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I googled to find out what the best meal replacement shakes are and canstar strongly recommended Aldi's one. The trouble with Aldi is that you can never be sure you can get what you want there. I just got back from Aldi and sure enough.. nope no sign of them. If I did manage to get some and wanted to use them regularly there'd be a chance they just wouldn't have them the next time I needed some. I'm really really underwhelmed by Aldi in general so this didn't help. I did grab a bag of coffee beans though.
Meanwhile.. I've invited someone over for dinner next week. Any suggestions on what I should cook? As far as I know there aren't any special dietary requirements but I might actually double check on that.
Cook what you are confident at cooking, no matter how ordinary you think it is. Something cooked well is better than a bit of a mess.
Double check on dietary requirements, then ask us again. Lots of good cooks here, so you'll likely get some good suggestions. Also budget requirements cos cost of living. For example, if you want to spend more than $100 or less than $50 to feed how many people.
The only requirement is "nothing too spicy", which isn't to say zero spice, just nothing hot.
Budget isn't an issue. The two things I have are money and time. I don't need to go overboard on cost though just for the sake of being fancy, she is very down to earth. It'll just be the two of us.
I like the idea of a home cooked pub steak but fancier. With the ingredients spiffied up according to budget. Spend money on a good red wine to go with. So, good steaks - fillet or wagyu or whatever for pan cooking. Marinate these overnight in your favorite rub. Bring to room temp before cooking. While steaks are resting after cooking, make Sauce Diane to go with, which is the pan residues dissolved in brandy with some cream, salt & black pepper added to taste. Plus chopped parsley if you can be bothered but this isn't necessary. Very yum and very simple. Mashed spuds - do this ahead of time. Pipe the mash into heaped spirals about the size of the palm of your hand and half that in height on parchment paper, sprinkle with grated parmesan and chill in fridge overnight. Bake in medium oven until outside is crispy and golden (about 30-40 mins) just before serving. These are called Potatoes Duchesse. Quite an old fashioned recipie, but the unbaked spirals can be frozen for later if you end up with a lot more mashed potato than you thought you'd need when you made the mash. Better to have too much than too little. Warning : these are addictive.
Maybe add a halved large tomato to the oven with the potato spirals for a fresh flavour blast that's hot if you don't want to put tomatoes in the salad.
Green salad of your choice. Maybe some butter lettuce leaves, chopped avocado, halved cherry/perino tomatoes, and a simple vinaigrette dressing with some crushed garlic in it.
Dessert - purchased apple pie with ice cream on top. Heat apple pie by popping it into the oven when the potatoes come out until heated through or you finish the first course. Adjust oven temp if required.Estimated cooking time (not including potato mash prep and steak marination) will take maybe 1 hour, which is quite easily done while conversing with your guest and holding a glass of wine in your hand.
Their shakes tend to be around with the soap. I found them pretty underwhelming and with a funky after-taste.
Thanks, that makes me feel better about them not having any. I'll keep researching. Canstar has manshake pretty far down the list which I found surprising because it seems fine. Keen to find out what better ones there are though.
You should cook what you're comfortable with but make it a bit more fancy.
Melton have those shakes in the toothpaste and soap aisle so maybe you were looking in the wrong spot. Aldi can be disappointing at times.
I scoured every shelf of the Altona North Aldi, no dice there. I'll be in Melton from Monday for a week so maybe I'll check them out while I'm around.
Hmm more fancy you say... so toasted cheese sandwiches with bows and ribbons on them. Got it.
Are the bows and ribbons edible?
Can you cook a steak? Pepper sauce. Chips in the airfryer and a nice garden salad and you've got yourself a pub meal.
I wouldn't say no to a toasted sanga with fancy cheese. Maybe a baked brie with a bit of rosemary and honey?