Translate

Friday 15 March 2013

Do you feel ripped off at the shops?

Dear reader,


Have woken up this morning to grey skies and drizzle. Yesterday was sunny and we managed to get the dogs out for 2 hours. We are both trying to eat a little more healthily and fancied chicken salad for dinner last night. We went into Sandwich which is a beautiful little town with some unusually named streets. I like No Name Street.


We picked up some chicken breasts that were £4.50. I then saw some hot chicken on the rotisserie which had been reduced from £5.00 to £2.50 so we got two whole cooked chickens which will last us a couple of days for lunchtime sandwiches and salads.
Big man likes to eat a lot of tinned tuna and has it in salads, sandwiches, jacket potatoes and with pasta so I always try to have some in my cupboard. I buy it so often I know that 4 tins in the plastic wrap is always about £4. I was therefore horrified to see it for £7.99 in the Co-op.
I always hunt for the best prices and Poundsavers have it for £3 for 4 tins so I have stocked up with 16 tins. John West either in brine or sunflower oil.
What a price difference, it annoys me as I don't like to feel ripped off. We also bought a loaf of bread, I like the seedy stuff. It was £1.60 a loaf! I think the time has come for us to try again with the breadmaking machine.

I have some braising beef in the slow cooker with carrots and onions and will be adding some cooked, diced potato later and attempting some pies. I was inspired by a lovely fellow blogger who is an expert pie maker. http://chelmarshchunterings.blogspot.co.uk/
She has some lovely recipes, do pop in and have a look.

What food prices shock you reader? Is £1.60 a lot for our daily bread and do you use the pound shops for any food purchases?

Have a good day hope its better weather where you are.

Sarah x

10 comments:

  1. I know you'll make a loaf for much cheaper than £1.60. Dust down the breadmaker!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi EDLOASS,
      I will make more of an effort to use it. I need to tweak my recipes to make it lighter as it always comes out a bit stodgy!

      Thanks for dropping in.

      Sarah. X

      Delete
  2. Tuna is expensive isn't it. We usually stock up when they're on offer at around £3.50-£3.99 for a 4 pack, so in my eyes £3 is very good!

    There are a few pound shops next to each other about a 20mins drive away from where we live and we do stock up there from time to time. We've found some great bargains & if they were closer, we'd probably check them out more often.

    I hope the pies turned out well - let us know how you got on!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sara,

      I don't usually buy food from there but will check from now on. Pies were turned into pasties and were very nice. (Not my own pastry) will exhibit tomorrow!

      Delete
  3. Hi Sarah, it's pie lady here :-)

    I love the No Name Street, we have one here called Frogall Lane, it sounds like somewhere from Wind in the Willows.

    Blimey Coop tuna is expensive!! I usually pay around £4 per pack max and thats enough when we have half a tin each on a jacket spud. You got a great bargain at £3 no wonder you stocked up, I would have done the same.

    Thank you for the mention and the link to my blog x My username is flourgirl because at the time of joining MSE and later setting up my blog, I was in full flow baking for the Farmers Market and Country Shows LOL I also made pies for the blokes at the steel works where my friends hubby worked, he would ring once a week for between 40 and 80 pies!! It just got a bit too much and when I started work in a bakers shop I put an end to it all. I could earn more money doing 2 days in the shop than a week working from home. I made pies and quiches for us yesterday but really we try not to eat too much pastry.

    I think £1.60 is extortionate for a loaf and I think if you keep trying your breadmaker you will soon get the hang of it and you will make 4 loaves for £1.60. I buy Cadbury's Highlights Hot Chocolate from Home bargains at 99p and its over £2 in the supermarket.

    Karen x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Karen, I will persevere with the homemade bread. We are both trying to cut down too and have had a few salads lately despite the cold weather.
      I am going back to the pound shops to see what else they have. You have to know the regular prices first or you can just think its cheap.
      Wow 80 pies is a lot of baking, I can imagine the hard work. They did look lovely though, no wonder your family like them.

      Sarah x

      Delete
  4. I agree, persevere with the bread making either with the breadmaker or by hand. It took me years before I was able to make a decent loaf (I've blogged about my recipe.) I make mainly white with just flour, yeast, butter, salt and water and I use half Tesco and half Lydl bread flour, baking 2 loaves at once using about a kilogram of flour. Keep persevering, you'll get there in the end.
    Love from Mum
    xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Mum,

      Thank you for dropping in. I will be finding your blog and bread recipe right now!

      Delete
  5. I find the price of meat and fish shocking. We stopped eating it last summer, but when I shopped with my Mum recently I could see how much prices had risen. I've been making my own bread for nearly 13 years. I don't use any fat in it as we avoid added fats too ( all for health reasons), but I add lots of seeds and grains.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Scarlet,

      Just been over to yours at the other stuff. The post about a mum made me well up. Seems a great blog so I am now a follower and have some catching up to do.
      Meat is terrible. I try to cook more veg dishes and buy the less known fish and just have a little. Nice of you to dop in and I've found you too!

      Delete