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HSinNH
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I've been pleasantly surprised with my experience at Aldi.  

 

Things we like:

Kettle style chips.  soooo good. The Jalepeno one is better than the brand name Kettle chip

bagels--I like to use these for pizza bagels.  not for breakfast

Hawaiian Rolls

baking supplies are good (not AP flour, I believe it is bleached and I won't use that)

pickles

canned goods- when we use them

most cheeses

I've had a pretty good experience with the produce

guacamole-spicy verision

 

 

I can't say much about the cereals, crackers or cookies as I don't really buy those, but I agree with most about the European chocolates!  In fact, I usually try to avoid them because I can't seem to control myself at all when they are in the house.  

 

 

 

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GF people - is there a GF frozen pizza?

 

 

Our first ALDI just opened in January. I went last week, overall I was impressed. Based on all the things I've read here over the years, I think ours is a little fancier than most but that is typical for my area.

I just hate to add another grocery store to my rotation. ðŸ˜

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GF people - is there a GF frozen pizza?

 

 

Our first ALDI just opened in January. I went last week, overall I was impressed. Based on all the things I've read here over the years, I think ours is a little fancier than most but that is typical for my area.

I just hate to add another grocery store to my rotation. ðŸ˜

They have small-ish cheese and pepperoni frozen GF pizzas (a bit bigger than Totinos size), and a box crust mix (not frozen, like Glutino).

 

If they still have them, they sold GF french fried onions at Christmas, and our store still has quite a few. I can't even find those in regular stores. Sooooo good on baked potato soup.

Edited by BarbecueMom
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Don't give up on Aldi too quickly.  My first impression was that it mostly carried processed packaged food in an off-brand.  Now we do the bulk of our grocery shopping there.  It has really slashed our grocery bill. I skip the processed and packaged goods (although DH ensures that a few packs of cookies and/or crackers/chips sneak into the cart) but find plenty of things to buy.  It now pains me to pay even Walmart prices when I know I can get it cheaper at Aldi.

 

It'll take some trial and error to determine which products you like and don't like.  No one seems to agree.

 

I try to also skip over their special buys in non-food items because we just don't need more stuff.  However, we got an awesome deal on a dog bed.  They had one price for all sizes and we dug down into the box for the largest size. It was a fraction of the cost of a dog bed at a pet store or even Walmart.  

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I usually just go for produce but unfortunately I have to walk past the cookies to get there.  They have quite a few cookies that are very similar to Girl Scout Cookies but a fraction of the price.  12 ounce package of mint cookies for $1.29 comes to mind but I also like the coconut chocolate one and the peanut butter chocolate one too.  Maybe you didn't want to know that.

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GF people - is there a GF frozen pizza?

 

 

Our first ALDI just opened in January. I went last week, overall I was impressed. Based on all the things I've read here over the years, I think ours is a little fancier than most but that is typical for my area.

I just hate to add another grocery store to my rotation. ðŸ˜

 

Yes, but they're junk food.  One fits on a dinner plate and I'm not super impressed with the quality, but then I never am when I buy frozen GF pizza.  If it's errands day I frequently buy them anyway and eat one for lunch, or half with a salad. They're cheap but for the price of two I could get Papa Murphy's or Pizza Ranch, both of which are better (both locations near us are very careful, so we trust them - In other locations we tried, not so much). The crust mix is actually really good (especially when you mix in oregano and EVOO and roll it out on corn meal).  One mix will cover a large baking sheet.  Instead of rolling I really just push it onto the pan with my fingers and then let it rise a few minutes, which makes it a bit more like focaccia pizza.

 

Near the pizzas are some pocket type frozen sandwiches.  I like them both but DH (not gluten free) loves the Southwestern flavor ones.  I don't remember everything that's in them except for black beans, but once or twice a year DH will ask me to bring more of those home.

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GF people - is there a GF frozen pizza?

 

 

Our first ALDI just opened in January. I went last week, overall I was impressed. Based on all the things I've read here over the years, I think ours is a little fancier than most but that is typical for my area.

I just hate to add another grocery store to my rotation. ðŸ˜

 

The kids like the g-f pizza; I think it's okay. They are really little (think slightly larger than Pizza Hut personal pans). They usually have it every other week or so.

