Your Slimming Essentials – The Weekly Pinch of Shopping 29.09.23
Can you believe it’s already the FINAL Weekly Pinch of Shopping for September?! It’s officially autumn, so get ready to write a shopping list full of easy meals and scrumptious snacks.
Soup season is here at last, and we can’t wait to slurp up a warming bowl of goodness. Don’t miss the vibrant green, pea, leek and watercress soup that we spotted in Sainsbury’s this week.
If you’re ready to hibernate in front of the television, you’ll be needing some sweet treats to nibble on. Along with some seriously indulgent Fox’s chocolate-covered biscuits, we’ll be stocking up on the new Little Moons Sweet and Salty Popcorn Mochi Ice Creams. They’re just 75 calories per mochi ball!
Did you hear our BIG news? Our newest cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Express, is now available to pre-order! It’ll be with you on the 7th of December, and it’s bursting with recipes that prioritise your time, without compromising on flavour.
When you fancy something you can prepare in minutes and leave to simmer, or a tasty dish that cooks before you know it, Express has you covered with 100 NEW slimming-friendly recipes.
Split into ‘Quick Cook’ and ‘Quick Prep’ sections, it’s so easy to find the perfect dish to suit your schedule. Now’s the time to make some room on your bookshelf; pre-order and your copy will be with you before Christmas!
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!**
Protein Power High Protein Salted Caramel Yoghurt – 166 calories per yoghurt
If you want to start your day off on the right foot, this Protein Power High Protein Salted Caramel Yoghurt is a tasty grab-and-go breakfast that’ll fuel your morning. With 22g of protein in each pot, it’ll fill you up and give you the energy you need to power through your to-do list
If you’d prefer a fruity flavour, good news! There are blueberry and strawberry versions of this yoghurt on the shelves at Iceland.
Anyone who wants to get more protein into their morning routine needs to add our Greek-Style Omelette Wrap onto their meal plan! Ready in less than 15 minutes, each tangy, feta-filled egg wrap is only 355 calories, with 29g of protein.
Protein Power High Protein Salted Caramel Yoghurt is available from Iceland, priced at £1.25 per pot.
The Fishmonger Ready To Cook King Prawns In Creamy Pesto Sauce – 152 calories per 1/2 pack
Calling all seafood lovers! Aldi has just brought in a whole new range of frozen prawns, including crispy breaded ones, through to microwavable king prawns that you can serve up in seconds.
Our favourite from the bunch is these The Fishmonger Ready To Cook King Prawns In Creamy Pesto Sauce. They cook in as little as four and a half minutes, and there’s only 152 calories in half the pack. Imagine mixing them into some freshly-cooked pasta for a speedy, easy midweek meal.
If you’ve got a bag of plain prawns in the freezer and you’re not sure what to do with them, turn them into this Prawn Tikka Masala! We’ve packed in a whole lot of Indian-inspired flavour, for so few calories.
The Fishmonger Ready To Cook King Prawns In Creamy Pesto Sauce are available from Aldi, priced at £1.99 per pack.
Fox’s Chocolatey Indulgent Creams Hazelnut – 89 calories per biscuit
Forget boring biscuits, we’re all about the chocolate-loaded nibbles when it’s time for a tea break! These Fox’s Chocolatey Indulgent Creams Hazelnut are exactly what we’re talking about: a buttery shortcake biscuit with a melt-in-the-mouth hazelnut centre, smothered in milk and dark chocolate.
At 89 calories each, we’ll be popping 2 of them on the side of our next cuppa! Keep an eye out for the honeycomb flavour too – we’re betting they’re every bit as delicious as these ones!
Talking about chocolate hazelnut always makes us dream about our creamy Nutella Mousse recipe. Flick to pages 258-259 of Pinch of Nom: Enjoy to whip up this airy, light dessert and we guarantee you won’t be disappointed…
Fox’s Chocolatey Indulgent Creams Hazelnut are available from Tesco, priced at £2.00.
Princes Spicy Tomato Tuna Salad Bowl – 213 calories per bowl
We’re always on the lookout for easy, tasty lunch ideas to help you fill up your fridge for busy days. This week, we’ve spotted this Princes Spicy Tomato Tuna Salad Bowl at Morrisons, along with sweet chilli and Mexican-inspired flavours in the same range.
