Your Slimming Essentials – The Weekly Pinch of Shopping 07.06.24
It feels bonkers that we’ve just pressed publish on the FIRST Weekly Pinch of Shopping Article for June 2024! We can’t promise you sunshine, but we can promise lots of scrummy goodies to brighten up your week.
The breadcrumb-coated Calzone Chicken Kievs with a heavenly cheese and chorizo filling are sure to go down a storm at the dinner table on fakeaway night…especially with a crispy side of homemade potato wedges!
BISCOFF LOVERS listen up! We’ve found a smooth and nutty caramelised spread that looks and tastes like the real deal for a fraction of the cost (and the calories are around the same too!). If you don’t believe us, we’ve got all the details so that you can try it for yourself below.
Our most-requested cookbook ever, PINCH OF NOM: AIR FRYER, is out in just a couple of weeks on June 20th and that feels absolutely CRAZY…we are chomping at the bit for you to read it!!
You might have heard we added a BRAND-NEW air fryer section to our website last week to help get you prepared for the release of Air Fryer! It’s a hub of everything you need to know, from cleaning tips to recipes, with articles and handy step-by-step videos.
Don’t forget to scroll down the page to spot the very special offer on a Ninja Air Fryer! We’ve partnered up to bring you a Ninja Foodi MAX Dual Zone AF400UK for £149, instead of the RRP of £249. Click here to visit the air fryer section and redeem the offer!
We can’t write this without saying a massive THANK YOU SO MUCH if you’ve already pre-ordered your copy of Pinch of Nom: Air Fryer. You are why we do what we do!
All 75 scrummy, slimming-friendly air fryer recipes will be with you very soon – and you can pre-order a copy here if you haven’t already.
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! The members in our incredible Facebook group are always happy to have a good old chat about lots of these shopping items. You can join the group by clicking here.
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. This week we’ve given you a reminder of the current selection, so hurry down to Aldi to pick up some bargains before a fresh selection goes on offer next week!
Want to make sure you never miss a Weekly Pinch of Shopping? You can sign up to receive the Weekly Pinch of Shopping in your inbox here, so you’ll always be the first to read the new articles.
**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!**
Kenco Millicano Cadbury Mocha Instant Coffee – 68 calories per serving (prepared as directed)
Get brewing up with Kenco’s new flavours! We picked up Kenco Millicano Cadbury Mocha Instant Coffee but you can also put Creamy Cappuccino or Smooth Latte granules in your basket.
We love to make coffee at home because it saves on calories, pennies and it can be every bit as delicious as shop-bought versions. Give this one a good stir and you’ll be left with a chocolatey soul-warming mocha for only 68 calories per mug!
As soon as we hear the word ‘mug’ we have to give our melt-in-the-middle Hot Chocolate Microwave Mug Cakes a shout-out. This recipe from our Budget cookbook is delightfully easy to make in next to no time.
Turn to pages 184-185 in your copy when you’ve got the marshmallows and reduced-fat aerosol cream ready!
Kenco Millicano Cadbury Mocha Instant Coffee is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £5.00 per tub.
Emporium Italian Mozzarella Mini – 65 calories per 30g serving
We’re always on the lookout for products to make mealtimes tastier in a flash, and that’s exactly what you get with a bag of Emporium Italian Mozzarella Mini from Aldi! Toss the fun-sized gooey mozzarella balls into fresh, crispy salad bowls, or you can also use them to top pizzas or stir them into pasta dishes.
You could even use them as the melty middle in our Tear and Share Cheesy Garlic Dough Balls – making adjustments for the calories, if you’re counting!
It’s the perfect shareable centrepiece for an Italian-style fakeaway night with the whole family. We promise no one will be able to taste that you’ve made the garlic ‘butter’ from scratch using reduced-fat spread instead.
Emporium Italian Mozzarella Mini packets are available from Aldi, priced at £1.69.
