Your Slimming Essentials – The Weekly Pinch of Shopping 20.11
We’ve got an Aldi Super 6 update in our Weekly Pinch of Shopping this week to help you get some variety into your 5 a day and save some pennies while you’re at it!
In our opinion it’s definitely not too soon to start thinking about Christmas (who’s got their tree up already?!) and following a vegan diet shouldn’t mean that you have to miss out on all of the delicious festive food.
We’ve found some vegan products that are perfect for serving at your dinner table this Christmas, including vegan ice cream and vegan cheese!
If you’re looking for Christmas inspiration and festive recipes then you make sure that you check out our Christmas category here.
Plus, we absolutely love it when members of our Facebook Group share new products that they’ve found and the tasty recipes they’ve created using them, so we’ve got a fantastic product and recipe recommendation that you just have to try!
Lots of these products have been talked about over on our Facebook Group, so if you’re not a member then make sure that you click here to join now so that you don’t miss out (and don’t forget to share any delicious new products that you come across).
Our Weekly Pinch of Shopping list aims to show you slimming friendly products that are available in a wide range of stores so that you can pick them up during your weekly shop, and to make things really convenient we’ve also listed any relevant nutritional info and the RRP.
Please remember that all prices are correct at the time of us writing this article and so they should be used as a guide only.
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**A note on our shopping list: 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!**
Ilchester Vegan Festive Selection – Up to 309 calories per 100g
A cheese board on the buffet is one of our favourite parts of Christmas, there’s no doubt about it, and this Ilchester Vegan Festive Selection takes it to a whole new level!
Certified vegan and free from dairy, soya, lactose and gluten, these individually wrapped cheeses are ideal if you’d prefer an allergen free option this Christmas.
Including smoked, blue cheese, chilli and mixed pepper varieties, these blocks are made for melting as well as munching – in fact, they’re designed to melt just as well as dairy cheese!
Try serving with some water biscuits and a bunch of fresh, crunchy grapes, or alongside a sweet pickle in our Cheese and Pickle Twists.
You could even add a dollop of Chutney for extra flavour!
You can find this limited edition Ilchester Vegan Festive Selection at Sainsbury’s and Waitrose for £6 per 400g.
Sainsbury’s Hot Chocolate Orange Flavour – 173 calories per serving
There’s nothing more comforting than a nice cup of hot chocolate on a cold day, and this Hot Chocolate Orange Flavour drink from Sainsbury’s is a really tasty twist on the classic treat.
Featuring a lovely citrus zest of flavour, this hot chocolate is suitable for vegetarians and comes to just 173 calories when prepared with 200ml of semi-skimmed milk – now that’s what we call a slimming essential!
It might be low on calories, but you’d never notice because it tastes super rich and indulgent and we think it’s perfect to enjoy in the evening in front of the TV.
It’s even better when served with your favourite biscuits for dipping!
We think that our Spiced Christmas Biscuits work fantastically alongside this Sainsbury’s Hot Chocolate Orange Flavour drink.
Love the flavour combo of chocolate and orange as much as we do?
We’ve got loads of tasty chocolate orange recipes including our Chocolate Orange Baked Oats and our Chocolate Orange Waffles.
You can find this Sainsbury’s Hot Chocolate Orange Flavour in Sainsbury’s for £2 per pot.
Ribena Sparkling Blackcurrant – 43 calories per 250ml
Sometimes all we want is a glass of something fruity and fizzy, but that’s not really much of an option if you’re following a diet plan.
However, this Ribena Sparkling Blackcurrant is just 43 calories per 250ml which means that not only can you enjoy a fruity, fizzy drink, but you won’t have to worry about using up loads of extra calories – result!
Made from British blackcurrants, Ribena Sparkling Blackcurrant is rich in vitamin C, contains real fruit juice and has no artificial colours or flavours.
We love enjoying a glass at lunchtime alongside something like our Low Carb Chicken and Ham Wraps or our French Bread Pizza.
You can get this Ribena Sparkling Blackcurrant from Tesco for £1.50 for a 2 litre bottle.
The Tofoo Co. Teriyaki Block Tofu – 109 calories per serving
Tofu has a bit of a bad reputation for being flavourless and bland, but that’s definitely not the case for this The Tofoo Co. Teriyaki Block Tofu!
