Aldi shoppers stop in here. What's good?

[Audreysmama]

Add me to the list of depressed about food prices...and low grocery budget for a family of 7.

I love Aldi! I have seen a lot of my favorites posted already, but here are some things I really like. I do almost all my shopping at Aldi, get WIC stuff from Schnucks & frozen boneless skinless chicken breast and hamburger patty's at GFS (awesome store).
chocolate chips
brownie mix is the best (toss in some chocolate chips)
we really like their frozen pizza
their frozen broccoli is not my favorite, but is good for soup
sweet onion salsa in the fridge section is a nice treat
tortilla chips
lunch meat
sliced cheese (I like their selection of cheeses)
taco shells and tortillas are good
my dd loves their brown gravy mix
old fashoined oatmeal (ours just started carrying this)
dried cherries
raisins
all staples for baking
garbage bags are nice there
storage bags
frozen whole chicken is good
tilapia
we like the ice cream
yogurt
produce (if the banana's are more on the ripe side, I peel and freeze on a stick for frozen bananas)
I guess that is about it...I love the fact that there is only one choice for items there. I don't like so many choices at stores. It also makes it really easy to send dh there on his way home from work, lack of choices makes it easy for him to get the right item, lol. I need to go to the store so bad & can't wait until we have some $$ for it!

[Sandi]

Amy! Where are you in Illinois?

[Audreysmama]

central il...peoria area

[sweet~potato]

Originally Posted by Dannielle

Like American cheese slices. The 99c a pack cheese is all rubbery...it's for the people who only care about cheap. The 1.99 a pack cheese is comparable to kraft.

Yes, one time I accidentally picked up the super cheap cheese and it was awful tasting. The one that was a little more money was great though.

I haven't been to Aldi's in a while but I used to get cheeses, string cheese, yogurt, cereal, soy milk, tortillas, tuna, tomato sauce, nuts. They had a roasted vegetable pizza that was delicious. I also got frozen raviolis that were really good.

[blossom]

We have Aldi in Australia. I went to one recently, although it was definitely cheaper there wasn't much variety.

We so need Costco here!!

[Kbsmama]

Originally Posted by Sandi

but, there are other things that are just cost-prohibitive to go organic - like, say, rice (with the volume we eat and how expensive rice is to buy organic) or certain produce (avocados aside due to fat content)

The good news is that avocados are on the safe list for non-organic.

[khogue2002]

I went today for the first time in ages and found a couple of new to me items.

Old fashioned oatmeal. (Will try it tomorrow.)
Natural peanut butter (We really liked this and I think it was only 1.79!)


Edited to add the oatmeal is good too. Not gooey like the Quaker brand.

[ChantingMama]

Originally Posted by blossom

We have Aldi in Australia. I went to one recently, although it was definitely cheaper there wasn't much variety.

We so need Costco here!!

I am *dying* for Costco.

We have an Aldi right near us, but I haven't shopped there in almost 20 years, in the States, and I don't know anything about what's good. But I didn't find the prices all that spectacular on the things I DID buy....the dairy was actually MORE than Coles! The produce seemed cheap, though. And then for the rest of everything...sigh...I am scared to try, cause dh is SO picky about brands, and I don't want to waste money buying an unfamiliar brand, and then have it go to waste. I just don't have enough money right now to experiment like that.

[Stephanie]

After reading all this, I'm interested to go check out Aldi here. We have a bunch but I've never been inside. I'm the crazy coupon lady at my A&P grocery store here & usually make out really well like that but now you've peaked my interest in Aldi. I just grocery shopped this morning so it will have to wait until next week.

P.S. The other day I saw people bringing in groceries at Dh's son's house & they all had Aldi plastic bags, brightly colored plastic bags that said Aldi on them. DH said here they have bags but they are something like 10 cents a bag. I have my own bags anyway but have a tendency to forget them at home.

[Dannielle]

Yeah when you shop at Aldi you have to remember to bring your bag (bc they do charge for bags) and bring a quarter (for the cart).

[momof2boys1girl]

Our Aldi now has "green bags" I saw them last week.
?? tho has anyone tried there salmon?I saw they had them frozen for $5.99 and was wondering how they were. We recently started eating salmon and if it is good it would save some money.

They had a chicken fajita pizza to that was really good we tried it this past weekend.

For those who have not been in years the quality has really improved over how they used to be. I started shopping there when dh and I got our first apartment and we had to use my tips each day for food and I would walk from work to aldi and then home. That was 15yrs ago tho.

The fit brand granola bars are really good to.

[LisaC]

Thank you all for your responses. You pushed this picky eating girl to go Aldi!!! LOL.

I really got to thinking that due to all the grocery hikes, I can't afford organic anymore anyway so why am I going to my regular grocery store and paying their high prices for similar stuff I can get at Aldi DUH!!!!

So I went today and spent $50. I bought mostly basics like baking supplies (so much cheaper!!) Lots of canned beans (half the price as my grocery store)-I do dried beans as much as possible but like to keep cans around just in case. I got some pineapple and the produce looked great and was sooooo cheap!! In the past when I've gone, the produce has been nasty but you guys are right, they have really improved their selection!

I bought the soymilk as well. Not thrilled it's in plastic but the Silk soy milk is up to almost $4 a half gallon and I can't eat a lot of dairy (I get really sick) so I do soymilk and save my dairy intake for yummy stuff like cheese or ice cream.

So anyway, we got hit with some pretty big bills this week that were unexpected so being able to drastically cut my grocery bill is a blessing.

[Stephanie]

You guys definately got me. I'm heading over next week with my bags & quarter in hand. I'll report back on my finds.

[ChantingMama]

Yupp...I headed over yesterday, with dh, and we got a few things to try. It's definitely a mixed bag. Some things are just as expensive as regular stores, some are drastically cheaper; some things taste okay, and some things, well, ew. We got a stomach ache.

Overall, though, definitely worth adding to the rotation!

[Dannielle]

if you're ever not satisfied with something, return it. Aldi has a double guarantee on everything. They will refund your money AND replace the product.