Welcome
to my new followers, Catherine, Jean by the stream and May Ward.
A slightly colder night last night at -4.5 Celsius, could certainly feel and see the difference inside with a little more condensation on some windows.
Well,
it is almost time to do the monthly shop. I have managed to make most
of our meals from what we had in the freezer but the weekly top up of
fresh food has meant our total extra spend for this month was around
£50 rather than the £20 I had hoped for.
On
the positive side though, I have managed to keep making extra meals
for the freezer so come March, we reckon we should be able to do a
similar thing if I continue to make meals to freeze during February.
It
really doesn't take much to make these extra meals, just a slight
change in portion size. For example, a few years ago, we may have had
goulash with lots of noodles and the amount I made would only have
done two meals. This time, I served it with potatoes and vegetables
so was able to stretch it to three meals etc.
My freezer supplies have taken a bit of a bashing, but I guess that is what they are there for. It will be filled up again in no time at all.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather keep using it and re-filling than just filling it and not using.
DeleteI only wish I had enough cupboard space to do a monthly shop. I have been trying to live from the freezer too, I seemed to be buying fresh food and never using that which I had frozen - I have been surprised at what I have found lurking at the back of the freezer.
ReplyDeleteOur monthly shop with weekly top ups is not huge so by the time a few things have gone in the fridge and freezer, baking cupboard, tinned goods and in the cupboard between two bedrooms, it is all packed away. I think our food takes up around 4 top single kitchen cupboards.
DeleteI've used up quite a bit of stuff from the freezer this month. I'll have to have a day of cooking to restock with home made 'ready meals'. I'm having too much fun revamping the attic at the moment though!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying your re-vamping. I'm sure it won't take long for you to restock your freezer.
DeleteI've got into the habit of doubling up everything I cook and freezing it. I've been trying to run my freezer down recently and am pleasantly surprised at all the extras I have in there. A month's shopping sounds good but I know I would be running out of things and if I should go out to buy those things, would end up buying more besides. A fortnight suits me best. Have a good week and keep warm.
ReplyDeletePatricia x
I'll put on line later today, the list we use for a monthly shop plus what we have ordered for this month. We have this delivered as we hate doing a big shop ourselves, especially as we have to drive quite a way to do it and both of our backs are not as good as they used to be. The monthly top ups are only done when we have other things to buy to save using up petrol unnecessarily.
DeleteIt is so great to make a bit more and freeze it, saves so much time an money. I m reading that 40% of food here in the u.s. is thrown away and just the energy to produce it must be huge............... Wicked, wicked wicked as well as shocking. There will be some ghastly reckoning me thinks !!
ReplyDeleteMy dustbin takes about six months to half- fill it and there is never any food in it except chicken bones which I could probably dry and grind up.....................
I love your blog - so practical and balanced......
Thank you Lizzie. We just watched a similar amount being thrown away on a tv programme. Shocking, most from shops, then cafe's and restaurants, then homes. One woman was throwing almost the weight of a small child away EACH week!
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