 

We do like the box of pizza crust - ours is in the baking area. I throw some Italian seasonings in it to pump up the flavor a little. We like to use it on a cookie sheet rather than our pizza pan though. It seems crunchier when cooked on the pizza pan with holes.

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Has anyone tried their beer or wine?

 

Yes.

They have a  good Italian Pinot grigio. Some fairly good New Zealand whites.

Have not tried their reds.

 

They have European beers. German beer from near my home town. I am not a beer drinker, but get it for parties - my beer friends like it.

Edited by regentrude
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Yes.

They have a  good Italian Pinot grigio. Some fairly good New Zealand whites.

Have not tried their reds.

 

They have European beers. German beer from near my home town. I am not a beer drinker, but get it for parties - my beer friends like it.

 

I'm so jealous.  They don't sell any beer or wine in the Aldi's here (due to various strange laws we have).

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In general I really like them, but I do find variances between stores.  Not in their staples like cereal, but the more fresh, perishable items.  The produce is so-so at the one closest to me, but the store about 10 miles away has awesome produce.  My store has a great yogurt and cheese selection, the other has just basics in this department.  

 

I use Aldi's for a lot of my staple pantry items and basic refrigerator items.  Most of the frozen items I've tried have been decent.  Some I may not buy again due to personal preference, but I haven't had anything that is disgusting or horrible.  

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I was at Aldi today. 35 cents for a dozen eggs. $1.09 for a gallon of milk.

 

$1.99 for corned beef brisket...Which at least last year was very very good. Bagged lettuce for 69 cents.

 

I buy 90â„…+ of my groceries there. It is clean and super fast. Today a package of blueberries spilled in the check out lane and in under a minute they had opened a new lane, got someone to clean up, and another person had gotten a new package of blueberries.

 

So much faster and easier than Walmart or Meijers.

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Aldi's is hit and miss. I appreciate the gluten free labeling and the Live G Free line of foods. What I find a tad frustrating is that I can never be certain that something will be on the shelves when I go shopping. It seems like some items are staples while others are not.

 

ETA: I do not like the GF pizza from Aldi's. 

Edited by Scoutermom
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They had a multi pack of individual packs of trail mix.  They were so good and the perfect portion.  But they don't have them anymore.  If I knew they were going away I would have bought up as may as possible.  The ones by the checkout are a little too big of a portion and if I buy the big bag I will eat it all in one sitting.  So sad to see those go but love lost in one of the hazards of Aldi shopping  :crying:

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. What I find a tad frustrating is that I can never be certain that something will be on the shelves when I go shopping. It seems like some items are staples while others are not.

 

 

The bolded is correct. Not all items are staples.

Some items are seasonal. Certain baking supplies, dried dates, certain cookies are Christmas season items for example.

Some items are special buys because it's Italian week, or Asian week, or German week - if they are gone, they don't come back until the next cycle for the event. Usually a couple times per year or so.

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How much do you think you save shopping at Aldi's?  

 

We tried it once and I didn't feel like it saved that much vs shopping at Walmart.   But now our grocery bills are adding up again, so maybe i need to try it again.  But is a 40min round trip and I just never feel like it really is worth it.

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Well keeping in mind my wheat allergy and that I buy gluten free, I save at least $60 off every trip.  Even if everyone goes with, we go in hungry, buy two weeks worth of groceries and all the junk that everyone wants, I have never managed to get out of there and spend more than $120.

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Oh, and our Aldi has a decent brand of whole organic milk.  Great price for it.  I love The whole milk yogurt that is cheaper than the garbage from the "regular" grocery store.  I can always get Cuties brand mandarins(kids hate other brands) there at a great price.

 

I just go to Aldi every other week.  One of those days I go to Costco.  Then, on the off weeks, I go to another grocery store(Meijer usually) and fill in with the things I can't get at Aldi and Costco.

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Thanks for the info on the GF pizza. I didn't see it when I went the first time but I'll buy a couple if I see them. I like to have a couple in the freezer to make for the kids for when DH and I go out to dinner on Saturday nights and the kids stay home.

If we're all eating pizza at home I make a grain free crust.

Dd really likes the CPK GF BBQ chicken pizza but it's pricey.

 

 

I wasn't blown away by the prices at ALDI because we have a couple local chains that have amazing sales on meat and produce.

