Aldi... what do you recommend?

freshpopcorn

Muahahaha wrote: »

Just had some of the spiced mature red leicester cheese on some rosemary crackers, yum

Does anyones Aldi discount expensive pieces of meat post Christmas? Had hoped for a bargain on a leg or lamb or a prime rib but there was nothing there. I wonder what they do with them as I doubt they sell them all, at least not in my store where there was lots of legs of lamb left on Christmas eve.

Stuff dated the 25th and 26th may have being reduced on Christmas Eve and if it wasn't it would be donated to charity.
Other stuff may be reduced around the expiry dates after Christmas.

thenightman

Are the Linda McCartney sausages any use, and what is the best way to cook them? I've been steadily eliminating red meat from my diet and saw these in store earlier. My other veggie samplings like the aldi brand veggie quarter pounders and spicy bean burgers have been good experiences so far!

RhubarbCrumble

I was talking to one of the managers in my local Aldi yesterday and he said that they'd drastically cut back on stock this year as last year they had a lot of wastage.

McMurphy

thenightman wrote: »

Are the Linda McCartney sausages any use, and what is the best way to cook them? I've been steadily eliminating red meat from my diet and saw these in store earlier. My other veggie samplings like the aldi brand veggie quarter pounders and spicy bean burgers have been good experiences so far!

My wife's a vegetarian, and she swears by the McCartney sausages, although there's a (iirc) thyme flavoured one she isn't fussed on at all, but the normal ones are much nicer than any of the other veggie sausages on the market (so I'm told) I usually put them in the oven for her, about twenty minutes (turning them half way) though they can be done under a grill or in the pan too.

She's also a major fan of the spicy bean burgers.

In saying that I picked up some curried cauliflower burgers yesterday in Tesco for her and she said they were divine. Forget the brand.

Hope that helps.

SCOOP 64

Wow,she married a Gooden! ^^^^

bubbles o hara

thenightman wrote: »

Are the Linda McCartney sausages any use, and what is the best way to cook them? I've been steadily eliminating red meat from my diet and saw these in store earlier. My other veggie samplings like the aldi brand veggie quarter pounders and spicy bean burgers have been good experiences so far!

If cooked properly (not overdone), they are delicious. I usually do them in the oven, turning a few times.

anewme

Had one of the specially selected cheesebakes. The one I had was cider and cheddar.

Loved it.

EDIT: just opened the fridge and found a blue cheese and fig one!!!

Into the oven with it.

SozBbz

Not exactly food related but has anyone bought the Aldi air fryer? It’s €44.99 I think.

I’ve never had an air fryer before but just want a small one for a 2 adult household. Want to know if the Aldi one is as good as the band name ones.

54and56

anewme wrote: »

Had one of the specially selected cheesebakes. The one I had was cider and cheddar.

Loved it.

EDIT: just opened the fridge and found a blue cheese and fig one!!!

Into the oven with it.

You sure that's an Aldi product? Can't find a blue cheese and fig version of the cheese bakes in my local. Lot's the other three varieties (Cider, Chrizo and Jalapeno) but no blue cheese and fig

rubadub

SozBbz wrote: »

I’ve never had an air fryer before but just want a small one for a 2 adult household. Want to know if the Aldi one is as good as the band name ones.

there is a 4L one in supervalu for 39 today & tomorrow, you need the rewards card, think it can be picked up instore.That is being described as XL family size. Even if you said you were cooking for one I would get the biggest one you can readily get. If you check any threads you will see loads of people upgrading to bigger ones -some end up just getting a second one.

The aldi one coming up is a halogen oven, but they are still calling it an airfryer. I would get the supervalu one instead.

https://www.aldi.ie/ambiano-halogen-air-fryer/p/700194308409000

anewme

54and56 wrote: »

You sure that's an Aldi product? Can't find a blue cheese and fig version of the cheese bakes in my local. Lot's the other three varieties (Cider, Chrizo and Jalapeno) but no blue cheese and fig

No you are right... I've checked the label in the bin and that one is Lidl.

I thought it was a funny colour when came out of oven but was delish.

The cider one I got in Aldi.

