"Mama needs her quarter."
If you've ever shopped Aldi, you know this phrase all too well. Humorously, I keep a handful of quarters in my car & my wallet for spontaneous trips so I'm not caught off guard.
When I first heard about Aldi several years ago, I was skeptical. They were popping up all around us & the prices seemed wayyyy too good to be true. There's several reasons they are able to keep their pricing low, one of which, they don't have cart people; you have to have a quarter to "check out" a cart & then you get it back when you return the cart to it's stall.
I've done a few different Aldi methods too: all my shopping there, a little here, a little there & I've come up with my own opinions of Aldi. I love them. Not for everything but for most things that I would overspend on at places like Kroger or Sprouts. Part of my Eat At Home initiative was still getting that food quality without sacrificing more of our paycheck & I know for a fact you can really spend some money on good quality foods.
First, let me back up for a minute.
I've learned as a mom that it is so easy to just hand my child a pack of fruit snacks to appease him until dinner is done. What I wasn't doing was reading everything that were in the fruit snacks. Enter those stinking Netflix documentaries again (& doing my own research too). There is so much garbage in so many things on the store shelves: cookies, kid snacks, meat, bread, dairy. I have become so much more self aware in the last few months of what we're eating. Are we perfect eaters? Hell no, but we are getting there & making wiser decisions with every trip; but I will tell you I just bought Crispy Taco Lay's because ummmmm, we have to try them!
Back to my Aldi favorites now that I'm off my tangent. I've really learned about all the offerings Aldi has & while there are quite a few things that I don't buy/or would never buy from Aldi, there's quite a few I do & stock up on when we go.
1. Cereal. Benjamin is a cereal addict & I love letting him pick his cereal at Aldi, because I know their "fun" cereals are dye free (HALLELUJAH!) & don't contain any high fructose corn syrup.
2. Simply Nature Fruit Leather Strips. I tried making these once. It was a hilarious disaster. We love the Strawberry ones, but definitely want to try the Raspberry ones too.
3. Simply Nature Spices. Organic spices at Aldi prices. Yes, yes & yes.
4. Organic milk. Aldi has their own organic milk & it is just as amazing & drinkable as Horizon or any other comparable organic milk, but about $2.50 cheaper than competing brands. If you have a boy in your house, you know how important cheap priced milk is.
5. Simply Nature Loaf Bread. Their hearty organic bread is so good! They have two options: Oat Honey or Seedtastic. We've had both but prefer the Oat Honey for sandwiches.
6. liveGfree Chicken Nuggets. Finding a good, afforable, edible chicken nugget for a child is like winning the lottery. We tried their gluten free, no added garbage nuggets on a whim & Benjamin devours them. #winning
7. Simply Nature Freeze Dried Fruit. If you haven't tried their freeze dried Fuji apples, stop everything you're doing & go get some. We can kill a bag quick & while these are a little pricier of my Aldi favorites, totally worth the splurge. We take these with us on-the-go all the time to avoid stopping in a drive thru for something. (post coming soon on our favorite on the go snacks!)
8. Simply Nature Air Popped Popcorn. Yes, I could pop my own popcorn, but sometimes its just not happening. While we love Boom Chica Pop & those other brands, Aldi's price wins out. Plus Aldi's bag is bigger.
9. Salami Bites. Not organic, but for the price, their salami bites are always in my cart. Perfect for picnics, lunches & snacking. I love making our own "lunchables" with them with some Aldi "Ritz" crackers & a cheese stick.
10. Simply Nature Canned Goods. My pantry sometimes looks like it could survive an apocalyptic event & I'm never going to apologize for it. We always have their organic beans & tomato sauce/paste readily available for any situation.
If you haven't given Aldi a try & there's one local to you, get yourself a quarter (& some reusable bags) & try it out for yourself. *you bag your own groceries & bags cost 7-10 cents per bag if you don't bring your own*
Here's to eating at home.
This isn't a sponsored post by any means, but my love for sharing some amazing quality products without breaking your budget.
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