Redsquirrel's 'Striving For Better Days' Diary

redsquirrel80

I do go on mysupermarket when I remember (although it frustrates me because it does that 'what's in stock at your local store' thing but it brings up stuff from the bigger Tesco here that does the home deliveries, not my nearest one).

Have had a bit of a flick through recipe books and magazines today for some ideas and written a rough shopping list - including considerably more veg than just onions and tinned tomatoes! Think I've planned it so I can do some 'nice' meals, and still have stuff handy to throw together a basic pasta or veggie curry some nights. I know I'm going on about this but I almost feel I'm having to learn again - I know how to cook and eat properly, but I've got so distanced from it. Think it's partly to do with living on my own, it seems like a bit of a waste of time sometimes.. but I have to remember that I find cooking quite therapeutic and 'nice' food is something I really love - be good to myself basically

Not done much else today, did a quick second coat of paint in the bathroom but still a few bits that need tidied up. Was planning to go out for a run but I didn't sleep much last night (long story) and feel pretty washed out. Got another busy week ahead at work so will hopefully get a good sleep tonight.

redsquirrel80

OK, have a rough shopping list, copied and pasted from Tesco site so not sure how well it'll come out on here (and it's in reverse order from where I started, mayonnaise and ice cream aren't my priorities, honest :rotfl:). This is just a rough idea as I'd rather not buy Value meat, so will be seeing if they have any better stuff reduced or on offer when I go in. There's a few things on there as well which I'll be buying slightly different (cheaper) variations of - e.g. my local Tesco has bags of frozen okra for 99p but they don't show up in the online shop. I might also pop into Home Bargains for a few things like muesli.

• 
  1
  Hellmanns Real Mayonnaise 800g £1.49
• 
  1
  Kelly's Cornish Honeycomb Caramel 1ltr £1.49
• 
  1
  Miscellaneous Granulated Sugar 1kg Packet £0.79
• 
  1
  Country Store Garden Peas 907g £1.19
• 
  1
  Okra Pouch 175g £1.39
• 
  1
  Tesco Value Salted Peanuts 200g £0.25
• 
  1
  Tesco English Butter Salted 250g £0.89
• 
  1
  Farm Pride Free Range Eggs Box Of 6 £1.29
• 
  1
  Tesco Swiss Style Muesli 750g £0.71
• 
  1
  Tesco Greek Feta 200g £1.09
• 
  1
  Tesco Value Mozzarella 125g £0.47
• 
  1
  Tesco Grana Padano 200g £1.98
• 
  1
  Tesco Low Fat Natural Yogurt 500g £0.78
• 
  1
  Country Store Lamb Chump Chops500g £2.19
• 
  1
  Tesco Healthy Eating Semi- Skimmed Milk 1.136ltr/2 Pints £0.86
• 
  1
  Tesco Value Chicken Portions2kg £2.79
• 
  1
  Tesco Value White Fish Fillets 800g £1.95
• 
  2
  Tesco Sardines In Brine 120g (unit price based on drained weight)£0.70
• 
  1
  Tesco Rough Oatcakes 250g £0.77
• 
  1
  Tesco Value Instant Mash 250g £0.31
• 
  1
  Tesco Value Pitted Green Olives 880g £1.55
• 
  1
  Tesco Sultanas 1kg £1.44
• 
  1
  Tesco Value Spaghetti 500g £0.39
• 
  1
  Tesco Value Lasagne Sheets 250g £0.45
• 
  1
  Tesco Value Long Grain Rice 1kg £0.74
• 
  1
  Tesco Brown Whole Grain Rice 500g £0.81
• 
  1
  Tesco Butter Beans 220g £0.29
• 
  1
  Tesco Chickpea 400g £0.40
• 
  2
  Tesco Value Chopped Tomatoes 400g £0.52
• 
  1
  Bunched Coriander 120g £1.17
• 
  1
  Value Pack Mushrooms 750g £1.16
• 
  1
  Fennel Catchweight £0.87
• 
  1
  Tesco Sliced Mixed Peppers 500g £0.69
• 
  1
  Market Value Kiwi Fruit Pack £0.65
• 
  1
  Value Bananas 1.25kg £0.90
• 
  1
  Market Value Green Apple Pack £0.75
• 
  1
  Tesco Leaf Spinach 1.1kg £0.98
• 
  1
  Market Value White Potatoes 2.5kg Tray £0.57
• 
  1
  Parsnips 500g £0.78
• 
  1
  Market Value Carrots 1kg £0.45
• 
  1
  Value Onions 2kg £0.72
• 
  2
  Tesco Garlic Each £0.68

