I love Aldi: Mushroom Tortellini

Alright you cannot say that I do not love my readers and do everything for you guys. You know there's a group of you out there loving these freezer meal reviews. This is what happens when I shop for groceries while in starvation mode. Oh... this one looks kinda ok. Alright I will grab one of this. It has mushrooms.. I blame my lack of mushrooms for buying this. The boys don't like mushrooms and think it is gross. So woe is me.. I have to resort to freezer mushroom meals from Aldi for some mushroom loving. You might remember how traumatised I was after the last "Faux-Talian" Vegetable Cannelloni so I'm not sure why I picked up another pasta meal. Anyway here it goes.. let's get into it.

What Aldi says it looks like

Ok so it looks pretty safe. I tore open the cardboard box and was praying to the freezer meal gods. Please god, it's Ling, I'm only a workaholic who is lazy to cook. Don't punish me this time ok? Kthxbai.

What it really looks like

Right.. so not that bad. Did you notice I had drowned it in white pepper? This is what seasoned freezer meal chowers do. Peel open film, try not to burn yourself from the steam that has been generated from nuking your food to absolute death for 6 minutes, dump a heap of pepper on it. Ok I am not sure if my expectations were very low.. as in just eat something and get back to work or this is not that bad. Mushrooms were good, the sauce was a little weird starchy. Stab the mushrooms and tortellini with a fork, drain as much of that stuff off and you'll be fine. The tortellini was not too hard, ya know that raw weird tortellini texture? So this one was edible. Phew... relief all round.

What else can I tell you about it. It had mushrooms. I think I was just overwhelmed with my love for mushrooms that I overlooked the bad sauce. 

I am waiting for the onslaught of omg girl get yourself some frozen tortellini, 2 button mushrooms and some packaged sauce. Ok noted! Damn convenience and trying to fit everything into my lunch hour.

Price: Tick $3.99  
Appearance: Half tick.. tortellini half peeking out of sauce and littered by mushrooms.. MUSHROOMS
Taste: Go to town with the pepper!
Will buy again Factor: I don't mind this too much. It's a buyable item. 

I love Aldi: Vegetable Cannelloni

What Aldi say it looks like

After this one, I was ready to change the title to I don't love Aldi. I thought that frozen cannelloni is one of the safest things ever. I was wrong. If there is one post of my freezer meal reviews that will make you cringe, it is this one. I am cringing now as I relive this experience. You take the meal out of the pack, no need to pierce the film. 7 to 8 minutes later, the microwave dings at you. This is where it starts to go downhill.

Where's the cannelloni at?

My first thought was.. where the cannelloni at? It was a steaming and swimming bed of sauce. Ok fine... and what hits you first of all was the smell of sour-ish tomato sauce. Ok fine... Just cover it with white pepper and get back on the computer. Then it starts sliding even more downhill. You dig around to find 2 rolls of cannelloni. You cut one open and it's like ... what is this? And I lead you onto the next picture. As you usually know, I usually only take 2 pictures in my Aldi meal reviews. But you just have to see this.

Strange faux ricotta

What is that goop? Do they claim it is ricotta? Don't go there. Don't even start asking why I kept eating this. The pasta was tasteless, it was overwhelmed with tomato sauce. I don't know about you, but don't like overwhelmed tomato sauce in my pasta. No no no. There's also micro mini diced vegetables in the sauce. Yay bonus score! Now I want $4 back.

Price: No tick, this is not even worth $3.99. 
Appearance: Hells to the no.. I don't want sauce with a bit of pasta in it.
Taste: No, no no no no..  
Will buy again Factor: Don't go there sista.

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $4 for my own meal... and now I want my money back.

I love Aldi: Chicken Parma Review

What Aldi says it looks like

I bet you miss this series don't ya? Oh I am sure that you do. I haven't been able to face eating freezer meals for a while. I had this sitting in my freezer for ages! It was 3pm and I had not had lunch yet. I also had an event coming up in the evening and I thought this would do to tide me over until I get food again at 8.30pm.

