I'm an
Aldi shopper. I've shopped at Aldi off and on my whole life. Even though I've been dozens of times since I was a kid, Aldi still conjures up images of these cookies.
And flats and flats of generic soda cans stacked taller than I. The purple Grape and green Lemon-Lime and my favorite, the pink Strawberry. (These are things that also remind me of my Grandpa.)
But, slowly this image and other like it are creeping into my mental picture of Aldi.
I decided I would fully commit to Aldi when we decided to only buy necessities. We haven't gotten completely accustomed to the "buy only what we need" bit but we're still trying. Likewise, going to Aldi takes some getting used to.
Here are my Aldi tips:
1. Get creative with substitutions and feel free to eliminate ingredients. Recipes are just guidelines (except when baking unless you know what you're doing). I love recipes and I usually stick to them. But Aldi doesn't always have everything I need, exactly when I need it. This week, I want to make a
sweet potato and pepita stuffing recipe. I knew finding pepitas at Aldi might be tricky so I decided to look for pepitas and sunflower kernels. No luck on either. I'll just have to eliminate the pepitas and have sweet potato stuffing instead. (Maybe with some walnuts???)
2. Find another way. Last week, I couldn't find pizza dough mix at Aldi. Pizza dough mix, gravy mix, jarred alfredo sauce--all of these are convenience foods. If I really really want them and I can't find them at Aldi, I can figure out a way to make them at home. Even though it may take more time, the results will probably turn out better than I could buy at the fanciest of grocery stores.
3. Be patient and keep my eyes open. If I'm looking for a kitchen staple or want to try something they don't have on one trip, I'll leave it on my list and try again next week. This week, I bought a jar of roasted red peppers for a
green bean recipe. I don't think roasted red peppers are a regularly stocked item but last week, I noticed they were an "item of the week." I went home, found the recipe and put them on my list. There were some jars left so I snagged one. This doesn't always work so that leaves tip #4.
4. Occasionally go to another store. I decided that if something I need is on my list for more than a month and I haven't found it at Aldi. I should buy it at a different story. For example, this week I ran out of ground ginger and pumpkin pie spice. I'm not replacing the pumpkin pie spice because I have every spice it is made of except ground ginger. I may get lucky over the next month and it will turn up at Aldi. (It certainly is the right time of year to stock ginger.) But if not, I'll make a stop at Hy-Vee for ginger and maybe splurge on some
Pumpkin Spice Eggnog while I'm there. I know, I know. It's not a necessity. Maybe I can consider it a Christmas present for Husband! Like I said, we're still working on the whole "buy only what we need" bit.
5. Almost forgot. Keep a quarter in my car for the cart!
What I spent today: $25.97
Total since Monday: $1104.01
