Aldi

ALDI has quickly become my favorite store; mostly because it has different stuff than every other store and it's more of an adventure than Winn Dixie. I think it's better than Trader Joe's; they're still counting heads at Trader Joe's so I loathe waiting on line to get into an empty store. Note that ALDI and Trader Joe's are owned by the same company; so there are many items at ALDI that you can also find at TJ's under a different label.

I've found quite a few things that I really like at ALDI; and quite I few I don't. Given that we're eating at home a lot more unless you're completely inept in the kitchen, I've decided to share some of my "Finds".

Aldi Keto Friendly Bagels

I was going to buy some Aldi bagels and I spotted these Keto friendly bagels; just 90 calories. While I got down to weight months ago; saving almost 200 calories still has it's benefits. One of these also has 29g of fiber, and getting more fiber isn't a bad thing either. I lather it up with cream cheese, so how bad could they be?

While I may have over-toasted the first one I tried; it really didn't taste much like a bagel. Sort of airy and crunchy; fiber formed into a something that looks like a bagel. It wasn't bad, but if you're in the mood for a bagel this isn't what you want.

Corned Beef Hash

Those of you who read this site regularly know I cook almost everything from scratch, but one of the few things I like out of a box or can is Mary Kitchen corned beef hash. I found it years ago (Hormel has since acquired the company); It tastes just like the stuff I used to get in a Long Island diner at 3am. It's the only one I've found that has the same taste. Granted it's crap; but it's delicious crap. Once in a while you can have crap.

I noticed the similar can and the "Homestyle" tagline and surmised that Aldi's brand might be Mary Kitchen Hash in disguise.

The nutritional info is identical, and I can attest that Brookdale is Hormel Mary Kitchen corned beef hash. It's 100% the same, at half the price.

Don't be fooled by how it looks. It's awsome stuff.

Deutsch Kuce Pork Schnitzel

Pork Schnitzel (basically breaded pork cutlets) are sometimes what you get when you order Veal Parmesan in a pizzeria. Pork is a lot cheaper, and what are you going to do, give it a DNA test to prove it's not veal? I made these "parmesan", and I give them a failing grade. Too much bread. Tastes like something you might get at a bad pizzeria for the lunch special.

Aldi Paper Towels vs Bounty

I use paper towels for everything, and I like Bounty Paper towels. I buy the 8 pack when they're on sale, which still isn't very cheap. Aldi has a product that says "compare to bounty" on it, which usually means that it IS bounty. Looking closely at bounty and aldi side by side, you can hardly tell the difference; if the roll on the right didn't say "Bounty" on it I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. $3.89 for 2 double rolls instead of 4.99; still expensive and probably not cheaper than the big package of Bounty on sale, but good in a pinch. There's nothing worse than paying the regular price for paper towels.

After using these, it's clear that the Aldi towels are a bit thinner and not as good as Bounty. Sometimes you get what you pay for. They're perfectly fine in a pinch, but Bounty is still my choice when they're on sale.

Fusia Savory Pork Potstickers

I didn't get a picture of these because I finished them before I decided to do a write-up, but the bottom line is that I didn't like them. I just didn't like the taste; these were worse than the worst dumplings I've ever gotten at a Chinese restaurant. I ate 5 of these and threw out the rest.

Priano Manicotti

I love manicotti (or stuffed shells; basically the same thing). But they're a pain to make. And messy, so I never make it. For $2.99 this was worth a try.

I put these in the refrigerator when I bought them and had them the next day; they were defrosted by then. The instructions were for a frozen product; ridiculous; so I had to guess at how to cook them. Normally when you make these you par cook the noodles (cook them half way), stuff them with cheese, and then bake until the sauce is all bubbly. I didn't know how well the pasta was cooked in this case.

I don't bake in the oven too much, so I don't have a wide array of cookware. I have a square pyrex that seemed suitable; I was going to eat 1/2 of this per sitting.

A layer of plain tomato sauce straight out of the jar with the manicotti on top.

Then cover them with my tomato sauce (with onions, garlic, fresh tomatoes and basil) and mozzarella cheese.

I baked it at 350 for 25 minutes and it needed another 10 at 375. I probably should have done 375 initially.

