Monday, October 22, 2012

31 Days:: Aldi, Part Two


This is Part Two of a guest post by Bobbi over at Favorite Family Foods.  Don't miss Part One!

A few more interesting things about Aldi:
  • Fit & Active food line is Aldi's line of healthier foods. This makes it easy to feed your family well without paying more.
  • "Special Buy" items are the different buys that Aldi offers weekly.  Sometimes the special buys are food, sometimes they are utensils, sometimes they are toys. These items are available only while supplies last and Aldi CAN limit how many you buy.  You can find out about these Special Buy items by checking out the sale ad at the store, or online at www.aldi.us.    
  • Seasonal items are items that are only available during a certain season. A few examples:  marinades and dry salad dressing packs are available in the summer, pumpkin and apple pie filling in the fall, and when the holidays are near there will be plenty of baking powder, cocoa and corn syrup to buy.  If you see something you love and it says "seasonal" on the price tag, be sure to stock up!  It just might not be there the next time you come!
Here are some of my favorite Aldi products:
(Note ~ I am just naming a few.  I decided to make a Top 10 list, but In no particular order.)
1. Heavy Whipping Cream  I use this for making Ice Cream and Chocolate Fudge Sauce.
2. Lunch meat  They have a lovely selection at a very reasonable price.
3. Cereal  There is not a one that we do not like. Our favorites are their brands of Frosted Mini Wheats and Chex....and Lucky Charms.
4. Crackers  I always grab a box of thin wheat crackers (aka Wheat Thins) and wheat rounds (aka Wheat Ritz). Great snacks.
5. Chocolate chips, flour, sugar, powdered sugar and brown sugar make it into my cart EVERY week!
6. Yogurt  I usually get the big container of vanilla.
7. Sandwich bags, plastic wrap and foil
8.a. Oatmeal ~ quick cooking and old fashioned, for granola and granola bars
8.b. Fresh Grated Parmesan cheese
9. Ranch dressing
10. Frozen pizza. Frozen green beans. Tilapia. 
(I cheated!  I should have made it top 20...I could go on!!)
 
Some of the Products I do NOT buy from Aldi:
1. Meat.  I generally only buy meat at Aldi if I am out or if it is the "special" for the week. Not because it is bad, but because I tend to stock up on my meat when it goes on sale at other stores, or "shop" from my freezer because we get half of a cow.
2. Produce.  If the fruit or vegetables look too ripe or questionable, I will pass them up. But usually if the bananas are not great then the apples are great...so there is always some produce to get.
3. umm... I guess we honestly like it all. My husband is so un-picky that he will eat whatever. Sorry about my lack of help here.....
(Note from Lisa:  I don't particularly care for their cocoa powder...I don't think it's very "chocolatey".  I also haven't had very good success with their non-stick cooking spray.)

"The Truth About Aldi"
You may see some "truths" written on employees shirts or in Aldi ads.  Here are a few of my favorites:
  • "Low prices on EVERYTHING beats a low price on ONE thing."
  • "When deciding between eating well and saving money, always choose both."
  • "We don't match other stores' prices because that would mean raising ours."
Stopping at Aldi may mean you have to make "one more stop" ~ but for me, it is actually my first stop. If you have not shopped at Aldi, I encourage you to try it!  As a gereral rule you WILL save money while shopping there.
 
What are your favorite Aldi products?  Do you think shopping there saves you money?
 
Looking for more ways to Save Money in the Kitchen?  You can catch up on any articles you've missed by clicking over to here.

Bobbi is an Indiana wife and mother who LOVES to spend time in the kitchen. Cooking for picky kids can be challenging, but yet a joy. She shares some of her family's favorite recipes at her blog, Favorite Family Foods, where she also does an Aldi post (like this one) every Wednesday.

4 comments:

  1. I love ALdi! My family loves their spaghetti sauce and chicken nuggets better than any and all name brands! And yes, I've tried them all! I buy most the things on your list as well as chips/pretzels, peanut butter, syrup (although I might have to switch to Mrs. Butterworth at Costco :), alfredo sauce is good, block cheese, sour cream, coffee creamer, my kids love their yogurt, whipped topping is always 89 cents, canned goods are great price like tomatos, black beans, veggies, etc. Its worth the extra stop!

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  2. I, too, shop at Aldi regularly. There might be a few products we haven't liked, but on the whole, we are very happy with them. My hint is regarding the bagging process: since we have to bag our own items anyhow, I bring the cart directly from the cash register to my van, where I line up my bags and fill them directly from the cart. I found when I bagged in the store, I was handling everything three times - from the cart to the bag, putting the bags back in the cart, and then from the cart to my van. The only exception is when it is raining hard or blowing snow - then it's easier to do the bagging inside the store!

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  3. I have found that you have to watch package sizes at Aldi. Lately they have been making the packages smaller. I was disappointed when I got home and found that the cheese stick package was no longer 12 oz. but 10 oz. Same goes for the cereal. Their prices are still good, but be aware.

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  4. We don't have Aldis here in San Diego, but we do have Grocery Outlet. I'd forgotten about it because it only opened a few months ago and it's about 7 miles away from me, but I was in the neighborhood today and stopped by. Holy cow, the prices are 33 - 50% lower than Target. Thanks for reminding me about this. Having just discovered this blog, I am now onto Menu Planning.

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