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Well keeping in mind my wheat allergy and that I buy gluten free, I save at least $60 off every trip. Even if everyone goes with, we go in hungry, buy two weeks worth of groceries and all the junk that everyone wants, I have never managed to get out of there and spend more than $120.

Whoa. You're feeding your whole family for $60 a week including snacks?!!!!!?[emoji322][emoji471]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Aldi is one of the stores in my rotation.  I think that the regular prices aren't much cheaper than grocery store sale rotations, but their sales on produce and meat definitely are.  The eggs and milk are usually cheaper, too, but they sell milk in those awful Costco gallon jugs, and my kids just can't do that, so we skip the milk.

 

I like their prices on fancier stuff--gouda, Irish cheese (that's a special right now, but there is always some sort of special), smoked salmon, salami, etc. Their staples are always well priced and reliable.  

It's a very good option for us if we need a quick lunch or snack when we are out running errands.  Their snacky stuff is well priced.

 

I don't shop there every week, but it's part of what I do to save money.  My pantry and fridge aren't really big enough for a full week's worth of groceries, so I need to make a stop midweek for produce and dairy, at the minimum.  I also have an enormous variety of grocery stores to choose from.  So I shop around a good bit.  But I do find myself at Aldi at least once or twice a month.  

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I bought their cheese one time when no other store had any on sale, and made pizza. DH took one bite and said wherever I got the cheese, not to get it there again. It tasted rubbery and bland. I normally buy Kraft or Sargento, occasionally a Meijer or Kroger brand.

 

You need to buy their imported cheeses :)

 

Their American cheese is as bad as all American cheese - but the Spanish, British or French cheeses are actually from Europe and none of the rubbery stuff that passes for cheese in this country

Edited by regentrude
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Well keeping in mind my wheat allergy and that I buy gluten free, I save at least $60 off every trip.  Even if everyone goes with, we go in hungry, buy two weeks worth of groceries and all the junk that everyone wants, I have never managed to get out of there and spend more than $120.

 

 

Whoa. You're feeding your whole family for $60 a week including snacks?!!!!!?[emoji322][emoji471]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

I think she saves $60/week by shopping at Aldi v. similar items at another store. 

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Everyone seems to love their produce but I have always found it to be very hit or miss, usually a miss. I bought their cheese one time when no other store had any on sale, and made pizza. DH took one bite and said wherever I got the cheese, not to get it there again. It tasted rubbery and bland. I normally buy Kraft or Sargento, occasionally a Meijer or Kroger brand.

 

 

 

They changed their cheese about 3 years ago.  Before that, it was really bad.  I usually buy Kroger brand.  The Aldi was about 10x worse.  But sometime in the last few years, they changed it, and now it tastes very similar to Kroger/Kraft.  So when I want that kind of cheese, it works fine.

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I have the opposite problem with cheese. Kraft and Sargento taste like mold to me. I'm sure there are cheeses that are supposed to smell like my 8yo's sweaty flip flops. Mild cheddar isn't supposed to be one of them.

 

I do buy Costco's feta, partially because it does taste a bit better, partially because we can easily go through that jug of it in a couple weeks.

 

Also, my Aldi ad has chocolate almond milk in it this week as a special buy (usually shows up 2-3 times a year). It is hands down the best chocolate almond milk you can find anywhere. It makes name-brand taste like water with cocoa powder in it. One of the things I love about the special buys is that I can't get it every week. It's, literally, a special buy.

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Oh, and Costco....if we had a Costco here I would get our cheese there, but we don't have one of those either.  We all love the cheese from Costco....I think it's Tillamook brand?

 

On the grocery shopping front, I will be very glad to move, the area we are going to has Costco and Fresh Thyme and Meijer and Kroger and I will even be able to get down to Jungle Jims occasionally.

 

Jealous that  you will be near Jungle Jim's. We only got to go a couple times a year but it was always such a treat!

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I buy everything at Aldi that I can get. We use their paper products, laundry soap, etc. as well as use all foods. I have had some trouble with the bananas. I find if they are green that they never ripen at all. They pick them too soon or something I guess, lol. So I don't buy them. 

 

Other than that, we use it all. 

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Eh, we like Kraft mozz on our pizza. I am ok with non fancy cheese on our pizza. I make pizza at least once a week, it's one of the few foods I can count on DD6 eating all the time. If I get too fancy with it, there's a possibility that she won't eat it.