High in protein, 1 of your 5-a-day and just 213 calories for the whole bowl, this ready-to-eat mix of tuna, veggies and couscous is handy to have on hectic days!
If you’d rather make your own tuna salad from scratch, you won’t find a tastier recipe than our Tuna Niçoise Pasta Salad. It’s got all the key elements you’d expect from a Niçoise, with the added extra of pasta mixed in to make it really filling!
Princes Spicy Tomato Tuna Salad Bowl is available from Morrisons, priced at £2.50.
Re:Nourish Restore Pea Leek & Watercress Soup – 194 calories per pack
It’s officially soup season! Who else is so ready for a bowlful of warming, veggie-packed goodness? If you said ‘me!’, pop into Sainsbury’s this week and pick up a carton of this Re:Nourish Restore Pea Leek and Watercress Soup.
The gorgeously green blend of mild peas, sweet leeks and peppery watercress has a long list of good things going on – it’s low-fat, high-protein, dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, rich in B vitamins and full of fibre. We can’t imagine anything more wholesome for a quick, cosy meal.
Our go-to lunch for rainy days is this Cream of Tomato Soup and Croutons. It has a dreamy velvety texture, and it’s nice and hearty, especially when you scoop up a crunchy crouton on your spoonful!
Re:Nourish Restore Pea Leek & Watercress Soup is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £3.00.
ASDA Tempting Italian Style Meatballs – 363 calories per 1/2 pack
Sometimes you need to put dinner on the table and you don’t have hours to spend on prep (good news, there’s a whole Quick Prep section in our brand-new cookbook Express!). Boil a pan of spaghetti while these ASDA Tempting Italian Style Meatballs are in the oven, and that’s your evening meal sorted in just over half an hour.
The beef and pork meatballs come ready-to-cook in a rich tomato and herb sauce, topped with mozzarella and Cheddar cheese – and there are just 363 calories in each portion.
On days when you have a bit more time to spend in the kitchen, 15 minutes of preparation can turn some chicken mince into these unmissable Hunter’s Chicken Meatballs. Trust us, you’ll want to make some Creamy Mashed Potatoes to soak up every last drop of sauce.
ASDA Tempting Italian Style Meatballs are available from Asda, priced at £5.00.
Homegrown Mixed Salad – 22 calories per 100g
It’s no secret that it’s cheaper and better for the environment to buy fruits and vegetables while they’re in season (see what’s in season right now in this handy roundup). Often you might notice that the greens you’re buying have been flown in from far-flung locations, but not with this Homegrown Mixed Salad from Asda.
British produce, vertically farmed with 90% less water and grown using renewable energy sources, these are veggies that you can feel good about.
Plate up a handful of crisp green salad leaves on the side of our Rolled-up Lasagne for a dinnertime treat. This recipe is a fun new way to enjoy some classic favourite flavours, and it’s well worth adding into your meal plan next week!
Homegrown Mixed Salad is available from Asda, priced at £1.25 for an 80g bag.
Linda McCartney’s Very Veggie Caramelised Beetroot, Carrot and Red Onion Fritters – 121 calories per 2 fritters
Planning a vegetarian fakeaway night in the near future? These crispy Very Veggie Caramelised Beetroot, Carrot and Red Onion Fritters from the Linda McCartney range are versatile enough to be added to everything from a cooked breakfast to an Indian-style feast.
You’ll get 1 of your 5-a-day from nibbling through 2 fritters, so they’re an easy way to add more veggies to your plate, without even noticing.
We recently added this Saag Aloo Fritters recipe to our website, and if you haven’t tried it yet, pop it to the top of your list! Each mildly-spiced, pan-fried fritter is just 45 calories, and you’ll be obsessed with the easy minty yoghurt dip that we’ve included.
Linda McCartney’s Very Veggie Caramelised Beetroot, Carrot and Red Onion Fritters are available from Tesco, priced at £3.00 for a pack of 4 fritters.