Veg Table Curried Cauliflower Meal – 241 calories per pack
When you don’t fancy chopping and prepping lots of root vegetables for dinner, this Veg Table Curried Cauliflower Meal is part of a range that’ll help. While we’ve gone for ready-chopped cauliflower, sweet potato, chickpeas and green beans in an aromatic Indian-style bhuna sauce, you can also take home Asian-style veggies or a Mexican-inspired fiesta, if you’d prefer.
Simply bang it in the oven and you’ll get 2 of your 5-a-day for next to no effort!
We can’t lie, we definitely picked up cauliflower in the hopes it’d remind us of our hugely popular Cauliflower Madras. It’s not just filling, fiery and freezer-friendly, it’s also less than 150 calories per serving!
If you’re left with offcuts of cauliflower you’re not sure what to do with afterwards, take a scroll through our top dishes to make with cauliflower – stray florets are more versatile than you might think.
VEG TABLE Curried Cauliflower Meal is available from Tesco, priced at £4.50.
Specially Selected Wild Caught Yellowfin Tuna Steak – 214 calories per steak
Specially Selected Wild Caught Yellowfin Tuna Steak is available for a decent price at Aldi, so you might want to grab a pack before it swims away! With tuna steaks on your meal plan, you’ll add variety to your diet that’s high in protein and also a fraction of the calories you’d get in a beef steak.
Wait around ten minutes for the steak to finish frying, flipping halfway through, until it’s flaky, tender and browned on the outside with a slight hint of pink in the middle.
Try it plated up with a dollop or two of our Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato on pages 224-225 of our Enjoy cookbook. We’ve not just swirled in heaps of garlicky flavour, we’ve also topped it all off with a golden, cheesy topping!
Specially Selected Wild Caught Yellowfin Tuna Steak is available from Aldi, priced at £3.69 for a pack of 2 steaks.
BOL Texan BBQ One Pot Meal – 338 calories per BOL pot
This easy-peasy BOL Texan BBQ One Pot Meal takes the stress out of asking yourself, ‘What should I have for lunch?’ With kidney, cannellini, black turtle beans and sweet potato chunks ready-stirred into a rich and smoky sauce, all that’s left to do is warm a serving through in the microwave or on the hob.
It’s also safe to tuck into while it’s cold, if you’d like…but we prefer these flavours hot!
Why not pour half a pot over a jacket potato or low-calorie tortilla chips? We know it’ll taste amazing because you’ve got a similar smokiness in our Chilli Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins.
A tasty way to take a break from rice, we’ve baked the chilli con carne into our spuds and topped it all off with a melty layer of cheese.
We’ve got even more ways you can get creative with chilli in our blog just here!
BOL Texan BBQ One Pot Meal is available from Ocado, priced at £3.00 per pot.
Tesco Fire Pit Lemon and Black Pepper Chicken Sizzlers – 161 calories per 1/2 pack
These Tesco Fire Pit Lemon and Black Pepper Chicken Sizzlers will pair nicely with just about any barbecue side dish! They come coated in a lip-smacking lemon and black pepper marinade, ready to bake in the oven for around 15-18 minutes.
You can always finish them off on the barbie until they’ve got that mouth-watering chargrilled look.
You’ve got to try the lemon and black pepper infused yoghurt mixture in our Lemon and Pepper Crusted Chicken recipe! The trick is not to marinate the chicken for too long (more than 2 hours, and the acidic marinade could change the texture).
The zingy flavours and crunchy coating are so dreamy with salad, steamed veg, mashed potatoes, chips or even in a sandwich – perfect for your summertime menu.
TESCO FIRE PIT Lemon and Black Pepper Chicken Sizzlers are available from Tesco, priced at £3.50 for a pack of 2.
Roosters Gastro Calzone Chicken Kievs – 293 calories per kiev
Ready from frozen in just 35 minutes, Roosters Gastro Calzone Chicken Kievs serve up two dishes in one for a family fakeaway night.
