Claire
Showing posts with label food haul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food haul. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
Sainsburys top up shop.
After my meal plan I said that we had £135.79 left in our budget but that we needed a couple things for this week. Today I brought eggs, gluten free flour, chocolate, maple syrup and some crusty rolls for my husband.
This shop came to £7.01 so we have £128.78 left. How's your food budget going this month?
Claire
Claire
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Meal prep Monday and a food haul.
At the beginning of the week I like to try and get as organised as possible. Yesterday morning I made some Slow cooker porridge with some frozen apples and raspberries. I also used a couple of blueberries that we had left in the fridge that were getting a little soft. I also went shopping today so I took some time to wash all my fruit and to clean out my fridge. The last thing I did was hard boil some eggs for snacks. Doing this now means we have 6 breakfasts and our snacks are ready to eat. I find the helpful to have something healthy to grab. I also peeled the garlic that I brought and put this in our garlic jar.
After our Pantry challenge update we had £64 left. At the weekend we used £9 on some potatoes, baking potatoes, chocolate, pears and apples. Today I spend £28 on what you see below. I also got some toilet rolls which didn't make it into the picture.
Doing this challenge I realise that we use a lot of fresh produce which is generally my main reason for going to the shops. We have mainly red meat in our freezer so I decided to buy the chicken breasts. We had some left over chicken in the fridge to use for tonight's meal but I wanted to add a little more. The majority of this pack went in the freezer. There were a few organic products on offer and I'm happy with the amount of organic in this shop. After these two shops we have £27 left. I'm hoping that by doing a produce shop at aldi next week we will come in on budget.
After our Pantry challenge update we had £64 left. At the weekend we used £9 on some potatoes, baking potatoes, chocolate, pears and apples. Today I spend £28 on what you see below. I also got some toilet rolls which didn't make it into the picture.
Doing this challenge I realise that we use a lot of fresh produce which is generally my main reason for going to the shops. We have mainly red meat in our freezer so I decided to buy the chicken breasts. We had some left over chicken in the fridge to use for tonight's meal but I wanted to add a little more. The majority of this pack went in the freezer. There were a few organic products on offer and I'm happy with the amount of organic in this shop. After these two shops we have £27 left. I'm hoping that by doing a produce shop at aldi next week we will come in on budget.
Wednesday, 21 January 2015
Good cheap eats pantry challenge
A few months ago I came across Good cheap eats pantry challenge. I forgot about this until last week when I saw that she has started this again this January. On her website you will find the full details but the main part of the challenge is to use up what's in your freezer and food cupboards while saving money.
Our budget moves around a fair bit but on average it is about £250-£300 a month for the two of us. This works out at £62.50 a week if we are using a four week month. The last few months we have hosted a christmas party as well as a few get together a with friends. For the next four weeks we don't have anything big planned so I am hoping to reduce our budget to £150. After my Food shop at waitrose today I realised I can't fit anything else in my freezer and my main food cupboard is overflowing. I know that it may seems like a weird place in the month to start but I often do our food shopping on a Wednesday as I don't work.
I will start by doing an inventory and then a meal plan for the majority of the month. Off the top of my head I know we have three whole chickens, a couple packs or mince, a pork joint, some meatballs and burgers, fish and some diced chicken in our freezer. I'm hoping that as I don't have to buy meat for the rest of the month this will keep our budget down.
Today I spent £71 so I have £79 left. This budget is from 21/01/15 to 18/02/15.
If like me you feel that your cupboards and freezer are jam packed then head on over to good cheap eats as she is very inspiring and posts daily with what her family are eating.
Let me know if you plan on giving this a try.
Claire
Our budget moves around a fair bit but on average it is about £250-£300 a month for the two of us. This works out at £62.50 a week if we are using a four week month. The last few months we have hosted a christmas party as well as a few get together a with friends. For the next four weeks we don't have anything big planned so I am hoping to reduce our budget to £150. After my Food shop at waitrose today I realised I can't fit anything else in my freezer and my main food cupboard is overflowing. I know that it may seems like a weird place in the month to start but I often do our food shopping on a Wednesday as I don't work.
I will start by doing an inventory and then a meal plan for the majority of the month. Off the top of my head I know we have three whole chickens, a couple packs or mince, a pork joint, some meatballs and burgers, fish and some diced chicken in our freezer. I'm hoping that as I don't have to buy meat for the rest of the month this will keep our budget down.
Today I spent £71 so I have £79 left. This budget is from 21/01/15 to 18/02/15.
If like me you feel that your cupboards and freezer are jam packed then head on over to good cheap eats as she is very inspiring and posts daily with what her family are eating.
Let me know if you plan on giving this a try.
Claire
Food shop at waitrose
Waitrose is my favourite supermarket. I love their range of organic/free range food and also that you can find things that are just a bit different. I shop here whenever our budget allows and right now they have some great offers on.
Starting with frozen and chilled.
