Good and bad buys from Aldi and Lidl

System

I never have any condiments that I eat seasonally. Bbq sauce isn't restrictive to summer. It's nice with a hm ham and mushroom omelette.

aliama

We had Aldi's New York cheesecake for pudding over the weekend (from the freezer aisle), and found it quite nice. Although at £1.79 it doesn't seem all that cheap to me, especially as it's quite small.

System

Clowance wrote: »

because making home made mash after a hard days work involves peeling spuds, cooking for half an hour, mashing spuds while your other veg get cold (I use a steamer). Frozen - just slap exactly what you need in microwave and then add a little milk or butter.

How much is Aldi's frozen mash?

I think Iceland do it. Sainsburys is £1 a bag

duchy

Feral_Moon wrote: »

I have to ask why on earth you want to buy frozen mash? I didn't even realise Aldi sold it. In fact I didn't even realise it existed :rotfl:

Always something new to learn.
It's actually a pretty good product- not quite as nice as the real stuff but good for busy people . Certainly a step up from the dreaded Smash

quoia

Clowance wrote: »

because making home made mash after a hard days work involves peeling spuds, cooking for half an hour, mashing spuds while your other veg get cold (I use a steamer). Frozen - just slap exactly what you need in microwave and then add a little milk or butter.

NO it doesn't

DON'T peel any spuds and DON'T boil them for half an hour and DON'T mash them whilst your other veg get cold.

Just put whole potatoes in the microwave for about 10 minutes (whilst you are doing the rest of your meal) and then pop them in a potato ricer (cost a few pounds) and squeeze. I usually cut them in half first.
Perfectly lump free mashed potato (add milk, salt, pepper, butter to taste) and the skin remains in the ricer.

If you don't want to waste the skins (particularly if you leave a bit of potato on them) , you can then crisp them up in the oven with a drop of oil, drop them in a deep fat fryer, or better still pop them under the grill with grated cheese and maybe a few little bits of bacon
Lovely, no waste, an extra snack and cheap ......

... especially when potatoes can currently be bought for under 16p a kilo

B0B

The pre made mash is actually alright. It's 69p a tub a think. Normally stores next to other ready meals.

The frozen mash comes in pellet form and is a bizzare thing to see

Doc_N

quoia wrote: »

If you don't want to waste the skins (particularly if you leave a bit of potato on them) , you can then crisp them up in the oven with a drop of oil, drop them in a deep fat fryer, or better still pop them under the grill with grated cheese and maybe a few little bits of bacon

Although a farmer friend of mine won't eat the skins under any circumstances - says he knows what's been used to grow and store them.

Feral_Moon

ScarletMarble wrote: »

I never have any condiments that I eat seasonally. Bbq sauce isn't restrictive to summer. It's nice with a hm ham and mushroom omelette.

Then why not buy an extra bottle during the summer to see you through the months they don't stock it? It's hardly going to go off. I've got various bottles of sauces in the cupboard that were bought maybe two or three years ago. The vinegar in them acts as a preservative.

ladybabe

bought a turkey with gammon (think it was in the easter leaflet) although use by date is end of July serves 10 and was reduced from 9.99 to 5.99 bargain for next big sunday dinner

robrymond

Did my first big shop in a few weeks in Aldi today and noticed price increases on quite a few items but mainly stuff that was reduced to silly prices i.e 1kg bag of chips to 79p and have now risen by 6p or so.