April 2017 Grocery Challenge

elsiepac · 19 April 2017 at 10:47PM

Re nutritional yeast, we (vegans lol) usually refer to it as nooch... sounds nicer!!
I use mine in my oats, and also in sauces a lot... it's amazing blended with lemon juice, tahini, garlic and olive oil and salt and pepper, then mixed into hot grains and veg or thinned down as a salad dressing.
It's a little cheesy but not much, it took me a while to love it but now I'm addicted. I also grind it up in the pestle and mortar with hemp seeds and a little salt to make a Parmesan substitute.
I even have my non vegan mum hooked on it!
It's nice sprinkled on beans and toast too!
Also it's the same type of yeast as marmite I believe and it's healthy and has b12 in it. I love it!

purpleybat · 19 April 2017 at 11:49PM

thankyou people for taking the time to explain to me about the nutritional yeast, I meant to ask months ago but kept forgetting.

armchairexpert · 20 April 2017 at 1:22AM

While we're answering questions, can anyone tell me how many red lentils I can put in a mince sauce (bolognaise etc) before it stops tasting like mince? I've been meaning to try this for ages but I don't know ratios.

We're getting through the holidays pretty well over here, I'm quite impressed with myself for anticipating the shift in how we eat groceries when everyone's at home and avoiding top-up shops (except a very important run for half price Easter eggs obviously, but no jury would convict). If I can keep the next two weekly shops under $200 I might just manage this, even with 5 Saturdays in the month!

Suffolk_lass · 20 April 2017 at 8:23AM

armchairexpert wrote: »

While we're answering questions, can anyone tell me how many red lentils I can put in a mince sauce (bolognaise etc) before it stops tasting like mince? I've been meaning to try this for ages but I don't know ratios.

I would be interested in what others do - personally I now use between 150g and 250g of minced beef, with a tin of chopped tomatoes (to give an idea of the quantity) and I work on the basis that I sprinkle the top with red lentils to the same density I would sprinkle grated cheese, if it were a lasagne - a good handful and stir them through, so they are not sitting on top. Just make sure there is a tiny bit more liquid in your mix as the lentils will soak some up.

I do mine in a shallow cast-iron casserole (size of a frying pan) and then put the lid on and bang it in the oven while I cook the pasta (the range oven is always on). The lid makes the steam cook the lentils better - I always give them at least 15 minutes as I don't like lentils al dente.

Sorry if this is more detail than you were looking for but there are some tips if you are not familiar with using them (learn from my mistakes!).

We are working our way through the veg mountain (I cannot explain why I bought enough for 8 over Easter when only DS was coming to dinner) so I am hopeful that next week will be frugal for us.

I am going to try shopping differently after seeing someone else's post in another thread - I already have a periodic "freezer week" but this suggestion was to work up to a no shopping week - eke out this week to eight days and shop a day later, and so on, until you have a free week. I think that will be easier in terms of fresh things like milk and fruit. Pay day is 26th for DH so I will try then.

Kayalana99 · 20 April 2017 at 9:54AM

Kayalana99 wrote: »

Spent £45 this week plus £49 from last week, I also bought toilet roll and meat during the week (for a guest coming up) so total is = £104 so far.

Had a bit extra to spend as above to get my voucher so got some burgers incase we have a BBQ, extra chicken and sausages...so a bit of extra meat for next week.

Going to be eating like kings this week with the meat I had frozen from last week despite me doing this on a budget. :T

The burgers I bought last week turned into a BBQ with friends too, chuffed a bit as they wanted to go out to eat and it would have cost us £30+, so us providing a bit of food actually saved money - also doing this next week as MIL invited us out to eat so we invited them round for tea instead which again would have cost us £30+

I don't have another code now till after 26th so fingers crossed next week will be under £50, it should be as I have a meal plan + meals left over + more meat on the shopping we don't need yet. Hoping to get next week even lower really.

£43 this week so £147 so far total, I could have bulked it out to!£50 but I worked out yesterday we have 16 meals :eek: frozen (not really including the random freezer stuff too like chicken pops etc, but proper meals to be made) but I did have to put a few extra items on to get it over the £40 inc extra butter and 2 extra pizzas which I know will last forever. It's going well but I worry what happens when all my freezer stuff runs out how much I'd spend on an average week.

P.s I got another code with the shopping itself rather then the e-mail ones I was using so worked out lovely!

Matron_Midge · 20 April 2017 at 10:00AM

Declaring on £518.68 for April. Quite expensive as it included Easter eggs and food for visitors over the Easter weekend.
See you on the May thread.

Islandmaid · 20 April 2017 at 10:39AM

Another NSD here as I am not going out

After a fridge and freezer rummage dinner will be Chicken salad with Jacket potatoes

mcculloch29 · 20 April 2017 at 11:08AM

I decided it was a bit late to join the April thread, so posted in the May thread, but so as not to lose motivation I didn't wait till the end of the month, this is the first day of my challenge.
I mostly cook for one, though quite often have guests and family to feed too.
I splurged on the 19p/29p Aldi veg, so providing the fridge works its usual magic, not too much fresh veg will be needed for the first week or so.
Onions are one of the new Super 6 in Aldi, and probably the only one I will buy. 45 p a kg, jolly good... I sense another marathon onion slicing and freezing session coming up! Well, not marathon. 2 minutes to slice a kilo of onions in the food processor.

Suffolk_lass · 20 April 2017 at 11:58AM

May is up and here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5630670

PennyGrabber · 20 April 2017 at 4:35PM

I'm so cross with myself! I did an online shop last night as I need dog food which is heavy. I cancelled it because I didn't actually need anything else but would've had to spend an extra £21. I went into @sda to pick it up. I ended up spending £46 on top of the dog food!! I didn't need anything!!! What was I thinking?!

So, to look on the positive side, I have extra fruit for fruit salads, I spent £12 on ys meat - there's a beef in black bean sauce in my slow cooker now which will do 4/5 meals. I have a big bit of pork, to make bbq pulled pork and lots of other bits and pieces. I now need to make sure that I use everything and not waste anything.

Meal planning, here I come!!

PG x

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April 2017 Grocery Challenge

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