Best Groceries to Buy at Aldi

Aldi is great.  In fact, I used to shop there just about every weekend.  You may have to bring your own bags and pay a quarter to unlock your cart, but it's worth it because the groceries are insanely cheap!

Over the past few years, however, as I became more and more concerned with the ingredients, origin, and quality of the food I was eating, I began shopping at Aldi a lot less.  Many of the items they sell are processed and full of unnatural ingredients, and they are lacking in organic produce and meat options.

When Sprouts came to town, I actually almost stopped going to Aldi all together.  But then my mom started telling me about some hard-to-pass-up deals and even some new organic items that she had found there.  I hate to miss out on a bargain, so I have since added Aldi back into my grocery rotation.  While there is no way I could do all of my shopping there (not even close), they do have several great products that make it worth the trip.  Plus, their inventory is always changing, so you never know what sorts of interesting things you might stumble across.

This morning, Jay and I did a big Aldi run to stock up on all of things that they do best.

Here's a list of some of the best things to buy there (in our opinion):

Canned Pumpkin - Today was just $.89/can! But they only carry it in the fall, so be sure to stock up if you see it!

Fresh Grated Parmesan - $1.99 for a tub that costs close to $5 at other health food stores.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil - $2.99 for a 17 oz. bottle.

Fair Trade Dark Roast Coffee - just $3.99 for a 12 oz. package.

Spices - Red pepper flakes, cinnamon, oregano, paprika, parsley, and more are all just $.99 for a big container.  They also have vanilla extract for super cheap!

Hummus - in all different flavors and made from real ingredients for just $1.99.

100% pure maple syrup - I bought two of these today.  $3.99 for 8.5 ounces.

Old Fashioned Oats - A big canister for $2.29

Canned Beans and Veggies - Although we usually try to cook up a batch of dry beans for the week on Sundays, it is always nice to have some cans on-hand for back-up.  The beans at Aldi are just $.59!

Household Essentials and Paper Goods - You can't beat the prices on toilet paper, tissue, plastic wrap, foil, etc.

Here's what we ended up with today:

We got lots of the usual staples, plus a few new finds, such as:
Organic Pumpkin Flax Granola for $2.89.

 Instant Brown Rice for $1.49.  It's nice to have in a pinch!

 Premium Raspberry Fruit Spread made with real fruit and natural ingredients for $1.69.

 California Dates for $1.99 (so I can make gluten-free chocolate walnut truffles)!

We also picked up a big bag of sweet potatoes (conventional, but at least they are on the "Clean 15"), a package of organic spinach (which I was surprised/pleased to find!), and some tortilla chips.   Overall, I would say the Aldi run was a success!

Hope you are enjoying your extra hour today!

Weekend Highlights: 10-26

Friday night consisted of some exciting volleyball action.

Casady dominated one of their toughest rivals in the last home game of the season.  All that's left is the big championship down in Fort Worth in two weeks.  I will definitely be there cheering these guys on.  It has been quite the exciting season!

Saturday was a bit rainy, and I wasn't feeling the greatest from chemo on Friday, so we had a pretty low-key day.  I spent a lot of time camped out on the couch watching football and at the table grading piles of papers.

Jay and I did make it to Whole Paycheck Foods for this week's groceries.  While it doesn't make good financial sense for us to do all of our shopping here, we always have a ton of fun when we go and usually come away with some new and exciting finds.  I also love that all the meat at Whole Foods is raised humanely.  The chicken is completely free-range and the beef is grass-fed.  Aside from the local farmers market, this is one of the only places I will buy meat.

Some of our fun finds of the day included:

• Daiya Cream Cheese!!  
• Alvarado Street Sprouted Wheat Sesame bagels
• Norwegian Smoked Salmon
• Engine 2 Curried Lentil Plant Burgers 
• Cage-free buffalo chicken breasts
• Grass-fed beef
• Organic smokey tempeh strips
• Newman's Own Organic Ginger O's (I am addicted to these but only buy them when I spot a sale!)
• Blue Diamond Artisan Nut Thins
• More purple sweet potatoes
• An organic pomegranate 
• Organic swiss chard
• Organic grapes and apples
• Fresh pressed kale, melon, cucumber, celery juice

I just ate a sprouted wheat bagel with Daiya cream cheese and smoked salmon for lunch, and it was heavenly.  

