June 2008 Grocery Challenge

mumzyof2

where can i find the price tracker?

dink1

Mummy Gems - Like Linzmac says finger food at that age is the key, for the adults, cheap choc gateaus are good, (save energy whilst you can! Mr A does one for £2) hoe about smart price white rolls (mr a 24p) or hm if you are saintly cut in half and on top, cheese spread half a grape and a mandarin slice (smart price tin think is 17p) it looks special and goes down a treat. For the kids, bread sticks (think there is a recipe on here) dips (can make own) my munchkins are a little older but how about a mixture of sandwiches cut into "soldier fingers" IYKWIM. quiches, pasta salad, and chunks of cheese (not on sticks obviously) but kids do like cheddar, you can buy like skips or teddy crisps and Mr a does smartprice "dolly mixtures" they also go down well with kids in tubs. fairy cakes (hm are really cheap) with a small amount of glace icing and dont forget Jelly and ice cream. oh well am sure you can come up with more but this is a start for you, all can be made in little stages so when your little one needs you, you dont feel you cant be there for them. HTH Dink

mama67

Have gone over today but I was expecting this as I have spent nearly £25 on stuff for DS2 birthday party for Sunday, burgers/hotdogs partybags etc. - 10 x 10yr olds for football type games competitions and a bbq afterwards. This should have come from a separate budget but needed a new tyre at MOT which didn't have funds for so had to use birthday budget, I do have approx £20 each month which I now keep as bogof money since the tax credits increased after review, so this will cover the birthday stuff just about.

The only other things I think I will have to pay for now this month is one more veg box and another weeks milk and eggs so an extra £16 on top of my total so hopefully £205 in total for the month.

At least next month and month after there are no birthdays etc and although the boys are going to be off school, I might be able to recoup some as they don't mind sandwiches and nibbles during the day when it is hotter weather.

FelineFantastic

Thanks MrsM- will try the milk trick and the turning the temp lower trick

Another NSD for me btw- thats 4 in a row now- including the weekend *faints with shock*

Its hm tomato and goats cheese pasta sause tonight so easy and quick as I made a hummongous batch on Friday and have some in the frideg ready!

Flylady_Flower

Had to go shopping for eggs and a couple of bits yesterday - well I needed them for that WONDERFUL banana & lemon drizzle cake I [STRIKE]ate[/STRIKE] made yesterday... :rolleyes:

Anyway, just to let you know, some great bargains in Mr A's:

1 x Flora Buttery £1.28, 2 x Flora Buttery £1.50! (second tub only 22p - I brought 4 )
1 x Hartley Jam £0.68p, 2 x Hartley Jam £1.00! (save 36p)
1 x Heinz Baked Beans £0.52, 3 x Heinz Bakes Beans £1.00! (save 56p, whole tin for FREE)
Plus still had 2 x 4 pints £2 and 2 x 6 pints £3 in there last night.

Will update siggy in a minute, think it has sent me over by about £6, so not much and month starts again Friday so not too unhappy with that as still lower than last month, and MUCH lower than before coming on here.

Onwards & Upwards...

mama67

angelnikki wrote: »

My DS(20months) is the same and especially loves anything with mash:rolleyes: . You could just make a bit extra of whatever you have the night before and serve it for him for lunch. So if you make a bit of extra mash for example, you could just mix it with cheese and chopped cherry tomatoes/some tuna and sweetcorn - DS's favourite

There's loads of other stuff you could do aswell. You could try:
-Couscous is quite good to do as it only takes 5 minutes to make and you could just mix it with some frozen mixed veg nuked in the microwave and maybe add some small pieces of ham/chopped cooked chicken.
-Small pasta shapes with a tomato sauce - you could make a batch of this and freeze in small portions
-macaroni cheese - as above
-Scrambled eggs(well cooked) and/or baked beans & toast fingers
-Eggy bread fingers or small sandwiches are good if he's wanting finger foods, and so are HM breadsticks & small vegetable sticks with HM houmous or with philly type cheese to dunk.
-Cheesy biscuits which I posted on here earlier.
-Spanish omelette/tortilla type things can be cut into wedges for a good finger food aswell

My OH always gives DS beans on toast at the weekend :rolleyes: so I try and give him a bigger variety during the week. Hope these ideas help.

Edit to add: anyone in lowestoft :hello: there is a MrT leaflet in this week's advertiser with a coupon for a 4pack of Heinz baked beans for 46p, 1litre of chilled orange juice for 35p and lotus thirst pockets kitchen roll x2 for 34p

Nikki
x

Someone went thru the till infront of me with those coupons as well today but don't know where they came from; I haven't seen any.

It may well be a countrywide coupon flyer.

Flylady_Flower

FelineFantastic wrote: »

Mrs M-- *waves*-- don't suppose you have any update on the fan oven/ bread question do you??! Or anyone else?!DeniseF- am having veggie box salad lunch and have to say that the veggies are the tastiest I have had in ages and ages- the rocket is especially scrummy-- benefits of not being frozen and shipped a zillion miles I guess

Really glad they've been so nice. I get paid Monday (whoo hoo, last one working for 'THE MAN') so I might order mine then (They deliver Wednesdays to my area)... mmmmm, mouth watering already.......

MRSMCAWBER

Denise..

I have 15 pieces of that banana/coconut cake in the freezer if you want a piece ..i will deffinitely be making that again... When hubby saw it he said "hmm better take some of that in for the lads at work" -he doesn't usually have much of a sweet tooth...
I gave him a piece and he declared that he would take some with his lunch today..so i asked him how many bits he wanted packing.. he spluttered "just 1 for me.... they can make their own if they want it ":rotfl: ...great praise indeed..so thank you... bet you end up doubling the recipe up next time

Herewegoagain

Hiya all,

Bigmommaf, I'd love to join u all, point me towards any info That'll save me money:A

I'm a live-in-carer so my budget is set by client's and really hard to manage on with the prices going up all the time. Been on the same budget 4 2 yrs!.so aim to pick up as much advice as u can throw at me guys:T

So aiming 4 £200.00 during july, the normal budget and see wot I can knock off it. (oh by the way,buying for 3 adults:D )

Bigbird, love ur "never argue" statement, I must remember, it's so true:T

Good on you guys:T :beer:

Flylady_Flower

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Denise..

I have 15 pieces of that banana/coconut cake in the freezer if you want a piece ..i will deffinitely be making that again... When hubby saw it he said "hmm better take some of that in for the lads at work" -he doesn't usually have much of a sweet tooth...
I gave him a piece and he declared that he would take some with his lunch today..so i asked him how many bits he wanted packing.. he spluttered "just 1 for me.... they can make their own if they want it ":rotfl: ...great praise indeed..so thank you... bet you end up doubling the recipe up next time

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: I bet I do too... It was really scrummy, and I like the sound of adding coconut - I love concoctions although I never admit to them when they come out good as it worries hubby and kids and makes them a bit wairey of eating them (they've been on the wrong end of some of them... )

I was packing up DS's lunch this morning and he had ham & pickle sandwiches with HM bread, some HM weetabix cake and a HM choc & raspberry muffin along with his fruit and drink - It was an amazing feeling, I felt so chuffed with myself as before this challenge I used to grab something out of the cupboard for him that cost me about £4 (whenever I brought stuff for lunches, it was always gone by Wednesday anyway) or give him £3-£4 for lunches because I never had time... still have the same amount of time but manage to fit so much more in now, I feel better about myself, we all eat healthier and save money too! Bonus!

:beer: I LOVE THIS WEBSITE AND ESPECIALLY THIS CHALLENGE - THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!:beer: