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Thread: What Brand to Buy?

  1. #1
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    Default What Brand to Buy?

    Life's pretty sweet but there's no getting away from everyday housekeeping.

    One of the things that I think has taken the longest time for me since we arrived, is the trial and error of finding out what brands to buy of particular products.

    It took me agggggeeeee to find a brand of loo roll that I liked So I thought it might be an idea to start a thread that lists what you think are the best brands to buy for a particular product. Obviously a lot is down to personal preference, but sometimes you can save people a lot of time and money eg: there is only one edible mayo available and that's Best Foods

    So, to start:

    * Curry Paste - Asian Gourmet
    I use double the recommended amount, but that makes a fantastic curry, full of flavour

    * Mayo - Best Foods
    We buy the extra lite version and it's the ONLY one I will buy

    * Fruit Juice - Charlie's / Farmers Market
    The only fruit juice I could find in the supermarket that isn't made from concentrate is Charlie's. Not cheap unfortunately, but like everything else, stock up when on special. For the past few months I've been buying great juice from the farmers market, but the guy I buy from has packed up for the season...humpf

    * Toilet Roll - Solvent Hypoallergenic
    Unfortunately it's one of the most expensive brands, but I stock up when it's on special. IMHO the cheaper stuff is a false economy because it's so thin, one roll only lasts a couple of days! Plus, a lot of brands like to sent their paper... yak!

    Milliemoo

  2. #2
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    Default

    Ohh, good thread....

    Agree with the juice, just Charlies for us

    Mayo - only Best Foods will do, it's basically Hellmans...

    Baked Beans - we love Oak brand baked beans and it's all we buy, hate Watties

    Bread - our regular bread we use Mackenzie High Country range, fab selection.

    Spices - www.spicetrader.co.nz - great range and fresh, usually find them in deli's more than supermarkets

  3. #3
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    Default

    D'ya know I had a conversation like this a while back and we were swapping best/worst brand ideas....

    Generally I wont buy Pams food items (thrown out too many for tasting ugh), apart from basic baking ingredients, but am happy enough with the kitchen roll & cleaning stuff.

    Signature range stuff is generally OK, bit of trial and error, but not any major catastrophes.

    Corn Flakes, only Skippy will do apparently!

    Keri fruit juice is drinkable, so is McCoys, I agree Charlies is lovely, but not for our food budget!

    Yogurt, we prefer Yoplait, find the meadowfresh stuff awfully sweet (and it also makes AJ puke!)

    Bread, I love the Mackenzies range or the Quality Bakers Molenbergs, some of the cheaper brands are just too boring, and sometimes a bit sweet.... the stuff from our local bakers is good too, and its also cheaper than majority of the supermarket stuff.

    Soup, recently tried the Watties extra special (thanks for tip Debs!) both the country chicken and the tomato are not too far away from UK heinz flavour (if thats your thing!)

    Ma healons spice mixes are nice, we get them in PaknSave, the tandoori one is great for a marinade, and saves you having to measure out all your own stuff.

    I'm not going to start the Sausage discussion.... oh go on, yes I will... I find Hellers fresh sausages perfectly eatable, along with Beehive bacon.

    Hummus, I now prefer the La Bonne Cuisine stuff above Lisas, partly cos they do a low fat one!

    Gonna stop now before you all nod off....

  4. #4
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    Hmm, not a great fan or user of brand names, so Signature Range or Pams fill most of my trolley.
    Exceptions:
    La Bonne Cuisine garlic lovers hummus
    Milo or Nesquick cereal (bear in mind we usually have about 10-12 packets of all types of cereal in the cupboard, but for chocolate cereal, it must be these!)
    Best Lite mayo
    Puhoi Valley natural yoghurt (best I've ever tasted anywhere, ever!)
    Just Juice Orange and Mango or Tropical for my kids (and budget, although I tend to stock up at special offer time)
    Listerine Toothpaste and Tooth Whitening Pre-brush Rinse (love the taste and effect!)
    Lindauer Special Reserve (fave, fave bubbly that's not r-e-a-l champers)

    Er that's about it really,

    Gil

  5. #5
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    May 2006
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    Kohimarama, Auckland
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    Default

    Deffo Oak Baked Beans .. Watties are quite disgusting IMO. Watties Spaghetti is OK though. Trident tinned tomatoes for me .. don't like any others. I also agree with the observation about 'Pams' stuff .. it is not exactly quality stuff.

