My husband is really in love with the spiced humus. He bought two yesterday after devouring one a few days before.

Noticed they are doing an Italian theme this week and they have arribiata sauce for $1.49. Picked up a few bottles because it is actually well done. They have three different kinds of alfredo sauce for $1.69. Their regular alfredo sauce sucks ass but I wondered if the slightly fanicer ones (roasted garlic and four cheese) are any better. They also have loads of dried and frozen pasta dishes (ravioli, gnocci, tortellini, etc) but I am skeptical about those. Although years ago they used to have a wonderful frozen ravioli. I usually get these items from Super Low Foods in Elmwood Park. They are pretty reasonable with their Perfect Pasta products and at least I know I am buying something that tastes good.

Also, while I like their baked potato chips, their kettle cooked chips with pepper and sea salt were not at all good.

KajmacJohnson wrote:They also have loads of dried and frozen pasta dishes (ravioli, gnocci, tortellini, etc) but I am skeptical about those.

I've had the dried tortellini and found it to good.

KajmacJohnson wrote:Noticed they are doing an Italian theme this week and they have arribiata sauce for $1.49. Picked up a few bottles because it is actually well done.

Even better is Aldi's Grandessa Signature Spicy Red Pepper sauce, which contains no added sugar/HFCS. It's a limited-release item (probably a TJs overrun), so you may need to look around to find it.

IIRC, their pork schnitzel is a Grandessa (German) product. Pretty good.

Geo

Aldi has been offering a lot of produce deals. They were selling white button mushrooms for $0.49/ 8 oz which is half teh price that even teh cheapest outlets have been selling them for. And they were great.

I also saw some Belgioso cheese wedges (Fontina) for a very reasonable price, around three bucks.

Hit the Clybourn location last night. Lobster tails still there. I bought some shrimp that looked pretty good. didn't see anything really noteable other than the mushrooms. I kind of have a regular list there now, the quad lettuce, Fit n Active string cheese, shredded cheese, peppered beef jerky, then I head upstairs to TJ's and fill in the rest of my groceries.

I must say, my husband bought some tilapia filets from here yesterday after devouring the ones we bought at Caputo's and I have to say these weren't bad at all.

toria wrote:I saw some frozen lobster tails that I examined with great skepticism and did not buy. They seemed to be sealed well and said they were Maine lobster and the source was the North Atlantic. Anybody try these???

I have and they are fine. Just used a bunch in a bouillabasse.

The lobster tails are great. They used to be cheaper. I believe about 4 years ago they were like 8.99 for 2 tails. They are on the small side so I like to serve with either steak for classic surf and turf or with something hearty like a risotto. I usually split them and throw em on the grill and top with cilantro lime butter.

I had the raw shrimp once and I didn't care for it but it was years ago. Anyone have it recently? I buy the cooked stuff for making Vietnamese shrimp rolls and occasionally use them in salads or if I want to make a really quick stir fry.

I have been buying there raw shrimp for a year or so and find it as good as I get in other stores (50-60 for 5 buck a pound). I don't put them in boiling water, I dump the frozen shrimp in the pot and cover will cold water. I add a few shakes of Bay Seasoning and a little lemon juice. I turn it on low and when they are pink I take them out of the water. Yes it is a little time consuming to take the shells off but the shells give them so much flavor. If I'm going to make a pasta for the shrimp I add the shrimp water to the pasta water to give it some more flavor.

I bought the scallops last week. Pan fried them and then at the end added some Triple Ginger Teriyaki sauce (which a friend picks up at Mitsuwa but may well be available elsewhere). About 10 minutes, inexpensive, easy, delicious.

Just wanted to let everyone know that the milk prices at Aldi's are very reasonable as of late. $1.89 per gallon at the one on Kimball and Belmont and Clybourne (near Dominick's) and $1.69 if you go to the location at Wrightwood and Pulaski.