Getting this out of the pan clean was impossible; the ricotta cheese just flows all over the place.

496 calories for 1/2 of this.

Ricotta cheese is pretty standard stuff; always good and it's hard to ruin it. This was delicious stuff.

Bottom Line

This item is a winner. I look forward to when ALDI has the spinach and ricotta version.

Aldi Bake Shop Cheese Danish

I've lost 21 lbs during the pandemic, 4 more than my original target, so I can now indulge in a treat now and then; in moderation of course. While perusing the bread selections, I can across this baby on sale for $2.79.

I've been a lifelong fan of Entenmann's; but the prices have become ridiculous. I think Publix charges $6.49, and I only never eat the whole thing, so it's just not worth it. This seemed worth a try.

It's a big cake; I'd say 5 solid pieces.

Out of the box, I didn't like it. It's not a danish; it's cake. Cake with cheese. The cheese was right, but the cake didnt work for me.

So I got the idea of "crisping" the cake. I put it in the air fryer for 5 minutes at 320 degrees.

This made a big difference. This was a lot better after cooking it.

Bottom Line

This isn't a true danish; it's not nearly as good as Entenmann's or something you might buy in a pastry shop. But if you're on a budget warming this up makes it perfectly suitable to sweeten up your breakfast table.

Bremer Gyro Kit

If you haven't been to Aldi recently, you may not know the format. They have their own brand products that "may" be your favorite name brand product with a private label. They also have "Aldi Finds", which are lots of items that are available for a short time. Many of the pizzas are finds; frankly most of the find are weird stuff that doesn't interest me. But they other day I saw something interesting.

A Gyro kit. In a town where the only place you can get a decent Gyro is at a sit down restaurant down by Galt Mile, I thought this might assuage my occasional cravings for this Greek treat. $7.79 for the box.

You'll find this in the frozen bin; everything is rock solid so don't expect to be eating Gyros as soon as you get home.

They say there's enough for 5 Gyros; eating 5 Gyros in a week isn't in the cards for my current diet or any I expect to have in the future. So I decided to defrost and portion out the ingredients so I could defrost 1 whenever I was in the mood. The meat was easy to defrost in the sous vide; the pita more difficult and the Tzatziki I just had to put in the fridge. I wasn't having one today.

The meat is very thin and there are 30 pieces of meat, so to get 5 sandwiches, you'd have to use 6 slices per sandwich. That's under 3 ounces of meat; not quite enough for a 7.5" Gyro. I also bought some 6" Pitas; I figured that a large Gyro with 7 pieces of meat was about 580 calories, and a small Gyro with a 6" Pita with 5 pieces of meat was 430 calories.

2 days later it was time for a large Gyro for dinner. No scrimping here. I tasted the Tzatziki that came in the box and it wasn't terrible; but not good enough for dinner. The sauce elevates the product so I made a fresh batch.

Greek Yogurt, Garlic, Salt, Cucumber and some white pepper. Mash the garlic and course salt in a teaspoon of olive oil to a paste and mix it all together. Let it meld for a few hours in the fridge.

Brush some oil on the pita and warm it up; you don't want to toast it; when it just begins to brown take it off.

Then cook the meat. The meat is VERY thin; I just cooked it until the edges browned. Maybe 20 seconds on each side in a 350 degree pan.

Luckily I had some ripe tomatoes; I always have red onion.

I'll tell you what. This was a pretty good Gyro. The meat isn't perfect, but this is better than what you get in most of the greek places in Fort Lauderdale. I'll make a small one for lunch in a day or 2. A nice "Find" at ALDI.

UPDATE: I've determined that you need 7 or 8 slices for proper gyro. With a 6" pita you'd need 6.

Original Post: 10/25/20

Aldi's has opened downtown. First Walmart; now Aldi. I didn't know they were building a store here; and considering that they bought the now closed Lucky's market on Oakland Park Blvd, I'm surprised there's another one so close. I wandered in on a Friday afternoon.

You walk in and it kind of looks like a sparse farmers market.

I see people with carts, but I don't see any. There are no hand baskets. I was totally unprepared. I didn't bring a bag. I later discovered that the carts are outside. You have to bring one in with you.