SozBbz

rubadub wrote: »

there is a 4L one in supervalu for 39 today & tomorrow, you need the rewards card, think it can be picked up instore.That is being described as XL family size. Even if you said you were cooking for one I would get the biggest one you can readily get. If you check any threads you will see loads of people upgrading to bigger ones -some end up just getting a second one.

The aldi one coming up is a halogen oven, but they are still calling it an airfryer. I would get the supervalu one instead.

https://www.aldi.ie/ambiano-halogen-air-fryer/p/700194308409000

Thanks, I'm not a member of the Supervalu scheme but I suppose I could be!

I did see that item in aldi but thats not the one I'm referring to. I think perhaps its old stock as its not appearing online but it looks pretty much like the tefal/philips small air fryers.

I hear what you're saying about the size (a friend of mine just bought a bigger one) but our kitchen has really limited storage space/counter space so the thoughts of the large ones are a bit daunting. My thoughts were that a small one that I could put away when not in use. I don't plan to become one of these people who use it for absolutely everything, but just thought it might do chips well etc.

I think this is the one I saw.

https://www.aldireviewer.com/ambiano-air-fryer/

fin12

Samaras brown bread is nice.

Shenshen

fin12 wrote: »

Anyone try the specially selected Thai inspired vegetable burgers?

I did, a good few weeks back. I found them a bit underwhelming, to be honest. The main flavour I got from them was lemongrass, no spice, no heat, no depth, very little seasoning, just a mushy burger tasting of lemongrass.

Shenshen

thenightman wrote: »

Are the Linda McCartney sausages any use, and what is the best way to cook them? I've been steadily eliminating red meat from my diet and saw these in store earlier. My other veggie samplings like the aldi brand veggie quarter pounders and spicy bean burgers have been good experiences so far!

I love them, I think they're amazing.
The only *slight* problem I have with them is that every 2 years or so, they change the recipe. So for a few years a while back I didn't care for them much, but thankfully they changed again and are lovely again now.

Depending how healthy you want to be you can grill them, or fry them - I usually fry them.

Space Dog

Had the chilled potato croquettes, totally bland, won't buy them again.

km79

Space Dog wrote: »

Had the chilled potato croquettes, totally bland, won't buy them again.

Same
Had them at Xmas
Rotten

Cheshire Cat

Space Dog wrote: »

Had the chilled potato croquettes, totally bland, won't buy them again.

I always thought the point of croquettes was to be bland, they are a vehicle for gravies and sauces after all.

Space Dog

Cheshire Cat wrote: »

I always thought the point of croquettes was to be bland, they are a vehicle for gravies and sauces after all.

The Aldi ones are definitely underseasoned and tasted stale and old (Best Before 11/01 before anyone asks). I've eaten plenty of croquettes in my life without gravy and usually like them well enough. The Harvest Basket ones from Lidl are nice. BTW, I've had the chilled sweet potato ones from Aldi before and liked them, but the regular ones are just bad.

maura2e

I find this thread very interesting as Aldi came to our area a year ago but I shop mostly at Supervalue as Im always getting coupons for 10 off when you spend 50 which I think offsets the savings at Aldi to some extent. I love spring rolls and noticed Aldi had them in their freezer section and was on the point of buying them when I noticed they were produced in China! Supervalue ones also produced there. I am wary of buying any food items produced in China as Im not sure what their safety practices are like. When buying fresh garlic always look to see where its produced as a lot of it comes from China, & I only buy it if it's from Spain/EU. I've seen onions from US in Supervalue & can't believe how hard it is to find Irish produce as I keep thinking of the carbon footprint to bring these items to our supermarkets! We should read labels and only buy produce that is closer to home to do our little bit for the environment. I saw Waitrose in the UK have stated selling produce without any packaging and wish our Supermarkets
would follow suit.

wonski

A bit ot, but my bank offers 5 euro cashback on purchase over 50 in Aldi until 17 January.

It's permanent tsb, but these offers usually are across all banks using visa reward schemes.

maura2e

I forgot to mention that I find that much of the Aldi packaging isn't recycled so another reason I don't shop there much. The only reason I go there is for their cat food which is much cheaper than Supervalue.

wonski

maura2e wrote: »

I forgot to mention that I find that much of the Aldi packaging isn't recycled so another reason I don't shop there much. The only reason I go there is for their cat food which is much cheaper than Supervalue.

