Do you do Basic Range Products?

[Winged one]

I only occasionally get to Sainsbury's (usually Newry, but a quick dash around the one near Ikea in belfast a few weeks back) but I have a few things that I keep an eye out for when I am there:

Basics -
Tinned tomatoes (18p a tin - much cheaper and as good as the varieties "down south")
Tortilla chips - not only are they much cheaper, but taste as good as M&S but a far better pack size for us too (M&S ones can be sitting with an airtight clip for more than 6 months)
Various beans in tins
Garlic bread

I also get some of their non-basic items:
Taste the Difference spicy onion chutney (oh yum - and I forgot to get it last time so will be out of it for a couple of months....)
TTD Pesto
Chair de tomates
Small tin of tomatoes and herbs
Tin ptomato puree (lots cheaper than down here)
Small tin plain tomatoes (can't get small tins and occasionally don't need a large one)
Extra large tins tomatoes (also can't get down here and easier and cheaper than 2 regular tins when doing double batches of stuff)

And then there are other things that aren't Sainbury's own brands but can't be got here either:
Princes tinned tuna with dressings
John West tin prawns
JW tins shrimp
JW tins cockles
Walkers baked crisps

And I can't remember the rest now. But it' not just for the value that I make my couple of trips a year.

[veg4681]

From Sainsburys: Value juice (apple, orange and breakfast): Also buy tinned kidney beans (11p?): bargain and occasional tinned fruit.

Never tried the value juice yet. Yeah, I forgot the tinned fruits, peach actually but not pineapple chunks. Tinned kidney beans must the best buy surely.

Also, OH would do his nut if I bought value loo roll (yes I know it only gets flushed), finds it too thin and is paranoid about his fingers going through...........

LOL! Yikes, I know what he means!

However I do buy Lidl's washing powder, olive oil, bog roll, tins of pilchards, booze.

I agree that stuffs like Olive Oil (esp extra virgin grade) are cheaper in budget supermarkets and also some do weird and wonderful continental foodstuffs that you don't pay exclusive price for.

Branston baked beans are infinitely superior, and at 99p for a four tin pack are much cheaper. Branston also do a great tomato ketchup and brown sauce.

Regarding loo rolls, our local Netto frequently has very good offers on Andrex products.

valmarg

That's a good deal for branded baked beans for 99p. Sometimes it cheaper to buy the branded stuffs at budget supermarkets like Netto, Lidl and Aldi.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Just a point about Value juice - they are generally 'made from concentrate' (look at the small print) which I understand knocks out a whole heap of the vit C so it's not remotely as good for you as 'proper' juice.

[veg4681]

I only occasionally get to Sainsbury's (usually Newry, but a quick dash around the one near Ikea in belfast a few weeks back) but I have a few things that I keep an eye out for when I am there:

Basics -
Tinned tomatoes (18p a tin - much cheaper and as good as the varieties "down south")
Tortilla chips - not only are they much cheaper, but taste as good as M&S but a far better pack size for us too (M&S ones can be sitting with an airtight clip for more than 6 months)
Various beans in tins
Garlic bread

I also get some of their non-basic items:
Taste the Difference spicy onion chutney (oh yum - and I forgot to get it last time so will be out of it for a couple of months....)

Now I remember, I've also tried the garlic bread before, perfectly acceptable quality, no point buying the normal range. Their plain tortilla is actually more authentic to what the Mexicans eat and therefore better for dipping with Mexican dips.

For Taste the Difference, we like their exclusive sausages (most Italian & French style) but my DH said the Angus beef sausages tasted like eating beef burgers! We've discovered that their 'Morrocan style humous' is something to to die for. Once we tried their TTD patotoes, it was way out of this world but the pototo variety wasn't specified on the packaging. I also like TTD curry sauces in jar for the main reason that they're completely different to the usual Indian dishes (korma, tikka masala, madras, duopiaz etc). I'm sure there are more but can't remember.

For exclusive crisps (away from Walker), try the Kettle Chips and now they also sell Tyrell (more like gourmet stuff) but the Walker's own exclusive crisps I find, are still quite lousy in texture and taste too salty.

[NOG]

I don't buy any Heinz products since they closed down the HP factory in Birmingham. Have found Daddies sauce a good replacement.
Recycled toilet rolls No can do!!

valmarg

Well done on the HP.....

But all toilet paper is recycled anyhow. Its made out of surplus newsprint.

[veg4681]

But all toilet paper is recycled anyhow. Its made out of surplus newsprint.

I thought so too although my little boy's nursery leader was dishing out recycled toilet paper to the parents in the hope of converting them into greener ways at home. Some of these green options are very misleading!!! We think we are doing our best and yet it makes so little difference.

[smallblueplanet]

....But all toilet paper is recycled anyhow. Its made out of surplus newsprint.

I don't think so, unless it says it uses recycled paper.

Most 'green' loo-rolls say stuff like 'for every tree we use we plant 3 more' or such-like? So they're using 'virgin' wood pulp but replanting (conifer) trees as they do?

[Madasafish]

We run a system wherby we ONLY buy basic foods when they are bogoff or similar.

So Andrex 18 rolls for £5,50 (Somerfield), Heinz Baked Beans 12 can s for £3.00 (25p per can) Asda, Domestos half price (Tesco), Tetley tea bags £1.85 for 240 (various), spreadable low fat butter substitute (whatever is on offer).. and Chicken Tonight sauces £0.72 (Somerfields).

Mrs Mad reckoned we save about 20% overall on our shopping bills that way. And of course buy little meat, cook it slowly and long and it's both cheap and tasty.

If the UK throws away 30% of all its food uneaten, someone else a> must throw a huge amount more away than that. We eat everything on our plates, bones go for soup and all veg peelings are recycled..

a> I'm sure it's not the readers here:-)

[Flummery]

I once ordered some loo rolls for school (in my previous existence) which reckoned they were 'facial quality' - got my imagination on overdrive I can tell you. Next time a kid called another 'bum-face' in the playground we couldn't really tell him off!