Lidl 31/08-06/09

In the first full week after school starts, dinner has to reach the table inside forty minutes and still be worth repeating tomorrow.

This edition is valid from 31 August to 6 September, a full seven days, and runs to 52 pages covering frozen food, seasoning bases and drinks among other categories. Seven days of validity looks generous, yet the evenings on which cooking actually happens are usually only three or four, so quantities belong to those evenings rather than to the seven days on the cover.

• IGLO Crispino's 300 g at € 2,49: breaded frozen fish that goes from freezer to oven, answering the evening when there is no time to handle raw ingredients. Frozen goods keep into next week, which makes this the one of the three that best justifies a second pack.
• Honig mix 36 - 125 g at € 0,99: a small sachet of seasoning or sauce base that turns the same staple into a different meal. It is cheap and small, so taking two or three different flavours keeps one week from tasting repetitive.
• CoolBest Fruitdrink at € 1,19: a chilled juice that wants finishing once opened, so its logic runs opposite to the first two. Buy the number of bottles this week will genuinely drink rather than an extra one because the price is low.

Hokimi field note: Together the three make the shape of one weekday dinner: something to cook, something to season it, and something to drink. In the first full week after school starts, a dinner you can repeat is worth more than the few cents saved: count the evenings on the calendar when cooking will really happen, multiply by portions, and that beats guessing against the seven days printed on the cover. Prices and participating stores are as marked in the shop.