How much do you spend on food a month?

What a good mom you are! You make me very envious...I wish I had the time or inclination to bake and make things like you.

well, right now i've been on maternity leave.  BUT, we both enjoy cooking and baking.  Andrew learned to cook and bake at school, and he's damn good.  we like spending time on it together and thinking about what we're going to make next.  and now we get Aillidh involved.  she likes to stir, pour and if you have anything that needs mashed or pressed down, she's happy to do it!  she has a little apron from IKEA that matches mine and we put up a little table from Argos that folds flat against the wall so she has a place to sit down in the kitchen.  i take roisin in in her bouncy chair, put a load of washing in, and she watches the machine and coos at it.

we also use a slow cooker a lot.

it doesnt' take a lot of time at all.  my fav book right now is 'just one pot'.

Do you like your bread maker?  I was thinking about investing in one.  I really want a slow cooker and pressure cooker as well.  I think that'll save a lot of time when we are both working.

Pressure cooker helps a lot if you can get the hang of using it.  I left mine in the US but am getting another one shortly to shorten cooking times (much needed to help reduce temptation of going out to eat instead).

It's very interesting, you all are pretty much confirming what figures were given in a book I bought "Living and Working in London", where it estimates a budget of 125 a month for one person, 250 a month for a couple and 375 a month for a family of four for food.  Fairly close.

There are 2 of us and we never eat out. All three meals each day come from the grocery budget, and we spend £200-300 per month. This also includes household items like soap, etc.

it's just the boyfriend and I in the peterborough/northampton area.  we spend £100 - £150/month for grocerries.  this includes alchohol for the house, cleaning supplies, bird food, etc.  i spend another £90/month on lunches and going out for meals.

Do you like your bread maker?  I was thinking about investing in one.  I really want a slow cooker and pressure cooker as well.  I think that'll save a lot of time when we are both working.

We love it!  We wanted one a long time before we finally went for it.  We've had it for over a year now.  We also use it to make pizza bases and gingerbreads, etc. 

We do love gadgets, though, and using them.  Some people don't use them, but we make full use of all of ours.

The slow cooker we inherited from MIL, who bought it, but never used it much.  I even use it to make a few days worth of porridge for breakfast, then just nuke it in the morning for quickness. 

We love it!  We wanted one a long time before we finally went for it.  We've had it for over a year now.  We also use it to make pizza bases and gingerbreads, etc. 

We do love gadgets, though, and using them.  Some people don't use them, but we make full use of all of ours.

The slow cooker we inherited from MIL, who bought it, but never used it much.  I even use it to make a few days worth of porridge for breakfast, then just nuke it in the morning for quickness. 

Is your yogurt maker and ice cream maker the same gadget?  I like the idea of fresh dairy made items...

I love love love my bread maker...

I wish it had a jam option on it...

Wish I had room for a breadmaker!  I had one in the US, loved it.

Is your yogurt maker and ice cream maker the same gadget?  I like the idea of fresh dairy made items...

I love love love my bread maker...

I wish it had a jam option on it...

No, the yoghurt maker is the Lakeland one.  The ice cream maker is the Magimix Le Gelatia or Le something or other. 

Generally, I start to make a litre of ice cream/week right about now.  B/c it saves me having to make a pud.  I almost always make fruited ones or sorbets so as to get fruit into Aillidh, who is skinny as a whippet.

Aillidh is a yoghurt muncher extraordinnaire.  I mean, she was going thru one of those Yeo Valley pots - £1.25/pot - every other day or so.  Again, I do fruited ones. 

We have a kitchen the size of a postage stamp in this flat.  But on the worktops I've room for a microwave, sandwich maker - for toast, b/c breadmachine slices don't fit in a standard one - the breadmachine and a kettle. 

The rest of hte stuff I bring in and out. 

If we work on opposite ends of hte kitchen it works out, but it's still a tight squeeze.  It has a big windowsill, however, that's perfect for growing herbs.

Is your yogurt maker and ice cream maker the same gadget?  I like the idea of fresh dairy made items...

I love love love my bread maker...

I wish it had a jam option on it...

I have a bread maker on that we used to use..but as I am constantly on a diet I don't make it anymore....
But ours does have a jam maker option on it and DH made jam a couple of summers ago as we have a black current bush in our garden...and he said it was lovely...I wouldn't know cause I can't stand blackcurrent...blech.

I need to look into the whole yogurt thing as we eat a lot of it too and I'd like just to use plain fruit ... so many of the organic ones are still loaded with sugar...

We have/had an ice cream maker in the USA, but it was so fussy needing salt..etc...  sounds like a good way to have a pud ready and something you can make healthy. Would you recommend the one you have?

We still make breads diets or no.  I tend to make whole grain or multi seeded ones.  So thus lower GI. Then again it depends on if you are doing low carb or not.

I just find that I don't like the taste of store bought bread anymore... the only exception being some of the bakery loaves.  Sainsbury's does a nice multi seeded one we buy as a standby.

I bought DH a bread machine for this past Christmas.  We love it!  He tries different ones and makes pizza dough, naan, chapatis etc, but we mainly do granary/wholemeal bread.  I had one in the States years ago that made jam, and that was really neat but I didn't end up using that feature too much.

I bought DH a bread machine for this past Christmas.  We love it!  He tries different ones and makes pizza dough, naan, chapatis etc, but we mainly do granary/wholemeal bread. 

That's cool, carolyn!  Never thought about naan and chapatis!  Might have to give that a try.  I want to do hot cross buns for Easter this year.

We don't diet, but we go through a loaf as a family every few days.  We mostly do whole grain, but we love to experiment.  We have a Panasonic 253 we got in a sale on Amazon last year - free shipping! 

Our ice cream maker is a snap to use, you just have to remember to put the bowl in the freezer the night before you want to use it, but that's no biggie. 

I do add sugar to our yoghurt, just enough to sweeten it up a bit for Aillidh. 

Jam I'm too lazy to make, and we have no garden.  But there's a jam seller at the farmer's market that does gorgeous fruit speads.  Mmmm.  If I'm super lazy, I'll chuck some in ice cream for a quick pud.  It's easy peasy when you have young kids.

Another one I do is to take a banana.  Slice it open sideways.  Stuff w/Cadbury buttons.  Wrap and foil and grill until it goes all melty.  Aillidh LOVES that one!  She says 'delicious'.

I don't think the naan & chapatis would have occurred to us either, but the booklet that came with the bread machine had a recipe for the naan and chapati doughs.  And since he likes to make homemade curries, it's nice having them to go with.

Your puds sound lovely -- that would be the killer for me though!  I'd find the 50 pounds I lost so quickly!  lol