I think Lidl might be the way to go..............I am very pleased that mumsnet recommended it!

[Collision]

Went today on a whim as we were in the area.

this was a midweek topup shop to go with things I had bought last week.

So, this week we will eat

Butternut squash soup for lunch today and dinner tomorrow

Sausages braised in vegetables served with polenta and gorgonzola.

Spinach gnocchi with tomato sauce

Chickpea, bacon and tomato pasta

Pizza with a variety of toppings ie chorizo, mozzarella, roasted peppers, olives

Vegetable tortilla

HM raspberry pavlova

Spaghetti with fresh tomatoes, garlic and mozzarella

We bought masses of fruit and vegetables for a fraction of the usual cost.

Also bought dw tablets, deodorant, shower gel, toilet duck, biscuits.

How much did I spend????

£28.72

that's pretty good , trouble is our nearest is 6 miles away .

ALDI choc is fab to love the one with cranberries. and whole almonds

Lidl's milk chocolate with whole hazlenuts in it, is completely delish. no marzipan in sight

Did a weeks shop there for four of us for £49, plus a £5 top up in tesco ( for benecol drinks, black grape juice,fresh oj, tonic water and dairylea)

Aldi do a lovely dark chocolate with orange in it.

My mum has found this German sweets catalogue that she insists on buying things for the DCs from. Generally it is fairly rich or just downright odd stuff that the DCs politely refuse. Hoping Lidls chocolate isn't like that.

I'm also slightly bemused buy the choclae comment the milk choclate with nuts and raisons I bought in LAdi last wekk tasted of .. well choc, raisns and nuts funnily enough! It was yummy.

DH has declared that Lidl choc chip cookies are far far better than the cookies from Tesco or Sains.

and he is an expert!

agree re the cookies but also i'm soooo chuffed with the yoghurt's - 4 for 29p! but best of all they have the crunch corner ones for 32p I think it was - and they're nicer than the mullers ones with more in them - was impressed with that and the wraps for 75p but not overly with the rest thou.

oh one thing I was wondering - our one had a punch n judy show in the middle for £20 - I quite liked it and thought DS would like it - am thinking to put it up for xmas - any ideas how long that stuff stays in the middle for?

Im not sure - probably when it is sold there is no more!

I think Lidl is a bit like Morrisons - if the store is in a niceish place then it can be a nice store. My Morrisons is great but the one where my mum lives is dire!

Lidl here is great and quiet and clean!

Collision, def. the cookies, I have to stop getting them though cos at 32p or something like that, i could get 3 packs instead of the £1 bar of choc that they do - I have to walk very briskly past those items.

arf @ the 'snobby aspect'. I shop at Lidl and Waitrose!

And yes, the hazelnut milk chocolate is bloody good.

at the random pop up tent purchase

The wine is vile but I hear the beer is mostly v good as it's German so it only has a few basic ingredients.

Some of thewine is vile - but some is actually surprisingly good. The cava is perfectly drinkable - especially at £3.78 a bottle. And we used to say that the "ordinary" champagne (at £9.99) was better than than thier premier cru (at £14.98) - but the last one was a bit flat. We've still to try the Grand Premier Cru. The Chablis is reasonable and so is the Tarragona.

And BTW - we do like and drink expensive wines as well. Dh is currently studying to be a Master of Wine and also sells (good value) SOuth African wines.

frozen nasi goreng dish mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yum yum love it and the nappies

Re Wine - the Sauvignon Blanc at 3.7 is my current tipple. I love it. And we have always bought their Rioja. And we bought 4 bottle of their champagne the other day and it is the only one I have ever drunk that did not leave a bad taste in my mouth.

According to the Independent wine expert Aldi sells some fantastic really good value wine. (and according to my elderly aunt who tells me she's an expert) I am not an expert so the fact that I have had some good stuff from there probably means nothing.

Taking notes about the wines, I might give them another go when I'm near a Lidl. The nearest to us is a few miles away and I don't know if it has any parking.

The thing to remember when going to a Lidl is a take a pound coin (or token) with you for the trolley as even if you only want a few things, they don't have baskets and b) take plenty of plastic bags as they charge you for bags (so you're doing your bit for the environment too!)

Right I'm off to Aldi. At end of the road more or less so don't need the car.

spandexismyenemy, the punch and judy toys have been there a while at ours, id get it now if you want to as they dont tend to repeat things that often...
also taking notes on wine suggestions....

DH (who is a chef!) recommends the Lidl tinned tomatoes at 29p per can!

He also said the 21p chopped tomatoes were very good too.

He is making pizza for tonight with our free Tesco yeast and cheap tomatoes.

Nearly a free meal!

and the black olives 59p, mozzarella49p, roasted peppers£1.29 are all fab!!

we had lidl ingredient pizza tonight too, with lidl salami on as well! Oh tell you what else i like, is that they do these little tiny mini cornetto type icecreams - the kids have them as a treat on fridays!!! they are the perfect size and quality is fine i think. they also do a multi pack of kids lollies with things like ghost lolly, rocket, screwball without the bubblegum and so on, really cheap - probably more crappy quality, but they are small and good for bribing the kids to behave......
collision, how did you get free yeast????

Definately between Lidls and Aldi we are generally sorted

mmm just here consoling myself after a day with 4 bored, semi feral kids, by quaffing a large glass of culley sav blanc(lidl) and some orange and almond dark choc (aldi). Sense of smugness over the cost of these adds to the enjoyment factor imo