An Aldi recently opened in our town.
The budget grocery store has been a good place to grab snacks, staples, and ingredients for cooking healthy and simple meals, which is important to me as a dietitian.
My three kids and I shop there at least two or three times a month.
Here are a few grocery staples we get at Aldi on just about every trip.
Bone broth is a shortcut to adding flavor to soups and sauces.
Bone broth is a staple in my cooking. However, making it from scratch is time-consuming and requires a lot of bones.
So, I buy premade cartons of it at Aldi. I love using Simply Nature organic bone broth to quickly and easily add more flavor and protein to our meals.
Specially Selected maple syrup is great on waffles and in oatmeal.
Every Saturday morning, I let the kids pick what we’re having for breakfast, and it’s always chocolate-chip waffles.
We love topping them with this tasty Specially Selected pure maple syrup, which also pairs well with oatmeal and other baked treats.
My kids love these Sundae Shoppe popsicles made with real fruit.
Aldi’s Sundae Shoppe frozen fruit pops are made with real fruit and sugar.
My kids are obsessed with them for a summertime snack, and this version from Aldi is much less expensive than other name-brand options.
These frozen blueberries are cheaper and longer-lasting than fresh ones.
Fresh blueberries can go bad in our house quickly, so I don’t buy them unless I have a plan to use them up on the same day.
However, we love using Season’s Choice frozen blueberries for snacking or adding to yogurt and oatmeal.
I like organic whole milk as my 1-year-old’s intro to dairy.
My youngest just turned 1, so we’re transitioning her over to drinking whole milk.
Although we don’t buy organic milk for everyone in the house, I feel more comfortable introducing my littles to dairy using a high-quality organic option like this one from Simply Nature.
Friendly Farms’ creamy half-and-half is a must for my morning coffee.
I love half-and-half in my coffee (an essential for getting anything done with three kids), but many affordable store-brand options feel lackluster.
Fortunately, Aldi’s half-and-half from Friendly Farms is creamy and rich, and I only need a little bit to make the perfect cup of coffee.
I use PurAqua Belle Vie plain sparkling water to make healthier “soda” drinks.
I love using plain, unflavored sparkling water as a blank canvas for making homemade “sodas” that aren’t loaded with sugar.
My favorite combination is PurAqua Belle Vie sparkling water mixed with raspberry balsamic vinegar and lime juice.
Aldi often has great prices on ground lamb and grass-fed beef.
Grass-fed ground beef can have a healthier fat profile than conventional ground beef, and it’s usually fairly affordable at Aldi.
I use it often for spaghetti, tacos, and hamburgers.
The ground lamb is usually decently priced, too, and I like using it to make kofta gyros.
Blocks of cheese are typically more affordable and versatile than shreds or slices.
I appreciate the versatility of cheese blocks.
We can cut off slices for snacks and sandwiches or easily shred it too — while avoiding anti-caking agents that are added to pre-shredded cheese.
Buying by the block is more affordable, too. Aldi’s Friendly Farms cheddar is one of our go-to buys.
The kids and I love the Simply Nature organic fruit strips.
These fruit strips taste better than any fruit snack we’ve tried and are made only with organic fruit juices.
They’re great for throwing in a lunchbox or taking on the road for a longer outing that may require snacks.
My 4-year-old says they’re “the gummiest and the yummiest.”
This bread is organic, nutritious, and cheap — a must-buy for our family.
It’s hard to find bread that’s affordable and made with fairly healthy ingredients, but the Simply Nature Seedtastic and Graintastic bread are my top picks.
I keep a loaf or two in the freezer for when I’m too busy to make bread from scratch. The thin slices are perfectly portioned for kids, and they pack a bit of fiber from seeds and whole grains, too.
Aldi’s easy-peel, seedless Mandarin oranges are better than others we’ve tried.
Aldi’s Mandies have been consistently small, sweet, and very easy to peel, while I’ve found that other brands can be hit or miss.
If I let her, my 4-year-old would eat 10 of these oranges a day.
If you think red apples are too mealy, you need to try this variety.
Until I tried Cosmic Crisp, I was a Granny Smith girl all the way.
However, these Cosmic Crisp apples live up to their name. They’re sweet like a red apple but just as crisp and juicy as a Granny Smith.
My whole family loves them alone or sliced up with peanut butter.
I use frozen, pre-portioned ginger to add loads of flavor to stir-fries and noodle dishes.
Asian-inspired meals are some of my favorites, and many of our favorite recipes for them require ginger. However, I don’t cook them frequently enough to justify keeping fresh ginger on hand.
Fortunately, the convenient pre-portioned frozen ginger cubes from Season’s Choice last me a while and are much more flavorful than dried ginger.
Click to keep reading Aldi diaries like this one.
The post I’m a dietitian and mom of 3 who shops at Aldi. Here are 14 staples I buy on every trip to save money and eat well. appeared first on Business Insider.