Organic, homemade tofu in a delicious teriyaki marinade, it’s 100% natural, free from dairy and gluten, vegan friendly, and made from sustainable, GM free soya beans.
If you’ve never had tofu before then it’s the perfect protein replacement for so many dishes like stir fries, curries and burgers.
Why not try it instead of beef in our Stir-fried Beef with Ginger and Spring Onion recipe? We think that it works really well!
You can find this The Tofoo Co. Teriyaki Block Tofu in Sainsbury’s for £2.70 for a 280g block.
John West Infusions Tuna Indian Spiced – 168 calories per pot
Tuna is an absolute slimming essential in our opinion: lean, high in protein and packed with healthy omega-3 fatty acids!
This John West Infusions Tuna Indian Spiced pot adds a twist to your tuna lunch by infusing extra flavour in the form of curry spices and a hint of lemon.
No need to add mayo or dressing, this tuna pot is flavourful enough to enjoy on its own, and it’s free from artificial colours and flavours too.
You can also find a few different flavours to experiment with, including sundried tomato, soy and ginger, and chilli and garlic!
If you like chilli flavours, then take a look at our super simple Chilli and Lime Baked Salmon!
This ready to eat pot doesn’t need draining which means that it’s ready to eat straight from the pot, and anything that makes life simpler is a winner in our book!
Enjoy this tuna on an open sandwich or on top of an oven baked jacket potato with a crispy side salad.
You could also serve alongside a fakeaway favourite side or two like our Sweet Potato Pakoras. (Psst… sweet potatoes are part of the Aldi Super 6 this week, but more on that later!)
Pots of John West Infusions Tuna Indian Spiced are available at most supermarkets for £1.25 each.
Cook With M&S Vegetable & Lentil Soup Mix – 75 calories per ¼ pack
We love enjoying a nice warming bowl of soup on a cold winter day and we love it even more when we don’t have to spend time chopping up and preparing the veg!
This Cook With M&S Vegetable & Lentil Soup Mix has all of the ingredients to make a really delicious soup.
All you need to do is add some stock and your chosen herbs and seasoning, and cook until the vegetables are cooked through and tender.
We think it’s really tasty when served with a chunk of crusty bread or a warm bread roll for a really tasty lunch or a light dinner.
If you’ve got a little bit more time on your hands, then our Minestrone Soup and Scotch Broth are both really delicious too and are fantastic for batch cooking and keeping on hand in the freezer for a quick meal.
This Cook With M&S Vegetable & Lentil Soup Mix is available at Ocado for £1.50 a bag.
Bahlsen Choco Leibniz with Baileys – 146 calories per 2 biscuits
What’s better than Baileys? Chocolate butter biscuits with a Baileys cream filling of course!
These Bahlsen Choco Leibniz with Baileys biscuits have 146 calories per 2 biscuits so they’re not full of tons of extra calories and contain less than 1% alcohol too so you won’t need to worry about getting a fuzzy head.
Serve with our Eggnog Latte for a really festive mid-afternoon treat, or if you love the combo of chocolate and Baileys as much as we do, then our Chocolate Baileys Truffles are the perfect sweet treat!
They’re also really delicious when crumbled over something like our Black Forest Desserts or our Winter Berry Ice Cream.
These Bahlsen Choco Leibniz with Baileys biscuits are available in most supermarkets at around £1.80 a box.
Oatly Vanilla Ice Cream – 218 calories per 100g
Think you can’t enjoy delicious ice cream if you’re vegan? Oatly Vanilla Ice Cream begs to differ!
This tasty ice cream may taste super creamy and rich, but it’s actually free from lactose, milk protein and soya, and is suitable for vegan diets.
It’s also only 218 calories per 100g serving so you can enjoy it on your slimming journey without having to budget for loads of extra calories.
We know the weather’s getting a bit colder at the moment, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some ice cream for dessert.
Serve a scoop with our Apple and Blackberry Crumble, our Spiralized Apple Nests or our Apple Strudels – it works even better if you serve it with a hot dessert!
You can find this Oatly Vanilla Ice Cream in Tesco, Waitrose and Ocado for around £4.50 a pot.
