Perhaps the most stressful part of feeding a family beyond the cost is the constant battle to get them to actually eat the very expensive healthy food that you’ve purchased and prepared for them.
After my wildly successful trip with Mr. Borucki to what may be our new favorite grocery store, ALDI, I think that both of those stressors – the crazy high costs and the picky eater wars – may be solved for good. [insert knock-on-wood]
As you can see in the photo above of Baby Summer noshing on a clean, healthy, and CHEAP snack, our pickiest and most vocal meal-time opponent has been brought over to the bright side. Victory is ours!
I wasn’t sure what to expect from my first ALDI shopping experience. I’ve heard so many great things from my online followers, but I’ve also heard a couple of complaints about the lack of organic options and fresh produce.
I know ALDI has been working hard to bring better, healthier options to their customers with their new Fit & Active and Simply Nature lines, so I was cautiously optimistic about finding enough items that would meet my personal clean-eating guidelines and that would also satisfy my family.
[click here to read about my history of eating clean on a budget]
With my reusable grocery bags, quarter for my shopping cart, and list of requests from the kids in hand, I took a ride to my nearest ALDI and went on a mission with a $200 budget and my big, strong, bag-carrying husband in tow.
The store was clean, well organized, and featured wide aisles (which was perfect, because there were a LOT of older people with crazy shopping cart driving skills on the loose).
I am NOT a cook. I’m not good at recipes, I’m not inventive with food, and I definitely don’t have a lot of extra time to learn now. If I’m in charge of food, it’s going to be about convenience. The first things I grabbed were the healthy convenience foods, which were in abundance. I found healthy pastas and sauces, organic salsas, tons of organic snacks for the kids, and a huge variety of cereals. But packaged food isn’t the only convenient option…
To my delight (and admitted surprise), their produce section rocked. Raw food (the most convenient food ever) makes up most of my diet – I start with a 40-60oz smoothie every morning. I stocked up on the most inexpensive organic bananas, baby carrots, and apples I’ve ever bought in a grocery store.
I also picked up tons of berries, pineapples, and a bunch of different nuts (pistachios, almonds, and walnuts). They also stock frozen organic fruit, so I picked up a couple packages of frozen strawberries for my homemade banana ice cream. And the surprises didn’t end there…
ALDI stocks a limited number of items – necessities that most buyers are looking for. BUT they also had an incredibly affordable variety of organic dairy, soy, almond, and coconut milks, plus items that I’ve found to be hard-to-find like kefir and good organic soups. I live for lentil soup, and no, I don’t want a recipe to make it myself. Convenience, people!
At the end of our little spree, Mr. Borucki and I tried to guess what our jam-packed cart of food was going to cost us. I knew we had blown our $200 budget, especially since we threw in some batteries and luxury items like frozen shrimp. The total… $171.04!!
I left the store LITERALLY grinning and singing the praises of ALDI. And then I celebrated by eating the entire box of organic frozen fruit pops on the way home. I didn’t want them to melt! As soon as I walked into my house, I made myself a bowl of Fit & Active Shredded Wheat with fresh blueberries and raw sugar sprinkled on top. Heaven!
Now what am I going to buy with all this extra loot I’ll be saving…
Stay tuned for next week’s ALDI post. I’m traveling to Chicago to see their test kitchen and get advice and recipe tips from their food stylist and registered dietician. I’m going to be asking all of YOU for your questions about ALDI, eating fresh, and finding creative ways to feed your families. Be sure to follow me on Facebook, so we can chat!
