Your Slimming Essentials – The Weekly Pinch of Shopping 02.12
It’s time to get cosy with December’s first Weekly Pinch of Shopping! Christmas is around the corner and buffet season is firmly upon us. We’ve found some Yorkshire Pudding Bites that will go down a treat as part of any festive spread.
Plus, you can add a sweet nibble to your buffet selection with the Mini Churros we’ve spotted (with a salted caramel filling!). Ready to eat in less than 10 minutes – you can rustle them up in the oven, or they’ll be even crispier from your air fryer.
We can’t believe our NEW cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Enjoy, is out in JUST 1 WEEK! Enjoy is all about turning mealtimes into memories, and it’s brimming with 100 brand-new recipes that you’ll be excited to make, share and eat with family and friends, time and time again.
From fakeaway favourites to midweek wonders, every dish comes big on flavour without taking you off track. Put the food you love back on the menu by ordering your copy here.
If you can’t wait until December 8th for some new Pinch of Nom recipes, you can try 26 exclusive new recipes in our Family Meal Planner right now! It’s our most family-friendly food planner yet – plan meals and organise what you need to buy with our game-changing freezer tracker! You can order your copy here.
You can share your recipes and photos by posting over in our Facebook group, where you’ll also find our members having a good old chat about lots of these shopping items too. You can join the group by clicking here. Make sure to let us know if you spot any yummy looking, slimming-friendly new products on the supermarket shelves – we might just feature them in our next article!
Our Weekly Pinch of Shopping list aims to show you slimming-friendly products that you can find online or in one of your local supermarkets. We try to make it as easy as possible for you to pick up these items as part of your usual weekly shop, and we’ll always include the calorie information and the RRP for you.
Please remember that, although all prices are correct at the time of writing, supermarkets can change their prices often, so this should be used as a guide only.
Along with our favourite new finds from the supermarket shelves, each week we include details of the Aldi Super 6. Every fortnight Aldi discounts a selection of 6 fruits and veggies that you can pick up for a fraction of the price. There’s a fresh selection this week, so scroll down to find out what’s included, along with some ideas on how to make the most of the ingredients.
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**A note on our shopping list: we do not take payment, promotion or gifts for including any of the items mentioned in these articles. We bring them to you because we love them and hope you will too!**
Sparkling Cranberry & Orange Presse, Taste the Difference – 81 calories per 100ml
When you’re taking a break from alcohol, or not in the mood for a mulled wine, the satisfying bubbles in Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Sparkling Cranberry and Orange Presse will guarantee you don’t feel like you’re missing out. Infused with subtle notes of cinnamon, this zesty, sparkling beverage is perfect for dinner parties and chilly winter nights-in.
Making the most of the same deliciously festive combo, our Cranberry and Orange Stuffing Balls add a refreshing twist to a Christmas dinner plate staple. A fruity accompaniment to your turkey and trimmings, they also freeze really well – so there’s no need to worry about rustling them up from scratch when Santa comes to town.
Sparkling Cranberry & Orange Presse, Taste the Difference is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £2.45 per bottle.
Morrisons Winter Broth With Pearl Barley – 76 calories per 1/4 bag
Nothing warms us up quite like a veggie-filled broth. This Winter Broth With Pearl Barley from Morrisons comes with freshly-chopped vegetables ready to simmer in the pan with water and stock. You can always ramp up the cosiness with a luxurious teaspoon of light butter and a pinch of garlic.
If you’re on the lookout for dishes to cosy up with over soup season, our winter warmer soup recipes have you covered here.
It’s packed with luscious soup flask heroes like our silky Cream of Spinach and Rocket Soup. A blend of immune-boosting spinach and rocket, it’ll take good care of you and your taste buds over flu season.
Morrisons Winter Broth With Pearl Barley is available from Morrisons, priced at £1.49 per bag.
