Lidl Groceries, Stock up on the Veg Ma", Money Diary

 

 

A net of onions, a bag of carrots, a bag of sugar, a big piece of ginger, 2l of milk, 2 tins of baked beans, garlic, 2 nets of limes, 2 trays of pears, 3 aubergines and a pack of almond fingers, 2 peppers, a block of extra mature red cheddar and chocolate chocolate-chip cookies and a cheap priced down loaf of brownish bread. All for the price of €14.40 and we got €2.35 in discounts.

 

Because there's two in the house now and the second person is my offspring the least I can do is try to be as wild as I possibly can (don't laugh! I can hear you snigger all the way from there). 

One of the things she always complains about is that her diet back in South Korea isn't very vegetable heavy. She turned into a committed vegetarian at age 11 and then ended up in a country where Vegetarianism is something that's mainly practiced in temples. So indulging in vegetables is something she well: enjoys. 

 

"Stock up on the veg ma," I hear her shout after me as I head out to go and do just that. 

Onions we needed. Carrots where on offer for €0.49 as were the peppers, the limes and the pears, after which I found the aubergines to be the same price as well, so happy days. The most expensive bits from the vegetable isle are the ginger and garlic. 

 

I can see some kind of carrot salad, a spicy pepper and aubergine soup, an aubergine dip, a pear and lime salad or maybe even a few more poached pears in your future."

We ran out of sugar because I poached the little firm pears for on our porridge yesterday. The sugar will also be used with the bread and the milk to make one of the Offspring's favourite desserts: Bread and Butter Pudding.

  

 The milk will also make pancakes and if there's any left together with the cheese may even become a cheese-sauce for on the broccoli which is waiting to be picked in the garden.

The baked beans are for that Irish Breakfast she is so longing for (Korea in the end turned her into a meat eater again) and then the cookies. Well, we got 3 of them from €1.- instead of €2.- I couldn't let her not have them. And finally the almond fingers, they came gratis and for nothing.

I'll leave the sweet stuff for the young one except for those poached pears I can clearly see them in our immediate future now.

 

After the Binge and Lid's Rathdaragh Irish Extra Mature Cheddar

Once I start I can't stop. 

There's excuses everywhere and the knee jerk reaction every time is: to eat. The news gets on my nerves so I finish the sweets in one bag. Then I find my Twitter feed full of incomprehensible nonsense and I polish off the chocolate caramel bits. 

The offspring sends a message telling me she's coming home because of an expiring visa. The thought of her having to travel gets me eating in front of the fridge with the door open and obviously it's not the chicken stock I'm after.

For two whole days I graze my way through cupboards and pantry until there's nothing left that I can just pick up or open and eat.

There's still sugar, flour and butter I could make a batch of shortbread and caramel.

The ingredients on the counter are ready to be transformed. I realize the deciding factor in all of this is going to be the dishes. I don't want to do them. 

Phew, that really was a close call. I've been known to sit down and eat caramel out of the pan and not stop until it's all gone, add ice-cream and -

The offspring arrives in a flurry of excitement:

"As we drove up there was this massive fox ambling by. Broad daylight and all. Look, I have him on video...!"

The sinkhole inside of me screaming for more is gone. No more gaping abyss. 

The dishes get done. I soak chickpeas and cook up a batch of red lentils with carrots for soup, the sourdough gets fed. 

We sit out back and I watch her eat the hummus and naan I made especially for her and one of the things she's missed most: cheese. 

I know it's all the rage to be into farmhouse cheeses and man, if I'd have the money we'd have cheeseboards every day for the duration of her stay. However we agree that Lidl's 'Rathdaragh Irish Extra Mature Red Cheddar' is the bomb if you like cheese but you don't have a lot to spend. In fact when we were all still travelling I used to bring blocks of it to my friends in Amsterdam. 

At first they laughed, sure Holland and cheese. They produce one of my all time favourite cheeses: Old Amsterdammer. And then there's all the other hard cheeses from rich to lean, young and creamy to creamy and sharp or old, blow your socks off crumbly varieties with cumin, nettles or walnuts of the cow and the sheep varieties. Some from the islands, some from the North others from the East.

But then as we serve the cheddar thinly sliced on fresh brown bread with unsalted butter you can see their pupils widen and the smirks drop.

"That's really good!"

"Don't I know it."

It's not surprising to me that they won top spot in both 2016 and 2017 at the Irish Quality Food Awards.

And you know what the price is even better: €2.05 for 400 grams. At that very reasonable price you get a crumbly, strong cheese that makes all savoury dishes that are better with cheese even better. 

I do have a word of warning, do not confuse this cheese with any of the other Mature Cheddar Cheeses of the same range. The Extra Mature Cheddar doesn't come in a white version and both the Mature White and Red Cheddar don't come even close to the 'Extra Mature Red Cheddar'.

Although the cheese is said to be available in Europe under the' Milbona' and in the UK under the 'Valley Spire' brand it seems to have a limited distribution for I've never been able to locate any of it outside of the Republic.

It's really nice to have the offspring home and even better to have her asking for dishes and a little more cheese on the naan. 

"Sure beautiful child."

"Can you slice it really thin?"

"Of course," I say. It's all good so. I'm back to cooking again.

The best cheap and cheerful mature cheddar