Shopping Day Again

Hmm, will have to review this shopping business... went off this morning as if to war... bank account is not still not looking very healthy, and so I thought I better try and have a very cheap week..... also it's Mothers' Day on Sunday and I have to get my mum something and possibly my daughter...
I checked in the cupboards last night and I really can make it through till next week without some of the things on my "master list".. (the things I said I'd buy every week regardless so I never run out).... these are the things I had enough of:

toilet paper: 2x packs of 12 rolls

dishwashing detergent : 1 full new bottle

washing powder : 2 full boxes

tea : 3 full boxes

toothpaste : a whole new tube

I thought there was enough soy milk and Nuttelex etc but I bought some more of these.. as well I had 2 boxes of Paul's cereal that he likes(Special K) but it was on special so I bought another box. It goes very quickly I can tell you!

The main thing I really went for today was dog and cat food and bread, otherwise I felt I could have lasted till NEXT Thursday.....of course I did not just get these things! But my shopping was only half the cost of my usual so I guess that's something.

Now I will have to be extra imaginative to make meals out of what I have there already as I didn't buy much in terms of extra food for us. I bought some shampoo that was on special for my son, two packets of Cadbury mini treats for Paul's lunches and also cos my grandgirls will be here this weekend, some sausages for Paul for when we go to a BBQ on Friday night ( He doesn't really care for steak and I'm going to make bean burgers for myself), some frozen curly fries for the girls, some frozen veges(1 kg) and that will have to do us for the week. I have 2 packets of frozen stir fry veg already and the silverbeet and Chinese cabbage in the garden are yielding a few leaves now..eggs, mainly again for the girls, (they really like their eggs), a tin of baked beans (good for a sandwich), lasagne noodles ( I might make a big vege lasagne for Mothers'Day lunch), cheese, some savory shapes in case anyone drops over, tissues( the ones I like are on special), 2 packets of biscuits(on special) and some coconut milk powder( in case I want to make a curry again.. the one I made the other day with the chickpeas and spinach was absolutely delicious!!!!).

With the dog food I had one can left so I bought 4 more and also a dog " roll" for variety. As well a packet of cheap mince and I'm cooking that now with a packet of rice my boss threw out at work. It had a few dead pantry moths in it but I hate waste and it could do for the dogs... better than just going in the bin, I think... I'm going to grate some carrots and potato and add that and some parsley for "greens", that will do them at least 2 meals.. maybe three mixed with biscuits...
I had enough cat food for the week and then some but the sachets my cat likes were on special so I got a pack of 12.

Last night we didn't go to the movies.. Paul came not feeling terribly well and the only thing that we might have been keen on seeing was "Iron Man 2".. but we haven't seen "Iron Man 1" so we decided to give it a miss. When he's not well though, my husband really only likes to eat soup but not the creamy kind like the pumpkin soup I'd made earlier in the day...I'll have to knock that off for my lunches and snacks over the next few days....
The vege pies.. well, I froze 2, ate one yesterday, gave one to Paul for lunch today, and he can have another tomorrow(with other things) and there's one for me to eat today.

For dinner last night I made him THIS nourishing concoction: (Serves 2)

Small handful of dried sliced shitake mushrooms

2 skeins of noodles or packet of 2 min noodles

2 sachets of miso soup or tbls of miso

one stalk of spring onion and 7-8 cloves of garlic chopped

tsp of minced ginger

I mild chilli or small amount of hot chilli chopped

little bit of oil to fry plus a little sesame oil

1/2 bunch of bok choy or similar vegetable (I used 3 leaves of the young Chinese cabbage from the garden and the rest of the spinach leaves I had( about a cup and 1/2)

1/2 -3/4 cup of either chicken strips or tofu ( I used Fry's vegetarian chicken style strips)


Boil some water, enough to cook your noodles in and for your soup, if using 2 min noodles wait till the end, if using other noodles, put them in now..

IN another saucepan, heat a bit of oil and fry the chicken, or tofu.. if raw chicken make sure it is cooked before you add the garlic, chilli, ginger, and some of the spring onion

Add in the vegetable , the mushrooms and enough of the hot water for how much soup you want, add the miso and season to taste with pepper and salt if you need more....

Put yr noodles into your soup bowls, and divide the vege/chicken/ tofu/soup mixture between the two, spooning it over the noodles. Garnish with the remaining spring onion and drizzle over some sesame oil....

Serve and enjoy the goodness!!