June 2008 Grocery Challenge

greent

Originally Posted by skintscotslass
Denise, I think that there are 2 Allinsons tins and I bought the wrong one! They look fairly similiar, but the one I bought is not suitable for use in a BM! Doh!!! :rotfl:

denisefowler wrote: »

Oooh, I didn't check that - may be why my bread coming out a bit stodgy in middle...:eek: will have to check when I get home...:o

I *think* the yellow tin is ok for BM, the orange for 'hand' - but am prepared to be corrected! skintscotlass - you can still use the 'wrong' one - you'll just have to make it by hand :rotfl: (have you got a food processor with a dough attachment? - that'll do all the hard work for you, and then you can just leave it to prove and bake in t'oven)
Or you could try making the dough with the ornage in the bread maker and then leaving it to prove in a loaf tin and bake in oven - I think it's not suitable for BMs cos it's not fast acting (not sure on this one off top of my head!)

GT


GT

nessquic80

Hi all, NSD for me today, i have to go work today which is very strange as i never work mon tue wed(childcare reasons)i do thur fri sat and sun.in order to have sat of i gotta work today, never mind! NSD tomoz too as going for induction at DS new school (starts PT in september:j :j )Hopefully wont need anything till saturday which will be milk and bread oh a yoghurts(feel a trip to mr A will be worthy)
Not feelin to good today, eyes are itching like mad sneezing like a trooper...think i will get myhead down for 1/2 hour b4 picking ds up from school
Byyyyyyyyyyeeeeeee
V

Lula-Hula

Hello all,

I'm ekeing out the rations this week but made a quick trip to co op on sunday & bought 2 garlic baguettes, 5 large sausage rolls, a big packet of 'special' crisps & a tub of guacamole for £4.39 - all reduced. Could have done without it but it was quick & easy for a lunch break in between digging up concrete posts in the garden .

I usually shop on tuesday but am waiting til tomorrow & need lots of stuff like loo rolls & toothpaste so hoping for bogof's chez Mr.T , had an annoyingly expensive last week re: DD & trips, parties, new raincoat etc so my spending diary looks rubbish but I keep forgetting that this challenge is just for groceries (& cleaning & toiletries in my case) so actually I'm doing ok & should make it to June 30th within my budget & then I can plan ahead to hopefully reduce budget for July

Cloudy & windy here so shame I have no washing to do, will just have to get on with work now instead & feel pleased that grocerywise I'm on my 3rd NSD :j

greent

rachelmk wrote: »

Right, I know I can make something out of the following but I'm hopeless and need step by step instructions!:o

I have lurking in the cupboard/fridge...

Lots of dried pasta twirls
Tinned tuna
Passata carton with herbs etc
Sweetcorn
Medium half fat cheese

I know there's a pasta bake in there but I've only ever made the "out of the jar" one and am a bit nervous of just flinging it all in and having a bash myself! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hmm - must go something like this.....;)

• Cook pasta according to packet (although for bake leave slightly undercooked) & drain
• pour some passata in a pan & heat to reduce/ thicken (although that's personal preference, but I find it too runny otherwise)
• drain tuna & break it up into small pieces
• drain sweetcorn
• add pasta, tuna, sweetcorn & passata all together in a dish & shove in oven around 170 degrees for 10-15 mins
• meanwhile grate some cheese. when above time is up, open oven and liberally scatter grated cheese over dish.
• cook for a further 10 mins
• eat!

times may be slightly off, cos I don't really time stuff properly - I'm a 'it looks done' kind of person! Nor do I weigh/ measure all the time

You could also (if you have any in your fridge) fry off some chopped onion and add this - maybe with some chopped peppers. Oh, and some dried chilli flakes added to the passata too!


I don't think you can really go 'wrong' throwing everything into a dish for a pasta bake


GT

Flylady_Flower

greent wrote: »

I *think* the yellow tin is ok for BM, the orange for 'hand' - but am prepared to be corrected! skintscotlass - you can still use the 'wrong' one - you'll just have to make it by hand :rotfl: (have you got a food processor with a dough attachment? - that'll do all the hard work for you, and then you can just leave it to prove and bake in t'oven)
Or you could try making the dough with the ornage in the bread maker and then leaving it to prove in a loaf tin and bake in oven - I think it's not suitable for BMs cos it's not fast acting (not sure on this one off top of my head!)