This place take no frills to a new level, which is fine, but I don't understand why they can't have hand baskets. They're a lot cheaper than shopping carts. If you're going to buy land and build a store, buy some hand baskets.

The first section is produce. It's actually pretty good; everything is cheaper than Walmart and they have all of the staples; lettuce, cucumbers, broccoli; and asparagus.

I bought a bag of this. Sometimes you can get this on sale somewhere for $1.99, but usually it's $3.99 and $2.99 on sale. This is a good price.

Also a good price for Hass Avocados for you guac lovers.

Something to understand is that this is largely a private label store; much like Trader Joe's. Unlike Trader Joe's, who claim to re-label stuff they think is cool; this is done to be cheap.

I buy Ketchup once a year; I pretty much only use it for my once a month hamburger and for cocktail sauce. I'm not buying something I know I won't like to save $1.

They do have *some* brand name items; this is about the same everyday price as Walmart.

Notice the "Burman's" brand in the curiously similar container for about 1/3 less. It could be Hellman's with a private label. But you'll have to burn $2.35 to find out.

Another thing to know is that this is not a comprehensive supermarket; there are things they don't have at all. Some things they do have may surprise you; like Almond Flour. I bought some of this; almond flour is what people on Keto use. A pretty good price for a pound.

The olive oil selection is limited and the prices aren't competitive with Trader Joe's; where I buy my olive oil.

They have a section of prepared "to-go" foods, but most of it is pretty weird stuff.

They do have pizzas similar to Walmart's Marketside Pizza. But they only have large pizzas. $5 for a 16" pizza. I may have to try one some day.

They have a big cheese section; block and shredded cheese at a price slightly lower than named brands at Walmart. "Happy Farms". Probably not a real place.

They also have a specialty cheese section that reminds me a bit of Costco.

Interestingly, nothing that I buy. No blue cheese, no Pecorino Romano, no block parmesan. They didn't even have regular Gouda (I don't like smoked or aged Gouda). But you might find something you like. I miss Penn Dutch; they had good cheese.

They have 1 kind of eggs. A dozen large. Want some expensive brand that claim to let the chickens run free and play ping pong? You'll have to go somewhere else.

For fish they have Tilapia or Salmon. That's it. $7.98 / lb for Atlantic Salmon which looks very similar to the stuff they sell at Walmart for about $10/lb.

Beef comes in bags like at Trader Joe's. I didn't see anything particularly interesting. A lot of specials today. They have chopped meat for $2.49 / lb and that's better than the best sale price anywhere else.

Whole chickens for 95 cents a lb; not too exciting considering they're 97 cents at Walmart. Chickens that were killed humanely are $1.49.

$2.49 / lb for boneless chicken breasts is a pretty good price.

They also have frozen pizza but it's a pretty lame selection. Last but not least is cheap wine; but nothing close to what they have at Trader Joe's.

The checkout is no frills; they don't have bags (nor do they have bags for things like cucumbers).

If you don't have a bag, you just have to pick up the stuff after you pay for it. Make sure you bring a bag.

Conclusion

I hadn't been to an Aldi's since 2015, when I wrote this piece comparing prices to Publix at the time. They were pretty new back then; this store is a lot better that that one was in 2015. They have a lot more stuff and it's better organized. And Publix has become a much more expensive; much less appealing shopping venue.

This place is a lot like Trader Joe's; like the disheveled younger brother. You can't do all of your shopping here. But you can't do all of your shopping at Trader Joe's either. I could see coming here for a few items; I go to multiple stores already; you can't get Rapini at Winn Dixie or Walmart and I'm not paying 90 cents for a lemon at Publix. This place is close enough now to get into the rotation to pick up a few items.

Today I bought Almond Flour, Asparagus, Worcestershire sauce and peeled garlic; I'm pretty well stocked with food. I cooked the asparagus and guess what? It tasted the same as asparagus I get at other stores.

The Worcestershire (a garlic anchovy sauce, for you food cretins) is pretty close to Lea & Perrins (the gold standard), but I don't use it straight up so at 1/2 the price it's good enough for cocktail sauce or salad dressings. When I was a kid Lea & Perrins was on the table as a direct pour steak sauce (It's better than A1); but I was never a fan of drowning steak in a sauce.