I got my husband some frozen fish mainly for his lunches. I love how convenient frozen vegetables are. We used to have a small fridge so I think I am still in the habit of getting these but they do tend to avoid waste. We try to live by the 80/20 rule with eating healthily so the frozen yogurt is a treat. Again for my husband are the Rachel's yogurts and the liberte yogurts are for myself. The soup will be for lunch one day and the ham and cheese for things such as sandwiches and omelettes. We didn't really need meat this week but the chickens and mince were half price so I thought I would get them for the freezer. The bacon lardons are for egg muffins and also to go with our brussel sprouts. The burgers and meatballs are things we haven't tried before but with being organic and gluten free I wanted to try them. I also thought the price wasn't bad as they were two for £5.
We didn't need a huge amount of fruit and veg this week. Between us we eat 3-4 apples a day so I got two bags as these were half price. I ribboned veg are for a stir fry one night. We don't have children but we do like to have some of the Ella's pouches on hand. I often have one in my handbag with a cereal bar for a snack or we may have one after dinner occasionally.
For the cupboard we got some organic sweet corn and rice pudding. I do like to try and make my own rice pudding but this is handy for a quick dessert. The dragonfly tea is also a new thing to try. The crisps are a rare treat but were on offer. When we open a large bag like this I like to portion them out into zip lock bags to avoid over eating. Hiding in the back are some tiger bread rolls for my husband. The plastic containers were reduced to clear so I purchased these. I do keep looking at glass containers but these are practical for my husband to take to work.
My shop today came to £71 and some change. A while ago I came across a pantry challenge on good clean eats blog. I will be doing a post about this which includes tracking our spending on this blog too.
Did you find any good deals this week? Do you have a budget for your family?
Claire
Starting with frozen and chilled.
I got my husband some frozen fish mainly for his lunches. I love how convenient frozen vegetables are. We used to have a small fridge so I think I am still in the habit of getting these but they do tend to avoid waste. We try to live by the 80/20 rule with eating healthily so the frozen yogurt is a treat. Again for my husband are the Rachel's yogurts and the liberte yogurts are for myself. The soup will be for lunch one day and the ham and cheese for things such as sandwiches and omelettes. We didn't really need meat this week but the chickens and mince were half price so I thought I would get them for the freezer. The bacon lardons are for egg muffins and also to go with our brussel sprouts. The burgers and meatballs are things we haven't tried before but with being organic and gluten free I wanted to try them. I also thought the price wasn't bad as they were two for £5.
We didn't need a huge amount of fruit and veg this week. Between us we eat 3-4 apples a day so I got two bags as these were half price. I ribboned veg are for a stir fry one night. We don't have children but we do like to have some of the Ella's pouches on hand. I often have one in my handbag with a cereal bar for a snack or we may have one after dinner occasionally.
For the cupboard we got some organic sweet corn and rice pudding. I do like to try and make my own rice pudding but this is handy for a quick dessert. The dragonfly tea is also a new thing to try. The crisps are a rare treat but were on offer. When we open a large bag like this I like to portion them out into zip lock bags to avoid over eating. Hiding in the back are some tiger bread rolls for my husband. The plastic containers were reduced to clear so I purchased these. I do keep looking at glass containers but these are practical for my husband to take to work.
My shop today came to £71 and some change. A while ago I came across a pantry challenge on good clean eats blog. I will be doing a post about this which includes tracking our spending on this blog too.
Did you find any good deals this week? Do you have a budget for your family?
Claire
Saturday, 17 January 2015
Planning a healthy girls night in
Last night I had a group of friends over for a girls movie night. With me wanting to stick to plan and having a few people there watching their weight. I often find that when you are trying to eat healthier that meals with friends can leave you off track. With going though our challenge right now I prefer to eat at home as I can control what I am eating.
Here was my food shop
Most of this was for tonight. My meal plan was
Do you manage a healthy balance when you have guests round?
Claire
Here was my food shop
- Home made cheese and bacon quiche
- Salad with leftover chicken, pecans, pink lady apple and feta cheese.
- Carrot and cucumber sticks withhummus
- Tomatoes and oranges on the side
- Cheese sticks
- Homemade popcorn (ingredients already in cupboards)
With it being a movie night there were also a few treats. I have some friends that don't embrace eating whole foods so I like to offer them the choice of having a treat. I try to buy things individually wrapped rather than a whole dessert as you don't end up with leftovers you need to eat up.
Not all of these were eaten and I've put them in our cupboard for next time we have visitors. Here are a few more pictures from the night.
Monday, 5 January 2015
Weekly food shop at aldi - including organic
Today I did a weekly food shop in preparation of our 100 days of real food mini pledges that starts today. The challenge this week is to eat two pieces of fruit or veg at each meal. We were lucky enough to receive a voucher for a local farm shop for christmas so we managed to stock up on meat there a few days ago.
Aldi has recently been stocking more organic produce at very reasonable prices. The organic product in my shopping today
Aldi has recently been stocking more organic produce at very reasonable prices. The organic product in my shopping today
- Carrots
- Potatoes
- Onions
- Bananas
- Broccoli
- Apple sauce in tubes
We didn't need them today but aldi also has great prices on organic milk and eggs. To find out more on aldis organic range see this article.We try to buy as much organic produce as possible however there is a lack available in our area. Our local aldi also does local food such as Norfolk mushrooms. I wash all produce well once I'm home from the store so that we can grab it and go. I also wash anything with a skin such as lemons and limes in case there is any bacteria on the skin.
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