Your Slimming Essentials – The Weekly Pinch of Shopping 26.04.24
Happy Friday, everyone! It’s the end of the week and the start of a brand-new Weekly Pinch of Shopping!
Whether you’re stuck for new lunch ideas, planning a weekend fakeaway or after some low-calorie sweet treats, there’s something for everyone on today’s list.
We can’t decide whether we fancy the Sticky Teriyaki Basa Kebabs we’ve spotted at Asda or Iceland’s Salt and Pepper Chicken Sizzle Steaks for dinner tonight. What would you pick?
Either way, we’ll definitely be treating ourselves to one of the gorgeous Strawberries and Cream Meringue Kisses that you’ll find at the end of our list….they’re just 149 calories each!
Our most-requested cookbook ever, PINCH OF NOM: AIR FRYER, is on the way!! You’ve been buzzing about it just as much as we have over the last few weeks and it makes us beyond happy to see. Last week we were FINALLY allowed to tell you a few of the recipes you’ll find inside! We filmed a little video in the office to let the PON team tell you their favourites. You can either watch it below, or on our Instagram here.
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We can’t forget to say, THANK YOU SO MUCH if you’ve already pre-ordered your copy. You are the best!
We can’t wait for all 75 scrummy, slimming-friendly air fryer recipes to be with you on the 20th of June (pre-order a copy 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! 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!
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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!**
Warburtons Gluten Free White Soft Pittas – 149 calories per pitta
Warburtons Soft Pittas have been around for a while now, but these gluten-free versions are new to the supermarket shelves! The easy-to-fill pittas can be enjoyed cold, or toasted if you prefer to eat them warm.
Ideal for lunchtime, you can stuff the fluffy flatbreads with just about anything you fancy, or cut them into strips to dunk in some hummus or your favourite dips.
We’d fill them to the brim with our creamy Coronation Chickpeas, wrap them up and take them on-the-go to fuel a busy day. Packed with protein, with a refreshing fruity flavour, these curry-infused chickpeas are perfect for pittas!
Don’t forget you can find lots more gluten-free recipe inspiration on our website!
Warburtons Gluten Free White Soft Pittas are available from Asda, priced at £3.00 for a pack of 4.
Sainsbury’s Ploughman’s Pot – 76 calories per 1/3 pot
If you’re feeling a bit lost for lunch inspiration, take a break from sandwiches, soups and salads and pick up this Ploughman’s Pot from Sainsbury’s instead. In each little pot you get a sharp, sour and savoury mix of pickled cauliflower, extra mature cheddar cheese, balsamic onions and pickled gherkins.
Ideal for sharing, you could serve it with some fresh bread, or a couple of other snacky bites like our Vegan Sausage Rolls.
We’ve always loved a Ploughman’s lunch – so much so that we turned it into a hearty, filling quiche to slice up for lunch all week. This Ploughman’s Quiche recipe is quick to make, and it’ll divide into 8 portions that are just 195 calories each.
Sainsbury’s Ploughman’s Pot is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £3.50 (or £2.30 with a Nectar card).
Primula Limited Edition with Cheddar & Chorizo – 220 calories per 100g
Who likes squeezy cheese? Fans of Primula have been voting for a brand-new flavour, and this Primula Limited Edition with Cheddar and Chorizo came out on top!
Flavoured with Spanish-style smoky, paprika sausage, it won’t be around for long, so you’ll need to nip to Iceland sooner rather than later if you want to give it a try. We’re betting it’ll taste pretty fit smothered on a crunchy cracker or two!
We use Primula Light when we make this Avocado Salsa Eggs Florentine for breakfast, but if you don’t mind the extra calories, you could switch to this new flavour instead. It mixes with milk and chipotle paste to make a rich, creamy sauce that tastes deliciously luxurious.
Primula Limited Edition with Cheddar & Chorizo is available from Iceland, priced at £1.85.
Birds Eye Mini Fish Fingers – 172 calories per 6 mini fish fingers
These Birds Eye Mini Fish Fingers are sure to be a hit with the whole family! Ready to go from freezer to plate in less than 10 minutes, you can oven-bake or air-fry the little bites until crunchy and golden.
Whether you plan on squishing them into a sandwich, or dishing them up with Homemade Oven Chips and beans, they’re great to have in the freezer for easy midweek meals.
We can tell you all love a fish finger butty, judging by how crazy you’ve gone for these Air Fryer Crispy Fish Burgers! We only added them to the website a couple of weeks ago, but we’ve seen so many of you making them already (and nothing makes us happier!).
Birds Eye Mini Fish Fingers are available from Tesco, priced at £3.50 for a box of 20.
McVitie’s Penguin & Friends Cocoa & Orange Flavoured Crunchy Biscuit Shapes – 91 calories per pack
This new snack will take you right back to your school lunchboxes! If you ever enjoyed p..p..picking up a penguin to add a chocolatey crunch to your afternoon, you need to pop to Iceland for these McVitie’s Penguin and Friends Cocoa and Orange Flavoured Crunchy Biscuit Shapes.
The individual snack-sized packs include miniature versions of the classic choccy biscuit, with a zesty flavour twist. At 91 calories per pack, you deserve to flick the kettle on and put your feet up while you treat yourself!
