Family of 5 'shop from home'food storage challenge...

D&DD · 14 October 2007 at 3:34PM

:hello: Hi Everyone

This month has been a nightmare for us even though I have tried to budget for OH's strikes (he's a postie) The numbers are just not adding up :eek:

So we need a little help *insert grovelling smiley here*

I have always kept a Food Store.This evolved from when we were first married and OH's boss had a bit of a passion for 'rubber cheques'...I always try to keep it at around 6 months supply but at present its probably,truthfully rather a lot more in places

My idea is to 'shop from home' for the next month at least,I have £10 a week for supplemental groceries (milk etc) and fortunately the garden although small is still producing a reasonable amount! I would list everything I have but it'll probably be xmas before I finish :rotfl: ,suffice it to say we are 'well stocked' (you REALLY don't want to see my cupboards!!!)

Any shopping needed over this amount must be 'worked for' either selling on ebay or taking in work (I do sewing jobs as and when time allows).

So wish me luck I'll update each day so I can keep myself motivated and avoid Mr T's,as well as picking your brains for some errr ingenious combinations no doubt!!

salster · 14 October 2007 at 3:36PM

Sounds like a great idea.

Good luck!!

Bobbykins · 14 October 2007 at 3:42PM

Blimey D&DD, it's a good job you ARE so well stocked! Can I come and shop at your house? :rotfl: :rotfl:

Seriously, I hope it goes well for you, good luck!

Pink. · 14 October 2007 at 4:19PM

Hi D&DD,

There's a great thread that should help you with your challenge:

Store cupboard challenge

Pink

D&DD · 14 October 2007 at 5:22PM

Our family consists of
myself and OH,ds1 16,ds2 12 and ds3 9 and on a special diet :eek: throw in 2 cats,1 bird and 2 goldfish and thats us...
Today we all had toast for breakfast,made from homemade bread with part of my fridge stockpile of butter (well it was halfprice for 3 weeks..times 4 punnets a week,lets just say we have enough) and homemade strawberry jam or marmite.
Lunch was a salad sandwich ds3 has gluten free bread which I get on prescription he had marmite soldiers as always..myself and oh had turnip soup and crusty bread.
Dinner is roast chicken with all the trimmings and ds3 has chicken breast with garlic bread (don't ask..)This will be followed by apple and rhubarb pie homemade out of the freezer.
I have a lot of baking still to do tonight so will check in again tomorrow to update with progress made

TOTAL SPEND SO FAR THIS WEEK £0.00p:T

beemuzed · 14 October 2007 at 7:51PM

This sounds really good! You must have large cupboards I think! Look forward to hearing more, but you're off to a great start.

rosieben · 15 October 2007 at 12:36AM

Well done! :T

Waiting for more instalments with interest.

from another with overflowing store cupboards...... :rotfl:

D&DD · 15 October 2007 at 9:11AM

Morning all

Today I plan to do a 'stocktake' of whats left in the garden so I can plan in advance what fruit and veg I'll need to buy in.Its been a weird year this year for growing stuff,things I usually have gluts of such as courgettes failed to materialize due to very wet conditions a lot of ours rotted off,but the good news is my freezer is overflowing with fruit!:j

I have lettuces,peppers,chillies,potatoes(dug and stored already),carrots,parsnips,beetroot,strawberries(just about),apples,blackberries,red and green kale,leeks,spinach,corn salad and french beans still going..It didn't seem so much until I wrote it all down here!
I dehydrated a lot of stuff this year as well as making jams,relishes,pickles and mint sauce.Although I have 2 freezers I really need another just to store our home grown stuff even though our garden is tiny 15ft long x 30 feet wide it is really productive

Last night I made a batch of rolls and a loaf of gf bread (I have 3 breadmakers

,a panny as recommended on here which I will never ever part with lol,a large MR which makes the best jam and a smaller MR which is great for dough etc)I also made 38 doughnuts (gluten free)was 42 but a few have been swiped already :rolleyes: ,and 24 jam tarts,a tray of gf brownies and today plan to make some muffins!
Have made some sales on Ebay so there is a bit in the kitty for 'overs' but not needing anything just yet...will update later to let you know how things are progressing today thanks for spurring me on :T

Tracey04 · 15 October 2007 at 9:18AM

love your story so far D&DD, one question, is there anything that I can plant and grow now can only think of potatoes but even that may be wrong. Thanks

D&DD · 15 October 2007 at 9:30AM

Tracey04 wrote: »

love your story so far D&DD, one question, is there anything that I can plant and grow now can only think of potatoes but even that may be wrong. Thanks

Hi Tracey you know I was thinking that very same thing!! I have some potatoes in as an experiment this year for xmas new potatoes and I know some varieties of lettuce are hardy, also as I live in the south some brassicas are probably ok??? I plan to have a whizz through my Kitchen Garden books today so I'll post any findings later for you.:D

Marie103 · 15 October 2007 at 9:42AM

woah, i respect you guys for having time to take care of a garden, i am much too lazy to do much gardening so i have cleaned my garden and thrown sand, and that'it.... ^o^/

keep up the good work with the thread, i am interested of how much you can save by shopping from home...

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Family of 5 'shop from home'food storage challenge...

Comments

Categories

Get our FREE Weekly email full of deals & guides - and it’s spam-free