Bol Creamy Tikka Masala Fresh Vegetable Pot – 255 calories per pot
We love a bit of spice when there’s a chill in the air, so we couldn’t ignore Bol’s Creamy Tikka Masala Fresh Vegetable Pot when we saw it on the supermarket shelf. Mildly spiced in a velvety, tikka masala sauce, you’ll also find filling gunpowder potatoes and tandoori-seasoned chickpeas in every meatless pot. Perfect for a vegetarian lunch, it’s only 255 calories for the whole pot!
Speaking of curry, you’re gonna want to rustle up our Chicken Tikka Masala Curry for dinner tonight. Our rich, saucy recipe serves 4, but there’s nothing to stop you stretching it out even further by adding any stray, purposeless veggies you’ve got lying around.
Bol Creamy Tikka Masala Fresh Vegetable Pot is available from Tesco, priced at £3.25 per pot.
Morrisons Cheesy Pizza Bites – 60 calories per bite
Tis the season for savoury buffet bits! These Cheesy Pizza Bites from Morissons are loaded with a Margherita pizza inspired cheese and tomato filling, for only 60 calories per nibble. An easy win for any party spread, these breadcrumb-coated delights are ready after just 15 minutes in the oven.
If you’ll try anything with pizza flavours, you need to take our Pizza Swirls for a spin. Flaky and crispy with a tomatoey cheese, ham and basil filling, they’ll put a stop to your pizza cravings faster than a takeaway delivery could (they’re ready in under half an hour, prep included!).
Morrisons Cheesy Pizza Bites are available from Morrisons, priced at £2.99 per bag.
Sainsbury’s Mushroom & Chestnut Roast – 264 calories per 1/2 roast (oven baked)
Going meat-free on Christmas Day doesn’t have to be a challenge; Sainsbury’s Mushroom and Chestnut Roast makes it nice and easy to take a break from turkey. There’s no need to worry about a dry nut roast here – every oven-baked chestnut and pecan serving comes covered in a moreish mushroom-based gravy.
Chestnuts are a familiar festive feature, and they’re lower in fat than most other nut varieties. That’s why they simply had to be the base for our slimming-friendly version of Chestnut Roast. Using ready-cooked chestnuts cuts out so much faff without compromising on satisfying, savoury flavour.
Sainsbury’s Mushroom & Chestnut Roast is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £4.00.
ASDA Sweet Katsu Chicken Mini Fillets – 325 calories per 1/2 pack
It’s no secret that we love Katsu flavours, so we had to include these Sweet Katsu Chicken Mini Fillets on this week’s shopping list. Easy to pop in the oven if you’re caught on a midweek evening without a plan for dinner, these breadcrumb-coated chicken breast fillets come with a flavoursome sachet of Katsu-style sauce.
To get the florets in our Air Fryer Cauliflower Katsu extra crispy, we’ve dipped them in beaten egg and crunchy panko breadcrumbs before cooking. While we like them best air fried, there’s nothing to stop you baking them to perfection in the oven if you’d prefer.
ASDA Sweet Katsu Chicken Mini Fillets are available from Asda, priced at £4.40.
Oumph! Spicy Drums – 190 calories per serving
Crispy from the oven or air fryer, these Oumph! Spicy Drums are a tasty, veggie-friendly alternative you can build a takeaway-style meal around. Coated in a spicy chilli crumb, you can serve these breaded soy-based pieces over rice or noodles for a quick, winning dinner.
If you’re fancying a milder chicken dinner, it’s definitely worth giving our Sticky Sesame Chicken Drumsticks a try. Coated in a sweet yet sticky honey glaze, we love that these Chinese-inspired drumsticks are ready in just under an hour.
Oumph! Spicy Drums are available from Tesco, priced at £3.50.
Morrisons Honeycomb Mini Bites – 82 calories per mini bite
Sometimes a quick, light nibble is all you need to curb your sweet cravings. These Honeycomb Mini Bites are an easy on-the-go snack, or you can put your feet up and enjoy them with a cuppa. Made with Belgian dark chocolate and crunchy honeycomb, you’d never know they’re vegan-friendly.
One of our favourite bakes to have on hand for when the kettle’s on, our Chocolate Orange Brownies never let us down. We’ve used sweetener, cocoa powder and low-calorie syrup to give each gooey-in-the-middle square so much flavour, for only 72 calories per serving.