 

Now, if I am going to get cheddar like for cheese cubes or cheese burgers, I really actually prefer the cheese that Fresh Thyme sells. It's so good. I so wish we had a Fresh Thyme here. They beat every other store's price and quality. There's one by my mom so whenever we are going to get together she will happily take a list from me and grocery shop there for me. We don't have a Sprouts here but I saw someone mention it earlier, I have heard Fresh Thyme is very much like Sprouts.

We have Sprouts here. I went in a Fresh Thyme last summer in NE, it was EXACTLY like Sprouts.
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Yes, and I love the special buys that aren't just foods either. You never know what they will have from pillow pets to rubber boots to fruit trees to patio furniture. But if they get it, the price is spectacular. I try to buy bday presents and such there. Last month had these pretty coloring book journals that my girls love for $5. I bought like 8 of them. Some are for their Easter baskets and the rest are for bday presents for their friends.  They are very good quality paper and covers, and I have seen them sold for so much more other places. 

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We like their milk ($0.69/gallon here) for making yogurt. We like their eggs ($0.29/dozen). I get some produce as well - but sometimes it doesn't last long. 

My dh likes their granola cereal on his yogurt.  We buy their cheese because it is cheap, but name brand cheese is better - but at half price, we will be happy with it. During Christmas and New Year's they have KerryGold cheeses which are excellent. I buy extra and freeze a few. Sometimes we will pick up a loaf of their specialty bread or cookies.

Wow. I'm wondering where you live, LOL. I haven't seen milk for .69 cents a gallon and eggs for .29 cents for years and years and years.

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Yes, and I love the special buys that aren't just foods either. You never know what they will have from pillow pets to rubber boots to fruit trees to patio furniture. But if they get it, the price is spectacular. I try to buy bday presents and such there. Last month had these pretty coloring book journals that my girls love for $5. I bought like 8 of them. Some are for their Easter baskets and the rest are for bday presents for their friends.  They are very good quality paper and covers, and I have seen them sold for so much more other places.

I just bought a really nice origami book this week. It has a lot of different origami patterns that we haven't seen before -- some a bit more complicated, which my son loved. The book came with some origami paper, too. It was $4.99 and well worth it.

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I know that other stores can match/beat Aldi's prices at times with paper coupons, mperks, loyalty cards, electronic coupons, etc BUT....And this is huge for me....I hate messing with all of that stuff to score the best deal. I don't want to have to think of clipping this electronic coupon and then typing in my phone number and making sure that the size/brand/flavor is just right for the coupon. That takes too much time and mental energy for me.

 

I just like running into the store, grabbing what I need, and getting out quickly.

 

There are a few things I hold out for...LaChoy soy sauce, Helmans real mayo, and Jif peanut butter. Easy though to pick those up the once or so a month I run into Walmart or other store.

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No, you remember correctly.

Aldi South and Aldi North are now two separate companies, owned by different brothers.

 

Aldi South runs the US Aldi stores.

Aldi North owns Trader Joe's.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi

Oh, this is interesting. I knew Trader Joe's was run my Aldi, but I didn't realize that there was an Aldi South and and Aldi North, and they are different.

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GF people - is there a GF frozen pizza?

 

 

Our first ALDI just opened in January. I went last week, overall I was impressed. Based on all the things I've read here over the years, I think ours is a little fancier than most but that is typical for my area.

I just hate to add another grocery store to my rotation. ðŸ˜

Aldi is renovating their stores. They are changing their look and I think they are working on changing their image, too. They are cutting preservatives and junk from their products, and are including more organic things on a regular basis. We just had their organic barbecue sauce yesterday, and it was tasty. No high fructose corn syrup. Yay!

 

My only gripe about Aldi is that mine has been adding more and more non-grocery stuff and having fewer shelves for food. I'd prefer the groceries to the household stuff.

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OK, I'm making too many posts about Aldi. LOL, I made just about a week's worth of posts on this thread.

 

One more thing to keep in mind -- Aldi has a great guarantee. They will refund your money on a product you don't like, just like Trader Joe's. When I returned some cookie dough I bought that was not good, they refunded my money AND let me pick out a different cookie dough to try.

