April 2012 Grocery Challenge

NickJW · 11 April 2012 at 9:40PM

Hi All

Doing okay so far but a few extra spends to report

59p in the corner shop on a can of Diet coke

£2.35 in Mr S on 2 bottles of Lucozade (needed for the gym) and a pack of chewing gum

:o
Then £3.46 on 'proper' food in Mr W - loose onions, loose broccoli, penne pasta and a pack of YS 29p pitta bread which will be used for lunches with a tuna for the rest of the week (tuna already in cupboard).

It's my house-mates turn to cook tonight - meatballs and pasta.

For tomorrow I've got a pack of pork loin steaks defrosting. It's a big pack so half will be used with a cider and chutney sauce with broccoli and mash tomorrow. The other half will be used on Friday with a leftover pepper in the fridge, a bit of onion and a Llloyds Grossman Thai Green curry sauce bought a while back on offer.

I'm holding off doing any 'meat' shopping until the freezer is down to the bare minimum!

69chick · 11 April 2012 at 9:51PM

I seriously need to sort out my spending, am getting further debt each month since we moved into our own place, the bills keep coming and coming and all of a sudden our cars are both packing up

anyway I just wanted to say that I would like to join in on the next grocery challenge and in the meantime will be reading this thread with interest as to how to make my money go further on meals etc. this thread has always helped me in the past so am hooping I can get a bit more mse again soon.
One sort of recipe I wanted to share is for a sausage casserole type thing...I had 10 mins to get something in the oven yesterday as was going out and dh would be getting the kids and coming in for dinner.

I chopped some sausages into 3 pieces each, fried them off a bit do seal them, then put them in a casserole dish with a can of baked beans, a can of tinned tomatoes, a can of new potatoes, some frozen peas, a little chilli powder, a little garlic and a sprinking of chicken gravy granules plus a small amount of water....stirred it up, bunged it in the oven at 170 degrees and left it, dh took it out around 2 hrs later and served it to my very very fussy kids and they all said it was the best meal they had ever eaten :eek: plus dh was happy that he didn't need to do anything with it, they just had some bread....

anyway I do realise its not exactly an original recipe and am sure you all do stuff like this, I was just so surprised at how much my kids loved it and how easy it was!!

Thanks to all of you as always for your wonderful posts..

DundeeDoll · 11 April 2012 at 10:22PM

Thanks chick that sounds scrummy. Well my NSD turned into a SD after all. dD1 turned up from uni and needed emergency supplies. While there we bought a few extras oops. Bought a couple of dvds for a fiver and they'll come out of pocket money, but the rest goes on GC. Since she goes back friday we're going out for a meal tomoz which is also from the GC budget. Then day out friday so GC really gonna get hammered this week, but hey it's only money :rotfl:

[Deleted User] · 11 April 2012 at 11:02PM

MrsCD wrote: »

Had to buy eggs today so I could bake tonight after work, so spent £1.12 on 12 large free range eggs.

Just added £2 to my sig for a whoopsied paella in M&S.

MrsCD Where did you get your 12 freerange eggs at that price, sounds a real bargain

Florenceem · 11 April 2012 at 11:19PM

I have a basic bread maker although folks on MSE swear by pannys. I made this loaf tonight - sunflower seed bread - cost 35p - will get 13 slices. I wrap it in a tea towel to cool over night and slice the next day. I portion up the slices and freeze apart from three that go in the fridge. I never buy bread - much prefer home made - like to know what is in my food. Sorry photo is not good.

[Deleted User] · 12 April 2012 at 12:00AM

Florenceem - that looks lovely. Im ashamed to say i have a massive box of catering size bread mixes that i bought from AF or somewhere, probably about 20, and just cant be assed to use them as they did not come out too good. Im sure i could get the hang of it. do you know if the unopened packs deteoriate (!!) im just thinking, home made pizza things, tuna cheese slices etc, i could really cut the grocery bill.

Fiasco55 · 12 April 2012 at 12:20AM

Cooked for 4 people tonight MH Pasta Bolognese which was lovely. NSD today but will be cooking for 3 tomorrow night too. I am going to make chicken fajitas so will need to buy sour cream and something for dessert.

So a NSD today.

[Deleted User] · 12 April 2012 at 2:32AM

This was in the weekly mse email, so probably lots of you know about it. Its a free tastecard, you just follow the link and sign up, it only takes about 20 seconds and you get a free taste card sent to you and you can get buy 1 get one free or 50% off a group meal in some cases. Here is the link http://www.tastecard.co.uk/trial/3/april

fozziebeartoo · 12 April 2012 at 8:11AM

Today is planned as a NSD, at least from the grocery budget.

I am waiting for the decorator and insulation people, so BIG spends in other ways :eek:

Toast for brekkie.

Wee bit of LO cottage pie for lunch.

YS/whoopsied chicken kiev and chips for a quick tea.

If everyone finishes early, I just might wander down to Tesco Express because Thursday afternoon seems a good YS/whoopsie time.......but I don't NEED anything and I definitely shouldn't.....

But I might :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

debbym · 12 April 2012 at 8:16AM

Not yet over halfway through the month but over halfway through my budget:(
Also had the lovely news yesterday that I've a bill coming from the garage for £1000 and no car until Tuesday either:mad:

On the up side decided to use the lefover roast pork from dinner yesterday to slice up for sarnies instead of buying sandwich meat from the shop. 505 g sandwich meat for free instead of £6 for the equivalent from MrM.

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April 2012 Grocery Challenge

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