Hi- At the Aldi's in Evanston, last time I was in there about 10 days ago, I believe milk was $2.49 a gallon, whereas with the J4U, it was $1.97 at Dominick's, and it was $1.79 at Target at Golf Mill. Aldi's milk prices vary widely, according to location. Hope this helps, Nancy

NFriday wrote:Hi- At the Aldi's in Evanston, last time I was in there about 10 days ago, I believe milk was $2.49 a gallon, whereas with the J4U, it was $1.97 at Dominick's, and it was $1.79 at Target at Golf Mill. Aldi's milk prices vary widely, according to location. Hope this helps, Nancy

Yes, I know they vary location wise which is why I pinpointed which ones have it for the price I listed. My husband had actually gone to the Aldi's located on Diversey east of Cicero and it was $2.49.

Generally, I dislike Aldi's. I think the quality is low rent and the prices are no where near the steals they used to be. But it is only a few blocks from my house (within walking distance) and I go there for last minute staple items because they are cheaper than the competition. If i could afford to shop elsewhere all the time, I would avoid Aldi's like the plague.

Also, i don't like that prices vary from location to location even in the same neighborhoods from one another. It just seems so counter-productive to have one Aldi's selling milk for $1.69 a gallon and the other one not too far away for almost a buck more.

Last week, I paid $1.74/gal for 2% milk at the Crystal Lake Aldi store. It had been as high as $2.49 the week before.

And I paid $1.29 for their Woven Wheat crackers (like Triscuits) for a box that is 1.79 at TJs and $2.50 for Triscuits when they are on sale at Walmart.

Lots of new stuff at my aldi...deutsch kuche (DK) musli, red cabbage in jars, sauerkraut in jars, white asparagus in a jar, mustards which are imported and two kinds of german bread the hardish pumpernickle kind that is wrapped in cellophane. they had lots of half hams there if you need a ham for cheap that would be a good place to get it. expanded line of imported cheeses like goat and berries, etc. also sausages such as brats looks like they are expanding the deutsche kuche line of stuff. a cute little round black forest ham perfect if you do not want to buy half a ham but want something smaller but do not like canned hams. they moved the bread to the front of the store to make room for the new items. also DK pretzels in the refrig can like pillsbury rolls but pretzels instead. also the flat crispy pretzels that are crunchy like chips. Mangos and strawberries. bags of red and orange and yellow peppers. watermelons already. Easter candy on sale. anyway that is what I saw today...just reporting for anyone interested.

PS my mom had apoplexy when I bought a ham at whole foods. I think I paid over seven dollars a pound and got a spiral cut. she did not like it. She likes the regular old hams with the skin and a bone it in. I wondered whether I would have done better by buying my ham at aldi but I do not know how good they are.

toria wrote:PS my mom had apoplexy when I bought a ham at whole foods. I think I paid over seven dollars a pound and got a spiral cut. she did not like it. She likes the regular old hams with the skin and a bone it in. I wondered whether I would have done better by buying my ham at aldi but I do not know how good they are.

The spiral cut ones that I've bought there have been fine.

All that "new" German stuff is actually one of their semi-regular international/ethnic promotions. They run the German products at least three times a year; Oktoberfest, now, and some other time. They also do Italian, Mexican, and Asian promos. They last a week or two, until it's all sold out, then it's gone until the next time around.

I think their hams are very good for the price. I use them mostly for sandwiches. I'll pick up a couple spiral cut hams, cook them both, then parcel them out in ziplock bags and freeze them for future use. Way cheaper than buying cold cut ham at the deli, and, I would think, less processing involved. I strip the uncut part of the ham (the part past the spiral) and cut into cubes, and freeze it to be used in casseroles.

Buddy

Good to know about the hams. They did not look any different than other supermarket hams. I am always on the lookout for a really good ham especially for Easter.

We have been buying the cream cheese for our bagels here for years and out of the blue today my husband commented that sometimes he didn't think it tasted cream cheesey enough. While it is stellar I always thought the quality was decent now I am re-examining because sometimes the quality can be borderline tasteless which makes me wonder if anyone had problems with the consistancy of their products over time? My friend and I used the Italian sausage for homemade pizza twice and the first time the sausage was nice and flavorful like it always is but the second time seemed pretty bland. Also, I believe last fall they had an Italian theme and I picked up some arabiatta sauce in a jar which I thought really well done. The second time they rolled this around was maybe last month and I thought the quality and taste was utter crap. Is there a problem with consistancy or our my tastebuds different somehow?

Since Aldi outsources its product manufacturing, it's quite possible they're changing suppliers and quality control is not ensuring consistency - or they're willing to live with a different taste profile for lower cost.

