It was getting tough in 2006 and the workhouse still threatens us in 2011

Spendless

Can any of you help me as I'm struggling with converting to a Lidl shopper? I went last night, they didn't have any potatoes or cucumber. Cheese, washing liquid all of which I buy whatever is on offer at a mainstream place, only seemed to be dear. I forgot eggs, but then last time there wasn't much choice, I normally go for whichever free range are on offer, and I forgot toilet rolls. The price at the till was fab £25 :money:but I need to cover more of my shopping list this way. Admittedly I went with my 8yo dd and 87yo gran, neither who are on the same planet to me. :think: so that probably contributed to me not enjoying the experience.

Dee5565

Softstuff, sorry to hear about your dad sending positive thoughs.
Made your satay noodles and they were yummy as well.
So thank you for the recipes.
Will try your Oyster sauce one next week.

GreyQueen

Spendless wrote: »

Can any of you help me as I'm struggling with converting to a Lidl shopper? I went last night, they didn't have any potatoes or cucumber. Cheese, washing liquid all of which I buy whatever is on offer at a mainstream place, only seemed to be dear. I forgot eggs, but then last time there wasn't much choice, I normally go for whichever free range are on offer, and I forgot toilet rolls. The price at the till was fab £25 :money:but I need to cover more of my shopping list this way. Admittedly I went with my 8yo dd and 87yo gran, neither who are on the same planet to me. :think: so that probably contributed to me not enjoying the experience.

HI there, Lidl-ing is a bit of a learning experience as the stores are smaller than most Mr T's, Sainsbugs etc and you don't have as many choices.

That said, some of us find the lack of opportunity for choice-paralysis a blessing. The do tend to sell out of things like fruit and veg by late evening and later in the day on weekends (sunday is problematic at my Lidl for fruit & veg) and mine doesn't have a stockroom and it's very much what you see is all there is.

I think a lot of the disappointment might be the combination of a late visit and the dramatically-different ages of your shopping companions.

I'd suggest visiting earlier rather than later, if possible, and keeping your eyes peeled for things on offer. The non-food items are always worth a look but don't go away and think about it or it'll be gone for sure. Always remember your own bags, as they charge for theirs.

My Lidl has lost ground to the cheaper ranges in other stores in the past 12-18 months and is not as bargainous as it once was for the items which I buy but it does have some very nice Continental foodstuff and their Formil-brand washing powder is rated only a little inferior to Ariel by such authorities as the Good Housekeeping Institute and the Consumers Association (Which?) magazine. HTH.

Mrs_Veg_Plot

Morning all, have not been posting but have managed to catch up with you all this morning. Have just started 2 weeks leave so will hopefully be posting more frequently during the week (taking advantage of being on leave to work more extra shifts at the weekends).

Welcome to all of the newcomers and hugs to all who need them. Would list people separately but with only posting every now and then I cannot keep up.

Have runner beans to pick and blanch in the next few days. Had a potato and chard dish for tea last night that went down well. There is a lot of rainbow chard on the allotment we are looking after and we have never had it before.

Sliced and parboiled spuds (left skins on)
Sliced and saut!ed chard in small knob of butter with shallots
Put a layer of potato in the bottom of my lasagne dish dotted it with red pesto then added a layer of the chard/shallots.
Repeated these layers again.
Finished off with a final layer of potato and topped it off with some grated cheese.
Baked in the oven at 200 for 20min.

No one complained about the lack of meat and both daughters went back for more :j . Green stuff they liked

Have a recipe for chard and feta pie that I will be trying later in the week.

Will be making plum jam and chutney next week with the yellow wild cherry plums I foraged. There are still masses on the tree, which no one seems interested in. I did not want to take too many but think that I will go back for some more. The next tree along in the hedge is also a wild plum but of the usual dark colour variety and less sweet. I have been watching them ripen over the last couple of weeks and after checking them out again on my walk to work yesterday decided they were ready for picking. On my way home there was a couple there with a shopping bag on wheels who had stripped it bare :mad:. I will have to be quicker off the mark next year.

There are some cobnuts close by that are fattening up nicely that I have my eye on. Last year the council came and trimmed the trees before the nuts had ripened and cut them all off .

Right I'm off for another brew. I know I am working a late shift today but do feel decidedly in the holiday mood and very chilled out.

Enjoy the day

Mrs VP

ceridwen

Arent I remembering correctly too that one has to pay cash in Lidl and Aldi??? <scratches head and tries to recall my coupla exploratory visits I made>.

Think theres also having to take the shopping off and pack it up away from the till?

The unfamiliar brands are a bit confusing too - and I think that was what puzzled my mother most when we went on said exploratory visits. She swooped in amazement at the low prices on some of the things she recognised and emerged with a basket of shopping. So - they're too far from either of us for regular visits anyway. So - we'll stick to our regular S*insbury/wholefood shop for me and T*sco for her respectively.

Softstuff

HariboJunkie wrote: »

Cakes

Lemon Drizzle
Elderflower and Lemon
Cinnamon Nutella Cake
Coffee and Walnut

Chairs

Definitely teak oil them for outside and repeat at the end of the season.

Ironing

Can't help you there I'm afraid. You're a lost cause. :D;)

Many thanks for the cakes, and teak oil. Not seen teak oil here, but sure it must exist. I shall make the coffee walnut cake before next weekend, as I have all the ingredients in already, followed by the Cinnamon nutella one when I get some nutella. I will then have you to blame for my ever increasing bum. At least if it's much bigger I can just sit on the sheets to flatten them rather than iron....

There's so many good looking cakes out there, but it can be a bit of a risky business trying recipes that others haven't, so grateful for the tried and tested.

