Battle ALDI – Part 1 of 3
Trig and I used to have annual Iron Chef Challenges. The first one, Battle Apple, was just a few months after we started dating. We then went on to have Battle Lemon, Battle Pumpkin, and Battle Local Foods. I was recently talking about Aldi and my curiosity about the market. I decided to team up with ALDI to explore the market and share it with you through Battle ALDI.
In Battle Aldi Trig and I challenged one another to create a gourmet meal using only ALDI ingredients. We were each given a budget of $75 to create a fantastic appetizer, entree, and dessert for 4. We invited our friends over to be the judges, but you will have the chance to be a judge too.
My first impression of ALDI is that it is different than any other market I’ve ever visited. I’ve been curious about it for year but had never been until now. All of the food is displayed in their shipping cartons and stacked into rows. There is no fluff or fancy display for anything. This helps keep the costs down. You also pay a quarter to get a cart, which is returned to you when you return the cart, much like how it works at the airport. This helps keep the costs down too since they don’t need a runner to bring all the carts back from the parking lot. You also have to bring your own bags, which, you guessed it, keeps the costs down. I’ve been bringing my own bags to the market since living in Italy in 2004, where you also have to pay for bags, so I didn’t even notice this until someone pointed it out to me. The market was not large, but they did have a larger variety of foods than I expected.
Most of the packaged foods I saw were by ALDI’s private label, but they did carry a few classic products. I was able to buy real Honey Nut Cheerios there, although they also had their own brand, Millville’s Crispy Oats, available. ALDI has a “Simply Nature” line which they tout as “simple food made with honest ingredients that’s naturally delicious”, but I was more impressed by other items. I went to the market a few times before the challenge to test out some products, and I was surprised by how much I liked them. For example, the Moser-Roth chocolate is incredible. It honestly tastes as good as some of the best chocolate I’ve had from Europe. Each carton contains five individually wrapped bars that are just the perfect size for a little dessert. The Choceur chocolate was delicious too. My kids dug into both.
And I’m newly addicted to the Clancy’s kettle chips. I would pick them over other competitors any day, and I never thought I would feel that way. The Happy Harvest canned whole peeled tomatoes are half the price of the brand I usually buy, and I preferred the taste of my sauce made with the Happy Harvest brand.
This Battle ALDI challenge was different from previous battles because we now have kids. It was important to us to not spend all day in the kitchen, which added another element to this challenge. We had to create a gourmet meal using only ALDI ingredients while our kids were by our side. Not easy. We did it though with some organization and by taking turns in the kitchen. Here is one sneak peek to get you excited for what’s to come.
Stay tuned for the menu tomorrow!
Note: This post is part of a sponsorship with ALDI. Like ALDI on Facebook for the latest news and updates.
One Response to “Battle ALDI – Part 1 of 3”
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I LOVE this! Nick and I used to do Iron Chef battles, too — before kids. (http://theculinarycouple.com/category/iron-chef-battles/) Sometimes it’s nice to cook together in a quiet kitchen again, right??