Morrisons Honeycomb Mini Bites are available from Morrisons, priced at £2.99.
Tesco Finest Mini Beef Yorkshire Puddings – 27 calories per Yorkshire pudding
Small or large, there’s no denying that Yorkshire puddings are a highlight on any roast dinner plate. These Mini Beef Yorkshire Pudding bites from Tesco come filled with pulled beef, horseradish sauce and caramelised onion chutney, so there’s a moreish balance of savoury and sweet in every festive bite.
Not sure what to do with those Sunday lunch leftovers? You could always use our Mini Yorkshire Puddings recipe to make some buffet-sized puds of your own (just be sure to adjust the calories, if you’re counting!).
We’ll take ours with leftover veggies, meat and a glug of Gravy, please!
Tesco Finest Mini Beef Yorkshire Puddings are available from Tesco, priced at £4.50 for a pack of 12.
Chiquito® Filled Mini Churros – 149 calories per 3 mini churros
It’s hard to say no to churros, especially when they’re filled with a sticky toffee caramel filling like these ones from Iceland. Each crispy, dough-wrapped mini churro comes coated with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar that makes them even more enjoyable on a wintery evening.
To get the full Chiquito restaurant experience, why not take them for a dip in our Toffee Sauce?
A notoriously tricky treat to make at home, our Churros keeps things simpler than traditional recipes. Made with a short list of easy ingredients you’re likely to have in the kitchen already, practising until they’re perfect won’t put too much strain on your budget.
Chiquito Filled Mini Churros are available from Iceland, priced at £3.00 for a pack of 14.
NEW Aldi Super 5 Fruit and Veg Selection
We love Aldi’s fortnightly selection of fresh fruit and veggies! They choose different items for a special offer where you can pick them up for much less than the normal price. Here’s the rundown of this week’s ‘super 5’ offering, along with some recipe ideas for you.
Mini Roasting Potatoes – 80 calories per 100g
We love how adorable these mini roast potatoes look! Baked, boiled, mashed or fried, you can always trust potatoes to take you part of the way towards a nutritious, comforting meal.
These mini roasting potatoes would work really well for our Chipotle Hasselback Potatoes. You don’t want to cut them all the way through, or they won’t hold their shape while they bake in the oven.
You can transform all kinds of potatoes into delicious, slimming-friendly recipes. We’ve got all the inspiration you need here.
Easy Peelers – 35 calories per 100g
Bursting with vitamin C, easy peelers add a boost of goodness to breakfast, or you can save them to be enjoyed as a fruity pick-me-up at lunch time. They’ll definitely curb your cravings in the mid-afternoon lull!
Why not try adding some of the segments into our Trifle recipe and pairing with orange-flavoured jelly for a zesty pudding?
Broccoli – 35 calories per 100g
From stir-fries and homely oven-bakes, to soups and roast dinners, there are so many different ways to get creative with broccoli. We prefer to make ours with a bit of a crunch, but you can always cook your florets until they’re soft if you prefer.
The Chinese-style flavours in our Broccoli and Mushroom Stir-fry are so good, even the fussiest eaters won’t mind getting their greens. Bring on the prawn crackers!
Unwaxed Lemons – 17 calories per 100g
Since they’re so versatile and packed with health benefits, we don’t mind at all when life gives us lemons. Use their trademark zingines to enhance bakes, take a plateful of pancakes to the next level or finish off a fuss-free citrusy garnish.
If you love zesty lemon, you need to try our tangy Lemon Sponge Traybake. The moreish lemon curd topping is sure to have you coming back for more!
Mini Apples – 53 calories per 100g
Don’t be fooled by their small size! These high-fibre mini apples are big on flavour. Great for blending into smoothies, baking or snacking on the go, apples are always great to have in the fruit bowl.
Start your day right with a lightly-spiced bowl of Apple Pie Porridge. This batch-cook wonder is the perfect warming breakfast for chillier mornings.
**Remember: we do not take payment, promotion or gift for any of the items mentioned in these articles. We bring them to you because we love them and hope you will too!**
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