................I was short of ideas for blog posts in May and knowing how many people love shopping pictures, I grabbed the camera each time I'd unpacked everything onto the worktop.
This was the big first May shop, everything from Aldi except for the large bag of sugar which came from Asda as they have Silver Spoon which is British and a bigger bag.
Celery 75p, Salad leaves 65p, 2 x 6 apples @ £1.19 = £2.38, 3 x peanuts at 59p =£1.77, tin fruit cocktail 89p,6 Cheese and Onion Rolls £1.75, Multigrain crackers 89p, Mayo 89p, 1.5Kg wholemeal bread flour 99p, 100% peanut butter £3.99, Shropshire Blue cheese £2.79, Tub Clotted cream £1.99,Tin Pink salmon £1.45, Tin Sardines in Sunflower oil 49p, 2 x Butter @ £1.99 = £3.98, 2 packets ground coffee - 1 decaf one other @ £2.59 = £5.18. 2Kg Granulated Sugar £2.15. Finally.... Frozen food was 2 x sweet potato fries @ £2.15 each = £4.30,Petit Pois Peas £1.09. Essential Range oven bake Fish in Batter - Pack of 4 £1.99. Meat Free Veggie Burgers Pack of 4 £1.39.
Total spend £41.75
Comments...............The clotted cream was for my Bank Holiday treat of home made scones, compost jelly and clotted cream.The tin of salmon ready for making a batch of salmon/broccoli/ pasta bake. The milk and butter also went into the freezer for later. The Essential range Fish is almost as good as the more expensive pack and smaller portions which is good.
Swapping UPF laden Pringles for peanuts for a savoury snack isn't necessarily good for my health as I seem to have become quite addicted to peanuts! although it is cheaper and not an UPF of course.
Next shop was to Diss for Aldi but also for Morrisons as I needed to stock up on the Chinese party bits that I have with stir-fried vegetables, which Aldi don't stock and I'd eaten the last of the batch made Quorn spag bol sauce from the freezer so wanted Quorn mince and Linda McCartney Mozzerella burgers.
I ended up spending a few £ extra as Morrisons had clearance packs of their mixed frozen Indian Party bits so I got a couple of those too to go with my batch made Quorn korma curries. I also fancied a change from my usual stir-fries and bought a chicken chilli thing from the chilled shelves which was enough for two so I ate it for my main meal and second meal too.
From Left to Right ......Head of calabrese (which supermarkets insist on calling broccoli - No it isn't!) 79p; 6 Mini apples on offer 59p; Pears£1.49; Carrots 500g 44p; 4 nectarines £1.79; Mixed nuts £1.75; Dried prunes £2.79; 4 Pints Milk £1.65; Leeks £1.39; Tin essential range peach slices 45p; 400g Extra Mature Cheddar £2.49; Then the Frozen things at the far right ............. 500g Quorn Mince £2.95; Pack 4 Linda McCartney Mozzerella Burgers £3.50; Pack mini spring rolls £1.50; 2 x Indian Party Mix Selection @ £2 each(reduced from £3) = £4; Pack mini Prawn toasts £2; From the chilled counter Sweet Chilli Chicken £5.50.
I detoured on my way home to call in for the farm gate eggs - 6 eggs £1.25 and while I was there I went into the Co-op to see what they had reduced and found a pack of stir fry veg to go with my chilli chicken..... reduced to £1.71 but it rang up as 71p so an extra bargain. Enough for two meals again. A nice change from my regular carrot/onion/pepper stir fry........... it had mange tout, broccoli spears, onion, green beans and pakchoi.
Comments........... The head of calabrese was to go with last week's tin of salmon to make a batch of salmon/broccoli/pasta bake.
It's good to have a change - but the sweet chilli chicken wasn't anything very special so I wouldn't bother with it again.
Total Spend £37.03
Third shop of the month, stocking up on a few things where I was down to just one in the cupboard.
Mainly Aldi again and a couple of things from Asda, just over £5 to get my £1 parking fee back. The Asda car park doesn't belong to Asda and is in town and I needed to go into town this time rather than just the out of town Aldi.
From left to right ..Salad 95p; Red Pepper 70p; 3 x peanuts at 59p = £1.77; Penne pasta 500g 41p; Mozzerella 69p; Extra Mature Cheddar 400g £2.49; 2x Fig Roll Biscuits @ 59p = £1.18; Tin Fruit Cocktail 89p; 1.5Kg Wholemeal Bread Flour 99p; 4 Pints milk £1.65; Drinking Chocolate £1.90; Tub Skimmed Milk Powder £3.45.
Total £17.07
Comments..............I'm getting through more milk as I take some for the Keep Moving Group (I do get my money back from the kitty). The pepper was for adding in when making a big batch of Quorn spag bol sauce - I made 10 portions. The mozzerella is cut in half and put in the freezer for topping home made pizzas.
And Finally for end of May Bank Holiday weekend and the rest of the month everything from Aldi.
2 x Mini apples @ 6 for 59p = £1.18; 2 x 4 Nectarines @ £1.79 = £3.58; Celery 75p; Cauliflower £1.19; Peanuts 2@59p = £1.18; Clotted Cream £1.99; Mini Roule cheese £1.49.
Total Spend £12.25
Finally wasn't quite finally! as I bought half a dozen eggs from the local farm gate for £1.25, then the cup-a-soups and tea bags from the boot sale for 50p each and then a random tin of corned beef for 50p too - more house clearance.
Total food shop in May £110.35 but there are 20+ meals now in the freezer and the cupboards look healthy so June should be back to the usual £ 80-90ish for me at home and maybe plus a meal out.
Back Tomorrow
Well done on restocking the freezer with homemade meals, this is a winner in so many ways.
ReplyDeletePenny
It means I don't have to think - which is always a good thing!
DeleteI had to spend more recently, with family here - especially as a bottle of wine (not my mini ones) was in the shopping list. Strawberries too, and double cream for Potato Dauphinoise etc. Extra bread, then I needed ham and some rolls for Malvern on Monday, crisps, and extra hummus etc. Oh and more cat sachets. Bring back tins - they went SO much further!
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for strawbs from BiL but they are no good again this year. I've had two off my pot of plants which ought to have been repotted last year so I'll be buying a few at car boot sale I think
DeleteWell, that sent me on a search to discover the difference between calabrese and broccoli! Wiser now (for five minutes)
ReplyDeleteIt's just me being pedantic when I shouldn't!
DeleteThat is a big shop, but you have meals prepared and ready to cook.
ReplyDeleteStreamlined meal prep makes cooking easier. I should do more.
Yesterday, I made a big batch of spaghetti sauce with mixed peppers, onions and spices as well as Italian sausages. It simmered most of the day.
This will make two meals. Boiling pasta is easy.
It's hard to know for sure, but your food feels much less expensive than ours. Of course, we'd probably need to add 30 percent or so for the exchange rate. But for example, our peppers like your red one are $1.49 each. If you're lucky, you can get a bundle of three for a bit less. A bag that size of salad greens would be $3.49. Now I'm curious to compare everything with the exchange rate!
ReplyDeleteIt does look very healthy!
ReplyDeleteLots of excellent food choices there. You are set for awhile.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Lots of lovely healthy food for your money, and you only spent just a little bit more than me this month.
ReplyDeleteI notice that even taking the exchange rate into account, UK food prices are much lower than in my part of the US. Since before our current inflation, even. On the other hand, maybe UK people are also earning less and it's still a similar proportion of their income.
ReplyDelete