My Mini Challenge for 2015 is simply spending the Sealed Pot money on food to supplement what is in our fridge, freezers and cupboards and seeing how long I can make it last for.
Well at the end of last week I had to bite the bullet and hit the shops, the milk was all gone and I was craving bananas!! As I am also taking part in Courtney Carver's Capsule Kitchen Challenge I was determined to only buy things on my list of 33 foodstuffs, and I managed it apart from the little fresh cream cakes which were a little treat for Lovely Hubby's birthday at the end of last week.
You will notice that I also bought beetroot which initially was not on the list, but as it was on special offer and we both love the stuff I decided to swap out Leeks from my list and replace it with Beetroot. The leeks I have growing are tiny, tiny and as such will not be harvested for a long time, in the meantime I will have beetroot. It's good in salads, sandwiches and makes juices look and taste amazing, so it's on the list.
In total I spent £12 24 on the things above, which means I have £48.97 left.
The single bottle of Sparkling water is representing the ten bottles that I bought. I just couldn't be bothered to put them all up on the work top and then have to move them over to the cupboard and fridge so I just put the one on the worktop for the photo.
This was our fridge at the beginning of last week, we have chomped our way through some of the foods, and some of the excess Christmas foods have now been popped into the freezer, including the wedges of Stilton that I bought Lovely Hubby, this has now been portioned, individually wrapped and is now hidden away in the cheese box in the freezer with lots of other bits and pieces of cheese. I love having my 'cheese box' it means that I have a selection of cheeses to vary the taste of quiches, pies and to add to salads, and by freezing them in small portions means that I can have a mixture of flavours and colours, and of course there is also always a box of grated Cheddar and of Parmesan style cheese available to use straight from the freezer.
Our hens have started laying a few more eggs now and their lovely offerings are gracing many a breakfast ....
... and give me an excuse, if ever one were needed, to use my favourite little egg cup. Hand painted by someone with the initial 'D' in 1956 and picked up by me for 10p at a car boot sale many, many years later.
Sue xx
You've got to have a little treat. Mine yesterday was a bottle of Old Peculiar ale. £1.29. Saving it for a special occasion.
ReplyDeleteHaha ... I agree Ilona. When you do have it ... enjoy!!
DeleteI've been shopping with limited cash this month and it certainly focuses the mind into looking for the best deal and making good food choices. But even so you still have to have treats. I would like to try the capsule food buying. I think it's going to take me ages to come up with a list.
ReplyDeleteWe were talking about 'treats' the other night, and asked ourselves the question "why do we consider 'treats' to be chocolate or alcohol" and "why do we have treats that are actually not good for us" Have we all been so conditioned that we consider these things 'treats'?
DeleteIt took me a while to come up with my list and then a further week to tinker with it when I realised I had missed things off that we love and added things that I thought I ought to. It doesn't have to be set in stone either you can tinker away and do swaps for as long as you need to.
Ah boiled eggs, perfect that is what I'll have to have for my lunch now I've seen your photo! And whilst I knew that you could freeze cheese, I had never thought of grating it first so it is ready to go into foods straight away, genius Sue, I'll be using that idea too, thank you! x
ReplyDelete'genius Sue' .... I like that ;-)
DeleteGoodness, what a gi-normous fridge you have!
ReplyDeleteThe birthday cakes sound tasty
After living with various types of fridge in our rented houses we knew the sort we wanted when we finally got a place of our own. And it was this one. Lots and lots of room for fresh produce which we love to eat, a slimmer side for freezer stuff that we need handy in the kitchen to supplement the big chest freezer which will be living outside in the workshop soon and a brilliant energy efficiency rating ... it's also ice free which is a godsend and wasn't as expensive as we thought it was going to be.
DeleteMy dream fridge/freezer. :-)
Definitely agree with everything you wrote. Wonderful money saving idea.
ReplyDeleteThank you, I like saving money. :-)
DeleteI like a box of grated cheddar in the freezer, so handy and I am not tempted to eat a bit while I grate some. I freeze stilton and then grate it from the block, much easier than when it is fresh. I am only buying fruit and veg at the moment, and a few eggs now and again, the freezer is stuffed and needs working through.
ReplyDeleteI tend to grate all mine in one fell swoop using the food processor (then you only have to wash it out once) and like you say there are not too many little left over bits to nibble at, although I tend to have cheese on toast after a grating session to use all the bits that get stuck in the food processor, waste not want not ... turn the nibbles into a meal :-)
DeleteSue, interesting little egg cup, indeed. I don't usually boil and egg, haven't thought of that for a while. I also like to have small portions of stuff frozen...just have to remember they are there for me!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to steal your freezing cheese tip. Twiglet loves Wensleydale, we often have just a bit left on shopping day I'll pop it in the freezer in future.
ReplyDeleteTwiggy
What is the Capsule Kitchen Challenge?
ReplyDeleteThose eggs look so tempting, you can't get fresher than those, Sue :-)
ReplyDeleteGosh, why haven't I frozen cheese before?? Brilliant idea!
ReplyDelete