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I know that other stores can match/beat Aldi's prices at times with paper coupons, mperks, loyalty cards, electronic coupons, etc BUT....And this is huge for me....I hate messing with all of that stuff to score the best deal. I don't want to have to think of clipping this electronic coupon and then typing in my phone number and making sure that the size/brand/flavor is just right for the coupon. That takes too much time and mental energy for me.

 

I just like running into the store, grabbing what I need, and getting out quickly.

 

There are a few things I hold out for...LaChoy soy sauce, Helmans real mayo, and Jif peanut butter. Easy though to pick those up the once or so a month I run into Walmart or other store.

 

Exactly.  I used to coupon but when Aldi hit our area 6 years ago or so I found that I could just shop there and ditch the coupons and sale tracking.  I used to think there were some things from there we didn't love but either they have gotten better or the convenience of shopping there has overtaken our pickiness.  I now shop almost exclusively there and hate thinking of going anywhere else.  I'd likely change the menu first. 

 

I actually had been doing alot of shopping at SAMS Club for what I could get there at a good price.  When Aldi came in I found that I could get similar unit prices without buying huge quantities.

 

I run into Publix sometimes and the sticker shock always amazes me.  I don't know how people do regular grocery shopping there.  It is a pleasant experience though!

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Oh, this is interesting. I knew Trader Joe's was run my Aldi, but I didn't realize that there was an Aldi South and and Aldi North, and they are different.

 

My husband said the only difference was one Aldi brother wanted to sell cigarettes and the other didn't and that was what their break up was about.  Something like that!  I've been to both and there is no real difference that I notice.

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I was at Aldi today. 35 cents for a dozen eggs. $1.09 for a gallon of milk.

 

$1.99 for corned beef brisket...Which at least last year was very very good. Bagged lettuce for 69 cents.

 

I buy 90â„…+ of my groceries there. It is clean and super fast. Today a package of blueberries spilled in the check out lane and in under a minute they had opened a new lane, got someone to clean up, and another person had gotten a new package of blueberries.

 

So much faster and easier than Walmart or Meijers.

 

Wowsers.  You must live in low food price land.  Our milk is more like $2.79 at Aldi.  Eggs are $1.35.  Which is still significantly less than other stores.

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They changed their cheese about 3 years ago.  Before that, it was really bad.  I usually buy Kroger brand.  The Aldi was about 10x worse.  But sometime in the last few years, they changed it, and now it tastes very similar to Kroger/Kraft.  So when I want that kind of cheese, it works fine.

 

They have a delicious havarti-dill. It disappears quickly whenever I buy it.

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Please tell me what European chocolates you all like from Aldi. 

 

All :)

 

Moser Roth is their store brand I believe. They have fantastic dark chocolate (75% and 85%), milk, chili, mint. I don't care for orange flavored.

Chocolate truffles, chocolate covered nuts.

 

And Schogetten, the little pillow shaped portions that come in bar sized cardboard boxes. The dark ones are great for baking.

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I love Aldi's, it is my number #1 grocery store. I hit it first and only go to Kroger's if they don't have something, chocolate Almond Milk being a big one that they may or may not have but I generally only buy a few things from Krogers.

 

They are significantly cheaper than Wal-Mart on nearly everything. We like their store brand and as pp's mentioned they are moving away from preservatives, colors, etc. I can only remember one really nasty thing we bought, Reggio Pizza, I didn't eat it as it is not gf but it looked bad and dh didn't like it at all. 

 

They have wonderful GF selection and lots of general health food. I do wish some things would stay around more but that is the way it goes, I'm sure the things I want to stick around aren't necessarily what others want and there is limited shelf space. They just keep getting better and better. I've not noticed their produce spoiling faster than any other places. I do wish they had a larger variety at times but generally I can make do with what they have.

 

some of my favorites-

smoked salmon (in the freezer section) it is to die for and half the cost of anywhere else

mint & orange dark chocolate

they get in some Asian Ginger Pear Kombucha every now and again that is delicious

dark chocolate sea salt caramels I must stay away from!

 

The kids love their gf pizzas and brownies. I don't think the baking mix is very good, I don't generally buy it. The live gf cookies are just like the MUCH MORE expensive allergen free varieties. My girls love the Lifeway Kefir and they nearly always have that in stock at my store, although the flavors are switched out from time to time.

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