We also managed to squeeze in a simple little craft project on Saturday afternoon.  We have a big digital thermostat in the hallway right outside our bedroom, and the bright blue light drives Jay crazy at night.  We stopped by Hobby Lobby to get some wood for him to build a small box around it, but I spotted one that was already painted and decorated that we bought instead.  Jay simply sawed the back off and affixed it to the wall around the thermostat.  The front of the box was coated with chalkboard paint, so I used a chalk maker to label it.  I may write something more exciting down the road than just "thermostat," but it works for now.  The box totally covers the light and looks like a cute little piece of artwork in the hall!

Sunday was another laid-back day, although my friend, Zenie, and I did walk-jog in a 5k for a local Weimaraner rescue organization.  There was a surprisingly big turnout of both people and dogs.  Many dogs ran in the race alongside their owners, and a bunch were even dressed up for Halloween.  It was so cute!  I asked Wendy and Oliver if they wanted to come run, but they were less than enthused.  

 

In their defense, they did get out of bed to come cheer us on for a bit with Jay, even though they didn't run.  It was a beautiful day to be outside!

If you are still in the mood for more healthy reads, I saw this article posted to Facebook this week and thought it made some great points:

8 Foods Even The Experts Won't Eat

Most of these foods I already stay away from, but I can always stand to do better.  For example, I try to use canned tomatoes sparingly due to the bisphenol-A in the linings, but they are so easy and cheap I still occasionally turn to them.  I really need to find a reasonably priced glass-bottled brand so that I can eliminate the cans all together.  And, I completely forgot that potatoes are on the dirty dozen!  That is one thing I don't usually buy organic, but I need to start!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Weekly Grocery Run

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  I had a super fun Saturday!  My friend Zenie invited me to go along with her and her sister to the OU game, and we had a blast.  We shopped on Campus Corner, cheered on the Sooners, and even got to go over to Coach Barry Switzer's house afterwards to watch him film an internet sports show!  It was pretty cool!

The only bad thing was that I didn't get much of anything done on Saturday (cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.), so that left Sunday as my catch-up day.  As soon as I woke up, I got to work on some thank-you notes I needed to write from my birthday.  Then, Jay and I decided to go for a jog at the local lake on our way to the grocery store.  It is so nice now that the weather is finally cooling off a bit!

We walk-jogged a little over two miles before heading to Sprouts for our weekly grocery run.

We keep a running grocery list on our phones using the AnyList app, which is great because multiple people can contribute to the same list.  I try to make sure that we never run out of staples like bread, almond milk, peanut butter, hummus, oatmeal, olive oil, etc. - the things I can't live without.  Then, before going to the store, I try to think about whether there are any special recipes that I want to make for the week, so I can be sure to include those ingredients on the list.  

We do the rest of our meal planning once we are at the store.  I like to go and see what kind of sales are going on and what looks good before I decide exactly what we are going to have.  If you are somewhat flexible with your meals, you can get the best deals and eat foods that are tasty and in-season.  I just try to ensure that we have plenty of veggies, proteins, and grains to put together healthy meals for the week. 

Here is how our shopping trip ended up.  

Lots of veggies, a few fruits, tofu, tempeh, some wild-caught ahi tuna, Daiya non-dairy cheese, black beans, oatmeal, and a few things fun things that we might not usually buy (but did because they were on super sale) like organic waffles, pearled couscous, and organic frozen cherries.  Our bill came to $65, which is pretty average for us for a week's worth of food.  Considering most of the veggies are organic and we got some really nice fish, I would say that is pretty good!

Here are the meals I am planning for the week:

Sunday - Seared ahi tuna, roasted purple potatoes, green beans

Monday - Giant salads topped with roasted veggies and tofu

Tuesday - Roasted cauliflower, pearled couscous, tempeh

Wednesday - Out to dinner with my family

Thursday - Black bean sweet potato enchiladas with Daiya cheese (one of my all-time favorite recipes!)

Friday - Wing it/out to eat

Saturday - Wing it/out to eat

Now all I have to do is fill out my cute menu board!

Have a great week!