I bought these just before Christmas and had one over the holidays, the other had been languishing in the freezer until the end of last week. So, I thought I would have it for my lunch and do a quick food review of these Aldi 'Melting Centre Nut Roasts'.
They taste quite nice, are full of vegetables, maybe not so perfectly formed as the image on the box, but they are there, and have a lovely gooey and tasty centre. Possibly a few months ago I would have rated them very favourably, but in my move away from the more processed foods I found them to both look and maybe even taste a bit 'manufactured'.
I ate them with all the trimmings at Christmas and with some leftover frozen roast potatoes on this particular afternoon ... and yes, there is way to much mayo on that plate it came out with a big splodge!! I do love mayo, but even for me that was excessive. 😄
Would I buy them again?
I doubt it really as I am trying to limit this sort of ready made food, and once the freezer is emptied I will be batch cooking homemade food and meal components as most of my future ready meals instead. But of course the few processed foods that I do really, really love will stay in the repertoire, I'll never say never but I will say occasionally.
Other lunches over the past few days have included:
Salmon, rice and garden peas, which were leftovers reheated.
Egg mayonnaise sandwiches, with sliced cucumber on the side.
The saved and frozen portion of curry and rice that I mentioned on this post.
And finally some homemade pasta sauce with a pack of Deliciously Ella's 'plants' tortelloni. Now although my homemade sauce had been in the freezer for over two years that was absolutely delicious, while the tortelloni was very debatable. This has now joined the ranks of yet another ready made product that I won't be buying again.
It's been a good process this month for whittling down slightly some of the foods that I used to eat but that I probably won't buy again in the future. There are still some things to get through and now that Alan has his new fridge freezer I can at last see just what foods I have left in my freezer, and actually get the drawers open more easily now that his foods are back home.
I think a menu plan for next week would be a good idea and keep me on the right track.
Do you have any pre-prepared foods that you used to buy regularly and enjoy eating, but that now seem like something that has become a bit of a no-no?
Sue xx
Yes Sue nut roast, I now make my own and freeze the portions I don’t eat, so more for another Sunday
ReplyDeleteGood morning Sue, have you tried the Aldi range of dried pasta, they are gluten free, there are three types - one is chickpea flour, one is pea flour and then there is the beetroot flour, we have tried them all and find the flavours good. Regards Jan in Castle Gresley
ReplyDeleteWhen I first stopped eating meat, I tried several of the 'fake meat' type products - burgers, sausages, not-chicken type things. I soon stopped buying them though - I was quite shocked at the amount of ingredients I'd never heard of, and I thought most of them tasted pretty bland anyway. As for nut roasts....I've tried several commercial ones but think none of them taste as good as the ones I make myself. I also had one in a restaurant once - it was disappointingly tasteless, never again.
ReplyDeleteI would say that I really don't enjoy 'ready meals' anymore, or indeed jarred sauces etc. They always look tempting but actually they usually taste a bit blah, sometimes the textures are strange and don't get me started on the additives. Even M&S meals are the same. I try and batch cook and cook from fresh but sometimes I get fed up with the time it takes and clearing up afterwards drives me a bit mad. My local farm shop has some nice 'wild' frozen dishes, very tasty, healthy, eco friendly but of course they come with a hefty price tag. Charlie Bigham's range is quite good, pricey though. And of course I look along the shelves thinking I could make that better and cheaper. It really is the only answer for me, make the effort, I know it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteAfter all the vegetarian taste tests on my blog only the Aldi veg burgers are still used. But I have got a couple of other things in the freezer bought before Christmas - some of their Xmas only ranges - to try. I'm saving them for when DiL and son etc are round for a sunday lunch meal.
ReplyDeleteI've gone right off 'fake' sausages and burgers, although I do like the Sainsbury's spicy bean burgers served on a bun. The only ready meal I enjoy now is the Lentil bake also from Sainsburys but I only buy occasionally when on offer. I still buy Quorn mince and pieces but use them sparingly. I know they are UPF :(
ReplyDeleteI've always been a bit hesitant to re-heat boiled rice in case I poison us both but your salmon meal looks lovely. I do freeze portions of curry but serve with 'heat in the bag' type rice for speed. Any tips on re-heating boiled rice safely please, Sue, will be much appreciated :)
Nice to see your rating on various processed foods. Good luck on your journey. Right now here in Canada we are mostly all buying "Canadian" in preparation for Trump's tariffs come February 1st. No matter how we patrol our joint border I feel that 25% tariff on Canadian goods entering the U.S. is going to happen with more to follow.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
I sometimes buy vegetable burgers or bean burgers but now look to see how many other ingredients are in them before I buy. We just had a very unsatisfactory pizza for a quick tea tonight and it wasn’t a patch on our homemade ones using either a tortilla or flatbread.Catriona
ReplyDelete