Sooo bored of Lidl and Aldi

hilstep2000

How about some new ideas?
Try: http://www.greatlittleideas.com/
http://www.cannedfood.co.uk/index.php
http://www.supercook.com/
http://www.mydish.co.uk/

rachbc

I shop at aldi then have a periodic trawl of waitrose/ ethnic shops for new/ unusual/ extra bits. Things like a litttle jar of rose harissa or chipotle paste. I have to admit it is about the feel good factor as much as about the 'thing' i have bought but at a couple of quid I don't mind! I do mkae an effort to try new recipes - and tasty things don't need to contain loads of unsual or expensive ingredients

Edwardia

I go to Lidl for veg ,deli stuff and washing powder. Has to be Morrisons for fish and offers but unimpressed with fruit & veg. Poundland/99p Stores for dog food, I do my internet shopping from Waitrose and occasionally nip into Sainsbury's. Variety is the spice of life and gives more choice.

If you're bored and you cook from scratch maybe it's your recipes which are stuck in a rut ? ASDA, Budgens, Co-op, Lidl, Sainsburys, Tesco, Waitrose all have recipes on their websites. Some can find recipes if you put in key ingredients. Some can add the ingredients to your shopping list.

Also, if you have a working knowledge of American culinary terms and a set of US measuring cups (have seen in Tesco and ASDA), then you can use recipes from American supermarket websites Canadian ones will be in metric btw.

Lugh_Chronain

Incidentally, you can currently get £30 off a £90 spend at Ocado.com with O2 Priority Moments if you like shopping at Waitrose/Ocado. This has been posted on these boards though there are a few more tips about this posted here as well.

meritaten

Ive been a dedicated Aldi shopper for over ten years now - and dont understand why you are bored? I cook from scratch most nights - but now and again buy some of their delicious 'Freezer' meals - Like the duck legs in Orange sauce. They usually have a Fresh meat treat every other week or so.
My OH would happily eat the same meal every monday through to sunday - but I like variety and certainly dont find Aldi limited. especially as my main gripe with them is that you cannot be certain of finding your favourites! they are forever chopping and changing!

I do a top-up shop in Tresco about every two months - but that is only for my beloved Oxo cubes and thier curry powder and my OHs toothbrush heads! oh and my shampoo as I am allergic to most Lacura products.

Callie22

duchy wrote: »

I don't use Lidl (too far) but Aldi is my closest supermarket and if cooking from scratch I can't think of much they don't have .

I think I must be missing something with Aldi. I went to my local one on Friday, it's a newish store so I thought I'd give it a go. It was awful. None of the fruit and veg was really fresh, even the onions were 'squishy', all of the soft fruit was bashed and mouldy, the range was really limited (couldn't find spinach, for example, or broccoli). The range of groceries was really limited too - no bread flour, no wholemeal flour of any kind, limited range of herbs and spices, limited range of pasta (no wholemeal again). I could have filled a trolley with cakes, biscuits, crisps, power tools, toys, gardening tools and other assorted rubbish, but the food itself was really limited and it was a bit like a car boot sale with some fridges round the edge. I'm sure that there are some good things there but I just lost the will to look for them - it just didn't seem like a good place unless you wanted ready meals or junk.

SUESMITH_2

Callie22 wrote: »

I think I must be missing something with Aldi. I went to my local one on Friday, it's a newish store so I thought I'd give it a go. It was awful. None of the fruit and veg was really fresh, even the onions were 'squishy', all of the soft fruit was bashed and mouldy, the range was really limited (couldn't find spinach, for example, or broccoli). The range of groceries was really limited too - no bread flour, no wholemeal flour of any kind, limited range of herbs and spices, limited range of pasta (no wholemeal again). I could have filled a trolley with cakes, biscuits, crisps, power tools, toys, gardening tools and other assorted rubbish, but the food itself was really limited and it was a bit like a car boot sale with some fridges round the edge. I'm sure that there are some good things there but I just lost the will to look for them - it just didn't seem like a good place unless you wanted ready meals or junk.

it doesn't sound like my aldi, ours is very tidy and has good fresh food.

Edwardia

The reason I quit using ASDA was because it was turning into Tesco - wall to wall carbs and very little fresh unprocessed food. My local Lidl has fresh veg daily and I think it's very good, whereas although there's a great choice of fish at Morrisons, it seems the veg suffers from the symptoms Callie22 describes.

We're exhorted to eat healthily and have 5 portions of fruit n veg a day, drink 8 glasses of water etc but the supermarkets devote 90% of their floor space to stuff like ready meals, crisps and biscuits.

So yes. I recognise what Callie22 says as being true of many supermarkets. I also have to be honest here and say that many posters seem to put saving money ahead of feeding their family with nutritious food. Not all, some, but more than I would have imagined.

rachbc

Callie22 wrote: »

I think I must be missing something with Aldi. I went to my local one on Friday, it's a newish store so I thought I'd give it a go. It was awful. None of the fruit and veg was really fresh, even the onions were 'squishy', all of the soft fruit was bashed and mouldy, the range was really limited (couldn't find spinach, for example, or broccoli). The range of groceries was really limited too - no bread flour, no wholemeal flour of any kind, limited range of herbs and spices, limited range of pasta (no wholemeal again). I could have filled a trolley with cakes, biscuits, crisps, power tools, toys, gardening tools and other assorted rubbish, but the food itself was really limited and it was a bit like a car boot sale with some fridges round the edge. I'm sure that there are some good things there but I just lost the will to look for them - it just didn't seem like a good place unless you wanted ready meals or junk.

Goodness couldn't be more different from ours....I got spinach, brocolli, savoy cabbage, celery, carrots, romano peppers, sweet potatoes, ginger, garlic, chillis, pots of fresh herbs, melon, mango, pears, apples, bananas, blueberries, rocket, baby leaf salad, sugar snap peas.

Closest thing to processed junk was some italian deli meats....oh and dd chose her treat - a packet of cashew nuts!

Admittedly there was no wholemeal pasta - but I'd rather eat shoelaces so that ok by me!

Callie22

rachbc wrote: »

Goodness couldn't be more different from ours....I got spinach, brocolli, savoy cabbage, celery, carrots, romano peppers, sweet potatoes, ginger, garlic, chillis, pots of fresh herbs, melon, mango, pears, apples, bananas, blueberries, rocket, baby leaf salad, sugar snap peas.

I'm jealous! There was honestly nothing like that range in mine, and what there was, wasn't fresh. Maybe it's a case of getting to know delivery days etc so that I can try again when I know the stock will be fresh. They are building another Aldi in my town which I believe is opening in the next few weeks, so I'll have to bribe OH to take me there!