Sainsbury's Basics good/bad items

purplevamp

fuzzybear - I noticed this on my last lot of yogs . I liked the black cherry one, peach was my least favourite.

This thread is great, it goes to show how peoples tastes vary greatly. I like the pizzas and mini rolls, whereas some people don't. I hate the teabags but some people love them.

I am finding that the prices are creeping up though.

Slightly off topic:- when they do tv shows about downshifting, I think it would be interesting if they did one with a family who are on basics already and are still trying to save. Just my little opinion

Knonie

Please unless you like to suffer - do not try the sainsburys basics rice pops!!!

I embrace all that is basic accept them - my dd & myself were concerned about the unnatural colour (yellow..) but most of all my the complete lack of flavour so gave them up as a bad job and put our bowls on the kitchen worksurface in disgust - found something else to eat and went and sat down... 1/2hr later I returned to clear away the breakfast things to find that they'd practically changed into another food group:eek:

They appear to solidify if left in milk - yuk:eek:

kezlou

Potatoes
Ketchup (nicer than hienz)
Vinegar
Mint sauce
Baked beans 29p
Noodles (as in batchelors type)
Ice Cream
Foil
Cling Film
Food bags
Toilet Tissue
Kitchen Roll
Tinned plum tomatoes
Tinned chopped tomatoes
Cooking Bacon
Bacon
Carrots
Apples
Pitta (white / wholemal) 19p
Crumpets (sometimes they have the holes missing though )
Scotch Pancake
Scones
Hand wash
Butter
Soft cheese (philedelphia)
Salad cheese (tastes like feta)
Goats cheese
Mild Cheese
Mature Cheese
Salmon
Seafood sticks
Yoghurt
Self raising flour
Plain Flour for bread making
Jelly 7p
tinned manarin pieces, infact all tinned furit quite nice
brown sauce
pasta shapes (500g 49p)
Spaghetti
tined spaghetti 19p
peas - mushy
raisins / dried fruit - all pretty good and cheap
fruit jam
pickled onions
pickled beetroot
pate
fresh prawns - yummy
chicken thighs, breast, legs, wings.

okay
Mayonnaise - ok prefer helmanns
bread - varies form time to time , always good for toast 49p
basic curry sauce - tastes like chip shop curry
fresh mince - fatty
sweet chutney
sweet and sour sauce - more sweet than sour
ham slices - more water than ham
sweetcorn - tinned
custard - tinned

bad
salad cream - absolutely rank
cupa soups
pasta meals in a bag
fresh sausages - foul
all the tinned soups are rank

If i remember anymore i'll post them up.

kezlou

Knonie wrote: »

Please unless you like to suffer - do not try the sainsburys basics rice pops!!!

I embrace all that is basic accept them - my dd & myself were concerned about the unnatural colour (yellow..) but most of all my the complete lack of flavour so gave them up as a bad job and put our bowls on the kitchen worksurface in disgust - found something else to eat and went and sat down... 1/2hr later I returned to clear away the breakfast things to find that they'd practically changed into another food group:eek:

They appear to solidify if left in milk - yuk:eek:

thats so true, the basic cheap weetabixs are awful too.

nickynoo08

I've found this thread sooo helpful. I used to be an avid mrT shopper and the majority or each shop would be value products. That is until they discontinued loads of it:mad:. We only have a smallish sainsburys near us so i never realised there basics range was so large till i went online. Did my first big shop there last week (based on your advice) and i have to say i'm really pleased with everything i got. Even the basics weetabix - my OH and ds love it, i dont like it but as long as it keeps them quiet i'm happy;).
Has anyone tried there brown sauce? OH loves hp but it's very expensive (he goes throught loads!!).

We got....
loo roll, flour, batter mix, par baked baguettes
tinned toms, rice pud, kidney beans, spaghetti
bananas, apples, potatoes, mushrooms, onions
crisps, juice, mince (bit fatty but i just drained it)
lasagne sheets, mozzarella, tom soup (not as good as sainsbury's normal but i added some black pepper and handful of herbs and it was fine and for the price i dont mind adding a little extra to make it taste better)
wheat biscuits, tuna, mayo, pineapple chunks.

We will be trying...
Pizzas, beans, pasta sauce, cheese (unless branded works out cheaper if on offer), fromage frais, crumpets, teacakes, butter and salmon.

OrkneyStar

sue-y wrote: »

Basics Toothpaste 20p for 75ml.
Minty flavour abit odd, but getting used to it. 1000ppm flouride is less than my usual Colgate (I think 1350ppm), but loads cheaper!

Basics Shampoo. 27p for 1L.
OK,cleans but strips natural oils from hair so wouldn't use it all the time, maybe every 5th wash.

The dental hygienist recommended to use toothpaste with this level of fluoride for my DS (aged 1 and a half!).

Should I use fluoride toothpaste?

Fluoride comes from a number of different sources including toothpaste, specific fluoride applications and perhaps the drinking water in your area. These can all help to prevent tooth decay. If you are unsure about using fluoride toothpaste ask your dentist, health visitor or health authority. All children up to 3 years old, should use a toothpaste with a fluoride level of at least 1000ppm (parts per million). After three years old, they should use a toothpaste that contains 1350ppm-1500ppm. You can check the level of fluoride on the packaging of the toothpaste. Children should be supervised up to the age of 7, and you should make sure that they spit out the toothpaste and don?t swallow any if possible.
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From this website.

Patr100

Tried their Basics Meatballs in tomato sauce.
Not recommended - hardly any sauce - you could add your own but I would have thought that would have been a cheap filler.

Sol00

I've bought the bananas today, so it'll be interesting to see what they're like.

The only thing I've bought which I wasn't too keen on was the Basics Fruit and Fibre. I've bought Sainsbury's normal range instead.

sparklewing

I find doing my online shop at Sainsburys is actually cheaper than Asda and Tesco. When I use Asda their quality on fresh fruit and veg is so terrible most of it ends up in the bin and I have to go and replace it anyway (this is probably just my local Asda though as my old Asda was great). Plus Sainsburys very very rarely give me any substitutions, I was getting loads from the other 2.

Anyway back to the topic I buy regularly and like:
All Purpose Cleaner (cheaper than stardrops!)
Scrubby sponge things
Kitchen Roll
Bananas (fairtrade too)
Peppers (one week I got all red ones I was very excited)
Pure orange & apple juice
Tinned pineapple
Biscuits
Rice Crackers
Tortilla Chips
Potatoes/baked potatoes
Grapes
Kiwis
Mango
mushrooms
handwash
baked beans
corned beef
muffins
crumpets
biscuits & sweets
cat litter (we mix it with a more expensive clumping one to make it last longer)
kidney beans
squashes
part baked baguettes
tinned tomatoes

liz545

The basic mozarella is really nice - it's 47p a bag, and I find that 1/2 a ball does a decent sized pizza. All of their basic fruit and veg has been fine, and I think the basic bananas are fairtrade, which is good. I think they're moving to free range for the basics eggs, but I prefer the woodland ones for welfare reasons.