What it really looks like

This could actually taste much worse. I remember a horrendous one in the past with chicken and I do not want to go back there. Now listen here.. only get this one if you can 'hack' a very unique and spongey yet chewy hard to describe type of chicken texture. I appreciate that it is not real chicken. So if you can deal with faux-ken this is not a bad one. Mmm Potatoes.. Mmmm spuds. This is slightly bigger than the normal range and I think in terms of size, it is a bit more filling.

Price: Tick $4.99 A WHOLE DORRAH MORE THAN THE NORMAL!! Outrageous. LOL
Appearance: Tick could look a lot worse, you get the normal weird bubble cheesey top from the microwave.
Taste: Not bad! The chicken is a little weird which is kind of expected of freezer "schnitz" meals. I mean it ain't a $11 Schnitz wrap. The sauce on the parma was a little sour but overall it was ok. The potatoes were quite yummy. 
Will buy again Factor: Yes this one is buyable

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $5 for my own meal.

I love Aldi: Beef Stroganoff Review

What Aldi says it looks like

I'm sorry for the lousy picture above.. I was hungry and while waiting for the lovely PING from the microwave I quickly took a snap. I had this before but did not start my reviews then. I remember this being really quite nice so I wanted to get it again for a post.

What it actually looks like

Mushroomy...beefy.. and very peppery. Warning if you hate pepper, avoid this one. As usual the pasta is softer than how I would like it. But sauce it up girl... at least it was not dry!

Price: Tick - $4 c'mon not that bad!
Appearance: Tick it's not as bad as the Satay beef.
Taste: I do like pepper a lot so I did not mind it. I also loveee mushrooms and beef! I'm the only one who likes mushrooms in this house so I am stuck with getting my mushroom fix through these meals. LOL 

Will buy again Factor: Yeap! 2nd time that I have bought this.

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $4 for my own meal.

It's back.. Freezer Meal Aldi Beef with Red Wine Sauce and Mash

Ok everyone.. I realise that I have been MIA. But the entire July had been a write off for us. First the boys were sick, then I was. There was an entire week I went to sleep at 8.30pm!
I had been so sick and after all the awful deadlines at work, I just could not face the computer to blog. SOZ!

But guess what, I have a freezer meal review for ya! I was quite excited about this one. Beef, mash, red wine. What's not to love? And check out what Aldi says it should look like.

What Aldi says it looks like

Anyway into the nuker for about 6minutes! Mind you I was starving - as usual. When am I not starving?
You do the jump around infront of the nuker and start packing dishes into the dishwasher and you hear the BEEP. Such a glorious sound!

Peel open the film and was greeted with this.

This is what it looks like

 Not quite the same huh?

Nevermind .. hunger got the better or me. Not to mention laziness and feeling too sick to drive and get food. Grab a fork and I start chowing down.

The mash was just so weird. It was little rounds of .. I will not say potato as it did not taste like potato. I had a freezer meal (not Aldi) and the mash was really decent. Compared to this, it was like gooey, tasteless and so yuck. I could not eat the mash. The actual beef and red wine sauce was ok. Still nothing to write home about.

Price: Tick - I think they are flat price of $3.99
Appearance: Half tick, I mean it's not entirely that bad.
Taste: NO TICK for the mash. Seriously what is going on there?
Will buy again Factor: Hells no. 

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $4 for my own meal.

Noms: Kraft Whipped Peanut Butter

Whipped Peanut Butter

Ok I have been living under a rock. A rock called shopping in Aldi and Costco for too long. I had stopped going to normal supermarkets or I do a dash in and out of Leo's all the time and stopped browsing. I did not know this existed! I was reading the Aldi Appreciation thread (oh the irony) in Vogue Forums and I see a post of Whipped Peanut Butter. I was like what.is.that?

