off to aldi for the first time in a bit, what do i get??

[PancakesAndMapleSyrup]

For all you seasoned Aldi shoppers what should i get and what to avoid really?.....actually quite excited!

Ooh forgot booze. Their Southern Belle is a decent match for southern Comfort.

Converted sainsburys shopper who now shops in Aldi - except for once a fortnight when I get extras!

We love: box of 3 frozen margarita pizzas, curry sauce, rice, pasta, free range eggs, free range whole chicken - £4.99 fgs!! , luxury hot x buns, ice cream, cheeses, rocket, breakfast cereals, New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, salmon, fish fingers , all fruit & veg., nappies, 50l barbabtia style bin bags.

We don't like: tomato ketchup, their version of Lurpak, washing powder/liquid, dishwasher tabs, washing up liquid, beans.

All in all it's a great shopping experience, I love the middle aisle and the fact that I'm in and out with a weeks shopping in about 45 minutes.

The fake Pimms and the gin (award winning).

Salami and rocket Specially Selected thin crust pizzas are fabulous, parmesan cheese, Italian ice cream, inexpensive frozen filleted fish (all frozen fish is frozen at sea by the way, the freshest way of buying it if you don't happen to live by the sea), Thai fish cakes, Specially Selected Stollen at Christmas (f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s) and same goes for their florentines, freshly squeezed orange juice (cheap as chips), £10 a bottle champagne (has won IWSC bronze award) and so has their Cava, £12 a bottle malt whisky as smooth a smooth can be. I could never do my full shop in there but have discovered certain things over the years that are actually better than other supermarkets, particularly continental products because they are the genuine article :-)

I think it's easier to say what NOT to get from there as most stuff is pretty good :)
avoid- their cornflakes (like cardboard) cheerios/shreddies are fine though
olives
pre packed lettuce
errrrrr that's it :)

the Toro Loco red wine is very quaffable and a steal at less than four quid.

We used to do most of our supermarket shopping at Sainsbury, most, though not all, now from Aldi - save something like a couple of hundred pounds a month as a result.

No problems with either dishwasher tabs or washing liquid, although opinion seems divided on these items.

The Moser Roth little chocolate eggs, dark choc, and the truffle ones, were yummy - glad they've gone as starting to get a bit addictive.

Honestly? Aldi does not have a good reputation for its treatment of employees at all, there have been scores of damming articles in Germany where the company is based - as well as its bargaining with it's providers. Not my idea of sustainable living at all. reminds me of deploring the terrible garment industry in Bangladesh and China and then cheering a bargain at Primark. Sorry, no to Aldi for me.

The Brioche loaf is amazing!

Steinhauser lager is excellent @ £3.99 for 3X330ml bottles. That's about a £1 for a half-litre of genuine brewed-in-Germany lager and NOT brewed-in-Britain by InBev rubbish.
Their Workmate tools are excellent value. I got an excellent Vernier calliper for £8.99. They also do a box of several dozen jigsaw blades for about £4. A fraction of the cost of Bosch blades from B&Q and they are just as good - I have used both and can vouch for this. I also bought a cordless ( rechargeable ) drill by Workmate about 6yrs ago for £20. It's still going strong. Ditto a cross-cut saw which cost £25.
Try their Decco paints. A litre of metal-paint is only a fiver. It's just as good as Hammerite - which costs about £20 for the same size tin. Their water-borne acrylic for internal wood is excellent - two coats gives a lovely finish and if you give it a coat of a fast drying gloss acrylic varnish ( Ronseal, Johnstones, Dulux ) you get a lovely shiny finish, not as shiny as a traditional gloss paint but a lot faster drying ( a LOT faster drying - get all three coats on in a day ) and a LOT tougher. Ideal where there is a lot of traffic. Plus, because these aren't oil-based paints, they never yellow, never crack or peel. NB - INTERNAL use only though.
Hazelnuts - £1.29 a bag. Delicious.
Old Speckled Hen ale. £4.99 for 4X500ml tins. These will cost you £6.99 at Waitrose.

I ADORE Aldi!!

I buy all my family shop there once a week. My faves are:

New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
Torchon ham
Premium Chocolate chip cookies - 45p for a large packet
Jeeves, their version of Pimms, exactly the same and less than half price
Spinach and Pine Nut pasta salad. I could and have on many occasions eat the whole tub.
Sorbet ice creams, the mango is divine
Moser Roth chocolates, better than Cadburys
Earl Grey tbags, so fresh and fragrant tasting
Frozen salmon fillets, £2.49 for 2

I could go on and on!

Aldi I love you

And I still get a buzz at the till when I discover what it costs.

