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January 2011 Grocery Challenge

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  • Hi all - just a very quick pop in to say that I have yet to spend anymore from my shop from 2 weeks ago! That is a great achievment for me and I'm thanking this thread for giving me the motivation to meal plan.

    I'm going to try to keep my spending down to below £70 for this month as I'm off for a months holiday and it would be good to have a totally cleared fridge/freezer so I can switch it off when it leave!

    Over and Out!
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  • jessie18
    jessie18 Posts: 68
    Combo Breaker First Anniversary
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    Hello everyone:hello:

    Could someone put me down for £295.00 again this month please, only i keep lurking. I have been writing down what im spending, so hopefully ill have more incentive by joining in again.

    Have a great day everyone
    jessie18 x
    Sealed Pot Challenge no. 092
  • martafdz
    martafdz Posts: 1,000 Forumite
    Ilona wrote: »
    I dont know how to do the budget on the signature, so I'll keep posting here. I am not sure about making a budget, I just want to spend as little as possible.
    Ilona

    There is a green bar up there that says "Main site Forum User Cp...", go to "Quick Links" and click in the arrow down. The 4th item down is "Edit signature", you will get an edit box similar to the ones where you post, just add what you want to appear there and save. Done! :D

    I am going to the shops in a couple of hours. I need milk and cotton buds. I should buy toilet paper and tea, since otherwise I will run out in 2 or 3 days, and I want to buy eggs, cling film and minced garlic. I could live without them for a few more days but I use them a lot. I might buy more meat if it is in offer but I will try to stay away from everything else. I spent £37 on Friday, so I do not really need a lot but I also want to avoid going back to the expensive nearby shops in an emergency. I will post back later how much I spent and what I managed to avoid. :D
    Quit smoking *1st January 2010*

    13/12/2012, baby girl!!!
  • XSpender
    XSpender Posts: 3,811
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
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    The box co has already credited me with the value of a free box for delivering some leaflets so I will take this off my sig as I was including last week's order at full price. :T

    Today I need bin liners, bananas, eggs and full fat milk to use in cooking for DS. Nothing else. I will keep repeating this to myself as I wander around Mr S.;)

    I have plans to cook some stuff for the freezer today but need to have a good clean and do some job hunting first so I hope I have time.

    Tonights tea is roasted peppers stuffed with tomatoey rice and feta (might bung a few olives in too), salad and new pots and fruit salad for pud.

    I was going to make some bread today but I will make my sourdough sponge ready for baking tomorrow and use up a few frozen white rolls I have left from a party we had last yea. I hope they will be OK for DH lunchbox.
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  • OrkneyStar
    OrkneyStar Posts: 7,025
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    edited 18 January 2011 at 10:44AM
    Update
    That is most of this weeks GC/diesel money gone now (£40/wk this month 14th-14th), purchased the following:
    diesel (£10 worth @ £1.45.9p/L!!!!!)
    Coop small shop
    re-paid DH for a couple of things he got
    paid myself for marg that I forgot I had bought.

    New week starts on Fri though :).
    x
    Ermutigung wirkt immer besser als Verurteilung.
    Encouragement always works better than judgement.

  • Pernicious
    Pernicious Posts: 1,786 Forumite
    Good morning everyone, hope you're all well :)

    Yesterday I got Surf concentrated washing liquid for £3 from W!lko's, (will update sig now) & tonight I need to pop to Mr T's for bread, milk, bananas & a pack of stir fry veg...I NEED to stick to this like glue else I will be failing this month's challenge & taking money out of the overdraft which I don't want to do!

    I'm hoping the bread I got last time is still on offer, 50p a loaf is so much more agreeable than 75p!
    :idea:Debt at July 2012: £12,862.57 :eek:
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  • Morning everyone! Im trying to do my meal plan and shopping for the next 2 weeks and I have realised I spend a fortune on stuff for DS lunchbox. I have been buying those fruit bars which are one of your five a day, planet lunchbox I think they are called, they do smoothies and all sorts, but they are so expensive! He loves them, and I know he will eat them, where as if I put an apple in there he will have a bite and thatll be it. He usually has a sandwich and some cucumber/pepper/cheese or something, with maybe a mini breadsticks too, and a yogurt if I have any and one of those fruit bars or smoothies instead of fruit...what do your kids have in their lunchboxes?

