I don’t buy frozen veg much and in particular dislike frozen broccoli, which always seems to have a weird and vaguely plasticy texture.

However, having seen these on the stranger’s shopping list I posted last week (of which more below), and because the pack looked kind of inviting, I thought I’d give these a whirl in the interests of research.

They are part of a Lidl range of microwavable vegetable products, some of which include pasta and none of which I’ve previously tried.

We had them for dinner last night, along with home made beefburgers in mushroom sauce, and they were really pretty good.

The broccoli had a good bite to it and none of the texture I so dislike, the sugar snap peas were crisp and the peas were small and sweet, petit pois like. Everything tasted really fresh and there was plenty in the pack for two decent portions.

My one quibble, and it’s a major one, is with the glaze.

Not with the flavour, in fact you’d hardly know it was there and since I took the veg out with a slotted spoon most of it remained in the dish anyway. It’s the ingredient list that bothers me. Aside from the Broccoli, peas and sugar snaps we get:

Palm Oil, Butter, Parsley, water, salt, seasoning (hydolised soya protein, salt, palm oil, sunflower oil), sugar, pea flour, pea flour, mustard flour, spices, carrots, celery, yeast powder.

This lot actually makes up 6% of the package content.

These sort of microwavable veg products are marketed as being healthy and this range in particular is heavily promoted in the Health Eating leaflet that Lidl produced recently. I’m sorry but not only does this contain fats, which most people would not expect, but the trend towards putting sugar in anything and everything is one that in particular drives me mad. Is all that stuff really nessesary?

I suppose it’s a case of buyer beware and remembering always to read the small print.

So would I buy this again? Oddly enough, in spite of my misgivings, I might. While 99% of the time I prefer to use fresh veg, it is handy to have a backup in the freezer and they were very tasty.

Now, a change of topic.

Last week I posted a shopping list I found discarded in a trolley and asked you to guess the price.

Here’s the list again, with prices.

The total cost was €103.02.

Everyone guessed too low except Wendy who was a bit too high.

So it seems that while in some cases Lidl give us more then we expect, in other cases they give us less.

Tags: Frozen Food, Shopping Basket, Vegetables
Posted in Shopping Baskets, Taste Test | 4 Comments »

I got a call during the week from Mark Paul, a journalist with the Sunday Times, who wanted to ask about why I’d largely deserted Superquinn and now do my main shop in Lidl. I would have thought the reason was pretty obvious, but was happy to expand on it for him.

His article, in today’s Business Section, uses me as an example of the sort of shopper Superquinn chairman Simon Burke needs to woo back if he is to “staunch the flow of shoppers” to cheaper rivals.

Maybe he’s right. I was once a slavishly devoted Superquinn shopper, even something of a Fergal groupie. I did all my shopping there and I’m ashamed to admit that I slightly looked down on those who I felt were willing to compromise on quality by shopping in ‘inferior’ places, even if it saved them a few quid.

My desertion of Superquinn was gradual but pretty much total. I still shop there from time to time, but never with a trolley - it’s a place for occasional top-ups if I happen to be passing.

I initially went to Lidl from curiosity but was perplexed by unfamiliar brands, even unfamiliar foods, and found the basic displays and the absence of the high level of service to which I was accustomed disconcerting. I was used to having someone fill my bags, to real butchers and the smell of fresh baked bread, to pretty displays and interesting specials.

But, you know, the stuff I bought in Lidl was pretty good in the main and there were a couple of things I really liked a lot and that I couldn’t get in Superquinn - JD Gross chocolate was the biggie for me. So I went back and kept on trying new things, but was still not doing my main shop there.

The turning point came one day in Superquinn when I just popped in for a few things and half way around looked into a basket that contained bacon, nuts, cheese and some veg and realised that by taking a short trip across town I could not only cut the price of that basket in half but do so without making any compromise on quality at all.

I had this very strong feeling of being taken for a ride. I abandoned the basket, got in the car and pretty much never looked back.

One quote from Simon Burke in the article stands out for me:

“People should feel that shopping in Superquinn is something stylish to do. There should be a feeling that it is a cut above the rest.”

If he wants to woo me and my like back he won’t do it with that thinking.

It’s amazing how quickly you acclimatise to a more basic shopping environment. Once you do it brings all those prettied up and stylish displays elsewhere into sharp focus, you start to see them for what they really are, pointless distractions designed to make you spend more and overlook high prices.

We are after all talking about grocery shopping here. It’s a necessary chore, not a style statement. If I want stylish I can take the €2000-€3000 per year I save by shopping cannily and go in search of it, but I won’t be looking in a supermarket.

Tags: Style, Superquinn
Posted in Shopping Baskets, Wasting Money | 14 Comments »

Fascinating isn’t it? My own shopping is boring as it changes so little so I can never resist a peek at someone else’s trolley.

Today the trolley I picked at Lidl had someone’s till receipt in it, a very long one, so obviously someone shopping for more people than I do. In fact it looks like a fairly typical family shopping basket.

I’m giving you the chance to be nosy too and have reproduced it below, organised into categories to make it easier to visualise.

I’m not telling you the the total price though - have a guess, how much do you think this lot cost? I’m not sure of the weight of some items so you’ll have to guess wildly now and then, but if you shop elsewhere this is a chance to do a quick comparative tot.

The last item gives you an idea of the volume of this shop, they are pretty roomy carrier bags.

I’ll repost the list on Monday, with prices.

Tags: Prices, Shopping Basket
Posted in Shopping Baskets | 9 Comments »

My shopping list, like everyone’s I suspect, is pretty repetitive.

