Your Slimming Essentials – The Weekly Pinch of Shopping 03.02.23
The Weekly Pinch of Shopping has arrived to brighten up the first wet and windy Friday of February! Our list is chock-full of tasty goodies to help you forget about the drizzly weather, including a warming, melt-in-the-middle Sticky Toffee Pudding that’ll curb your sweet cravings by the spoonful.
Plus, if the phrase ‘saucy chicken bites’ tempts you to take a scroll down this week’s list, we’re sure the crispy coating and creamy garlic filling will seal the deal (rumour has it they’re only 61 calories each!).
We’d never forget to share a lunch idea or two, and we’ve got a few bits that’ll perk up the middle of your day, including a Spanish-flavoured bean stew. What a way to warm up!
Our NEW cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Enjoy, is out NOW! 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.
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!**
Nourish Good For Immunity Apple And Ginger With A Hint Of Lime – 40 calories per 100ml
If glugging a large glass of fruit juice first thing in the morning doesn’t appeal, Nourish Good For Immunity Apple And Ginger With A Hint Of Lime makes for a refreshing alternative. A handy grab-and-go refrigerated refreshment, each bottle comes with five 100ml shots. High in vitamin C and infused with ginger, it’ll kick off your day with a zingy punch.
An apple a day is never a bad idea, especially when they come glazed in honey on top of our Apple Pie Porridge. We’ve simmered our oats gently with oat milk, grated apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, honey and vanilla extract, so every spoonful is a heavenly way to start the day!
Apples are a delight in so many slimming-friendly recipes; you can find plenty more apple-based inspiration here.
Nourish Good For Immunity Apple And Ginger With A Hint Of Lime is available from Morrisons, priced at £2.75 for a 500ml bottle.
Sainsbury’s Flourish Sea Salt & Black Pepper Crunch – 146 calories per 30g serving
Sainsbury’s Flourish Sea Salt & Black Pepper Crunch packs are a pocket-friendly savoury snack you’ll be glad you left the house with. Combining filling soya beans, broad beans and cashew nuts, they’re coated in a moreish layer of sea salt and cracked black pepper.
Speaking of cashew nuts, have you tried our Beef with Cashew Nuts recipe? On the table in less than half an hour, this speedy fakeaway comes loaded with big Friday night flavours for only 322 calories per serving. Bring on the prawn crackers!
You can find the full recipe on pages 118-119 of our Quick & Easy Food Planner.
Sainsbury’s Flourish Sea Salt & Black Pepper Crunch is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £1.45 per pack.
Morrisons Free From Batter Mix – 96 cals if prepared as a Yorkshire pudding
This Morrisons Free From Batter Mix is store cupboard friendly, and it’ll help you rustle up gluten-free goodies for a reasonable price. From Toad in the Hole to pancakes, your favourite batter-based recipes will have you work through the whole bag faster than you can say ‘gluten-free Yorkshire puddings!’.
(Psst! Please make sure to double check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.)
A Roast Beef and Gravy dinner isn’t complete without everyone’s favourite fluffy puds. Our Lighter Yorkshire Puddings come in at 71 calories each, and you only need a handful of ingredients to put them together. Not only are they lower in calories, they’re also far better for your budget than buying a branded version from the supermarket – did we mention ours are freezable too?
Morrisons Free From Batter Mix is available from Morrisons, priced at 75p.
Soupreme Leek & Potato Soup – 125 calories per 1/2 pack (microwaved)
We love a budget-friendly lunch from Aldi, so we couldn’t walk past this Soupreme Leek & Potato Soup. Perfect for chilly February lunchtimes, the oh-so-creamy blend of potatoes and leeks will warm you right up in a jiffy. If you’re extra hungry, you can always use a crusty wholemeal bread roll to wipe your bowl clean.
Once you’ve taken our Chicken, Leek and Barley Soup for a whirl in your soup flask, you’ll want to make it every week. Forget about feeling hungry later in the afternoon; we’ve loaded up our broth with filling, slow-release pearl barley to sustain you until dinner time.
If we’ve put you in the mood for a batch-cook session, you’ll definitely want to take a look through our rundown of freezer-friendly soups.
Soupreme Leek & Potato Soup is available from Aldi, priced at 99p.
BOL Spanish Smoky Butter Bean Stew – 306 calories per pot
Each pot of BOL Spanish Smoky Butter Bean Stew holds a rich combination of lentils, butter beans and cannellini beans in a garlicky tomato sauce. Infused with Spanish-style flavours, the high-protein mixture will satisfy your taste buds and keep you fuller for longer.
While the sun might not be out to warm you up at the moment, the Spanish-inspired combination of herbs and spices in our Spanish Meatballs’ sauce can help in the meantime. We’ve seasoned our juicy meatballs to have a slightly spicy kick to them.
If you’d prefer the sauce to be milder, you can always turn down the heat while upping the indulgence with a dollop of yoghurt or cream cheese (just be sure to count any additional calories, if you’re keeping track!).
BOL Spanish Smoky Butter Bean Stew is available from Asda, priced at £3.25 per pot.
Morrisons Counted Meat Free Chilli Non Carne – 297 calories per pack
Even if ‘eating less meat for February’ doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as ‘Veganuary’, there’s nothing to stop you having a go. Tasty products like Morrisons Counted Meat Free Chilli Non Carne make introducing meat-free days that little bit easier.
While there’s nothing better than preparing a homemade batch of Chilli con Carne from scratch that’ll stretch across multiple dinnertimes, having a shop-bought version in the freezer for extra busy weeks can’t hurt.
Our Chilli Bombs are a crowd-pleasing way to reinvent chilli night. Using low-calorie tortilla wraps as crispy, oven-baked shells, each ‘bomb’ comes bursting with an irresistible chilli filling (cheesy topping included!).
Why not use Morrison’s ‘Chilli Non Carne’ as the filling, and add an explosion of flavour to your next meat-free Monday?
Morrisons Counted Meat Free Chilli Non Carne is available from Morrisons, priced at £1.89 per pack.
Arla Protein Hazelnut Latte Flavour Pudding – 162 calories per pot
You’ll love tucking into this Arla Protein Hazelnut Latte Flavour Pudding. Ideal as a sweet mid-afternoon pick-me-up, or as a sumptuous supper, this high-protein pud is delightfully satisfying at 162 calories per pot. If a hazelnut latte wouldn’t be your typical order, you can always take home salted caramel or chocolate-flavoured pots instead.
When it comes to curbing sweet cravings, nothing answers the call quicker or easier than our Chocolate Mousse. Prepped and ready to chill in the fridge after 10 minutes with only 5 ingredients, it’s far better for you (and your bank account!) than popping to the shops for a quick fix.
We like to add a chocolatey crunch with a topping of crumbled biscuits. It gives it a fun, deconstructed cheesecake feel!
Arla Protein Hazelnut Latte Flavour Pudding is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £1.75 per pot.
Ben’s Original One Pan Creations Indian Biryani Style – 148 calories per portion
A fast-track way to prepare an Indian-inspired classic, this Ben’s Original One Pan Creations Indian Biryani Style pouch is well worth picking up. Simply add it to a pan of cooked chicken pieces and chopped veggies until it’s all cooked through and ready to serve.
We’ve gone for Biryani Style, but you can also pick up Szechuan Fried Rice Style, Indonesian Nasi Goreng Style and Spanish Paella Style from the same range. Why not try out different ones and take a trip around the world from your kitchen?
The best part about our Garlic Mushroom Biryani is that you can cook layers of mouth-watering flavour together in one convenient pot. It’s one of the most popular dishes from our fourth cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Comfort Food (pages 72-73). Once you’ve tried it, you’ll understand why…
Ben’s Original One Pan Creations Indian Biryani Style is available from Asda, priced at £1.50 per packet.
Iceland Garlic and Herb Saucy Chicken Bites – 184 calories per 3 bites
We can’t say no to anything garlic and herb flavoured, nevermind garlic and herb filled! So picking up these Garlic and Herb Saucy Chicken Bites from Iceland was a no-brainer. They’re coated in a moreish layer of breadcrumbs, and it’s your choice whether you bake them to perfection in your oven (for 18 minutes) or air fryer (8-10 minutes). Either way, they’re a delicious savoury bite!
An oldie but a goldie, no midweek menu is complete without Chicken Kyivs. While the traditional deep-fried versions wouldn’t normally be found on a slimming-friendly diet, our version is far lighter than you’d expect at 268 calories per garlicky-cream-filled Kyiv.
Iceland Garlic and Herb Saucy Chicken Bites are available from Iceland, priced at £2.00 per bag.
Over The Spoon Sticky Toffee Hot Puds – 219 calories per 42g serving
These Over The Spoon Sticky Toffee Hot Puds are just the ticket on a wintery evening. Once they’re piping hot from the microwave or oven, there’s nothing more satisfying than watching the decadent sticky toffee sauce ooze onto the plate.
Forget about missing out on the fun if you’re eating less dairy! Every bite of this light and fluffy, toffee-infused sponge is 100% plant-based, so there’s no need to compromise on dessert. Our homemade Chocolate Toffee Puddings never fail to win smiles all round, and they’re ready in less than 20 minutes. To make them gooey-in-the-middle for fewer calories, we’ve used sugar-free creamy toffees.
Trust us, it works like a dream! You’ll want to check out the whole recipe on pages 260-261 of our newest cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Enjoy.
Over The Spoon Sticky Toffee Hot Puds are available from Asda, priced at £2.50 for a pack of 2.
REMINDER Aldi Super 6 Fruit and Veg Selection
We love Aldi’s Super 6 selection of fresh fruit and veggies! Each fortnight they choose six different items for a special offer where you can pick them up for much less than the normal price.
Here’s our reminder of this week’s Super 6 selection:
- Royal Gala Apples – 52 calories per 100g
- Sugar Snap Peas – 34 calories per 100g
- Mangoes – 60 calories per 100g
- Kiwi Fruits – 61 calories per 100g
- Mini Pears – 42 calories per 100g
- Little Gem Lettuce – 16 calories per 100g
**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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