My food shop was minimal last week. I haven’t really spent anything on groceries apart from £8 on some yellow sticker stuff I found in my local Co-op. We seemed to have quite a lot of food and it makes me more creative when I have to use up what we have.
We used the fish cakes for tea on Saturday with some salad. They were delicious but I wouldn’t have paid the original price. On Sunday we had the chicken pieces, roasted up with some of the carrots and lots of fresh veg that was hanging around plus half a tin of potatoes that needed eating. We had this one tray supper with the spinach and it was lovely!
The kiwis still aren’t ripe – I just can’t think why they were reduced at all! We have apples and oranges to use up anyway as well as frozen berries.
I am saving the whole chicken as we will have a roast over the Easter weekend. I will need to get some shopping before then but I do intend to go to the supermarket on Saturday evening to see if I can get some big reductions before Easter Sunday 😀.
So I am saving money on my food bill by finding bargains, not wasting fresh food and using up what we have in the cupboards and freezers. How about you?
I had to buy rather a lot of food this week, but we have not bought into the commercialization of Easter, being heavily promoted in the shops. It’s gone as mad as Christmas … well, almost! Even if you are a non-believer, like me, it seems rather silly to go overboard on crackers and bunnies and so forth, things which are totally unnecessary and, really, have little to do with Christianity. Surely a family can enjoy itself without ‘decorating’ for Easter? Country walks, a picnic, even enjoying a DVD together if the weather is bad? We have bought our little grandson a chocolate bunny because at three he would be so disappointed if he didn’t have something from granny and granddad, but you won’t find me buying lots of Easter knick-knackery. There are people even in this country who haven’t enough food to eat, I’d rather put something in the *food bank (which I do) that waste money on crackers. Or am I mercenary?
Rather than waste food, especially veg, I make soup, but as I’ve said before, the best soup is made with the freshest of ingredients. However, we can’t use everything up all the time, so soup it is when the veg go a bit soft.
* I would add that for the food bank, things other than food are required, such as sanitary towels, loo rolls, toothpaste, shampoo, hand wash, pet food, etc. I asked in the supermarket what not to put in and they said “Not baked beans, everyone buys those!”
I have found that unripe fruit is often marked down. It was pears last week and 8 days later they are just perfect for eating. The head of celery that was half price at 30p this week was in better shape than the one I got at full price last week! The best before date is being slavishly followed rather than being able to use common sense.
You bought some good food at good prices but I think they were a bit mean with chicken thighs which could have been bought in date for only 20p more, if mixed and matched! The fish cakes have given me an idea for using up the one salmon fillet which I have left in the freezer at the moment. Is it me or has the price of salmon gone through the roof recently? Perhaps I have missed something on the news which would have explained the reason.
I don’t know how you find time to write your blog as well as working full time and being thrifty (which is often easier for those of us now retired), so thanks again for your informative and well written posts.
Yes, I’ve noticed the price of salmon has gone up, too, VickiEY.
Margaret P
I popped into Tesco earlier and there were dozens of packs of red/green/yellow peppers reduced to 11p each. They were all firm and in good condition. I bought 4 packs, chopped them all up and put in the freezer. It is a rare thing to get such a bargain in my local store.
Everything has gone up in price. I buy on yellow stickers where possible, but I have to be sure if we will all use it and there is a lot of competition where I live. I have really gone off my local Aldi. It’s expanded and gone really scruffy. I did a great shop in Lidl yesterday. 30% off chicken en croute, which is tomorrow’s diner. £38 in total and even a bottle of prosecco thrown in. I spent another £10 on lamb in Sainsbury s. I,’ll be making cakes tomorrow with caramel shortbread. This is an expensive shop for me but I have a fridge and freezer full of food so I am happy.