January 2009 Grocery Challenge

Winky,_The_House_Elf · 15 January 2009 at 4:14PM

Not doing bad this month but I feel like I am cheating as my freezer was stuffed full of whoopsies before I started!

Thanks to all the tips on here, I managed to make 250g of mince (whoopsied to 49p) stretch to 6 meals! (thats 2 of us for 3 meals!) that was spag bol the first evening and lasagne x 2. OH really loved the slighty creamy texture and the flavour really seemed enhanced rather than diluted by a large hand full of oats! I suppose the extra veg (double the usual onions with carrots & frozen peppers) I threw in to also bulk it out a bit gave it more depth.

Before this thread and old style it would definately only been one meal for 2 of us, and at the full £2 for the pack. So I feel like I got the rest free and its freed up my time!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Winky x x x

lauradora · 15 January 2009 at 4:40PM

Gone and lost my last spending receipt :mad: but i'm pretty sure it was £1.94.....£1.54 for milk and a couple of reduced loaves for 20p each.
Still well inside my budget and thinking i dont need to bother going shopping this weekend as freezer is still stuffed!

princess_leia_3 · 15 January 2009 at 4:43PM

I also noticed in Mr M today that cucumbers were about £1 (just under)!!!! I was so shocked at that price so I am definately going to look at growing some stuff in our garden this summer, but as its so small I can't grow much but I am hoping to get some done in pots etc so any help/advice would be great

SavvyStudent_2 · 15 January 2009 at 4:57PM

Hi everyone! Thanks for the words of encouragement, makes me feel a lot better to think of it in terms of stockpiling isn't a bad thing if it's stuff you'll use

Nipped into aldi for milk on the way home, and I was heartbroken - no car today and they have huge 5kg bags of really nice looking white potatoes for 49p!!! I stood and deliberated for ages over whether I could carry them (and how many bags could I carry!!) uphill all the way home and I was getting all anxious because everyone was buying them up in front of me and they were down to the last few bags!! (You know you're dedicated to the GC when the thought of missing a bargain gives you palpitations lol!) I'll make the OH take me in the car on the weekend but I'm pretty sure they'll be sold out. Other 49p offers: kiwis, oranges, tomatoes (and one more thing that I can't remember).

Tea tonight is leftover curry made with aldi spartprice 22p sauce creamified up with a bit of smartprice natural yog - the OH swore when I put it in the trolley to try it was going to be disgusting - I've never heard him rave more about a curry lol! Plus he didn't notice that I made the whole pot with 2 tiny chicken breasts where we would normally make it with 4 and eat it all in one night hehehe. I've discovered portioning! We now have all saucy meals like this in bowls and they go much further (a portion on the side of a huge place looks so meagre on its own!).

Hope everyone is having a good day! I'm off to revise <snore> xx

nickynoo08 · 15 January 2009 at 5:04PM

After much deliberation i've decided i'm gonna have to increase this months budget to £150 if thats ok. My little un has been guzzling milk like theres no tomoro and he needs more yogs and fruit too. I've decided i'm gonna get some stuff in to make some soups while i'm off over the weekend.
Anyone have a nice recipie for cheese and broccoli soup? Ooh and leek and potato soup too. The last one i made was really thick and the cheese went all gloopy. I tried to thin it down but it looke and tasted awful so it went in the bin:o . I'm a bit of a novice cook (so be gentle) but i enjoy trying to make things and its certainly helped with my budget over the last year. I just need to get myself back on track. I know its been because my hrs have been all over the shop and we've all been poorly too so hopefully i can get back into my cooking again now htings have settled down.

