and you'll get lots of ideas

new recipe for you all, i was reading thro an old good food mag and came across a pea and bacon chowder.

now i only had frozen green beans so i have improvised a little

1 onion (5p?)
massive double handful green beans/peas (10p but home grown would of course be free)
chicken stock (hm so 2-3p?)
oil (1 tsp 2p?)
3 rashers bacon (3 rashers from a 30 rasher pack that cost £5, so 50p)

grill bacon. add tsp oil to pan, chop onion and add to pan, fry off for a min or two, add beans/peas, add stock, cook til veg is tender and blitz up til not too many big lumps, i left a few as i like some lumps in my soup.
serve the soup in bowls/mugs/however you like, with the broken up bacon sprinkled on top

tastes yummy and was ultra filling.

jane130

Thanks all , Ihave always insisted on buying good quality food - not nessesarily brand names but my sausages have to have a high % of meat in them and I've always bought free range chicken so its going to be a little difficult to switch totally to basics But ...

.../ i have just done my online shop for this week and including a few bits for baking and its come to £42 plus delivery ( my mums to busy this week ) that inludes stuff for packed lunches and lots of fruit . we are out for lunch on saturday so thats given me a head start ( paid for it months ago)


It does mean we'll be having roast chicken two weeks in a row but dh will just have to get used to it - I am even hoping to have some leftover for the next days pasta bake ( from scratch) so portions will get smaller too.

I haven;t put any bread on the shopping list because i have strong bread flour and yeast in the cupboard and i am going to make it ( just have to find the time )

I've had a search around the board for recipies and already made some easy oaty biscuits - only a thrid of a portion becasue we were out of oats but it will mean the kids can have more than just a sandwich tomorrow .

so our menu for next week reads as follows

Thursday - not yet decided - something with chicken
friday - spag bol homemade from scratch bulked out with corgette and grated carrot
saturday - out for a bbq
Sunday - roast chicken , stuffing , roast spuds, cabbage , cauli and carrots
Monday - cheesy pasta/ pasta with veggies or pasta bake - depending who you are and what you'll eat ( essentially is all the same meal with bits left out)
Tuesday - home made burgers with homemade spicy wedges
wed - jacket spuds with tuna mayo or beans and cheese ( fussy !!!!!! will have pizza )

I have also bought ham , cheese and eggs for sandwich fillings and lots of fruit to accompany the sandwiches and home baked goodies in the lunch boxes. Hopefully we won;t have to buy anything else during the week other than milk

Sunny_Donny

Hi All

NSD for me - hopefully won't need to go til Wednesday when I will need fruit from Lidl and if BIL and SIL are coming for tea on Thursday will need onions and garlic for h/m lasagne (bulked out of course with mushrooms from freezer, tomatoes andanything else I can find to throw in).

roasted Chicken liver recipe
large roasting tin
add in chicken livers - i get pots from Mr T - usually stick in 2 pots of this
2 onions - chopped thickly
red, green and yellow peppers cut into strips
mushrooms
roast in oven for approx 30-40 mins

put on a pan of rice to cook

when roasted bits done for 20 mins, add in tin of chopped tomatoes, or fresh
chopped tomatoes for last 10-20 minutes.
Add in any herbs you like

Serve over the rice

Usually do too much of course, so lots available to freeze after for lunch to take to work

lainz

Ok - I definately have a hoarding complex :cool:

I have a full cupboard and freezer (in fact I have to eat more stuff out of it as I can barely get anything in ) I have my meals planned to the end of this month and although I went to Mr W on Sat and got some storecupboard stuff as I had a MOC I am busy writing a list of stuff to get when I get paid (on the 27th!)

I'm trying to stay out of the supermarkets (although am going to go to Aldi on Wed for some of their super 6 f & v, and as it'll be around 4.30 there may not be much to tempt me:rotfl: )

I know I'm not the only one on here with the same complex - in fact I think I found a thread the other day which seemed to consist of single people with seige complex...... must go and join them :rotfl: