Miaou and MrMiaou went shopping again today ...

[Miaou]

(we have been since the previous thread we did, but today is the first day I have been able to post anything about food without throwing up!! )

We had a bit more money to spend this month but still we have done a shop for under £130 (!) - which should last us the best part of a month!

And this time I kept the receipts so will post what we bought (unless I die of boredom part-way through) - so bear with me

Why are we awiting

Seriously though, am looking forward to seeing this (we need to cut down on various things forr the next couple of months at least)

£130?

waiting!

Okay - most things are Morrisons own brand - or Bettabuy if they do a BB version.

Fruit and veg first:

Carrots - 69p
Parsnips - £1.92
2 bags mandarin oranges @ £1.69 each
3 bags onions @ 68p each
White cabbage 62p (we make our own coleslaw)
Celeriac - 99p
2 bags Braeburn apples @ 99p each
2 bags bananas @ 99p each
3 bags mixed peppers @ 1.29 each (six in a bag) - I have chopped them and frozen them to add to meals
1 bag lemons (for lemon drizzle cake!!! )
Celery - 59p (we are making waldorf salad this month too)
broccoli - 90p
Iceberg lettuce - 79p (bet it won't last long - they had obviously been stored somewhere too cold )
swede - 79p
cherry toms - 89p
cucumber - 64p
courgettes - £1.42
Grapes - £1.45 for 800g (we don't usually buy grapes - too expensive - but these were a pound off)
3 Christmas puddings at £1.19 each (we love Christmas pud in our house and they were half price)

OK - now the meat:

2 x whole chicken @ £3.99 each
2 x Morrisons best sausage (our treat food!) at £1.99 each (ouch)
Sliced ham - 500g for £2.39 (great for sandwiches)
Morrisons Irish sausages - 89p each pack but they were on BOGOF so we paid £1.78 for four packs of six sausages each

OK the rest is all a bit mixed up but I'm just typing it from the receipt as it went through the till - sorry!

2 x morrisons cornflakes @ 1.49 each (I honestly can't taste the difference)
4kg Go-cat dried cat food - £4.79 (that's more than a month's worth)
Morrisons washing up liquid - 62p
5 packs Bettabuy pasta twists @ 19p each (19p!!!! And it really does taste fine! Just a shame they only do bettabuy in white pasts - really hard to get wholemeal pasta up here )
12 tubes morrisons tomato puree @ 26p each (yes, 12. We use a lot of tom. puree in cooking )
Bin bags - £2.29 for 40. We use about 2 a week.
Bettabuy salt @ 25p (we don't use it for cooking - only in bread - so only buy salt about twice a year!)
2 pack of McVities digestives @ £1.15 (MrMiaou will not skimp on digestive biscuits )
2 x Morrisons own shampoo @ 85p each
2 x 4pack of Branston beans at £1.78 each
2 x Multipack tuna in brine (think it was 4 tins) @ £1.97
2 x Morrisons mayo @ 79p each
Walnut pieces £1.45 (for the waldorf salad)
6 tins Bettabuy sweetcorn @ 17p each (fine for putting in stews, casseroles etc. We are convinced that at least some of the time it is actually Green Giant sweetcorn that maybe failed a quality test - certainly tastes as good! But does vary).
4 x spaghetti hoops @ 38p each (Heinz! )
Knorr Chicken stock - £1.59
Knorr Veg stock - £1.59. Some things you can't skimp on - flavour is one of them.
12 tins bettabuy tomatoes @ 13p each
2 x 4pts milk - £1.11 each
6 x bettabuy cheese - 3 each of mild and mature cheddar, about £2.40 each. We grate the cheese and keep it in a tub in the fridge to add to meals, sprinkle on pasta, put in a sandwich etc. Goes much much further than slicing it. By mixing mild and mature we get a better flavour than with just mild but save a bit of money too.
3 x morrisons chocolate mousse @ 69p each. We once tried the more expensive ones but actually prefer these ones - more chocolatey! Mainly for the kids but I have been known to eat one or two
2 x biopot yoghurt @ 92p each - those big tubs. I mix in a spoonful of honey or homemade jam for ds and hey presto! Flavoured yoghurt!!

Pheeeeew. Hope I didn't bore you to tears

lol you impatient lot! That's a LOT of typing you know!!!

WOW, and that will really last you a month?

What we need to know is what meals you will both make from that though!

What about nappies adn stuff though/ Do use reusables?

(sorry not meant to be rude: since dh and I looked on a map to see where you live we are both very interested and intrigued) dh travelled around your region for a year or so as a yuohg man and had good memories of trhe landscape (am particular;y bored of the story of him seeing a hare

xx

I followed the other thread and was interested to see how you manage it.

I'm amazed and impressed that this will last you a whole month.

With a few exceptions, where you've bought big quantities like 3 bags of onion, 6 cheeses, etc this is not far off what we get through in about 10 days

How many people do you have to feed?

Mercy - hopefully that will last us the best part of a month. We really don't eat that much meat, the dds get free school meals, and we homebake bread, make our own jam, cakes, biscuits etc (already have sacks of flour).

Nappies - yes we have reusables. I use bettabuy washing powder and use about half of what they recommend, so a 2kg box of powder lasts me ... err... well over two months I would guess. I have bio for the nappies and non-bio for clothes.

What we make - lots of veggie curries, chilli, lasagne, toad in the hole, pasta dishes etc. I will try and add in what we make as we go along (morning sickness has now abated!).

at you looking us up on the map!! Tis very beautiful - and very remote. You are more likely to meet deer on the road than cars. Last time we went shopping we saw three stags and a golden eagle in one field - not many people can claim to see that on the way to the supermarket!!!

5 and a cat!

Lact8, there are five of us, but as I said to Mercy (xposts with you), the dds get free school meals so they only need a snacky tea in the evening (sandwiches, scrambled eggs on toast - oooh missed the eggs of that list! 2 boxes of a dozen eggs at £1.00 each - there ) - so I only need do a "main" meal for dh, me and ds (and ds is only 17 months).

Cheese - we use it sparingly. We are not really a "snacky" household either, so food goes out of the kitchen in a fairly regulated manner too

With regard to the other stuff - I dunno, we just seem to make it last! Some things, where I haven't specified the quantity, eg carrots, it's about 1kg worth etc, so that's quite a lot of veg. And we always re-use leftovers - eg leftover stew becomes the basis of a soup etc. It's amazing how much further your food can go if you reuse stuff. Soup - ah yes, eat a lot of soup too. Hence all the tomatoes ). Also - instead of doing meat and two veg, for example, we tend to do stews/casseroles/lots of stuff mixed up together - we find it goes further and you can bulk out with cheaper veg etc.

Five and two cats actually Ceolas!! (and a puppy soon too!)

I'm impressed!

There's five here and a dog. I've been trying to cut back on what I feel are obscene amounts of money on food but it doesn't seem to be making much difference.

And we must be greedy (or I do stingy portions!?) because we never have leftovers!

I struggle because included in my 5 are 2 veggies and then a only eat meat, potatos and carrots (and this is dp not any of the kids!) and I means doing diff variations of the sam emeal and uses so many more dishes grrr

How long does it take to make bread?

How much milk do you get thru? We use about 5 pints a day

AAAARGH. as I clicked post message the word potatos caught my eye but too late to stops - oh the shame!

5 pints a day??????? Wow!

I guess we get through less than a pint really! The dds get milk with their lunch at school (and are encouraged to drink as much as they can get away with ). They have toast for breakfast and water to drink. Ds has a cup of milk with his breakfast and milk on his weetabix, plus a cup of milk just before bed (though he rarely drinks more than a gulp or two of that). I have cereal in the morning and at night, plus milk in my tea, but only have about 1 cup a day, drink water the rest of the time. So I guess about a pint is right.

How old is your brood, lact8? Do they have school meals?

lol at potatos - I never even noticed!! And at you having to do different meals - no wonder it is hard to keep costs down. We find that eating little meat is the biggest contributor to keeping our food bill low. We only eat the cheapest stuff we can anyway, and not much of that. We often buy frozen mince but ran out of time today so had to cut short the shopping!!

10 years, nearly 3 and 1. Goodness knows what I'll do when they're all in their teens!

They all have cereal in the morning and I have porridge. Dp has a small mixing bowl for his cereal (not joking) which he puts 4 weetabix and fills with cornflakes and then covers with milk.

I have tea throughout the day.

DS2 can't have juice so he has milk at snack time and meal times to drink instead.

DS1 comes home for lunch and he has milk to drink with his meals.

I have a weakness for hot chocolate and DP will have cereal for supper too.