Comes to about £40, hoping that the store cupboard things and frozen veg will last most of the month, will do some batch cooking as well and fill up the freezer (now I've defrosted the drawer that's been stuck solid for ages and wouldn't open ). Got a list of potential meals too, like lamb & root veg curry (lovely sounding recipe I found), fish with fennel, fish curry, gnocchi (using the instant mash) which sauces and in a gnocchi, mushroom and spinach bake (Tesco recipe), chicken risotto with lots of veg.. anyway, I'll stop going on about food now as I'm making myself hungry!

pepe2008

Hello Squiz,
Just thought I'd drop by and say hello on your diary.:D

Didn't order any 'regional ice-cream' then.

redsquirrel80

Hi Pepe! :hello: No, the above Cornish Honeycomb Caramel stuff was cheaper than the Yorkshire Sticky Toffee one that was under 'Regional' :rotfl:

Forgot to add, just three days till payday, can't come soon enough!

Karmacat

Hiya, I've just got back online - sounds pretty good to me, tho I'm not sure I know what Grana Padano is... oops..... and the truth is, tho I eat mayo these days, I buy Sainsburys basic or Tesco Value - about a pound cheaper than what you're looking at for the same quantity. I agree on not going too near the value meat tho, if you eat meat - they do nasty things to it. Partly for the same reason, I haven't compromised on eggs at all - I still buy free range organic. Do you need any herbs and spices to help you along? Nigella was going on about how good the dried stuff is recently, adds different tones from the fresh....

sorry you're not feeling great, life is dragging a bit for you, isn't it? Hope you can come through this down time soon.... lots of hugs.....

pepe2008

Would that be Honeycomb from Cornish Bees?
Watch out for your hydrogenated fat, palm oil and emulsifiers with the ice cream squiz. Some of the v cheap stuff is just frothed up fat and water, frozen in suspension.
Have you tried Swedish Glace...dairy free, gluten free, cholesterol free and v.nice.

redsquirrel80

Karmacat wrote: »

Hiya, I've just got back online - sounds pretty good to me, tho I'm not sure I know what Grana Padano is... oops..... and the truth is, tho I eat mayo these days, I buy Sainsburys basic or Tesco Value - about a pound cheaper than what you're looking at for the same quantity. I agree on not going too near the value meat tho, if you eat meat - they do nasty things to it. Partly for the same reason, I haven't compromised on eggs at all - I still buy free range organic. Do you need any herbs and spices to help you along? Nigella was going on about how good the dried stuff is recently, adds different tones from the fresh....

sorry you're not feeling great, life is dragging a bit for you, isn't it? Hope you can come through this down time soon.... lots of hugs.....

Hmm, I need to have a look at the mayonnaise when I go in, the site shows half of them in ml and half of them in grammes so confused over jar sizes. Sneaky, as Bob said earlier! Got plenty of spices in the cupboard and herbs in the freezer (pick them up fresh when they're reduced and freeze them).

Grano padano is similar to parmesan, not quite as strong a flavour, and a bit cheaper.

Thanks for the hugs, have felt a lot better than usual this week but I do have this tendency to dwell on the negative (I wish I could be a happy, positive person but I'm not), and yes I do feel a bit 'stuck' with life in general. Wish I had something more exciting to write about than my shopping list! :rotfl:Had some 'difficult' relationship things to deal with lately, it's all OK but it's tiring having emotional conversations so often - especially in the middle of the night.

redsquirrel80

pepe2008 wrote: »

Would that be Honeycomb from Cornish Bees?
Watch out for your hydrogenated fat, palm oil and emulsifiers with the ice cream squiz. Some of the v cheap stuff is just frothed up fat and water, frozen in suspension.
Have you tried Swedish Glace...dairy free, gluten free, cholesterol free and v.nice.

MMM.. frozen fat Seriously, yes, you are right - I think I've had this Cornish stuff before and it's OK - it's on half price offer at the mo so isn't usually cheap. Will check though.

The Swedish Glace stuff sounds intriguing, I've never heard of it!

pepe2008

I've only evr found it in Tesco and only because of having to search out the Gluten Free for DD who is ceoliac.

Tried th Polish ( Polski, not cleaning prods :rotfl: )specialist products. The Apple juice is great and only 99p or so for 2 litres, lots of other nice stuff too espec some of the meat prods in chilled

redsquirrel80

pepe2008 wrote: »

I've only evr found it in Tesco and only because of having to search out the Gluten Free for DD who is ceoliac.

Tried th Polish ( Polski, not cleaning prods :rotfl: )specialist products. The Apple juice is great and only 99p or so for 2 litres, lots of other nice stuff too espec some of the meat prods in chilled

You are rapidly persuading me that I need to go to 'big' Tesco and not the rubbish small one near me... Talking of Polish products, I visited a Tesco actually IN Poland during the summer, it was massive with a Value range to die for :rotfl:And about 14000 varieties of sausage...