That's not entirely true. They banned black plastic from many products so definitely are on the ball.

Dont think their packaging is any different than in other supermarkets tbh.

It is literally the same everywhere, except the black plastic which I know is a step forward.

Shenshen

maura2e wrote: »

I find this thread very interesting as Aldi came to our area a year ago but I shop mostly at Supervalue as Im always getting coupons for 10 off when you spend 50 which I think offsets the savings at Aldi to some extent. I love spring rolls and noticed Aldi had them in their freezer section and was on the point of buying them when I noticed they were produced in China! Supervalue ones also produced there. I am wary of buying any food items produced in China as Im not sure what their safety practices are like. When buying fresh garlic always look to see where its produced as a lot of it comes from China, & I only buy it if it's from Spain/EU. I've seen onions from US in Supervalue & can't believe how hard it is to find Irish produce as I keep thinking of the carbon footprint to bring these items to our supermarkets! We should read labels and only buy produce that is closer to home to do our little bit for the environment. I saw Waitrose in the UK have stated selling produce without any packaging and wish our Supermarkets
would follow suit.

Carbon footprint is not only determined by how far the item has traveled. A lot of it is down to how it traveled.
Items that naturally have a long life and don't need to be consumed within days of harvest are more likely to have been shipped by... well, ship. This has a significantly lower impact than flying them in. There's also the consideration of how much energy it took to produce, before it was transported :

"But it’s worth remembering that calculating a food’s carbon footprint is not always as simple as looking at how far away something was grown. Tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers grown in the UK can end up with bigger carbon footprints than turkey and chicken, because of all the natural gas and electricity used to heat the greenhouses and keep the plants warm enough.

In that case, growing tomatoes in a greenhouse in Spain where the climate is warmer, and then transporting them to the UK might actually result in fewer carbon emissions than growing those tomatoes in the UK."

I was trying to find some material on this, but the information is overall very general.

https://www.foodunfolded.com/things-you-did-not-know/do-you-know-the-carbon-footprint-of-these-common-foods
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2018/06/13/7-surprising-things-carbon-footprint-food/

I fully agree with the "less packaging". Lidl have started offering fruit and veg without packaging, and are collecting any waste packaging you don't want to take home with you in store.

Apologies for de-railing the thread a bit - back on topic now

Enrico Palazzo

Cheshire Cat wrote: »

I always thought the point of croquettes was to be bland, they are a vehicle for gravies and sauces after all.

No, not bland and not intended to be eaten with sauces - they are meant to taste of a delicious potato - same way as good chips can be enjoyed even unsalted, while bad ones need lots of condiments.

RhubarbCrumble

maura2e wrote: »

I forgot to mention that I find that much of the Aldi packaging isn't recycled so another reason I don't shop there much. The only reason I go there is for their cat food which is much cheaper than Supervalue.

My fussy little sod will eat Aldi's dry cat good, but not the wet :rolleyes:
Only Whiskas and Felix will suit her for wet food. I'm a bigger eejit for giving in to her!

LenWoods

RhubarbCrumble wrote: »

My fussy little sod will eat Aldi's dry cat good, but not the wet :rolleyes:
Only Whiskas and Felix will suit her for wet food. I'm a bigger eejit for giving in to her!

They know how to capture our hearts

leahyl

Cheshire Cat wrote: »

I always thought the point of croquettes was to be bland, they are a vehicle for gravies and sauces after all.

Not at all, Mash Direct do delicious potato croquettes - we get them every year for the Christmas dinner....mmmm....they have cheese and onion ones too

anewme

leahyl wrote: »

Not at all, Mash Direct do delicious potato croquettes - we get them every year for the Christmas dinner....mmmm....they have cheese and onion ones too

I had their cheese and onion ones this year. Delicious and definitely not bland.

0xzmro3n4y7lb5

Aldi Spice Box from the Chiller Section. It had two goujons, chips, a couple of poppin chicken, a scatter of diced pepper and a small curry dip and sachet of seasoning.

Threw it into the airfryer. Twas grand nothing to write home about. Was very spicy for me.