Well my shopping expedition went well yesterday, although I was glad to get home after an hour or so. I've had a really bad cold for the last few days, caught off my younger son, Jason on the day of Dad's funeral, well I did teach my children to share!! I've been trying desperately not to let it spread to others, staying indoors and generally trying to look after myself with Lemsips and lots of hot drinks and soft tissues for days, but after an hour in a supermarket yesterday with it getting busier and busier with each passing minute I was ready to head for home.
What is this national obsession with shopping and looking for things to buy, folk were complaining about the store being closed the day before and staff said they had been packed on Saturday from opening time right until the last minute with folk buying all the bread and milk in sight. It's a very strange modern phenomenon!!
Well anyway for those that are interested in the contents of my four shopping bags this is what I bought. All the fruits and veggies above in the top picture, some to use fresh this week and others to be chopped into 'Med Veg' packs and frozen ready for our own ready meals. Milk, butter, creme fraiche, cold meats for Lovely Hubby this week, until I get back into cooking our own and freezing it sliced and ready to go, and lots of chicken and salmon that was on offer. I also got a couple of shop 'ready meals' a couple of Balti's that were on offer, one chicken for LH and one veggie for me, sometimes you just do not have the energy for making a meal from scratch and these will be buried deep in the freezer for one such occasion. Better for the purse than a takeaway!!
The chicken and salmon were really good buys, and to make the most of them this is what I do....
... as soon as I get home I open the packs and wrap each individual fillet in 'easy leave' (any similar thing would do but I have a big roll of this) and then place all the fillets into rigid boxes...
... and pop in the freezer. That way whenever I need a single fillet for LH I can just take one out, or if we have guests I can thaw as many as I need. These have worked out at just £1.20 per chicken breast and £1.25 per salmon fillet, not too high a price to pay for good quality protein to add to LH's meals.
And the daffodils......they were my treat to me, reduced to just 50p a bunch, how could I say no!! This morning they have opened up nicely and are filling the kitchen with their delicate perfume.
And do you spot an old friend.....yes Spotty Jug....the only casualty of our move, he got broken, a nasty chunk out of his pouring lip. With a lot of superglue he can be used for flowers, but he is officially in retirement, being molly coddled and admired but not played with!!
Well that's my second 'Joker' played, I don't think I'll be in any rush to get back to the supermarket. I'm hoping to find a local milkman, I've seen a milk float in the area so I'm going to try and contact the company, and soon our own things will be planted and available, until then we are once again eating our way through the contents of the freezers and cupboards in our challenge to live with less. We have resumed the £50 a week housekeeping rule and will be adding any money over to my £2012 in 2012 pot, so that's a good incentive to stick to only little purchases from local shops.
Well I'm off now to hang out my washing on my newly 'tied between two trees' washing line, to make the most of the weak sunshine and barely there breeze we have today. It continued to rain for quite a while yesterday and we have a couple of inches of rain in some of our water butts, at last....they were bone dry when we moved in.
What food products do you divide and freeze when you buy big packs? I'm always on the look out for other things to store this way.
Enjoy your day.
Sue xx
Must admit, I'd not thought of dividing and freezing veg. I too am amazed at people's shopping habits just because the shops will be shut for 1 day. Wonder how much will get thrown away! I divide the same as you, sausages, cold meats, home made puds/cakes, bread, anything that can be divided and frozen, even leftovers, such as roast potatoes, lasagne etc. Hope you get well soon, colds are rotten aren't they?
ReplyDeleteI do that, I divide packs of mince, I also buy chicken thighs, instead of breast, much cheaper. I freeze what I need. I also use freezer bags, wash them afterwards and use them again xxxxxxxxxxx
ReplyDeleteI always freeze leftover cooked veg, even if there's not a lot of it, less than one portion even. Eventually there's enough frozen bits of veg to make lovely bubble and squeak to have with sausages or homemade burgers, or with bacon bits stirred in and grated cheese on top.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea about freezing bought fresh veg, hadn't thought about that. If there's an exceptionally good offer (usually on the deli counter) on mature cheddar, I buy a couple of kilos, asking for it to be cut into several bits. I keep one in the fridge, freeze one or two in whole lumps, and grate another for freezing. The grated can be used straight from the freezer for toppings/sauces/cheese on toast. I also buy several tubs of butter substitute when they're on offer and freeze some of them.
Regards, Sooze xx
I must admit I too have succumbed to using the supermarket a couple of times this year so far.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried milk and more for a milkman I think they are tied in with all local milk floats now. We have been using them for a couple of months now and love it (its handy too if you run out of the odd thing like butter too as it magically appears on the doorstep!)
I am terrible at seperating things before freezing....that said theres 4-6 people here most days so a full pack is often needed.
Great Haul! I seperate my meat but mainly due to space as I only have a tiny freezer above my fridge, Oh how I covet a chest freezer!!!
ReplyDeleteHope your cold moves on to its next victim soon x x
Something I notice from Brit Blogs and when I was in the UK is that most of your veg comes in a wrapper of some sort. Is it for hygiene I wonder? Ours is all loose here...much better for the environment.
ReplyDeleteJane x
What a fantastic haul of beautiful food.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!
Hope you feel better soon.
Sft x
I'm definitely going to give freezing the fresh veg a go. I divide & freeze a 500g pack of mince to make 3 meals adding loads of veg and rice to make risotto go further.
ReplyDeleteHope you are feeling better soon.
Tawney x
Hi Sue,
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can find your milkman via this website.
http://www.milkandmore.co.uk/home
We use it and our Milkman, Kevin, delivers whatever the weather. Seemingly snow is no match for his electric milk float.
Ben
Hi Sue
ReplyDeleteI was about to leave the same website address that Ben above has left. Our milkman is also brilliant and even delivers on Bank Holidays (which saves any of those frantic dashes to the supermarket that people seem so keen on when the shops might be shut for, god forbid, a couple of hours!)
Hi Sue interested in you freezing your meat in divided portions, but wondered do you blanch your veg first before freezing and what sort of veg do you freeze?
ReplyDelete