I got a SMS later in the night - it must have been Friday night as I remember being a poker widow. Anyway I digress. My SMS from Bestie K saying I HAVE TO BUY whipped peanut butter and it's from Coles/Woolies. Ok in my head I read it as caps to I HAVE TO BUY. Anyway, it took me a few weeks to get to a normal supermarket. It was Leo's that I went to on a Wednesday night before heading home. You know that you have been shopping in el cheapo r'us supermarkets for too long. When you see $5+ for this jar and your first reaction is. 5 BUCKS! 5 BUCKS! I had to shake off my el cheapo r'us shopper and just put it in my basket. I also bought a nice bar of Black and Gold milk chocolate. It was truly indulgent night. If you know me from the forums, you'll know that I am a big Aldi Choceur Hazelnut fan.

I had this on crumpets and it was yummy. I'm trying to not give this to the boys because of the price. We go through a Costco American sized jar in a month if I let them! So this one is just for me.

Whip it good.

I love Aldi: Satay Beef & Rice Review

This is what Aldi says it looks like

You have no idea how much I wanted to love this. It was Satay, it was beef and rice. Hello.. what more does a Singaporean Chinese need?

I was SO HUNGRY and so busy, I peeled the box open stabbed the film and waited for the 6minutes. It beeped and I got excited... until I peeled it open and saw this.

This is what it looks like

I thought I would cry.. Aldi.. where the beef at? It was teeny strips. The Beef Strog that I first got (but did not review was the best I think) had hunks of beef. This was sad cat. There was onion things swimming in the sauce. I tried to push the sauce over the rice fishing for beef. :(

Anyway, the rice is actually a good one to have in a frozen meal. It actually works quite well. The sauce was a little runny but I think this is the Aussie way - more sauce than rice. Whereas us chinks is rice central. We don't do rice swimming in sauce.

Price: Tick - I think they are flat price of $3.99
Appearance: No Tick :(
Taste: Half tick, rice was decent-ish except the sauce was runny and sweet. There was big onion rings in there which was weird. There are peanut bits in this, obviously if you are allergic to peanut you would not choose satay but just sayin'. Where's the beef y'all? Bigger chunks please.
Will buy again Factor: Probs not .... there were better ones. I did eat it all though. 

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $4 for my own meal.

I love Aldi: Chicken Risotto Frozen Meal Review

What Aldi say it should look like

I had a busy day - story of my life. My handy freezer meal came in handy again. I had to run out to get nappies. Otherwise there is pandemonium like world falling apart trouble. So back on the freezer meal at the laptop for me today. I am sure that everyone is starting to think that I do not cook and I am one of those ones that eat really badly. But if you do.. so what!?

What it actually looks like

Honestly this one doesn't taste bad. You know when have low expectations of freezer meals? Yeah that. But this one is decent and I was pleasantly surprised. I am wondering when I will give up and go back to instant noodles again. I sense that time would be near....

Price: Tick
Appearance: Tick not that bad!
Taste: Tick. It actually taste really good. Do not forget the white pepper though, I am a white pepper fiend. Not salty, just ok.. moreeee chicken pieces pleaseeeee...
Will buy again Factor: Yeap.. except I still have not learnt and I want another one after. 2 Serves for this girl thanks!

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $4 for my own meal.

Call me Lingy from the Block Aldi $25 velour tracksuit

JLo rang and she wants her velour tracksuit back. She also took back all her gold bling so I am not wearing big gold hoop earrings or giant necklaces.

I went to two Aldi stores near me to look for this. The first one had sold out, not one single piece was left! Bestie K said there were only Sz 10s left at her Aldi. BUGGER. The second Aldi I went to had a sz 8 hoodie but no pants. Really people, stop stealing one part of a two piece item! I took the hoodie to the cashier and said I cannot find the pants. He asked the manager if I can have it at half price, so I bought the hoodie. Somewhere someone has a sz 8 of these pants and you should be ashamed of yourself.

So I went home and said only got one half of the suit. And lovely @notthatcate said she would go and find one for me. Cate managed to find one in Sydney for me, Sydney people.. this operation find tracksuit went interstate. She braved a huffy Aldi employee and getting the set thrown at her to get me this. Thanks CATE!! The pants are a little short when I sit down and I am not that tall. Maybe I just have super long legs which you so cannot tell in this pic. I look very compressed in it!

