Aldi/Lidl best Xmas buys?

[Littlepleasures]

On a restricted budget this year. What are your best buys from the budget supermarkets to make Xmas more affordable?

Tonnes of things! Cold meats, fab selection for cheese board, cheese crackers, satsumas, Christmas pudding, chocolates ... Look at the Mumsnet YouTube channel too. They've just done a feature on three families buying all their Christmas day food from Lidl for about £65.

Aldi is an absolute Aladin's cave of Christmas food gorgeousness! (I promise I don't work of them, I just think there stuff is so good). I always make my parents a hamper of their Extra Special items for Christmas. I also buy the chocolate novelties for DDs stockings. I also love their cheese boards and cold meats.

I think this week they have got lots of Christmas food items in the special buys

We swapped from Waitrose to Lidl when we moved towns a few years ago. All their Christmas food is especially delicious - just currently sampling a few crackers with pate and cheese to decide which are best for Christmas!

I often find the trouble with these places is availability. They always get wonderful stuff but they only get things in small numbers and change the range a week latter. So it is all a matter of timing as there is often no consistency. But yes some brilliant quality stuff.

Lidl is amazing for Christmas Endless Germanic Christmas biscuits, stollen, cheap panettone, much bigger selection of cold meats than usual. Plus they've upped their alcohol selection - several choices of port, sherry, liqueurs all basically ripoffs of bigger brands.

DH likes port and gets given a lot of Christmas - but turns out our favourite was the cheapy Lidl stuff

We had the frozen duck last year and it was great so this year are trying out the frozen goose crown.

And then there is the aisle of random - so far I've picked up some lovely red Le Creuset-like dishes for a bargain, some children's Christmas presents, other kitchen equipment.

I think it's Lidl that do the rip off chocolate seashells. They are amazing!

Lidl mini stollen is amazing. But beware, there is something wrong with it. By the time you get home the whole packet is empty apart from some crumbs in the bottom. Very strange!

I had the same issue with Lidl's mini stollen. It happened to both of the packets I've bought! Terrible.

Lebkuchen

Aldi chocolate stollen is amazing I scoffed the lot in about 20 hours .The salted catamely fudge, chocolate florentines, the mince pies. They have lovely looking boxes of biscuits and crackers. Last year I bought a fresh turkey crown and it was lovely planning on buying again this year, they always have parsnips, sprouts etc in the super six, their version of Baileys as well!

I agree with the Lidl Stollen. You need to buy a whole trolley full of it if you want to have any left by Christmas day. The big trolley that is, not the small one.

My parents had that "stollen problem" with the grand children's chocolate santas last year's then they found they were sold out and couldn't replace them :o

I bought some plastic 'Tupperware' type food boxes with pictures of Gingerbread Men

Plan to take cake and pudding to my DParents (I'm visiting them after Christmas) and leave the boxes for them.

Oooh annnd Aldi has The Snowman & Snowdog loo roll and kitchen roll

Christmas officially starts when you wipe your festive bumcheeks on The Snowman.

I am so glad it is not juts me has the Lidl stollen problem!!

Lidl salted caramel fudge. I've gone through 2 boxes in a week and am now stockpiling for when it vanishes from the shelves!

Ok, i ventured into Aldi for the very first time, despite being terrified of the checkout staff, and purchased "chocolate stollenbites"

I am disappointed! I ate two, feel sick, and don't fancy any more. Have I bought the wrong stuff?

I have a box of "cocoa dusted truffles" awaiting testing and I will definitely be going back at some point.

Soupdragon I am the absolutely biggest fan of Stollen I can assurre you I know my stollen , you have the right stuff but I have to agree with you its yukky! Am verry verry disappointed had to eat half a box of Aldi truffles to cheer me up

Noo, Soup don't ever buy the chocolate ones. Only buy the normal swollen bites, no matter where you go.

I normally rave about Aldi chocolate, but I had some salted caramel truffles last week and they were horrible. So I'm being a bit more careful than usual.

I found them dry and with an odd taste. Really disappointed. I now realise the "odd taste" is because I don't like peel, which is my own fault for not thinking.

Noo, Soup don't ever buy the chocolate ones.

But everyone here said to buy the chocolate ones. So I did! [wail]

I wish I hadn't mentioned them in glowing terms to my parents before tasting them. They like peel but that won't stop the nasty dryness.

The 32p pain aux raisins was fabulous so it wasn't an entirely wasted trip.

I bought some spiced biscuit spread from Lidl today. Biscuit on toast. What's not to love.

'The 32p pain aux raisins was fabulous so it wasn't an entirely wasted trip.'
never had these what are they - I want some very badly-