Your Slimming Essentials – The Weekly Pinch of Shopping 17.01.25
It’s that time again! Your brand-new Weekly Pinch of Shopping is ready and chock-full of slimming-friendly goodies, including the pickled snack that everybody’s been talking about…
Aldi’s Plant Menu Frickles are flying off the shelves right now! We grabbed a pack to see what all the fuss is about and we can tell you: they’re well worth cracking out your air fryer.
From readymade breakfasts to zingy dressings and takeaway-inspired lunches, we’ve picked up a variety of goodies to help you keep your January meal plan exciting.
As always, we’ve picked up plenty for your sweet tooth too. We couldn’t choose between Oreo No Sugar Cookies and Snickers White Ice Cream Bars, so we grabbed both!
Have you grabbed your January organisation companion? With the first-ever official Pinch of Nom calendar on your wall, you’ll be inspired and motivated to smash your slimming goals in 2025. The dishes we’ve hand-picked to go inside bring all the Nom flavours you know and love, month by month.
We’ve added large date panels on each page to give you plenty of space for jotting down notes, keeping on top of appointments and birthdays, and planning meals as you go.
Tap the image below to grab yours from Amazon ready for the New Year, or order directly from Danilo by tapping here.
Spotted any yummy-looking, slimming-friendly new products at the supermarket lately? Share them with us – they might feature in our next article! You can also join the discussion in our Facebook group here.
Our Weekly Pinch of Shopping highlights budget-friendly, slimming-friendly products available in local supermarkets and online. We include calorie information and RRP, though prices may vary.
Each week, we also feature Aldi’s Super 6 deals – a fortnightly selection of discounted fruits and vegetables – along with recipe ideas to help you make the most of them. 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!**
FUEL10K Multigrain Flakes Chocolate Crunch – 136 calories per 35g portion
It’s even easier to rise and shine with FUEL10K Multigrain Flakes Chocolate Crunch on your breakfast menu. A combination of crispy wholegrains, toasted barley chunks and luxurious chocolate-coated flakes, add to a bowl with your favourite milk for a surefire delicious brekkie.
You can serve a scoop over yoghurt as a quick light snack, or grab a satisfying handful straight from the box!
To cut the calories in our Raspberry Mocha Granola Pots, we’ve made our own crunchy granola-style cereal, using a clever blend of espresso-infused oats.
Coated in a drizzle of maple syrup, the oats only take 10 minutes to bake before they’re ready to layer with chocolatey yoghurt, juicy raspberries and a swirl of reduced-fat aerosol cream.
FUEL10K Multigrain Flakes Chocolate Crunch is available from Ocado, priced at £3.70 per pack.
Noble Foods Happy Egg Cheese Omelettes – 219 calories per air-fried omelette
When you’re in a rush, or you just don’t fancy getting pots and pans out, these Noble Foods Happy Egg Cheese Omelettes are a game changer. Stash them in the freezer until you’re ready for a super quick egg-loaded breakfast!
Whether you pop them in an air fryer, your oven or the microwave, they’ll still be cheesy, light and fluffy.
Sweet or savoury, there are so many ways to get creative with omelettes! This Greek-Style Omelette Wrap is one of our favourite fresh lunches when we’re craving summer holiday flavours.
The salad filling is tossed together with tangy feta cheese and a minty, Tzatziki-inspired yoghurt mix.
Noble Foods Happy Egg Cheese Omelettes are available from Morrisons, priced at £2.50 for a pack of 2.
La Vie Honey Roast Wafer Thin Plant-based Ham – 110 calories per 100g
We’re always on the lookout for tasty plant-based alternatives! This La Vie Honey Roast Wafer Thin Plant-based Ham whether you’re sticking to Veganuary, or just trying to eat less meat now and again.
Lower in fat than pork and high in protein, these wafer thin honey-roasted slices taste great folded into sarnies, chopped into salads or in ribbons on pizza.
You could even bake it inside our lovely little Cheese and Ham Pastries. The low-calorie tortilla wrap ‘pastry’ we’ve used turns golden and crisp on the oven, giving every bite an irresistible crunch.