Another note: they now carry almond milk.

I have had cheese from aldi but not cream cheese. I like philadelphia whipped as it is easier to spread and has less calories. the other cheese has been fine. the pasta and pasta sauce i had from aldi is fine. you can doctor it up with additional spices.

toria wrote:Another note: they now carry almond milk.

I have had cheese from aldi but not cream cheese. I like philadelphia whipped as it is easier to spread and has less calories. the other cheese has been fine. the pasta and pasta sauce i had from aldi is fine. you can doctor it up with additional spices.

Aldi's also has a whipped cream cheese but I haven't tried that in a while. It was good. I used to use it for making my own crab rangoon, but then the price went up so I just used the regular cream cheese instead. I never really had an issue with the pasta sauces before, I usually doctor up the regular pasta sauce with spices (Aldi's spices too!) but the last few jars of arabiatta sauce and the primavera sauce I bought recently was utter crap, especially the former. Hated it. No matter how much you doctor it up it did not taste good at all.

I have oftentimes said that prices have gone up dramatically from what they used to be and I am inclined to think Rickster may be on to something. They might be sacrficing taste to keep the price down.

I buy the primavera all the time - add carmelized onions and mushrooms, and it's fine. Definitely fits into the "not great, but it won't kill ya" category.

Love the seasonal cream cheese, especially the pumpkin spice! I don't bother with it otherwise, as I prefer Philly.

I think most food prices have gone up. Still I am amazed how much food can but bought cheaply at Aldi. True, not premium stuff but sometimes does the trick. I was not a long time aldi shopper so I can not compare it to what it was a few years ago.

Aldi's has excellent milk prices at the store I use, but their jugs also use those popoff caps, which I hate. They popoff too easily, resulting in spills galore.

toria wrote:I think most food prices have gone up. Still I am amazed how much food can but bought cheaply at Aldi. True, not premium stuff but sometimes does the trick. I was not a long time aldi shopper so I can not compare it to what it was a few years ago.

That's true, most food prices have gone up, but if you can imagine shopping at Aldi's used to be even cheaper, much cheaper, even compared to just about five or six years ago. My whole thing is that for the subpar quality on some of their items, if I look out for sales at better and local grocery stores (Caputo's, Fresh Farms, Super Low Foods, Tony's) I can get some of the same items as brand names for just as much or even cheaper. That is why the Aldi's novelty has worn off severely for me.

My husband has been an Aldi shopper far longer than I. He's has been going since they first opened up stores in the Chicago area. That has to be a good thirty years now. Recently we had been discussing Aldi's again and he was struck by how back in the day, he would shop and there would be people hauling two full carts of groceries out of there. While you may see someone with one extremely full cart, it's been quite a while since I have seen someone toting two. Price on food has come a long way, even at Aldi.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:I buy the primavera all the time - add carmelized onions and mushrooms, and it's fine. Definitely fits into the "not great, but it won't kill ya" category.

The primavera was ok but the arrabiata was truly abomidable. But I think part of this could be that i have gotten to this point where I feel as if I am starting to really despise bottled sauces. I'm looking into making my own marinara sauce from now on. I have a general idea of what I want to do and how to do it, just need time to execute. But, seriously, that arrabiata sucked. Bird poop would have been more appetizing.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Love the seasonal cream cheese, especially the pumpkin spice! I don't bother with it otherwise, as I prefer Philly.

I like Philly when it's on sale. There is another cream cheese I have tried and only seen sold at the Cermak on Kedzie and Berteau. Really good, very reasonably priced (1.29) and reminds me very much in flavor of Philly for half the price. name escapes me though. I rarely go to Cermak anymore.

I recently bought some paprika (Aldi's Stonemill house brand, I believe), and was impressed with it's rich flavor and sweetness. A veritable bargain compared to Jewel or Dominick prices for similar.

Cogito wrote:I recently bought some paprika (Aldi's Stonemill house brand, I believe), and was impressed with it's rich flavor and sweetness. A veritable bargain compared to Jewel or Dominick prices for similar.

I also enjoy the Stonemill spices. I particularly love the Italian Spices one. I think they are definately a bargain for the money and surprisingly good quality.