Family Fiesta • Iberian and Spanish week with Lidl

We have been totally fooled that Summer has arrived early this year. Barefoot boys running in and out of the house, Rich has been cutting the grass once a week and the dogs have barely moved, choosing to bask in the sunshine by the french doors. My feet want to wear nothing but flip flops and we have an unstoppable urge to eat bbq food! What is it with the Spring sunshine that makes you want to whip out your Summer wardrobe, banish the opaque tights and eat copious amounts of slightly burnt meat?!

But yesterday we tried an alternative to the traditional bbq. A mini fiesta in our back garden with tapas and lots of different dishes to challenge the boy's taste buds and a complete feast for us grown ups.

I have been a long term fan of Lidl, I join in with their clever campaign #lidlsurprises and am consistently impressed at their commitment to improve the range and quality of their stores. Our local store recently underwent a complete refurbishment and I've commented on several occasions to the staff how much nicer a shopping experience it gives you. Less pressure at the checkout so you can pack your trolley, they now accept credit cards, which is great if you collect points like we do, an in store bakery, the best cut flowers at incredible prices and my favourite, two sizes of trolley to save the almost broken arm syndrome you get with an over filled basket. Over the past few years it's seemed to become trendy to shop in Lidl, but it's not a novelty for me. It's a way I've saved hundreds of pounds over the year on a weekly shop.

They also run interesting promotions each week. Limited editions which you can find across the store, in the grocery section, in the home ware aisle and in the freezers.

Until the 15th April it's Iberian and Spanish week with a variety of delicious tapas, meats, accessories for your whole family to try something new. Lidl asked us to try out a selection of their range and everything went down a storm! We made a few of our own dishes too, simple ideas to try for your next family get together.

To make a alternative to the traditional bbq salad mix together a Lidl 3 colour tomato selection pack, a chopped and diced ready to eat mango, a red onion, drizzle with olive oil and honey, season well and garnish with a sprig of mint. I grabbed a little from the garden as it's just started to sprout!

Next you could try making your own tapas. I used the 3 pack of Iberian bowls that are on offer for 2 sets for £10, 2 fresh sliced chorizo sausages, a generous handful of the nachos cheese, a few slices of chopped onion, season with salt and pepper, spindle with oregano and add a squeeze of lime. Bake in the oven for 20 mins and serve immediately. 

The boys tried all the dishes at our Friday fiesta! I bought tropical and apple and raspberry juice drinks, wrapped fingers of avocado in parma ham, and tore up slices of chorizo over the warm potato tortilla. The frozen tapas selection, complete with clay bowls takes 25 minutes to cook in the oven and are perfect to share or for an individual dish. The meatballs have flavour but are not too spicy that the boys wouldn't try it, the chicken and peppers were delicious with a cheesy crust on top. 

And the puddings, oh the puddings! Perfect if you are like me and are not keen on creamy desserts. I did a selection of the Torta Imperial nougat, Ensaimadas which left a delicious icing sugar moustache on the kids and we made jam biscuit sandwiches from the Palmeritas. Just add a layer of jam, some half sliced raspberries and sandwich together. Easy for the kids to make but they look fab. 

The boys loved the frozen calamari rings and I made a sticky tomato and onion chutney dipping sauce.

I combined a tablespoon of the Lidl tomato and chilli chutney, the caramelised red onion chutney. a generous spoon full of their sundried tomatoes, seasoned it well and sprinkled with a pinch of oregano. 

So why not check out your local Lidl and see what surprises are waiting for you. Swap that bbq, coleslaw and potato salad for an Iberian feast this weekend! 

In collaboration with Lidl