Tag: lunches

Lettuce Celebrate! Great value, healthy lunch options to feed the whole family

Aldi Scotland’s experts have curated a selection of recipes to feed the family on a budget

Leading value supermarket, Aldi Scotland, has revealed a selection of healthy and budget-friendly lunch options all ranging between £4 and £8.

Whether you’re working from home, in the office, or packing up lunchboxes to go, Aldi Scotland’s three delicious low-cost lunch options are the perfect mid-day meal, and are all made using the finest, locally sourced ingredients.

With Aldi’s generous portion sizes, each meal can feed up to a family of four, with options to stretch the ingredients across recipes to make the most of what is in the fridge and reduce food waste.

Mediterranean style salad with sweet potato and chicken – £4.41

With one sweet potato containing 400% of your daily required Vitamin A, low in calories and fat, while also being high in fibre, this superfood offers a nutritional yet comforting mid-week meal that is budget-friendly at only 99p per bag at Aldi Scotland.

Chop the sweet potatoes into chunks and cook in the oven alongside tomatoes, onions, and diced Scottish Chicken Breast Fillets (£1.85) for a Mediterranean style lunch packed full of goodness. Toss in some iceberg lettuce and season with salt and pepper to ignite the flavours.

  • Nature’s Pick Sweet Potatoes – 1kg – 99p
  • Nature’s Glen Scottish Chicken Breast Fillets – 300g – £1.85
  • Nature’s Pick Iceberg Lettuce – 46p
  • Everyday Essentials Cherry Tomatoes – 250g – 48p 
  • Everyday Essentials Red Onions – 1kg – 63p

Baked potato with ham and veg medley, plus a fruity dessert – £7.65

Pick up a four pack of Nature’s Pick Medium Baking Potatoes for only 42p for the perfect base, which will complement a variety of delicious and interchangeable toppings. For this recipe, Aldi Scotland suggests creating a medley of Nature’s Glen Ayrshire Cured Cooked Ham (£1.69), cherry tomatoes (48p) and red onions (63p). Top with a sprinkling of Glen Lochy Scottish Mature Cheddar (£1.89) this will become a firm family favourite for only £5.11.

Looking to bulk it out for hungry mouths? Add a dollop of Rowan Glen’s Greek Style Natural Yoghurt (55p) to your topping mixture and use the left-over yoghurt for an after-lunch snack piled with Aldi Scotland’s Nature’s Pick Fresh Scottish Strawberries for only £1.99 taking your final total for lunch and dessert to just £7.65.

  • Nature’s Pick Medium Baking Potatoes – 4 pack – 42p
  • Nature’s Glen Ayrshire Cured Cooked Ham – 125g – £1.69
  • Everyday Essentials Cherry Tomatoes – 250g – 48p 
  • Everyday Essentials Red Onions – 1kg – 63p
  • Glen Lochy Scottish Mature Cheddar – 400g – £1.89
  • Rowan Glen’s Greek Style Natural Yoghurt – 150g – 55p
  • Nature’s Pick Fresh Scottish Strawberries – 400g – £1.99

Chicken BLT – £5.92

Even the healthiest eaters need some carbs now and again – so why not treat your family, and your wallet, to a classic fan favourite – a chicken BLT sandwich for only £5.92 with enough ingredients to feed six people. 

Finely slice Aldi Scotland’s Scottish Chicken Breast Fillets (£1.85) and Specially Selected Scottish Bacon (£1.99,240g), mix in a splash of mayonnaise (59p), before loading up Authentic Scottish Bakeries Wholemeal Rolls (55p) with a layer of iceberg lettuce (46p) and some cherry tomatoes (48p).

At Aldi Scotland salads can be as cheap and delicious as they are good for you, so make sure to use your leftovers wisely – chop up your remaining iceberg lettuce and throw on what’s left of the bacon, chicken and tomatoes for a quick and easy salad, offering another meal for four at no additional cost. Top tip: cut the remaining rolls into squares, drizzle with oil and salt and bake for home-made salad crouton for some extra crunch.

  • Nature’s Glen Scottish Chicken Breast Fillets – 300g – £1.85
  • Specially Selected Scottish Bacon – £1.99 – 240g
  • Nature’s Pick Iceberg Lettuce – 46p
  • Everyday Essentials Cherry Tomatoes – 250g – 48p 
  • Authentic Scottish Bakeries Wholemeal Rolls – 6 pack – 55p
  • Bramwell’s Mayonnaise – 500ml – 59p

Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director, Aldi Scotland, said: “With the cost of a weekly shop more important that ever, we are delighted to work with local producers to offer such a wide range of healthy weekly meal solutions that all the family can enjoy.  Our customers don’t have to compromise quality for value when they chose to shop with us.” 