At just 178 calories each, they’re ideal for a mid-afternoon snack – just be sure to adjust the calories we’ve listed, if you do tweak any of our ingredients.
La Vie Honey Roast Wafer Thin Plant-based Ham is available from Waitrose, priced at £2.25 per pack.
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Green Vegetable Gratin – 157 calories per 1/2 pack
You can always count on finding something new and tasty in Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range! This Green Vegetable Gratin comes ready-packed with courgette, cabbage, leeks and filling cannellini beans, coated in a creamy, peppery sauce.
Everything is topped off with cheesy Cheddar and parsley crumb too, just in case you weren’t convinced!
With our Air Fryer cookbook at your fingertips, you can always make your own version at home by turning to our Cheesy Potato Gratin on pages 116-117.
Instead of a combination of greens, we’ve air-fried spuds together with THREE different types of cheese: Cheddar, spreadable cheese and Parmesan.
You’ll be left with the cheesiest spuds you’ve ever made, all for just 236 calories per portion.
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Green Vegetable Gratin is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £3.00 per pack (or £2.50 with a Nectar card).
The Gym Kitchen Salt & Pepper Chicken – 318 calories per pack (microwaved)
We never get bored of adding The Gym Kitchen’s creations to our shopping list! This Salt and Pepper Chicken ready meal is really handy to microwave in minutes on busy days.
As well as heaps of colourful veg and tender takeaway-style chunks of chicken, you’ve also got roasted peppers, red onion, brown rice and red quinoa stirred in.
Did we mention each pack has 29 grams of protein? That’s perfect to fuel your day!
Our healthier alternative to Salt and Pepper Chips has always been a hit with our community, and then we went and made them even easier to air-fry with our Flava It! Salt and Pepper Chips recipe.
In a few easy steps, you’ll have a plate that looks and tastes just like chips from the local Chinese. Everything you need to know about PON x Flava It! Recipe Mixes is in our FAQs blog.
The Gym Kitchen Salt & Pepper Chicken is available from Asda, priced at £3.75 per pack.
McCain Vibes Salt & Vinegar Flavour – 170 calories per 100g serving
New snack alert! You’ll find brand-new packs of McCain Vibes in the freezers at Iceland. We went for classic Salt and Vinegar, but you can take home Firecracker Chilli flavours if you’re feeling spicy.
Two snacks in one, you get the light crunch of a crisp coupled with the warm fluffiness of a golden chip. It’s up to you to evenly cover the portion you’re air-frying with seasoning, as it comes in a sachet.
They remind us of our smash-hit Chilli Cheesy Nachos recipe, where we use potato wedges as our glorious ‘nacho’ base! They’re perfect for scooping up every last drop of the fiery, cheese-topped chilli.
McCain Vibes Salt & Vinegar Flavour are available from Iceland, priced at £1.75 for a pack that serves 4.
All Dressed Up Miso & Sesame Dressing – 34 calories per drizzle (approx.)
Hot or cold, this All Dressed Up Miso and Sesame Dressing is a delicious addition to your condiments collection. Savoury, sweet and tangy all at once, you only need a quick drizzle to level up greens, veggies or meat.
You can even use this dressing as a marinade, or as a stir-fry sauce for a fork-twirling noodle bowl.
Pair a few drops with our Sesame Chicken Toasts for a match made in fakeaway heaven! While restaurant versions more commonly use prawns, we’ve brought the cost down by using chicken.
They’re also baked (rather than deep-fried) to save on calories, without compromising on that all-important crunch.
All Dressed Up Miso & Sesame Dressing is available from Ocado, priced at £5.00 per bottle.
Oreo No Sugar Cookies – 174 calories per pack
Stop scrolling here if you love Oreo flavours! These Oreo No Sugar Cookies are a lighter way to enjoy the popular biscuit – whether you serve them with a cold glass of milk, or a hot cup of tea is up to you.
Take a mini pack on the go and you’ll have four vanilla-filled sandwich cookies to snack on for only 174 calories.