Right - that's it, I'm going.

DP total food snob so will wait and see if he can tell the difference when i cook dinner tomorrow and spend the savings on a nice treat for the mummy and baby

Tee hee ducksong DS1 is also a total food snob but I have carried out many secret taste challenges with food from Aldi and it has always come out tops!

Big Aldi fans here. Never tried anything the family didn't like.

Love everything but especially:-
Ballycastle Irish Cream 70cl for £4.29 - DH says it's better than Baileys.
Diggers (Choc covered digestive Bars) - 18 in a pack for £1.09 - great for lunchboxes.
Melts - 10 pack for 99p - kids prefer them to Skips.
Individual cheesecakes - 3 x 100g for 99p - blackcurrant, lemon or strawberry - absolutely divine.
No added sugar Double strength Apple & Blackcurrant Squash 1.5 litres for 99p - kids prefer this to other brands.

I can't see anyone having mentioned their Molton Brown rip-off hand wash yet. Smells like the real thing!

I did it and feeling v pleased with myself for some reason. :)

Mainly bought fruit/veg/ tinned/household/cheeses as I chickened out of the meat section - next time. Did manage to add a bottle of prosecco or 2 as suggested . The fruit/veg selection was wayyyy better than expected and little things like peppercorns which are actually pretty expensive in Sainbo's really add up.

I reckon I've saved at LEAST £30 just this week.

I'm glad you told me about the checkout though as I would have been the annoying woman trying to pack it all otherwise.

Thanks ladies - hands round prosecco

Well done!

What did MrDuck think?

I take IKEA bags to Aldi ::taps nose::

You have to try their almond or fruit and nut chocolate and their soft liquorice as well as all the above. We buy everything in there and find the fruit/veg lasts longer than other local supermarkets.

Has anyone mentioned the Olive Oil- it has been judged best in lots of blind taste tests and it is just brilliant.
Olive Oil!!!

Their salted caramel fudge which for some silly reason they only sell at Christmas is AMAZING

Probably just as well they only have it at Christmas to be honest!

They have added venison burgers to their freezer section. Fabulous

We buy everything in there. The only thing we don't really buy are ready meals, ready made sauces etc so can't comment on those.

Tea and coffee. Me and DP both like strong tea and coffee and can recommend the Celyon teabags and the french and italian ground coffee.
Basics like rice and pasta no different to any other brand.
Fruit, veg, salad - all brilliant and last up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
Meat - again all brilliant. I love the sweet chilli spatchcock chicken and the specially selected cumberland and pork and herb sausages.
Bread - the crusty sliced one in the brown paper bag is really yummy and lasts a week without going rock hard. The 4 pack of crusty cobs are good too but not all branches stock them I've found.
Fish - I buy the frozen basa fillets, fresh salmon and smoked salmon. I don't think they do canned tuna in spring water though so have to get that elsewhere.
Natural yoghurt, cream, milk, cheese, fake philadelphia all good.
I always have a fresh specially selected pizza in the fridge for an easy dinner. Similar to the pizzas you get in Pizza Express.
Premium coleslaw is really creamy. Often get visitors asking where it's from.
Parma ham, olives, stuffed peppers with cream cheese all delicious.
Check out the freezers for the beef wellington, salmon wellington, venison steaks, venison burgers, new york cheesecake, chocolate fudge cake, fake ben and jerrys/haagen daaz ice cream.

I try to use natural cleaning products and toiletries where possible so only buy the apple scented or pink grapefruit washing up liquid, thick bleach, razor blades, pantyliners, tampons, every day essentials toilet rolls. I have tried loads of toilet cleaners but can't get anything as good as Harpic Power Plus for under water staining. I get that from Poundland.

Soft drinks - we like everyday essentials concentrated squash, ginger beer, cloudy lemonade, pink lemonade.

Alcohol wise we like the gin, fake pimms, irish cream, toro loco red wine, malbec red wine, montepulciano Ddabruzzo red , wine, freemans bay sauvignon, marlborough sauvignon blanc, cava, champagne, bulmers/magners type bottles of cider, wheat beer, steinhauser lager, bottled ales, alcoholic ginger beer.

Things I have forgotten manuka honey, maple syrup, fruit conserve, chocolate and hazlenut spread, olive oil, pesto, luxury hot cross buns, brioche, danish pastries and sweet buns, fruit sorbet, 21 day matured steak, memento cookies, roser moth chocolate, fresh flowers.

They do an absolutely fantastic frozen salmon en croute. It would easily feed four and its a real big slab of lovely salmon under flaky pastry. Lord knows how they do it for the money but I just hope they never discontinue it as it's one of the few things the family all love!