You can find your nearest Aldi store here.

Aldi currently works with over 90 Scottish suppliers, stocking 450 Scottish products and are constantly looking to bring more of what Scotland’s vibrant food and drink industry has to offer to their customers. 

Bak to skool lunchbox tipz

Healthy Packed Lunches Tips for the New School Year

A collective sigh of relief will be heard around the country as many exhausted parents send their little loved ones back to school! However, with the new school year about to start, many parents begin the process of that infamous New School Year Resolution: Healthy Packed Lunches.

The British Dietetic Association (BDA) is issuing some quick and handy tips to create not only healthy packed lunches, but packed lunches that are full of flavour and variety.

The BDA is the professional association for registered dietitians in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It is the nation’s largest organisation of food and nutrition professionals with approximately 7,000 members.

Rachel Cooke, British Dietetic Association Spokesperson and Bristol Healthy School Dietitian, said: “What children eat at a young age has a massive impact on their eating habits for life, so it is essential we get the younger generation into choosing and enjoying healthy nutritious food. When putting together a packed lunch, it is so easy to go down the usual route of packets of salty savoury snacks crisps, bars of chocolate, fizzy drinks and the same old boring sandwich day after day.  Many adults wouldn’t accept eating the same things day in day out, so why should children?

“Packed lunches can be exciting and full of healthy options and variety.  They need to provide children with the energy and sustenance they need to grow and develop healthily and help them to concentrate in the school class.”

The BDA Tips for a Healthy Packed Lunch:

Back to basics – bread, cereals and potatoes…

  • Try to keep a selection of breads in the freezer for sandwiches. Using a different type of bread each day can make sandwiches more interesting. Try multigrain and seed rolls, bagels, baguettes, pitta breads, wraps…the list is endless! (Children have reported they like meat / cheese or fish etc and bread separate so it doesn’t go soggy)
  • You could also raid the fridge for leftovers – some foods taste just as good cold such as pizza or pasta. Cook extra pasta, couscous or rice. Mix it with cut-up vegetables, a few nuts flaked tuna or mackerel.

Filling the void – meat, fish and alternatives…

Try to include lean meat, chicken, fish, eggs, nuts, beans or pulses in your lunchbox:

  • Tuna with cucumber, green pepper, sweetcorn or tomato
  • Low fat hummus and cucumber
  • Egg and cress (grow your own?)
  • Cottage cheese and dried apricots
  • Cooked chicken or turkey, tomatoes, and lettuce
  • Peanut butter and banana
  • Grated cheese and tomato
  • Oily fish, such as salmon sandwich or mackerel pasta salad

Remember, if you are using a spread choose a reduced fat one – or do without it completely if you are using a moist filling.

Vegging out or Feeling fruity..?

It’s important to eat 5 (or more) portions of fruit and vegetables every day. You won’t be stuck for choice when it comes to lunchtime:

  • fresh fruit e.g. apple, grapes, banana, kiwi fruit (children have also said they like different fruits every day and not always the traditional choices e.g.. wedge of  melon / peeled orange / kiwi and spoon / pot of strawberries. Why not surprise your child with a different fruit / veg choice every day of the week?)
  • dried fruits, e.g. raisins, apricots
  • chopped raw vegetables e.g. carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes or a mixed salad
  • tinned fruit in natural juice – pop in a small container or buy small tins with a ring pull

Dairy delights…

Try to include some dairy products in your lunchbox – important to keep your teeth healthy and your bones strong (remember to look at sugar levels – 5g equals about one teaspoon):

  • low fat yogurt – plain or fruit flavoured
  • low fat fromage frais
  • small pot of rice pudding or custard
  • Milk / fruit-based milkshakes

Tasty treats…

Fancy something sweet in your lunch-box? There’s nothing wrong with this. Just try and make healthier choices when you can:

  • currant bun, scone or fruit loaf,
  • plain popcorn
  • cereal bar (remember to look at sugar levels)
  • fun sized bar of chocolate

Put in a drink…

Choose from:

  • Plain water (still or sparkling)
  • Plain milk (skimmed or semi-skimmed) or plain yoghurt combined with fruit e.g. smoothies, pureed fruit with plain yoghurt
  • Pure fruit juice in small cartons or in a small bottle
  • Hot drinks in the winter, e.g. soups

Keep cool…

  • Use a cool bag and pop in an ice-pack or freeze a carton of juice and place in with food to keep cool
  • Keep in the fridge until morning if you make it the night before
  • Don’t store your lunch next to a radiator or in the sun.