June 2008 Grocery Challenge

Mrs_Toast

Hi finding my feet.

Thanks very much for the advice. I know I can get to Nottingham OK so should be OK for petrol. If not I'll ask my sister to contribute as I'm taking her too. The thing about a wedding outfit I already have, I've lost so much weight in the last year I can hardly fit into anything. The only clothes I've got are winter work clothes. I'll try Peacocks for an outfit because I like them and I'll definitely be going into Thorntons. I'm also looking forward to the Pouns Shop in Nottingham. I don't have one where I live and I think their brilliant. I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks

findingmyfeet

mrs toast- you should have mentioned the weight loss first, many congratulaions, you deserve a new outfit for all your effort.

fizzel81

need to add 13.42 to this months challenge, did spend 28.27, take off 9.00 for my vouchers and then 3.33 for buying 10 muller corners (this is boys weekly treat for this week) 1.24 for my yoghurts, 40p for buying 2 bags of spuds and 88 on milk 2 for £2


picked up 18 free range eggs for 50p so going to be baking lots (untill bag of flour runs out) and i will be eating lots of egg based dinners the boys will be having sausages or chicken based,

this shop also included 4 packs butter, 10 courner yogs, 8 shape yogs, potatoes, a loaf of bread (half price bloomer), then my fruit and veg

so feeling pleased, have a full fridge enough food for the rest of the month bar the top up of fruit,veg,milk etc, my full cupboards and freezer are lasting longer than i thought (but ive bulked out further than i ever have before), i have had dinner brought for me twice and eaten at my dads 5 times this month though (maybe thats why its going so well lol)

LearningToSave.

Pip-squeak wrote: »

Hi all
Denisefowler 'this seems to be in all boxes so anyone know anything good to do with chard? do I treat it same as spinach?'

I grow chard and use it just like spinach. The white ribs in the middle take a bit longer to cook and sometimes it is worth ripping the greens off and cooking the ribs a bit first before adding the greens. I use it for potato and chard curry. Its great cooked with a little nutmeg and eaten with eggs and iIalso put it in a potato and broad bean burger that I make. You probably get the idea that I am veggie. If anyone has room in their veg patch it is great to grow as it lasts all winter (in Surrey). Also use the young leaves in salad at this time of year when the lettuce is still small.
Hope that helps.:j

id love the recipie for the potato and broad bean burgers please!
we have loads from our allotment would be nice to try something different.

Flylady_Flower

Mrs_Toast wrote: »

Hi Girls,

I'm new to this site but I think it's great. I'm planning on doing the July Grocery Challenge but I was after some advise to last until pay day. I have a whole 80 pounds left but I need to but a wedding outfit with that too. My husband and I gave ourselves a budget this month and I've not touched my old student overdraft at all this month which I'm so chuffed about. I need that money to stretch to petrol from Cheshire to Nottingham and back, some fridge food if required, a wedding outfit and a present for my Gramps who's not very well. Do you knowledgable lot think I can do it?

Hi Mrs Toast and welcome to the site...:T

There are loads of great ideas on here how to save with your grocery spend, I think a few people have told you about places to get a great outfit from at a fraction of the price, but have you tried second hand shops? I know it sounds cheap, but sometimes they do some really great outfits that are virtually brand new for about £5-£10 - leaving you loads for a lovely pair of shoes to go with them!:D (Quick tip - if you have a really posh area near you, go to the second hand shops there, you get some really nice pieces and it's well worth the drive out!)

Well done on the weight loss too, I know it's hard to do - I have put on a stone over the last year (boredom in work!) and am finding it really difficult - mind, I know I will loose a lot of it when I change jobs next week as I will be more active and certainly less bored....

mandy_moo_1

welcome to Mrs Toast this'll be the best thing you do, joining us, cos there's loads of ways to shave bits off your grocery money, and we all keep each other motivated

denise re: takeaways.....you asked if anyone includes them in the GC...well i don't cos i can't afford them full-stop! if DD18 and DS15 want something like that, they get HM pizza or HM burgers

BigMummaF i've just started to buy FC milk, and watering it down without telling anyone what they don't know, won't harm them!!!

Ess-six hope you have a great holiday, and come back raring to get back to the challenge!!

ifonlyitwaseasier thanks for the weetabix recipe. i'd actually copied/pasted this one ages ago, but i'd forgotten how easy it is to make!

i've just put a ginger cake in the BM to bake. i've got the MRFB so the pan is just the right size. here's the recipe if anyone fancies it...

175g / 1 & 1/2 cups plain flour
1tsp ginger
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarb
1/2 tsp mixed spice
75g / 6 tbsp brown sugar
50g butter/marg
75g golden syrup
40g black treacle
7 tbsp/ 105ml milk
1 egg

remove the kneading blade and line base of bread pan with greaseproof paper
in a bowl mix the flour, ginger, baking powder, bicarb, & mixed spice
melt the sugar, treacles, & butter in a pan gently ( i put the pan on the scales, zero it, then put treacle/syrup in it to weigh it)

mix wet mix into dry mix in the bowl
add milk and egg and mix well

pour into bread pan and set to bake only setting and set timer to 50 mins

test with a skewer, then cool in tin for 10 mins before turning out onto wire tray

this cake will last about a week in a tin, and it gets moister the longer you leave it

teedy23

:beer: hi all, haven't been in as often as I would like the past couple of weeks, this is due to running around like a strangled chicken doing ms,s, or as I call it, getting fed for free. Been doing a lot of burger shops and counteracting this with healthy sandwich shops and free fruit from employer. Also a couple of wine shops thrown in. On the 19th and 20th I had to visit Tesco (coupons you see) I needed printer cartridges too, these are expensive eh ! Ok so spent £17.56 should have been £39.86 a good saving there you must agree. been mostly eating out of the freezer, apart from m/shopping, so thats it for the spends. Got some really posh nosh too, smoked salmon in Laphriog, blue stilton, fudge cones lol. and some nice houmous dips, lamb burgers, chocolate trifles ect. made a few quid in points too, more to put to next years hols. Hope you all doing well xx;)

Anitaj73

Need help with bread please.....

Ok breadmaker has done the dough bit and it stays in there for an hour rising......I have just taken it out gave it a bit of a knead and put in loaf tin....
Do i now bung it in oven OR leave to stand a bit longer if so how long please??

Thanx Anita xx

MRSMCAWBER

Hi anita..
whack it in its tin...cover with a carrier bag (like a tent) and leave to rise until its about 1-2" above the top of the tin about 45 mins-1 hr..just keep an eye on it ..then wang it in the preheated oven

nessquic80

Anitaj73, if it was me id let it rise again then put in the oven!
Went to wickes today to return some stuff and somehow i found the strength to walk right past aldi's i could do with fruit, yoghurts and milk but i dont NEED it.the tin cupboard is going down well too. for lunch we had tinned hot dog sausage wrapped up in tortillas, well i didnt have any rolls so made the best of what i had, noone complained and plate were cleared!!!:D Yesterday,tinned tuna wraps with salad......i wonder what i got lurking in the bottom of the freezer, cus now the fridge and cupboards are low gonna have to make a start on that!!!