And It. Was. Delicious!
So last week I posted about how I’ve been experimenting with ALDI shopping for the last few months. What I didn’t tell you when I posted that was part of my reason for posting was that I was looking forward to your comments to see how you felt about ALDI! Becauuuuse, at the end of last week I got to take a trip to ALDI headquarters in Batavia, Illinois for a fun demonstration at their ALDI Taste Kitchen! Since I was already an ALDI fan, I was super-geeked out about going, and I have returned an ever bigger ALDI enthusiast!
The ALDI team started out by assembling a small group of bloggers for a “Switch & Save” taste test. We tasted identical items – one ALDI brand, and one name-brand, to see if we could tell which was which. We tried a variety of drinks, snacks, and cheeses, and I couldn’t tell the difference at all! The ALDI brand tasted as good as the name brand every time. And of course, the ALDI label items typically cost about 30% less!
Next, we sampled some fabulously tasty holiday-themed appetizers. Here’s Liz from ALDI telling us about the delicious taste experience on which we were about to embark!
My favorite was the Thanksgiving in a Bite. OMMZeees!! It’s ridiculous! You’ll be able to get the recipe on ALDI’s website starting October 31st. Start a countdown for this blessed event now.
Just when I thought I’d experienced culinary perfection, the ALDI chefs served us an amazing holiday dinner! A ham with a balsamic-apple cider glaze, the most divine green bean casserole you’ve ever had, and au gratin potatoes I might shove my grandmother out of the way to get to.
It was all crazy good! Cray-to-the-zee! And all prepared with food and ingredients from ALDI!
The next morning, after we slept off our food hangover, we got to go on a tour of an ALDI store. This might’ve been my favorite part of the whole event! I learned so much, and the very coolest thing I learned I thought it’d be easier to tell you about via quick video:
Check out any box or bag of product you have from ALDI and count the bar codes! Isn’t that genius?? I can’t believe I never noticed that before!
Part of the reason ALDI can keep their prices so low is that they run their stores with 3-5 employees at a time instead of 50 bajillion. With only a couple check lanes open, lines can get long. But these multiple bar codes keep cashiers moving your items down the line lickety-split and keep check lanes moving at lightning speed! Also, ALDI employees ALL cashier as well as stock the store, and even part-time employees get full medical and dental benefits. Say what? Can I have a job in about 4 years when Jonah goes to kindergarten, please ALDI?
While on our store tour, we each picked up a secret ingredient to take back to ALDI’s test kitchen because we were about to embark on a guacamole challenge! I LOVES me some guacamole, as you may remember – and my secret ingredient was sour cream. Not very creative, I know, but the list of ingredients they already had in the taste kitchen was extensive! We had a blast making our guac!
We had a taste test and voted for winners and MINE DID NOT WIN. Which, as I’m sure you realize, is a travesty! But I got to have lots of good guac so I let it slide. Then, we moved on to lunch, which was an amazing all-ALDI taco bar! The pork carnitas were to die for!
Everything we ate while we were there was 100% ALDI product and 100% FABULOUS! I couldn’t have been more impressed with the chefs or the recipes.
After lunch it was time to go. I was anxious to get home to my babies but sad to leave because in real life? No one drives me around in a town car and prepares gourmet meals for me!
I got home Friday night and Sunday afternoon I ran out to ALDI to do our week’s grocery shopping. I tried a few new things based on my experience – like ALDI’s chocolate syrup. I am a DIE-HARD Hershey’s fan, but I really like the ALDI brand! And it is $1.39 compared to $2.08 for the Hershey’s so I think this mama is switching brands! Crazy, right?
The ALDI difference really IS crazy – the great products, the low prices, and the efficient way they run their stores. I was super-impressed and I’m an even happier ALDI shopper now!
So, for those of you who haven’t…did I convince you to give ALDI a try?