MRSMCAWBER · 15 January 2009 at 5:18PM

Princess leia..

cumbers will grow fine in pots... I grew ridge (outdoor) ones last year -they usualy scramble along the ground -but you can train them to climb -takes up less room that way

! Mine climbed on netting last year and attatched themselve to some tomato plants too

... this year Im sending them up arches (keeps the fruits out of the muck and away from slugs)..
I have been sorting all my seeds out today ready to make a start, just need to update the blog and put them on there so I know what Im doing:eek:
ooohhh sorry -back on topic

Another NSD today -thats 11 out of 15 and i think 6 in a row :j
Jacket potato, cottage cheese and salad for dinner again tonight -hubbies request and Im not going to object as it takes no prep and its one of my faves too

....can't wait for it to be all my own salad stuff -supermarket stuff is soooo watery :rolleyes:

hope everyone is doing well

oooh sorry Mrs B couldn't get my PM to work

I concoct soup as I go along... to use broccoli stalks I would

sweat off onion and the chopped stalks in a little butter/oil
add a sprinkle of flour (to thicken and stabilise -or add a peeld chopped potato)
cover with veg stock and cook until soft with the lid on-you can add more stock once blended if needed
blitz with a hand blender ...
to make it creamy and cheesy-ish I add a dollop of the own brand philli -with herbs is nice, plenty of seasoning and a grate of nutmeg

if you want your soup greener -then if you have any broccoli florets -add them after stage 3...drop them in once everything is soft and cook with the lid off until cooked then go to stage 4 ...cooking greens with a lid on makes them lose colour... not that I care with soup :rotfl:
hope you can make sense of that ramble -oooooohhhh and again -you may find the soup a little fibreous (sp) if you want to prevent that you need to peel the stalks before cooking

scotsaver · 15 January 2009 at 5:54PM

CurlyTop - my thoughts are with you.

Allegra - thanks for the Marg Tub idea, fantastic. don't know why I didn't think of this

, I've been saving all the other little trays/punnets that Tomatoes, fruit etc come in and piling them in the Greenhouse for when I start planting up seeds etc as I know I won't have enough seed trays this year as I plan to grow a lot more than last year.:D

I've updated my total, had a leaflet through the door for Farmfoods with some money off vouchers, spend £25 get £2.50 off and spend £50 and get £5 off, so ventured down there as I'm a sucker for a bargain and spent just over £25, budget wouldn't allow more than this until next month and also wouldn't have been able to fit anything else in the Freezers. Pleased with what I got so shall give them a visit next month once I have some space in the Freezers.;)

Dinner tonight is some Sliced Turkey (still using up what was left from Xmas), loads of mash, carrots, green beans and lashings of thick gravy, yummmmmm.;) Have a good evening everyone.:D

scotsaver · 15 January 2009 at 6:01PM

SavvyStudent wrote: »

Nipped into aldi for milk on the way home, and I was heartbroken - no car today and they have huge 5kg bags of really nice looking white potatoes for 49p!!! I stood and deliberated for ages over whether I could carry them (and how many bags could I carry!!) uphill all the way home and I was getting all anxious because everyone was buying them up in front of me and they were down to the last few bags!! (You know you're dedicated to the GC when the thought of missing a bargain gives you palpitations lol!) I'll make the OH take me in the car on the weekend but I'm pretty sure they'll be sold out. Other 49p offers: kiwis, oranges, tomatoes (and one more thing that I can't remember).

Hi SavvyStudent - The Aldi Super 6 runs for a month I think, so you should still be able to take advantage of this offer at the weekend, they also have Mangoes at 49p each and 500g of Brocolli for 49p, someone on here may be able to tell us when they change the offer but I have a feeling they change it every 4 weeks.:cool:

Maisie_M · 15 January 2009 at 7:04PM

£2.37 for me in Somerfields today to buy some red cabbage. Want to make a hjuge dish of it tomorrow to portion up and stick in the freezer. I love it but none of the rest of the family do. may make a lasagne at the same time to use the oven and some cakes --- busy day lol

Steel_2 · 15 January 2009 at 7:09PM

Just popped in to update signature and cheer everyone on. Half way through the month and things plans are afoot for squeezing meals out of every drop of food in the house.

Hubby went shopping and spent £11.10. Just £7.95 left now until the end of the month.

The half and half milk plan is going well. In fact, the dried stuff doesn't taste too bad on it's own anyway. May think about making the switch permanently as it's half the price of fresh milk for the same amount.

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January 2009 Grocery Challenge

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