In love with 'Frikadellen'

I know Aldi's might have had a bad rep in the past, but I love doing the weekly food shop there. I don't care that they don't do the 'proper brands' as their own versions are more often than not pretty darn close to the originals. When we first moved into our new place a weekly shop at Sainsbury's was costing us around £50 - £60, but at Aldi's we can generally keep that to around £35/week. Over a year that's a saving of nearly £800!!

But not only can you find cheaper alternatives to the brands you know and love, but you can also find a great range of more European food that you might not necessarily find in the bigger supermarkets, like brioche (I'll never be truly skinny as long as brioche is in the cupboard) and my new favourite treat, Frikadellen!

For those of you who've yet to try them (if you're veggie you've got a good excuse) they are basically very dense pre-cooked pork meatballs (to a German recipe) that are squashed a bit to make patties. They're great to have in the fridge as a snack, but also they're good sandwich/wrap fillers, and I'm sure they can be incorporated into a whole range of dishes. Today I chopped half of one up and scattered it over a pretty basic salad of iceberg lettuce, rocket, tomato, Parmesan shavings and balsamic dressing and I have to say it was one of the tastiest salads I've had in a while, and the juicy meat just made it that bit more satisfying (let's face it, no one really enjoys eating salads that much).

I'm not sure how long it'll keep me full but I'm hopeful it will at least keep me from reaching for the delicious 'Pleyben Galettes' (biscuits from Brittany) that my sister brought me from France as a Christmas gift...

Ok just looking at the gorgeous 'Little Red Riding Hood' tin makes me want one now, so they have to go back in the cupboard right now.

Anyway, back to Frikadellen. I want to see what different kinds of recipes I can add them too so I'm going to have a little think, and experiment a bit, and then report back with any successes / epic failures. You never know, one day I might figure out how to make them myself :)

A bientot!
xx