Now, I don’t want to cause any offense to diabetics or those who are cutting out sugar from their diet. But we all have our unfounded food prejudices, whether that’s my (now corrected) ignorant belief that Mexican food is “samey” or that diabetic friendly chocolates and jellies are as delicious as a pile of concrete. [...]

Friday brought bare cupboards, exhaustion, and a reluctance to go to the shops. I fished out some butterhead lettuce, a can of tuna, and a few cherry tomatoes, poured over a simple balsamic dressing, and served with what can only be described as grated carrots with mayonnaise and toasted mixed seeds. This wasn’t enough for [...]

Superquinn’s growing on me more and more. Granted, it’s more expensive than the other supermarkets, but it has excellent special offers and some really good quality food. There’s two branches near where I live, so I occasionally find myself there for treats: stick to the specials and you won’t spend a fortune. I’m currently enjoying [...]

I never buy pizzas from the supermarket, but last week sampled Lidl’s Trattoria Alfredo, which you’ll find in the frozen section. This is an excellent pizza: a thin and crispy base, sweet tomato sauce, and quality toppings. I threw on some sliced rashers that would otherwise have been thrown out. Best of all, the Trattoria [...]

Big thanks to our pal Lar Veale of sourgrapes.ie, who has provided us with this guest post about a good wine for only €5 from Aldi.  I’m always on the lookout for the finest cheapest booze, so this tip is very welcome indeed. Bushland Reserve Shiraz – wine for a fiver from Aldi A €5 [...]

Years ago a friend of mine introduced me to the joy of pierogies and I’ve never looked back.  I tried forcing them on Peter but he didn’t really take to them so I’m going to spread the love through blog instead. Pierogies are a type of dumpling found in any Polski-sklep in the country and [...]

Ah, the smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through the house… you can’t beat it. But despite good intentions – and probably for the best – cakes and biscuits rarely find their way into my oven. KookyDough, a new creation from a small Irish company, gives all the pleasure of freshly baked biscuits without the [...]

Our own lovely Jacqueline and her partner Dave fed me again recently. I really enjoyed the sea bass, and Jacq told me that they’d picked it up in the freezer section of Aldi. On a visit to Aldi a a few weeks ago, I made a beeline for the freezer section and picked up some [...]

I’ve never gone down the Weight Watchers route. Some of my friends, male and female, say it’s the only thing that works for them; I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other. However, over the weekend a good friend of mine called over, laden down with Weight Watchers snacks. I was cajoled [...]

Regular readers will know that we’re big fans of M&S’s fantastic dine in for two offer. Yesterday, I picked up the main, side, dessert, and bottle of wine for just €12.50, a saving of €12.96. My dinner, the Cook Menu Chicken and Wiltshire Ham Pie, wasn’t the nicest meal I’ve ever had in M&S. No, [...]