The Weekly Pinch of Shopping: A Spooktacular Edition
Halloween is creeping up next Friday, so this latest Weekly Pinch of Shopping is all about treats that will add some spook to your week.
First up are Soreen’s limited edition Toffee Apple Lunchbox Loaves, an autumnal variation on their usual fruity flavour, with the brand name playfully swapped for “Scream” on the packet. We’ll be using these to jazz up our little monsters’ lunchboxes (OK… maybe our own too).
Give your trick or treaters some HARIBO Sour Skeletons, then cosy up on the sofa with a scary film and one of Cadbury’s Pumpkin Patch Cakes.
If you’re planning a party spread, M&S’ novelty Eye Want Pizza, Wriggling Worms Sausages, and Pumpkin Bao Buns will all add a frightening flair, and they’re 3 for £12!
Entertaining doesn’t have to be stressful either, at least not with our new Slow Cooker book. With this on your kitchen shelf, you can serve up impressive, flavour-packed dishes with minimal effort. Just pop your ingredients in, let your slow cooker work its magic, and enjoy the compliments when your guests tuck in!
We know these treats are best enjoyed in moderation, so we’ve crunched the calories to help you stay on top of your goals. We’ve also paired each product with a Pinch of Nom recipe you can make from scratch!
Let’s make this Halloween all about treats, not tricks…
Soreen 5 Toffee Apple Lunchbox Loaves – 96 calories per mini loaf
We’re Scream-ing with excitement for these limited edition Soreen Toffee Apple Lunchbox Loaves. They’re the perfect spooky snack to pop in your bag (or your little monsters’ lunchboxes).
And if you fancy getting creative in the kitchen, why not try our Toffee Apple Swirls for another wickedly good way to enjoy those classic autumn flavours?
Soreen 5 Toffee Apple Lunchbox Loaves are available from Tesco, priced at £1.80 per packet.
Fans of these will enjoy our Toffee Apple Swirls.
Iceland Halloween Chicken Spooky Shapes – 274 calories per ⅕ pack
If you’re planning a Halloween spread that’ll thrill the kids (and the grown-ups too), Iceland’s Halloween Chicken Spooky Shapes are the ultimate fun party plate addition, and you can pop them in your air fryer!
Or if you feel like showing off your own culinary sorcery, our Spicy Nuggets Recipe will help you conjure up your own homemade versions. They might not be spooky-shaped, but they’re just as devilishly tasty.
Iceland Halloween Chicken Spooky Shapes are available from Iceland, priced at £3.50 per pack, or £3.34 as part of a multibuy.
Or spice things up with our nuggets.
HARIBO Sour Skeletons Fruit Flavour Sour Jelly Sweets Sharing Bag – 85 calories per 25g portion
Tangy treat lovers, you’ll want to sink your teeth into HARBIO’s seasonal Sour Skeletons Fruit Sour Jelly Sweets. We think these would be just the thing for a scary movie night.
After something a little more balanced? Our Boonanas are a spooktacular swap. We’ve coated naturally ghostly-shaped bananas in low-fat yoghurt and added some vanilla flavouring (with chocolate chips for eyes!). They’re a healthier option that still feels like a real treat.
HARIBO Sour Skeletons Fruit Flavour Sour Jelly Sweets are available from Morrisons, priced at £1.25 per bag.
Our Boonanas are spooky and fruity too.
Cadbury Halloween Pumpkin Patch Chocolate Cakes – 155 calories per cake
No tricks from Cadbury here, just a real treat with these Pumpkin Patch Chocolate Cakes. They’re soft chocolate sponge with that classic Cadbury flavour and a fun orange-coloured creme topping.
Carving pumpkins this year? Those stringy, slimy innards aren’t for your bin, they’re a key ingredient for our Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake. Bake your own seasonal sweet treat, and thank us later!
Cadbury Halloween Pumpkin Patch Chocolate Cakes are available from Morrisons, priced at £2.75 per pack.
Our Baked Pumpkin Cheesecake is just as good.
McVitie’s Jaffaween Original Cake Bar Multipack – 97 calories per cake bar
We love a novelty seasonal spin on a classic, so we’ll definitely be popping a packet of these McVitie’s Jaffaween Cake Bars into our trolley. They’re the same zesty, chocolatey treats we all know and love, just in spookier packaging.
We’ll also be baking up our own frightfully delicious Halloween Spooky Sponge. We’ve topped it with reduced-sugar apricot jam for an autumnal orange finish, and got creative with a black icing spider web.
McVitie’s Jaffaween Original Cake Bars are available online at Ocado, currently reduced to just £1.50!