Does anyone have a cake recipe that is tried and tested and has lime and polenta? An odd request, but MIL had it in a cafe last week and I believe is dreaming of it nightly.

Dee5565 wrote: »

Softstuff, sorry to hear about your dad sending positive thoughs.
Made your satay noodles and they were yummy as well.
So thank you for the recipes.
Will try your Oyster sauce one next week.

Thank you again Dee. There's a chilli recipe of mine on here if you're to be my chief recipe tester

Dee5565

[QUOTE=Softstuff;45864679)



Thank you again Dee. There's a chilli recipe of mine on here if you're to be my chief recipe tester [/QUOTE]

I would be delighted to be your chief recipe tester, off to find your chilli recipe:D




edit; Thank you found your chilli recipe

ceridwen

Mrs_Veg_Plot wrote: »

Morning all, have not been posting but have managed to catch up with you all this morning. Have just started 2 weeks leave so will hopefully be posting more frequently during the week (taking advantage of being on leave to work more extra shifts at the weekends).

Welcome to all of the newcomers and hugs to all who need them. Would list people separately but with only posting every now and then I cannot keep up.

Have runner beans to pick and blanch in the next few days. Had a potato and chard dish for tea last night that went down well. There is a lot of rainbow chard on the allotment we are looking after and we have never had it before.

Sliced and parboiled spuds (left skins on)
Sliced and saut!ed chard in small knob of butter with shallots
Put a layer of potato in the bottom of my lasagne dish dotted it with red pesto then added a layer of the chard/shallots.
Repeated these layers again.
Finished off with a final layer of potato and topped it off with some grated cheese.
Baked in the oven at 200 for 20min.

No one complained about the lack of meat and both daughters went back for more :j . Green stuff they liked

Have a recipe for chard and feta pie that I will be trying later in the week.

Will be making plum jam and chutney next week with the yellow wild cherry plums I foraged. There are still masses on the tree, which no one seems interested in. I did not want to take too many but think that I will go back for some more. The next tree along in the hedge is also a wild plum but of the usual dark colour variety and less sweet. I have been watching them ripen over the last couple of weeks and after checking them out again on my walk to work yesterday decided they were ready for picking. On my way home there was a couple there with a shopping bag on wheels who had stripped it bare :mad:. I will have to be quicker off the mark next year.

There are some cobnuts close by that are fattening up nicely that I have my eye on. Last year the council came and trimmed the trees before the nuts had ripened and cut them all off .

Right I'm off for another brew. I know I am working a late shift today but do feel decidedly in the holiday mood and very chilled out.

Enjoy the day

Mrs VP

Another recipe for my collection:D

YOu were more restrained than I would be then Mrs VP re the couple who had stripped the tree bare. I would have walked up to them very firmly and asked if they realised that the Foragers Code is to only take a reasonable share of what there is, so that other people could have some too. Give them the benefit of the doubt - they may not have realised that other people wanted some too and thought it would go to waste if they didnt take it all. I know...I know...theres a good chance they DID know they were being greedy and would have felt so defensive about being caught out "in the wrong" that they would have given me a mouthful of abuse for doing this - but its a chance I would have taken personally...

Thus if they'd taken the LOT in innocence/ignorance - then they might have shared out fairly and known not to do it again. If they did know others wanted it - but couldnt care less - then it might put them off a repeat performance of greed in a future year for fear of getting caught out again.

hornetgirl

ceridwen wrote: »

Arent I remembering correctly too that one has to pay cash in Lidl and Aldi??? <scratches head and tries to recall my coupla exploratory visits I made>.

Think theres also having to take the shopping off and pack it up away from the till?

They take debit cards, but not credit cards. The Lidl I go to you can pack your bags at the till, but my nearest Aldi you put everything back into your trolley then move over a few steps to a short of low, wide shelf where you can pack your bags at your leisure. I find it works well as the queue at the till is never very long and always moves quickly.

My biggest gripe is that neither store has a branch in my home town, so once petrol is factored in I don't really save by shopping there. Visits are reserved for when I'm going to be there anyway for something else. Actually I find I'm combining journeys more and more these days. For example, Costco is en route to in-laws, so no longer gets its own journey. As petrol gets dearer, this will have to become the norm.

shelley_crow

ceridwen wrote: »

Arent I remembering correctly too that one has to pay cash in Lidl and Aldi??? <scratches head and tries to recall my coupla exploratory visits I made>.

Think theres also having to take the shopping off and pack it up away from the till?

The unfamiliar brands are a bit confusing too - and I think that was what puzzled my mother most when we went on said exploratory visits. She swooped in amazement at the low prices on some of the things she recognised and emerged with a basket of shopping. So - they're too far from either of us for regular visits anyway. So - we'll stick to our regular S*insbury/wholefood shop for me and T*sco for her respectively.

I'm not sure about Lidl but Aldi will take cash or debit cards, no cheques or credit cards.

They scan so fast it's hard to keep up. I'm too idle to load the trolley and then pack after. I've got a couple of the big blue ikea bags, they go in the bottom of the trolley after it's unloaded. Everything gets plonked in after scanning. Raw meat, laundry/cleaning products get left loose in the trolley and get put into bags in the car. I've got it down to a fine art now and can easily keep up with the cashier.

My town's market on a thursday is a shadow of what it was. It's very sad to see but you get your average stalls but now there's only one fruit and veg stall and one bread stall. I used to do the aldi shop on a thursday and get the rest of what I needed from the market but it's impossible now. I do worry about the way my town is going, there's charity shops, bargain shops and very little else. That suits me fine but I can see visitors wanting to come here, I wouldn't.