Interesting question and I’m thinking the answer lies in my
cupboards and at the back dark depths of my freezer. This is going to be a hard challenge for me
to resist the allure of the supermarket however I’m interested with all these
thoughts of budgets and menu planning to see if I can put my money where my
mouth is and try and make some savings….
Today I would normally do a top up shop
after my big shop last week but I’d hear
about a concept on simply savings where by you eat from your store cupboard and
only spend $21 on odds and sods like fruit, milk and emergency items. I am
guessing coffee from my favourite café wont be on that emergency list, damn it.
I’m going to have to limit my wine intake too, now this is getting depressing.
But I’m not going to make the savings by buying cask wine, not that there is
anything wrong with it, I’d just hate to slip up and drink it all in one
go. I have a few bottles in the wine
rack that should get me threw. The upside to this challenge would be the
saving, Jan, remember the saving!!
Ok so as I did a big shop last week I’m good for most money
grabbers like coffee, milk, cereal, detergent, cleaners, toiletries, butter,
spreads, eggs, condiments, flour, and nuts . My advice would be do this challenge,
if you are game, the week after your decent shop. I’m not listing breakfast and lunch on here,
they are usually oats, cereal and toasties, rice cakes with dip, soup or wraps
and I have plenty of them stashed.
Snacks are dry biscuits with homemade dips (using canned chickpeas for
hummus and cannellini beans ), muffins from freezer and fruit.
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| Juicy Granny Smith apples on our tree |
So our menu will be:
Monday: Roast chicken, from freezer with roasted vegies from
the garden-spuddies, parsnip, carrot, Japanese turnip and beetroot, frozen peas
and gravy made from juices of chicken and gravox.
Tuesday: Fried rice with leftover chicken from roast, prawns
from freezer, egg, rice, rocket, frozen peas and corn, tin of waterchestnuts
and fresh herbs
Wednesday: Dinner at my nan’s…is that cheating?
Thursday: lasagne made with mince from the freezer, tomato passatta we made from our summer crop and
lasagne sheets from cupboard and a big green salad
Friday: Pizzas made from scratch with toppings of whatever
we have, most probably a delicious garlic, parmesan and herb, potato and
rosemary, ham, cheese & pineapple for the child who has few taste buds,
chorizo and prawn and a big chilli hit for hubby.
Saturday: roast pork ditto to Monday nights accompaniments
or possibly roast beetroot, rocket and feta salad for us grown ups
Sunday: Sausage rolls and pea and ham soup all from freezer
The $21 went on:
Breadx 2 loaves $6.60
Apples $3 and some still coming off our tree
Oranges $3
Bananas $4
Ham $10
Ok so that’s more than $21 its $26.60 but it is still better
than the $150 plus I would have spent this coming week if I hadn’t of put my
mind to it. And for the record, I will get one sneaky coffee in, I have a
freebie on my coffee card!! Someone is looking out for me.
 |
| Found this parsley at our local gardens yesterday, shhh, |
Now this isn’t going to happen every week obviously, but
once every few months I should be able to at least by stocking the freezer well
and maybe the savings can help pay for that little trip to Tassie we are hoping
to take, there’s got to be at least one
day of eating at the Salamanca Markets in that $150!
Ciao, Jan
Ciao, Jan
Wow jan, just caught up on your blogs, you've been busy. Love what you are doing and would love to go down the track of pre planning menu and shopping.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle!!
DeleteHi Jan, I have come across from Rhonda's blog & i'm glad i found you. I'm going to go through my freezer & pantry today, i'm sure my hubby, my 9 month old daughter & i could get through the next week with what's lurking in there, it is our small pay week (no extra shifts picked up) so this is a good week to give this a go. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with it! Thanks for reading : )
DeleteHey Jan.
ReplyDeleteI am very late comment to this post--but one of my saviours for cutting the grocery bill is foraging.
We are renting and have limited fruit in pots, as well as a big of vege garden we are allowed and can mange. The property has figs, feijoas and rhubarb, however I have 3 big boys to feed, and a limited budget; but want to stay true to my values of a commitment to Aussie produce and, where I can, organic food.
I am totally ruthless forager in my area. I live in a suburb of Melbourne where there were traditionally lots of immigrant families post war (Italian, Greek, Lebanese and Turkish). There are literally hundreds of fruit trees that are full of fruit for at least 70% of the year. Last summer I foraged 15 kg of apricots, about 5kg of nectarines and the same of peaches. That autumn I got quinces and chestnuts. Winter was lemons.
Of course I always knock and ask, and have met lots of lovely people and even made some friends.
We also did some rural trips to a pine forest and got kilograms of pine mushrooms (yes, I know fuel costs, but it was a day out in the bush/forest for the family with the thrill of the hunt). There are also heaps of feral apple trees growing rurally on the roadside in autumn and blackberries in summer.
Starting gain this late spring, I have foraged about 7kg of locuts and about to hit the trail again for the apricots.
I have reciprocated some of our produce to some of these folk and now we are getting ‘known’ by friends. An old Italian lady bought me a tonne of endive seedlings this week, and a neighbours cousin a big bag of lemons (as we share our pine mushrooms with these elderly Italians which is a real treat for them). All of this food is ‘organic’ and alot of it goes to waste if not consumed. The older generations in our community that I speak with cant eat it all nor preserve/store all the food anymore and are grateful for the help to keep the trees/ground clean, as well as some company.
Alot of my friends look down their noses at me, but I don’t care—I re about my budget and the quality of food going into my kids bellies. However, I think there will be shift in the near future and people will begin to value these resources and protect the links into their community.
Sorry for the rant...
Robyn that is fantastic! What a wonderful thing to be doing and I love the idea of the relationships you are building. Strangely enough, I am in Melbourne at the moment and was only saying to my friend who lives in that same area, look at all the fruit trees!! Ive never had those mushrooms, they sound like a great days adventure followed by a yummy meal. Rant away love, rant away xxx Jan x
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