    Haven't tried that expensive loo roll but have tried heaps of others .. purex and kleenex included and what I don't like about them is the amount of 'dust ' they give off as well as the dodgy scents they put in some of them. I have now settled for good old 'kiwi' loo roll which is actually cheaper too. For tissues I now only buy Sorbent Thick and Large range .. try to get it on offer and stock up, some of the others are so thin you can see through them.

    Washing up liquid is a bug bear of mine .. both palmolive and morning fresh are rubbish .. I did find one that I liked but can't remember the name and now can't find it in my local supermarket.

    Soap powder is an interesting one -- I go for Surf currently .. and I'm afraid all the fabric conditioners smell dreadful except Comfort Pure which I can get only in one particular store (Foodtown)

    How about cheese? We like 'Tasty' Cheddar Cheese but again stay away from the Pams one ..

    I find Zafarelli (light blue packet) dried pasta better than San Remo (orange/red packet) too .. the San Remo Tagiatelle always cooks in a lump!

    Pasta sauce has to be Bertolli Five Brothers .. Summer Vegetable is really nice and the kids don't notice the veggies! Again, get it on special 'cos I'm sure it's more expensive than Dolmio (which I can't abide).

    My favourite sausage would have to be Honey Mustard Pork Sausage from Foodtown and second to that would be Lamb Hellers ones .. I struggle to enjoy any others including London Pride which most people recommend. Bacon is always Beehive Smoked Streaky - we don't buy back bacon any more.

    Enough ramblings ...

    My top tip for Christmas is .. don't buy a frozen turkey. We did last year and it was inedible. This year we are pushing the boat out to get a Black Rock one from Nosh in Glen Innes.

    Happy munching,
    Dawn

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by jubjub View Post

    Generally I wont buy Pams food items (thrown out too many for tasting ugh), apart from basic baking ingredients, but am happy enough with the kitchen roll & cleaning stuff.
    Couldn't agree more

    Milliemoo

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by willowshouse View Post
    For tissues I now only buy Sorbent Thick and Large range .. try to get it on offer and stock up, some of the others are so thin you can see through them.
    Me too

    Quote Originally Posted by willowshouse View Post

    How about cheese? We like 'Tasty' Cheddar Cheese but again stay away from the Pams one ..

    Dawn
    I buy the Mainland Organic Cheddar. I don't know what they heck they do to the other cheeses here (esp Pams!), but most of them taste yak.

    Milliemoo

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by willowshouse View Post
    I find Zafarelli (light blue packet) dried pasta better than San Remo (orange/red packet) too .. the San Remo Tagiatelle always cooks in a lump!
    Try "washing" the pasta before boiling, it removes some of the excess starch and reduces the tendency to stick together. Same goes for rice.

    Basically put into sieve and pour over boiling water, or put in pan of boiling water for a few seconds, stir, drain and then cook as per normal.

  9. #9
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    Either I am a skinflint - or the pressure of 3 kids on a tight budget has addled my brain.... but the ONLY stuff I buy at the supermarket is the stuff on special offer each week.

    With the exception of.....
    HP Sauce
    Heinz Ketchup
    Nescafe Alta Rica
    Harraways Scottish Oats
    Anathoths Jam
    Coke Zero
    McVities Digestives
    Best Foods Mayo (not the low fat one though!)


    Truly - for everything else - we get what's cheap. Not a great deal of difference to us... Pams is OK - as is Signature Range and Basics stuff.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Carol View Post
    Either I am a skinflint - or the pressure of 3 kids on a tight budget has addled my brain.... but the ONLY stuff I buy at the supermarket is the stuff on special offer each week.

    With the exception of.....
    HP Sauce
    Heinz Ketchup
    Nescafe Alta Rica
    Best Foods Mayo (not the low fat one though!)
    Nivia makeup wipes.....so much easier!

    Truly - for everything else - we get what's cheap. Not a great deal of difference to us... Pams is OK - as is Signature Range and Basics stuff.
    Changed the list a little but same for me. I stick to the same as you Carol

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