Flying Solo a Trip to Lidl

On my Todd whilst G was fishing. I bought a little more than I intended, especially with me shopping solo for lots of things like this. It is a good few years since I have been into our local Lidl shop.  I used to go in pretty regularly at one point as we have nearly always eaten lots of cheese and charcuterie meats as well as utilised a lot of seasonal foods and treats.  I think overall I have always preferred Lidl to Aldi, but Aldi does have its points too.

I was pleased to be able to source some proper Lemons for making a batch of homemade Lemoncello.  If I can get back into the store later in the week I also hope to gather some more and make a further batch.

The fruit and veg section were very good, especially on the fruits. I came away with a Savoy Cabbage, Spring Greens, 2 Swedes, 2 Red Cabbage and a Cucumber.  I need to buy in some Cucumbers to make some more Bread and Butter Pickles.  See how the pennies span out.  Also winging its way home were a pack of sweet pointed red peppers, three packs of Leeks, some mixed growing frilly Lettuce (which is wonderful), a large pack of Portobello mushrooms, 2 large packs of Tomatoes, 3 large packs of plums, a large pack of Strawberries.  If the Strawberries are nice I will pick up a couple of more packs and make some Strawberry Lemonade mix and also fruit compote.   I also looked at the Blueberries and may also grab a load of these as well next time to put on the Pantry shelf for breakfast to serve with some homemade yogurt.  I could have kicked myself but I meant to get a couple of fresh Pineapple as well.  Unfortunately I got distracted and hopefully will be able to pick up a few during the week. They were massive and about £1.29 a Pineapple.  Another candidate for preserving.

My thoughts moving forward with regard to the fruit is to buy in quantity and preserve as much as I can for the Pantry shelf, whether that be Lemonade concentrate, fruit compote, Strawberry jam, Strawberry and Rhubarb jam.  Now the new seasons goodies are starting to appear it is going to be a matter of making the most of whatever I can to tide us over the Winter months.  Getting stuff squirrelled away is important.  We are keen to get to the caravan a little later on if we can, so the more I can get put up the better whether that be achieved by preserving myself or buying tinned items. I have also decided though that if I am going to be preserving something for the Pantry shelf, then I will concentrate on the ingredients only when I come to do these items.  Today's onus was really on the tinned stuff.  There were a lot of tinned items that I did not buy today, but I will get some more of them when I go back in the week.

I also picked up a big pot of coleslaw, some pate, herb cheese, peanut butter, almond butter and cashew butter.

I was rather intrigued to see a whole specialist section of Charcuterie meats i.e. different forms of sausage, salami that sort of thing.  Will have a more serious look when I go back in which will hopefully not be long.  This little haul will take us through the next few weeks, plus I have a few preserving projects to do as well.  If I can get all of this dealt with and up on the Pantry shelf, I will indeed have done well and for that I am truly blessed.  I think by having a go and making your own things that it boosts your confidence a little bit especially when it goes right.  Even though when there are mistakes you can learn from them.  The trick is to have another go as soon as you can and not convince yourself that you cannot do it i.e. overthink things.  We only learn by practice.

Even though still not right (well I never have been really), I dealing with small things in the house.  This itching though is driving me right off the scale and residual pain as well.  We are very slowly getting there which is the main thing, although it has knocked the stuffing out of me.

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods and hope everyone has a lovely evening.  Weather looks good for the next few days which is a bonus.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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