All of us apart from DP snack on cucumber, peppers and carrot thoughout the day and I find I can easily use a whole red pepper in one day - 66p each! But guess its cheaper than buying them chocolate bar each

Sounds silly but since having DD I've really noticed a leap in our food bills, she just loves all food and will happily finish off 2nds and 3rds of whatever we're having and still find room for yoghurt! SHe eats twice as much as our 3 year old

Well done Mr and Mrs Miaou, I lurked on your last thread with interest, intrigue and I want to say impression because it starts with an 'i' and I was impressed, but that's not the right word......

It must be exhausting to have to watch every penny all the time (we're on a tight budget, but it's not as tight as yours) you're an Inspiration (there, another one!)

Glad to hear the morning sickness has eased up, does that mean you're into the second trimester now?

Def agree about the meat. But Dp doesn't think it's a "proper" meal unless there is some sort of meat in there.

I find pasta dishes are probably the cheapest - recently discovered that Asda do a carrier bag sized pasta for £1!!!. So I tend to do pasta stuff for lunch time when DP's not around but then struggle for stuff to do for evening meals.

When I'm feeling brave enough I'll start doing soup for them, I've done baby led weaning with DD though and she feeds herself everything. Just don't think I could cope with the mess she would make with it at the moment!

Aha - soup - ds feeds himself soup. We put pieces of bread into it, leave it to soak up a bit, then he picks them up and eats it! Job done!!

I have to say lact8, if your dp is immovable on the meat front, then reducing your bill is a pretty difficult task . Would he eat a stew? Much cheaper than a pork chop or beef steak etc. Or does he like to be able to hack it up with a knife?

You asked about bread earlier - here is a link to my website with the recipe - here
Doesn't need a lot of active management, just need to be about to stick it in the oven once it has proved. It might take a few goes to get it right but it's really worth it!!

3dDonut - well I was into the second trimester until earlier today when I had my scan, which put me back 4 days!! But yes, seem to be leaving the m/s behind (hoo berloody ray I say!) And lol at your "i" words

A bettabuy tip - then thin sausages are 59p for 16 and are delish. Very salty, as they are made opf bacon.

Great idea re the bread in the soup. DD's great, she's the only one who never moan sabout what food we're having and always clears her plate

Congratulations btw! How old are yours?

We had stew tonight. But he won't want to have it again for at least a fortnight. DP has real issues with food. I'm pretty sure it relates to his childhood but he's very defensive towards his mum so I don't get the full story from him. I try not to get too worked up about it but it is exasparating sometimes.

Have added the link to my favourites so I can have a proper look at whats involved. We go through huge amounts of bread as well (bit of a pattern emerging here!) so if I could do my own it should save some money

Lact8, the idea of the website is to pool ideas on saving money (not just on food either - MrMiaou put a link on there yesterday to a cheap place to get glasses!). So do have a nose round and join up (it's free) and add ideas/recipes of your own. If you've any questions about the bread, ask away, MrMiaou and I have "hand-held" a few people through the process with some success!! Much better for you than bought too (no preservatives etc).

Oops forgot to add - mine are dd1 (9), dd2 (8), and ds (17m). Plus MrMiaou and the aforementioned cats . MrMiaou does most of the cooking so I shall nudge him in this direction when it comes to asking about recipes etc!!

Lact8 I can see that you are in a tricky position. My DCs are 5 and 2 and we only get through about 6-7pts milk a week. Your DH must have a big appetite - that breakfast, but at least it is healthy.

Agree with miaou though re the cost of meat. Last week we had a chickpea curry which was very cheap to make, turkey meatloaf (made from turkey mince so still cheap), chicken dinner, then lemon chicken and pea risotto, then chicken and veg soup. So I managed to make the chicken do 3 meals, plus there is enough left for lunch for me today at work, and for DD and me tomorrow.

Would your DH eat the meatloaf? It is cheap to make and you get a meat/pots/veg type meal.

i am practically bursting with admiration for you, You have nailed it when you indicate how you make your own bread, biscuits, cake etc. Buying shop-bought is like buying ready-prepped, washed veg and salad - it only saves you a bit of time but adds alot to your bill! Also, society now has got into the mindset of buying all manner of food, whether it will all be eaten or not and just throwing away what goes off. (That's why we are the 'Dustbin of Europe'). Well done to you for doing it the right way, and I am green with envy at your DH - I couldn't take mine shopping or he doubles the bill with all the crap he wants to get