Everyone has been laughing at me and my velour fascination at work. They think I am kidding, but I am a Juicy Couture fan. There is something so tackilicious about Juicy. It's appeals right to us Chink's heart, you know us Chinks love the PJs and Bling. WANT WANT WANT!

So need to stop going to Aldi, I went again on Saturday to get these $7 thermos. One is of food and one is for coffee for Mick. $7 each! He is currently using one that we somehow took from my grandma at a Singapore trip that I took when D was 3months old. Grandma had lost her some of her memory even then. She claimed that that flask was used when I was a baby. It wasn't... She bought it when I was like 10 or something from good old CK Tang (rebranded Tangs now).

I love Aldi: Frozen Meal Review Sundried Tomato Chicken

I know I know..  I am still that same person that blogged that I do not buy cake mixes. But as I am working from home a few days a week, I thought I would pick up frozen meals when I was at Aldi and just have some on hand for lunches. You know those days where you do not want to leave the house but want something to eat? There is only so many packets of instant noodles you can eat in a week.

I had read a few tweets about the frozen Mac n' Cheese so I bought one awhile back. As I am used to my home cooked ones with cheesey white sauce, parmesan, bacon and onion... this one went into the don't go there category. Here's the one that I had this week.

What Aldi says it should look like

This cost $4 from Aldi and I think the serving size is slightly larger compared to the other 'branded' ones. Price wise I think it is good, as I have paid more for less. A quick comparison with Coles Online says that a 320g serving of Coles Lite Pasta would be about $4.85.

This is what mine looked like

6minutes in the microwave .. ping.. I sat down to eat it with my weekly Target catalogue. I am the catalogue queen - seriously. The plus - it had crunchy beans in it which I did not expect. Lord knows if you are gonna be eating freezer meals you gotta pack some fibre in there. The pasta was ok, not as soggy as the Mac n Cheese. Chicken looked and tasted real - not compacted faux-ken (LOL) but the sauce was a little bland. I added white pepper to mine but it did not quite save it. It could probably do with some red wine in it when you cook it. I kid.

Compared to the Beef Stroganoff one, I think that one was better and tastier. I will take pics of that one and review next time I buy that.

The worse part about freezer meals is that the tiny serving sizes. I am not on a diet and honestly I think I need another packet right now. So now I'm off to search for biscuits or something.

Price: Tick
Appearance: Tick could look a lot worse
Taste: Half a Tick. The chicken and beans were good. The sauce was a little bland. I will not even comment about soft pasta as I think all frozen meals are guilty of overcooked pasta.
Will buy again Factor: Maybe ... I sit on the fence about this.

P.S: This is not a paid post. I had shelled out $4 for my own meal.

Domestic Goddess-ism ...

So I am on a Meal planning WIN.. WIN WIN WIN.
I love it and really enjoy doing it. :)

Trooped to Aldi first thing this morning and it was bliss. I stocked up on A LOT of snacks, there was a mild sense of panic there when Mick could not find Palazzo butter biscuits with milk chocolate ANYWHERE. He went to 2 different stores on 3 different occasions.
This week's meal plans are as follows.. in random order.

Pork Chops
Fresh ravioli - first time I have bought these from Aldi
Zucchini Slice
Lamb leg roast - usually they are monster hunks of meat in Aldi but I found one that was 1kg. Score

So Mick is off to work and I thought I would use today's rest day to start on my new cushion covers.


This is the fabric. Yum Yum right? Spotlight interior decor section. Awesome.. Now I cannot find my fabric scissors as they have been packed away... I have to wait for Mick to come home. Sad smiley.

So let's focus on dinner instead. I best start the leg of lamb roast as I am intending to shove it in the slow cooker and forget about it's existence.

Then I thought I would start on my apple cake as I haven't done one of them in ages. :)
Let's see how much I actually accomplish. Perhaps I should focus on getting clean dishes out of the dishwasher first. LOL

BRB Sorry about lack of posts. Agency bookings have been going great guns!