With juicy chicken breasts stuffed with mozzarella, Cheddar and chunks of chorizo, all wrapped in a golden breadcrumb coating, something tells us they’re bound to be a hit!
Try them this weekend with a fresh, mixed salad and a crispy handful of Air Fryer Rustic Potato Wedges, if you’re feeling hungry.
We’ve covered food with a calzone-inspired filling, but what about calzone with a pizza-inspired filling? That’s where our Chicken and Sweetcorn Pizza Calzone recipe comes in.
We’ve brought the calories down by using baked lower-calorie tortilla wraps as the ‘dough’ for our cheesy, tomatoey filling, and oven-baking them until they’re a glorious golden brown.
Roosters Gastro Calzone Chicken Kievs are available from Aldi, priced at £2.89 for a pack of 2.
Nature Valley Muffin Bars Chocolate Chip – 126 calories per bar
As soon as we see that Nature Valley has done something new, we have to run to the shops! We picked up the Nature Valley Muffin Bars in Chocolate Chip, but you can also grab them in Lemon Poppy Seed if you’re not a chocolate lover.
Soft, fluffy and satisfying, with chocolate chips swirled in, these individually-wrapped bars are ideal for taking on the go, to tuck into with a cuppa.
Speaking of on-the-go snacks, our Banana and Peanut Muffins will curb any cakey cravings in a heartbeat, for only 53 calories per muffin.
The nutty-sweet recipe keeps nicely stashed away in an airtight container for a few days, so you’ll always have something to reach for to get you through the morning. You can also pair them with yoghurt and fruit, if you’re feeling fancy!
Nature Valley Muffin Bars Chocolate Chip are available from Morrisons, priced at £2.50 for a pack of 4.
Nutini Smooth Caramelised Biscuit Spread – 90 calories per 15g serving
It’s no secret that we’re a huge fan of Biscoff at Pinch of Nom (who isn’t?), and that’s why we couldn’t resist picking up Nutini Smooth Caramelised Biscuit Spread. Smooth, nutty and rich with caramelised biscuit-style sweetness, the calories here aren’t much different to Biscoff itself…and you can grab a tub for just £1.00!
If you pick this up and taste-test it, please let us know your thoughts in the Facebook group. We are really intrigued to see how you feel about it!
We’ve got plenty of recipes you can use to get a measure of it, like our quick and simple Banana Biscoff Bakes. You only need soft-sliced sandwich thins, bananas, plain chocolate and egg to get this one going – aside from your choice of biscuit spread, of course!
Nutini Smooth Caramelised Biscuit Spread is available from Iceland, priced at £1.00 for a tub.
Sainsbury’s Cherry Bakewell Twin Pack Yogurt, Taste the Difference – 136 calories per pot
If you’re like us and you’ve got a soft spot for Cherry Bakewell Tarts, you’ll adore these Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Cherry Bakewell Yoghurts. Made with thick and creamy West Country milk, they’re also infused with a perfect blend of cherry and almond flavours.
Every velvety spoonful feels luxurious, and yet they’re not too high in calories at 136 per pot!
Our Bakewell Baked Oats will always be one of our favourite sweet breakfast recipes. We love it when our spoon reaches that juicy-sweet cherry jam in the middle!
You won’t find any flour in our mixture – we’ve stirred together fat-free yoghurt with oats instead. Oats are really versatile and open the door to lots of tasty, slimming-friendly recipes. You’ll find plenty of inspiration in our oat recipe roundup here.
Sainsbury’s Cherry Bakewell Twin Pack Yogurt, Taste the Difference is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £1.50 per pot.
REMINDER Aldi Super 6 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 our reminder of this week’s Super 6 selection
- Asparagus Tips – 25 calories per 100g
- Granny Smith Apples – 47 calories per 100g
- Satsumas – 41 calories per 100g
- White Mushrooms – 22 calories per 100g
- Vine Tomatoes – 20 calories per 100g
- Pineapple – 50 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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