There’s always a spot on our meal plan for these Chocolate Orange Brownies. The squidgy squares have just the right amount of citrus-y sweetness – and they’re only 72 calories each!
McVitie’s Penguin & Friends Cocoa & Orange Flavoured Crunchy Biscuit Shapes are available from Iceland, priced at £1.00 for a bag of 5 individual snack packs.
ASDA Sticky Teriyaki Basa Kebabs – 163 calories per 1/2 pack
Anything with a teriyaki-style sauce always catches our eye in the supermarket, so it’s no surprise these ASDA Sticky Teriyaki Basa Kebabs have earned a spot on our shopping list this week! We can never get enough of the tangy, salty-sweet marinade, and these ready-to-cook fish skewers are no exception.
Perfect if you’re trying to get a bit more fish into your diet, the flaky basa is already coated in the sticky sauce, so all you have to do is fry the kebabs for 6 minutes. Serve with rice or salad for a quick and healthy weeknight dinner.
Don’t worry if you love teriyaki flavours, but aren’t a big fan of fish – we’ve got you covered with our own Chicken Teriyaki Kebabs recipe. There’s no need for a shop-bought marinade here; we’ve cooked up a slimming-friendly sauce with all the taste bud-tingling flavours of the Japanese-inspired seasoning.
ASDA Sticky Teriyaki Basa Kebabs are available from Asda, priced at £5.00 for 4 kebabs.
Iceland Salt & Pepper Chicken Sizzle Steaks – 126 calories per 1/4 pack
It’s no secret that we like to keep our freezer well-stocked to make sure there’s always something stashed away to help tackle the takeaway cravings! This week, we’ve picked up a couple of bags of these Salt and Pepper Chicken Sizzle Steaks from Iceland. Next time you don’t feel like cooking, you only have to stick them in a pan for 5 minutes (or cook them under the grill or in the air fryer!).
They taste just like they’ve been delivered from your favourite Chinese-style restaurant, with a savoury, spicy blend of salt and pepper seasoning.
If you feel like pushing the boat out on your next fakeaway night, these Salt and Pepper Ribs are a little higher in calories than most of our recipes, but still far more slimming-friendly than a restaurant version. Plan them in advance, as they need plenty of time in the oven to get fall-off-the-fork tender!
Iceland Salt & Pepper Chicken Sizzle Steaks are available from Iceland, priced at £4.50 for a pack of 7 steaks.
Sainsbury’s Cloudy Apple Ice Lollies – 60 calories per lolly
We might only be in spring, but the supermarkets are already filling the shelves with summer flavours! As far as low-calorie sweet treats go, the fruity freshness of these Sainsbury’s Cloudy Apple Ice Lollies is hard to beat.
Made with the juice of crisp, pressed British apples, each naturally sweet ice pop works out at only 60 calories. Delicious rain or shine, you won’t regret making room in your freezer for a pack!
While we wait for some sunshine, we say make your own! Nothing says summer quite like our Pimms Lolly Ice, thanks to a good splash of our favourite seasonal tipple. It’s well worth investing in an ice lolly mould for the summer – we have all kinds of frozen treats you can make for sunnier days!
Sainsbury’s Cloudy Apple Ice Lollies are available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £2.50 for a pack of 4.
Iceland Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry – 307 calories per 1/2 bag
When you need a healthy meal in a hurry, a stir-fry is always a good idea. To make things even easier, Iceland has packaged up tender chicken pieces, vegetables and rice in a zingy lemon sauce, and made this Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry that cooks from frozen.
Each bag serves 2 people, with 307 calories in each portion. With pak choi, red pepper, carrots and water chestnuts in the mix, there’s no shortage of goodness – so you won’t feel like you’re missing out by taking the easy option for dinner!
There’s a reason our Lemon Chicken recipe has always been one of our most popular fakeaways…it’s completely delicious! Cooked from scratch in just 25 minutes, you don’t need as many ingredients as you might expect. Plus, each sticky, sweet, citrusy serving works out at only 201 calories.
Iceland Lemon Chicken Stir-Fry is available from Iceland, priced at £3.75.
Sainsbury’s Strawberries & Cream Meringue Kisses – 149 calories per meringue
You don’t need a reason to spoil yourself with these Sainsbury’s Strawberries and Cream Meringue Kisses as a little treat this weekend. Meringue-based desserts can work out more slimming friendly than you might think, since the crunchy shells are so light and airy.
Dipped in chocolate and filled with a strawberry crème pâtissière, you can enjoy one of these decadent desserts for less than 150 calories.
If you’d rather roll up your sleeves and have a baking day, we have the perfect meringue recipe for you. These Creamy Strawberry Mini Meringues are dreamy, 33-calorie bites that are lots of fun to make. You should get 18 out of the batch, so feel free to double-up if the whole family has a sweet tooth!
Sainsbury’s Strawberries & Cream Meringue Kisses are available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £3.35 for a pack of 2.
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:
- Radish – 16 calories per 100g
- Celery Sticks – 14 calories per 100g
- Mini Apples – 53 calories per 100g
- Green Beans – 31 calories per 100g
- Mini San Marzano Tomatoes – 20 calories per 100g
- Blueberries – 57 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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