Bake your own Halloween Spooky Sponge.
M&S Eye Want Pizza – 381 calories per ½ pack
M&S have got their eye (literally!) on the prize when it comes to buffer spreads this Halloween with these amazing “Eye Want Pizza” bites, topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and gherkins, with added olives to create spooky little peepers.
If you really want to double the fear factor, serve them up alongside our Scary Spider Sandwiches.
M&S Eye Want Pizza is available online at Ocado, priced at £4.75 per pizza – or 3 for £12 as part of a multibuy.
Make our Scary Spider Sandwiches for your buffet table.
M&S Wriggling Worms Sausages – 118 calories per 50g
Another terrifying addition to your frightful feast, these M&S Wriggling Worms Sausages will add a gruesome edge to your buffet table. Mini pork sausages coated in a sweet and sticky BBQ glaze, they’re wriggling with flavour (don’t worry, no real worms involved!).
Why not use them to create our Halloween Sausage Mummies? Our spooky take on the sausage roll, creepy chipolatas are wrapped in light puff pastry ‘bandages.’
M&S Wriggling Worms Sausages are available online at Ocado, priced at £5 per pack – or 3 for £12 as part of a multibuy.
Use these to make our Halloween Sausage Mummies.
M&S Plant Kitchen 4 Pumpkin Shaped Bao Buns – 125 calories per bao
These M&S Plant Kitchen Pumpkin Shaped Bao Buns are almost too cute to eat. Almost! Filled with a warming carrot and butternut squash centre, they’re a sweet-meets-savoury autumnal bite that cooks in your microwave in just 40 seconds.
Pair them with our Pumpkin Sushi for an Asian-inspired party platter. Both ready in no time, and both guaranteed to bring a bit of pumpkin spice to your table.
M&S Plant Kitchen Pumpkin Shaped Bao Buns are available online at Ocado, priced at £4.75 per pack – or 3 for £12 as part of a multibuy.
Discover just how versatile your Halloween pumpkin can be.
Pringles Hot Kickin’ Sour Cream Flavour Crisps – 157 calories per serving
These Pringles Hot Kickin’ Hauntin’ Sour Cream Flavour Crisps are impossible to miss on the shelves, thanks to their ghoulish design. Apparently it glows in the dark too, we’ll certainly be testing that theory out!
Pringles Hot Kickin’ Sour Cream Flavour Crisps are available from Tesco, priced at £2.35 per tube.
Crush a few over our Spiced Pumpkin Soup for a satisfying crunch and some creamy flavour.
Oreo Spooky Vanilla Flavour Chocolate Sandwich Biscuits – 104 calories per 100g
Get ready to add some “Boo!” to your biscuit tin with OREO’s Spooky Vanilla Flavour Chocolate Sandwich Biscuits. The classic creme vanilla filling has been coloured orange for Halloween, and each biscuit is embossed with a frightening face.
Our Halloween Skeleton Biscuits are another scarily good twist on a classic. A playful spin on the gingerbread man, we’ve used punchy cinnamon-spiced dough and decorated it with white icing in skeleton shapes. Don’t forget to share!
Oreo Spooky Vanilla Flavour Chocolate Sandwich Biscuits are available from Tesco, priced at just £1.50 per pack.
🔗 Try our Halloween Skeleton Biscuits.
Don’t forget – we love seeing what you’re picking up in your weekly shop! Tag us or post in our Facebook group if you spot anything slimming-friendly and tasty that deserves a shoutout.
And if you’re not already signed up, you can get the Weekly Pinch of Shopping straight to your inbox by signing up to our website.
Aldi Super 6 Fruit and Veg Selection
Tasty meals don’t have to cost a fortune! And Aldi is once again proving it with their affordable Super 6 selection. Scroll down to see the latest bargains and our recipe suggestions…
Sweetheart Cabbage
Our Cabbage Rolls are another crowd pleaser for your buffet bonanza.
Swede
Give your guests a bite of autumn with our Layered Potato and Swede Gratin.
White Garlic
Good for keeping the vampires at bay, and a key ingredient in our Butter Bean and Garlic Dip.
Mini Apples
Use these for apple-bobbing or rustle up the Toffee Apple Swirls we mentioned above.
Closed Cup Mushrooms
Pop a plate of our Crispy Garlic Mushrooms on your party table – an exclusive from Pinch of Nom: Express.
Mini Pears
This Pear and Ginger Crumble is pure autumn in a bowl.
Remember: We don’t accept payment or gifts to include any of the products above – we just love them, and we hope you will too.