Wednesday 28th January 2009

Okay winter is now officially here and although the temps are on the increase and spend most of their time between 5 and 9 degrees it is very wet and grey and has been raining for at least a week now. Shopping in these conditions is an absolute nightmare and I was muttering much better as I scuttled across the Sainsbury's car park earlier today with little Nick scrunching his face up against the rain and all my shopping getting soaked.....the only conciliation is that my dad tells me it is also cold and miz in SA today so I felt a little less alone dealing with these nasty conditions, and at least it is not supposed to be warm here.

During my first month in England I remember detailing a shop that I had done for around £50 .....well prices have either gone up or we are eating more as an average week now costs me around £80.....although we have added Nick to the equation so that may also be it.

• 12 pints (+-6l) fresh milk (Philly is like a little calf and drinks huge amounts of milk)
• 1 x bag (32) disposal biodegradable nappies
• 1 x box (5) Caprisun orange juice sachets
• 1 x packet (80) wetwipes
• 1 x bag frozen corn on the cob
• 1 x bag frozen peas
• 1 x 750 g All Bran Flakes
• 2 x Juice concentrate
  
• 3 x small jars baby food (kept for emergencies....I make most of Nick's food myself)
• 1 x 5kg bag potatoes
• 3 x yogurt's
• 12 x small probiotic yogisips
• 1 x butter
• 6 x fromage frais (similar to yogurt but more calcium for Nick)
• 2 x small packets fruit and yogurt flakes (for Meg's lunch box)
• 1 x Twirl chocolate (my reward for shopping :-)
• 1 x cereal bars (for lunch boxes)
• 1 x packet of 8 sausages
• 1 x packet diced bacon
• 1 x packet beef casserole meat
• 2 x packets breaded chicken goujons (like crumbed chicken strips only done for you)
• 1 x box bread crumbs
• 2 x packets loin pork chops (3 in each packet)
• 1 x deboned chicken breasts
• 1 x box of 16 laughing cow cheeses (for Phil's lunch box)
• 4 x loaves white bread
• 2 x lurpak spreadable butter
  
• 1 x bag of 20 small packets of crisps (for lunch boxes and snacking)
• 6 x hot cross buns (another treat for doing the shopping:-)
• 2 x loose parsnips
• 1 x cauliflowers
• 1 x bag pink ladies apples (from SA I might add)
• 1 x punnet mushrooms
• 2 x bags clementines
  
• 1 x broccoli
• 1 x fresh garlic
  1 x packet fresh carrots
  1 x Swartz Beef Casserole sauce.
• 1 x swede (although what the hell I am supposed to do with it I am not sure...gonna try steaming)

And that is the family fed and kept perfectly happy for the week....List obviously varies from week to week depending on what we are running low on, but I would honestly say food shouldn't cost you more then £380 - £400 a month as we eat exceptionally well and I really don't price hunt too much I know what I like and I buy it - you can reduce this amount considerably if you buy "no name" or "shops own" brands and drive around between the discounted stores.

We have also found the food to be exceptionally good here and I am not sure where the stories about the shocking meat come from as we are in love with the pork and both the lamb and beef are of superior quality.....to be honest, we are buying "expensive" meat, but it is no more expensive then buying your meat from Spa or Pick n Pay....if I wanted to buy Checkers priced meat it is also available, but then I am sure I would be getting a slightly lower quality. As long as you eat in and avoid restaurants and take aways food in this country really isn't horrifically expensive.