GT

Thanks GreenT
I will check when I get home (no, not wasting time on the computer at work..., :whistle: but it's soooo boring...:rotfl: )

I usually only make my dough in the breadmaker and then put into tin to rise before baking, so if I'm wrong, I might get away with it (fingers crossed?)

Thanks anyway, I need to do some baking today, on last loaf from freezer at the moment...:eek:

FelineFantastic

Hurrah its nearly lunchtime!!

Off to Lidls for flour :j

Rachelmk-- go with what greent said- thats what I would do- and if you don't reduce the passata cook longer uncovered (I have a fan oven so it dries things out quicker I find)

DeniseFowler-- whats freecycle?? Sorry its another idiot question *puts on dunces hat and sits in corner*

Hmmm- should do a bit of work now I guess!

oooooh forgot to say earlier but we have three potato sprouts now in our tub--- _party_ :dance:

MrsM I am declared and will start new month here (as usual being awkward!!)

JULY £200 again- am determined to come in under this time!!

WelshWoofer

Thanks GreenT and FF.
Will let you know how it goes!

mummygems

Not quite finished reading through all the posts yet but again some excellent MS ideas and recipes so thank you.

I have again blown my budget this month - feel pretty [EMAIL="!!!!"]!!!![/EMAIL] about it at the moment as I have yet to come in under or on budget these past few months. One thing this month is that we stocked up on alcohol for a few parties we are hosting in the next few months so £60 was the alcohol but the rest was just grocery and I am ashamed to admit that a lot of the things we could have done without.

My new GC month starts on Saturday and I am bloody well determined to stay within budget and will start writing everything down that we buy. I am in the middle of writing down everything in our cupboards (have done the freezer) and will ensure we only buy the things we NEED rather than what we WANT which I think will make a huge difference. As we have 2 parties in July to cater for I will up my budget but I am planning on making a lot of the things myself (i.e. all the cake/biscuit type things, breadsticks (thanks MrsM), mini pizzas etc) I must also make sure that I dont buy more than is needed as I have a terrible habit of buying too much for parties and then the food gets wasted.

Right off to read the rest of the messages and start writing a meal plan for the next month using all we have in already.

MrsM I will have finished this months grocery challenge on £380 - gah!

scotsaver

*BigBird* wrote: »

Also got most of the week's shopping in Lidl when I popped down there at lunchtime - must go back there more often. I got back to the office and one of my colleagues gave me a really pitying look and asked what was wrong, why did I have to shop at Lidl?? Think she thinks I'm destitute or something :rotfl: Put her straight tho - told her it's cos I've got better things to do with my money than line the fat cat pockets of Mr T, Mr S, Mr A etc!

Hi *BigBird* - your colleague obviously didn't see a recent TV prog where they had a guy from "Which" who said that Lidl products are on a Par with Sainsbury's - the reason they are cheaper is that they are a worldwide company so buy in bigger bulk, keep Staff costs down to a minimum and have no frills layout in Supermarket.

Have updated my total, getting close but Freezers and Cupboards are full so should still make it.

Have made Bread, 24 individual bakewells, some of which I have put in the freezer, cheese straws for lunchboxes and dough for Pizza tonight as DD2 has a friend coming over after School before going to Brownies, shall serve salad with it and Baby New Potatoes that are on special in Tesco at the moment - 75p for a 1kg bag:T

Had a beef curry on Monday using leftover Sunday beef, however I used one of those 4p jars from Asda, usually make my own sauce but at that price I couldn't resist but DD1 said it was a bit spicy - I still have another 2 jars in the cupboard so how can I make it cooler, do I add yoghurt or cream, any suggestions would be great - thanks in advance.:A

Flylady_Flower

FelineFantastic wrote: »

DeniseFowler-- whats freecycle?? Sorry its another idiot question *puts on dunces hat and sits in corner*

Ha ha, if you're in the corner then I'm joining you... I only found out about it about 2 months ago off my friend, now I'm never off and forever spreading the word.

It's part of the Yahoo groups and is a place where people advertise stuff they no longer want for free! :j You can post stuff you want too, so asking for a BM is fine. you sign up to your local one and then you receive emails everytime someone lists something for offer or request. Here is the link if it helps: http://groups.yahoo.com/
Just put in freecycle and your town in the search engine and it should come up, then just sign up (you can browse first to get an idea of what is on offer).

Happy searching,
Denise

Forgot to add, it's a great way of recycling (hence the name!) and people put some amazing things on there for free so well worth a look, plus if you have anything you no longer want and can't be bothered to take it to the tip, put it on...