Mostly what I buy this week is much the same as I bought last week, last month and last year.  Now and again something new claims a place or we go off something and I stop buying it. But not often - it takes quite a lot to change grocery buying habits.

When I started shopping in Lidl I did maybe 40% of my shop there, now it’s closer to 80%.

It took time to become accustomed to different brands and to make changes based on new options. And there were quite a few changes - mascapone, walnuts, prawns, good dark chocolate, Parma and Prosciutto, various continental sausages and muffins, among other things, became regular rather than an occasional purchases.

But there are still some things I buy regularly and can’t get in Lidl and that I just know would be a lot cheaper if they were stocked there.

So here is my wish list - feel free to add your suggestions!

Ground Almonds

When you eat low carb - and an increasing number of people do, either all the time or occasionally - then this is your flour. I use it to bake cakes, make tarts and even make wholegrain bread. It’s horribly expensive but I buy it anyway.

I’d buy big, big bags of it, I’m not all that interested in the tiny 100g ones that are mostly all you can find and that can cost over €2 (though the ones in Dunnes are the best value at €2.59 for 200g ). Give it to me in kilos.

Full Fat Natural Yoghurt

I can never quite believe they don’t have this and keep looking. The only natural yoghurt is low fat, I want the fat please, every delicious bit of it.

A decent range of spices

What’s available in Lidl is quite limited and frankly not always up to scratch - you’d have to put a whole bottle of their ground chili into something to give it any kick, though their mixed peppercorns are good. I even have the perfect range for them to stock, Natco, which are about half the price of the Schwartz ones and in my opinion considerably better.

Cocoa Powder

They have such great chocolate, why can’t the same source provide good quality cocoa? I’d like it dark and unsweetened please.

Splenda

Before anyone starts to tell me how unhealthy this stuff is, I know, I know, I’ve read it all. But believe me sugar was killing me far quicker before I gave it up and I still want sweet things.

Frozen Pastry

Making puff pastry from scratch is quite therapeutic but it’s horribly time consuming. With a pack of the frozen stuff to hand there are pretty much instant goodies, savoury and sweet, available at any time. Yes, I know it isn’t low carb, but I do bake for other people now and then!

Macadamia Nuts

They had them once for a while. To die for. Bring them back. Brazil nuts and pecans would be nice too while you’re at it.

Anyone listening I wonder?

Tags: Shopping Basket, Shopping Habits, Wish List
Posted in Shopping Baskets, Staples | 17 Comments »

This morning was one of those chaotic ones where it’s a surprise that breakfast even happens.

It did though and we had Cheese Omelette, made with 4 eggs and 120g or 4 oz of cheese - yes, it was very cheesy. I completely forgot to photograph it, but I think you know what a cheese omelette looks like. We also finished off the yogurt from yesterday, it was too good to resist, which means it was a relatively expensive breakfast compared to the last couple of days.

Cost: 4 eggs 54c; Cheese 76c; yogurt €1.20. Total: €2.50  - yikes!

The budget was saved somewhat by the fact that he was being taken out for lunch at work, which probably cost enough to feed us for at least half a week! Is that cheating? I don’t think so. I think if you’re on a tight budget you’re unlikely to turn up your nose at free food. And Gavin will be pleased that he at least got one decent meal this week!

I had tuna with radish and a couple of cos leaves on crisp bread, and a slice of Galia Melon.

I only ate half the tin of tuna, so will probably have the much the same tomorrow. This worked out quite a bit cheaper than I expected when I totted it up, it seems remarkable value to me for what was a pretty nice lunch.

I needed some turnip for dinner tonight and some chilis and beans for tomorrow,  so I took a trip over to Lidl in the afternoon to top up.

It was interesting. They are definitely responding to the Tesco price reductions and a good few items that I bought last time are cheaper now, if only by a few cent. Is this the start of a price war?

Also I can confirm what Alt_k9 said, organic courgettes are cheaper than ordinary ones at the moment, €1.45 as against €1.65 for about the same amount.

Anyway, this is my top up shopping basket:

All of which reduces the kitty to €6.90, with 4 days left. But I think that’s fine.

On to dinner, which was grilled gammon, sautéed cabbage with caramelised onions and turnip mash. Comfort food - simple but tasty.

Though you can just bung gammon under the grill and be ready to eat in minutes, I tend to give it a little love and attention first and it’s the better for it.

I find gammon - and not just Lidl’s - a bit overly salty, so before cooking it, I put it into a saucepan of cold water, bring it just to the boil, pour off the boiling water then rinse it in some cold water. I don’t know whether I’m commiting some heineous food safety sin by heating the gammon, without fully cooking it, like this, but I’ve been doing it for years and we’re all ok so far.

Once the gammon is drained, I brush both sides of the steaks with a mixture of seseme oil, a little soy sauce and a good pinch of ground cloves before grilling. Sometimes I’ll leave it to soak in for a while, anything from 10-30 minutes, sometime I’ll grill right away. The result isn’t some sort of odd chinese gammon, it just gives a pleasant edge to the flavour and means it browns nicely under the grill.

The cost for dinner breaks down as follows: Gammon €1.99; cabbage 33c; turnip 25c; onion 9c.

Turnip is such a good deal. I admit that occasionally when I’m in a hurry I buy Mash Direct’s mashed turnip. While it is very nice and very handy, the half turnip I used tonight made easily as much as is in a pack that costs around €2.30. Over €2 is quite a lot to pay just to avoid cutting up a turnip and throwing it into a saucepan of water.

In any case, to-day ended up the cheapest day so far, at €5.81, thanks to the free lunch!

Tags: Gammon, Prices, Tuna, Turnip, €50 Challenge
Posted in Shopping Baskets, €50 Challenge | 5 Comments »