Now all we want to do is dunk our Double Choc Chip Cookies in a brew! This really easy recipe uses a super short list of slimming-friendly ingredients, keeping things oh-so-chocolatey and low in calories at the same time.
You’ll want to eat them straight away, but try to resist! They need a minute or two to cool down and harden first.
Oreo No Sugar Cookies are available from Tesco, priced at £2.00 for a pack of 4 mini packs (or £1.50 with a Clubcard).
Plant Menu Frickles – 206 calories per 1/2 pack (cooked)
There’s been lots of buzz around these Plant Menu Frickles! Big on flavour and low in calories, pickles are a cracking go-to slimming-friendly snack (and hugely popular in our Facebook group) so we knew we had to track down a pack.
We got lucky at our local Aldi, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled! They’re easy-peasy to chuck into the air fryer until they’re crispy and golden.
If you find them, please tell us your thoughts! You can tuck into them on their own, but we enjoyed adding them to a burger-night feast next to our Melt-in-the-Middle Bacon Cheeseburgers at the centre.
We used a sprinkling from our Burger & Kebab Seasoning Flava It! mix to make the patties even more fuss-free.
Plant Menu Frickles are available from Aldi, priced at £1.99 per pack.
Snickers White Ice Cream Bars – 157 calories per bar
We’re big fans of ice cream inspired by chocolate bars, and we may have done a little happy dance when we spotted these Snickers White Ice Cream Bars in the freezer at Asda.
It’s got everything you’d expect from a frozen Snickers treat: a silky base of creamy ice cream and peanuts, topped with gooey caramel and wrapped in white chocolate.
We’ve stashed some in our freezer, right next to batch-prepped portions of our Ninja Creami Custard Cream Ice Cream. While the crunchy-biscuit centre might seem indulgent, our recipe uses low-calorie swaps to keep things nice and light at just 127 per bowlful.
Forget about running to the ice cream van, this recipe is so much better for you and your budget!
Snickers White Ice Cream Bars are available from Asda, priced at £2.50 for a pack of 4 ice creams.
NEW 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 the rundown of this week’s Super 6 offering, along with some recipe ideas for you.
Swede – 38 calories per 100g
As soon as we spot swede in the Super 6 deals, we get the urge to make our Layered Potato and Swede Gratin. The warming combination of mashed potato, mashed swede and onion is absolutely spot on for this time of year – especially when the herby breadcrumb topping turns golden in the oven.
Ginger – 44 calories per 100g
Ginger adds a warm, zesty kick to any dish, taking your cooking up a notch with a unique balance of spice and sweetness. We use fresh ginger to give our Singapore-Style Noodles their punchiness, along with fiery chillies.
Lychees – 81 calories per 100g
It’s not too often that you see lychees in the Super 6, so you’ll want to get yourself to Aldi if you’re a fan! With delicate, floral flavours, they’re perfect for light desserts like sorbets and ice creams, or for freshening up cold beverages.
You can always slice them into a comforting pud like our Tropical Crumble for something a bit different.
Oranges – 47 calories per 100g
You can grab a bag of oranges for 99p this week from Aldi. You can peel them, slice them or squeeze them to make the most of their zesty goodness – we’re gonna be using them to marinate the Sticky Harissa and Orange Chicken recipe on page 122 of our Budget cookbook.
Pak Choi – 13 calories per 100g
Pak choi is a leafy type of cabbage with a spinach-like flavour to it. Stir this vitamin-C filled versatile veggie into a broth, grill it, roast it or steam it.
We like to enjoy it in a fiery, saucy dish like our Chinese-inspired Sticky Chilli Chicken with Noodles recipe. With vibrant, colourful veggies and tender spiced chicken, it’s perfect to cook up for a special occasion.
Spring Onions – 32 calories per 100g
With a burst of fresh, vibrant flavour, spring onions are always handy to have in the fridge. From salads and stir-fries to a simple garnish, they add a mild punch of flavour wherever they’re sprinkled.
Why not toss them together with crumbly cheese for our gorgeous Stilton Roast Potatoes?
**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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