Aldi Finds From Yesterday's Trip

Yesterday after Camille's morning ballet class, we went to Aldi. I typically like to save my BIG shopping trips for days that she's in preschool, but (le sigh) we were nearly out of coffee and you know what that means. Time to hit.the.store.

So, I spent $103, which -- at Aldi -- basically means that I bought the entire store. That amount right there is what I like to spend a week on groceries for our family, so hopefully we won't have to go to the store any more this week. I don't abide by a hard and fast budget for groceries, but I know the ballpark range of where I like to be.

I did get a lot, and in the picture above it doesn't show the two bottles of wine that I already stuck in the fridge to chill (priorities, people) and the mesh wastebasket that I got for $3.99 to put under my little sewing desk.

Here are some favorites and staples from our Aldi trip:

1// Organic pasta sauce. I like having a jar of marinara in our fridge at all times. We are not huge pasta eaters, but occasionally I'll make it for Camille. You know, when I feel like cleaning red sauce from our walls. :) But this is just a great fridge staple because you can top chicken breasts with marinara and shredded cheese and bake them, or we can make little mini-pizzas for Camille on English muffins, or we can dip our Friday night pizza crusts in little bowls of it. Tomatoes are definitely high up on the "dirty dozen" list, so for that I do like to buy organic as much as possible. This large jar is $1.99.

2 // Organic baby food pouches. I mean, you can spend $1.50/pouch on organic baby food at the grocery store without even trying. These bad boys are $0.79/each, friends! Completely organic. You can NOT beat that price! I bought 18 of them yesterday. 

3 // Whole pineapples. This one was $1.89 yesterday but Aldi often offers them for $0.99. Even at almost $2, it's a steal. Have you ever paid for a large container of fresh pineapple? Yeah, it's like $7/$8. All you have to do with this is take a large knife, lop off the top, slice down the sides, and then cut down around the core. Chunk it up, put it in a tupperware. 

4 // Fiber bars. These were $1.49 and they are the perfect mid-morning snack! When I had gestational diabetes with Charlotte, I would buy the protein-added fiber bars and they always helped me stay within my perfect glucose reading range. 

5 // 100 Packets of sweetener. We use this for coffee and a 100 pack box is $1.59. If you've bought Splenda packets at the grocery store, you know what a deal this is!

6 // Frozen veggie burgers. These are $2.49. I love them for lunch on a toasted English muffin, and I can also cook one for Camille and she loves it for dinner! 

Last night for dinner we had a crockpot roast (I used a pouch of Campbells slow cooker tavern roast sauce that I got at Aldi for $1.99 and a 2.5lb bottom round roast, also from Aldi, for $7.45). It was delicious. I served it with the mashed cauliflower bake we do all of the time and roasted cabbage and carrots. The cabbage ($.69/head) and carrots were just tossed in some olive oil and steak seasoning. It was such a delicious meal that was hearty yet healthy!

Other favorites that I bought yesterday -- four-packs of easy mac shells and cheese that were on BIG sale for $.69 (YES for all four cups!), two boxes of cereal that were $1.99/each, coffee pods that are $3.99 for a box of 12, a bag of frozen boneless chicken breasts for $5.99, Ritz knock-offs for $1.59 for the box. Oh, and the kale citrus salad that we love that is $2.99 and has all of the toppings and dressing included. Can't beat it.

Hit me up with some of your recent Aldi finds below! And, to see more of my favorites as well as my shopping tips for Aldi, visit THIS post.