Promise Gluten Free Handcrafted Sourdough Baguette – 182 calories per baguette
Paula Spencer shared this mouthwatering snap of her meatball sub over in our Facebook Group and it looked SO good that we simply had to share the baguettes that she used!
These Promise Gluten Free Handcrafted Sourdough Baguettes are deliciously crispy and even better when served warm from the oven.
They’re low in fat and high in fibre to keep you fuller for longer, and they’re also a dairy and gluten free slimming essential, which means that they’re great for families with different dietary needs.
Paula’s was made with a simple Meatball Marinara made from a rustic passata, cheese and a sprinkle of parsley, but we think you could fill these baguettes with pretty much anything.
Or, why not try the meatballs from our Turkey Bun Cha recipe for a change?
We found a 2 pack of Promise Gluten Free Handcrafted Sourdough Baguette at Sainsbury’s for £2.80.
NEW Aldi Super 6 Fruit and Veg Selection
We love Aldi’s selection of fresh fruit and veggies, and each fortnight they choose six of them for a special offer where you can pick them up for much less than the normal price.
Here’s our roundup of this fortnight’s selection, alongside some meal inspiration to give you some ideas on how to make the most of the Super 6!
Baby plum tomatoes – 18 calories per 100g
Sweeter than the larger salad tomatoes, baby plum tomatoes are a great way of adding colour to a dish. They’re also super handy for grabbing as a nutritious snack throughout the day instead of reaching for higher calorie sweets.
It may seem strange, but always let your baby plum tomatoes reach room temperature before eating, as it brings out so much more flavour!
We like to add halved baby plum tomatoes to the top of a Quiche Lorraine, or as a burst of tomatoey goodness in a bowl of BLT Pasta Salad.
Butternut squash – 45 calories per 100g
Butternut squash is in season right now, and it’s surprisingly low in calories for how filling it is! It’s so versatile, and the texture lends itself well to pretty much anything from pasta sauces and soups, to simple oven-roasted butternut squash chunks.
It’s a wintery vegetable with a sweet, nutty flavour that complements most dishes.
We’ve used it to add texture to our Curried Butternut Squash Soup and Butternut Squash Risotto, but you could also use it in our Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Mash for the perfect accompaniment to a roast dinner.
Sweet potatoes – 86 calories per 100g
Sweet potatoes are a great source of fibre and nutrients, and make a change from a standard white potato.
You can wash and bake them in the oven whole for a sweet jacket potato, or scoop out the filling and mix with bacon, soft cheese and chives for a twist on our Loaded Potato Skins.
Why not try serving a dollop of mashed sweet potato alongside a hearty portion of our Slow Cooker Balsamic Beef Stew for a super filling, hearty meal?
Baby corn – 26 calories per 100g
Crunchy, bite sized baby corn is smaller and sweeter than the sweetcorn that you can get on the cob and it has a really satisfying snap when bitten!
It’s a really versatile veg that’s used in many of our Fakeaway recipes.
Add a handful to our Chicken Chow Mein or our Bang Bang Noodles to give your dish a nice crunch and pop of colour!
Avocado – 168 calories per 100g
Avocado is often overlooked on a slimming plan as it’s higher in fat and calories than other options.
Don’t let this put you off though, as avocados are a great source of nutrients and unsaturated fats (also known as healthy fats!) and have a creamy, velvety texture.
Because they’re relatively high in calories, we’d suggest limiting how much you eat each day if you’re aiming to lose weight; one half of an avocado is 1 of your 5 a day so you really don’t need much to get the benefits!
Enjoy this ‘superfood’ simply spread on wholemeal toast, or take inspiration from Rosie Ramsay on our podcast ‘The Magic Ingredient’ by enjoying a fresh plate of Avocado, Asparagus, Soya Bean and Bacon Salad!
Oranges – 51 calories per 100g
Bright, fresh oranges are a real treat any time of year, and we love the zesty citrus flavour!
Not only that, they’re full of vitamin C which is one of the essential nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy.
You could keep these in the fruit bowl for mid-morning snacking, pack them in lunch boxes for school and work, or use them to add a zesty twist to your favourite chocolate dessert.
Believe it or not, orange can even complement savoury dishes, and works well against salty meats such as our Ginger and Orange Glazed Ham.
**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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