Mars Galaxy® Chocolate Orange Macarons – 51 calories per macaron
In case you missed it, Bake Off is back this week! The first episode went out on Tuesday night, so there’s time to catch up before the next one airs. Nothing makes us need a sweet snack more than watching the baker’s creations, so we’ll be stocking up on these frozen Mars Galaxy Chocolate Orange Macarons.
Let them defrost for 30 minutes, then you’re ready to bite into the chewy almond shells with their moreish chocolate orange filling. At 51 calories each, we’ll be going back for seconds!
Roll up your sleeves and have a go at making your own Bake Off snacks by rustling up a batch of our Chocolate Orange Brownies. They’re easy-peasy to make, so you’re sure to be the star baker in your kitchen when you serve up the yummy, squidgy squares.
Mars Galaxy® Chocolate Orange Macarons are available from Iceland, priced at £4.00 for a pack of 12.
Little Moons Sweet & Salty Popcorn Mochi Ice Cream – 75 calories per mochi
As if a freezer full of macarons wasn’t tempting enough, we couldn’t leave these Little Moons Sweet and Salty Popcorn Mochi Ice Creams behind in the freezer aisle. A mochi ball is one of our favourite treats when we need something small to satisfy our sweet tooth.
Slightly chewy on the outside, with a creamy ice cream centre, you’ll find tiny pieces of caramelised corn mixed into these delicious bite-sized balls.
With the perfect balance of sweet and salty in every mouthful, our Salted Caramel and Chocolate Popcorn Bites are not to be missed! You’ll need a copy of Pinch of Nom: Enjoy to discover the full recipe for this one (just turn to pages 186-189 to get started).
Little Moons Sweet & Salty Popcorn Mochi Ice Cream is available from Sainsbury’s, priced at £5.00 for a pack of 6.
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.
Chestnut Mushrooms – 17 calories per 100g
A super source of vitamins and minerals, chestnut mushrooms are really versatile, mild in flavour and great for bulking out all kinds of dishes.
Mushrooms can be like Marmite – some people love them and some people hate them! We say, put mushrooms and Marmite together! Marmite Mushrooms on Toast is still one of our favourite ever breakfast recipes.
Celery – 14 calories per 100g
Along with onions and carrots, celery is traditionally used as the base for a whole host of sauces, stews and soups. The low-calorie veggie might not be your favourite snack (although it’s delicious dunked in a tasty homemade dip) but you’ll hardly taste it when it’s cooked down into a dish.
Dice up these celery sticks and add them to the pot to make this hearty Ham and Bean Casserole – it’s perfect now the weather is getting chillier.
Red Potatoes – 82 calories per 100g
Did you know that red potatoes are less starchy and a little more sugary than their white counterparts? Great for potato salads and soups, they’ll taste delicious when roasted, but they don’t make the best mash!
We think a soup is in order while these are on offer, so we’ll be making a nice big batch of Salmon, Leek and Potato Soup. Hearty and comforting, it’s only 128 calories per serving.
Extra Fine Beans – 31 calories per 100g
Despite the fancy name, these extra fine beans are the same as green beans. Full of vitamin C and antioxidants, adding a handful into your cooking or serving them as a side dish will help you towards your 5-a-day.
No matter what is on the menu, a side of Garlic Green Beans always goes down a treat. They take just minutes to cook – make sure you don’t leave them in the pan too long as you still want them to have a nice crunch when they’re done.
Baby Corn – 26 calories per 100g
Crunchy and fresh, baby corn is always a handy veggie to have in the fridge. You can eat it raw in salads or dunked into a tasty dip, but our favourite way to serve it is cooked in a stir-fry.
It adds a perfect bite to our ever-popular Diet Coke/Pepsi Max Chicken recipe. We never get bored of the sticky, sweet and sour sauce!
Conference Pears – 64 calories per 100g
Grainy and super sweet, conference pears are good for eating and cooking. When they’re ripe they should be soft and juicy – perfect when your sweet tooth is crying out for a sugary snack.
Pears pair perfectly with ginger, so it’s no surprise that we put the two ingredients together to make one of the cosiest, warming desserts around. This Pear and Ginger Crumble is just what you need now the weather is cooling down.
**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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