    Mine have a sandwich (ham, tuna or cheese), two pieces of fruit (eg. plum and banana), small basic fromage frais, sometimes a babybel cheese, sometimes carrot sticks and a cereal bar - fave at the moment are the basics/value strawberry and white chocolate ones (70 odd pence for 6).

    If I've baked, they'll get a bun/cookie of whatever instead of the cereal bar.

    It can be so expensive to fill a lunchbox! If you're super savvy you can do it pretty cheaply, but as you say it's no good if it comes home with leftovers in it. :o

    I used to buy own-brand capri suns etc, which over a month cost a fortune, but now I refill old fruit shoot bottles with squash. Watch out for when 'lunchbox' things are on offer in supermarkets as they rotate these.

    Could you make a mini fruit salad in a little tub? Kids often will turn their noses up at whole fruits, but will munch away at cut up stuff. You could use grapes, satsumas, sliced pear/apple (this would have to be coated in lemon juice I guess). I have sent mine to school with a (cliplock!) tub of tinned peach slices in juice before now! :D

    Also, bear in mind that it doesn't always have to be a sandwich as the main savoury. My two's fave meal ever is tuna, pasta and green pesto and they have taken a tub of it cold to school on many occasions. They have said they would eat my HM bolognese sauce cold too, but I'm not so keen on that idea! :rotfl:
  • On a more GC note, I went to Mr T's last night for some veg oil for deep frying, didn't really want to spend £3.93 on a 3 litre bottle so was about to buy 2 x 1 litre bottles, then noticed they were 'Buy 3 for £3'! It is effectively nearly a '3 for 2' as two would have cost £2.90.

    I also got a lovely bag of pears for 30p and some beautiful asparagus for 30p! Now I am flummoxed as to what to have with it though, I usually have it with pasta and some kind of cheese sauce, but I left my cheese in OH's fridge (don't ask!!) 100 miles away so that's not doable.

    Any asparagus ideas? It doesn't need to be a huge family meal, it will just be for me. At the moment the best idea I have is - steamed, olive oil + salt & pepper, which seems a bit dull.
  • martafdz
    martafdz Posts: 1,000 Forumite
    triticale, For the asparagus, if they are the green ones, you can try to gridle them with a bit of oil and garlic. When they have the griddle marks, I take them out. I also do this with green beans!!! You need to add them to the griddle when it is hot, otherwise they might soak in the oil (as any other vegetable).

    Also good if you cut them in chunks, put them in a pan with oil, a bit of salt and a bit of pepper. When almost done, add an egg and stir until they are all mixed together and the egg has just cooked. Or in omelette, I prefer to steam or boiled a tiny bit before these but some other people do them directly. They are amazing mixed with spring onions if you do any of these two.

    Wrapped in bacon and in the oven.

    I kind of run out of ideas now lol, but I am hungry, so off to make lunch, then get ready and off to the post office to send all my eBay things!! :D
    Quit smoking *1st January 2010*

    13/12/2012, baby girl!!!
  • There don't seem to be any asparagus recipes in the index, I meant to ask for this to be added last time I got some bargain 'gus, could it please go in the index somewhere? Thanks.

    Pasta with chicken & asparagus

    Ingredients
    250g (1/2 lb) chicken breast
    250g (1/2 lb) asparagus
    1 tablespoon butter
    175g (6oz) pasta
    half a small onion (or a couple of shallots), finely chopped
    Salt
    Pepper
    100g (4oz) double cream or crème fraiche
    50 - 60g gorgonzola cheese
    A little nutmeg, grated
    Pinch cayenne pepper
    Grated parmesan cheese

    Method
    1) Cut the chicken breast into small strips.
    2) Cook pasta in boiling water.
    3) While pasta is cooking, cut asparagus into two or three lengths (about an inch or so). Put it all in a sieve and immerse it into the boiling pasta water for 10 seconds, then lift out and drain.
    4) Melt butter in a large pan, add onion, cook for 1 min then add chicken. Stir fry for 3 or 4 minutes.
    5) Add salt, pepper and asparagus.
    6) Cook for another minute or so, then add the cream or creme fraiche, grated nutmeg, cayenne and the gorgonzola broken into small lumps.
    7) Cook until the cheese just melts, take off the heat and check for seasoning.
    8) Drain the pasta and toss into the sauce. Serve immediately covered with plenty of parmesan. :)

    I never had the urge to try any type of 'blue cheese' but the gorgonzola makes this taste phenomenal (in my opinion).
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