Cooking With ALDI - Cheesy Pinto Bean Dip

Did you know there's a whole section of ALDI's website filled with recipes? Yeah I know, endless possibilities! So guess what? Welcome to a new blog segment - Cooking With ALDI - where we take a recipe from the ALDI website and make it using ALDI products...or as many ALDI products as we can find. Let's face it, one of the reasons we love ALDI is product turn over, but that's going to make following a recipe an adventure. So on with the first adventure - Cheesy Pinto Bean Dip.

 Let's get this party started!

There's got to be some rules, right?

1. Use the specific ALDI products listed in the recipe whenever available.
2. If the product in the recipe is not available, substitute with a suitable ALDI product.
3. If rules 1 and 2 can not be followed, purchase item from another grocer OR if the item is deemed not integral to the recipe, leave out altogether.

That's it, let's see how we did.
 
I couldn't find Benita Shredded Quesadilla Cheese which is denoted in the recipe as a specialty item that may not be available. Correct! I also didn't find Benita Diced Green Chiles or green onions. I substituted Happy Farms Pepper Jack for the cheese, Casa Mamita Tomatoes and Green Chiles (a Rotel knock-off) for the chiles and left out the green onions altogether. Also, I didn't find Stonemill Essentials Taco Seasoning so I used Casa Mamita Taco Seasoning in it's place, but it's 1 oz instead of the 1.25 oz called for in the recipe. I don't think it made a difference.

O Canada! -- Maple Leaf Cream Cookies

The list of Canadian things that are amazing is relatively lengthy. There's universal healthcare, hockey, hard rock power trios, Tim Horton's and Dudley Do-Right, just to name a few. Which reminds me - if you live in or travel to Chicago, stop by Do-Rite Donuts - although they aren't Canadian, they're amazing too. Anyway, another amazing thing is maple syrup. It's delicious. I mean, where would the humble pancake be without it? This week I saw maple cookies at the local ALDI and decided to give them a try. Ladies and Gentlemen, hang on to your tuques, I give you - Benton's Best Maple Leaf Cream Cookies!

*Dipping Syrup Not Included

Specially Selected Cream Puffs

Happy post-holidays ALDI-eaters. I know it's been awhile since there has been a new review, but I don't want you guys to worry; I ate a lot of ALDI food over the holidays (we all celebrate in our own special ways, no judgements).   I wanted to start off What's Good at ALDI 2013 with a positive review so let's talk about Specially Selected Cream Puffs.

I stopped by a new ALDI on my way home to my parents' house and was trying to pick out something I thought I could convince my sister to eat. I have been eyeing these cream puffs from day one but I always balked at the $4.99 price tag. But my sister LOVES cream puffs and they were on sale for the first time and here we are.

Friendly Farms Egg Nog!

 
I have a pretty short history with eggnog. So short that this is really only our second winter together.  Full disclosure, I drank enough eggnog last season that we've effectively had four winters. I'm not sure why I wasn't on the bandwagon before, probably has to do with the unappetizing name. But really, it's just melted ice cream with some nutmeg? (Really, eggnog ice cream recipes on the internet consist of just pouring the eggnog back into an ice cream maker.)

Beaumont Coffee - Mocha Mint

Happy December to you! Not for me though. I'm home blogging about coffee when I should be at work but I'm waiting for the critter guy to come and seal up my house because I have a rat(s?) in my attic.  Yes, it's as awful as it sounds. I'm consoling myself with seasonal coffee and a playlist I call "Get Down! (in the dumps)". Pretty clever, right? Ok, Beaumont Coffee's Mocha Mint flavor:

WE INTERRUPT OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BLOG POSTING - Sea Salt Caramels

***ALDI EMERGENCY BLOG POST***

Sorry for the panic I know this has caused, but I just got the ALDI flyer in my inbox and found something you need to know about. There is one thing at ALDI that comes around once or twice a year that turns this blog from "What's Good At ALDI" into "What's GREAT At ALDI" and it's these and they're back!

INCREDIBLE and only $3.49!

I'm not going to waste time with a review. Time you could be using to run, I repeat RUN, to ALDI and grab every last box of these. I'll only say this - this post is by me, GC and you know how hard I am on ALDI products. NOW GO!

Update from the Lady: Specially Selected Sea Salt Caramels get an A++. Bonus points for being an amazing gift and a for a having a box sized for 10 pieces but only giving you nine.

Aldi's Mint Oreos

After an entire week of mostly disappointing pies, I'm glad I get to bring something that was so great. So great, in fact, that I had to throw them away to keep from eating 5000 calories in three days. Benton's Mint Creme Chocolate Sandwich Cookies! I love mint oreos and I enjoyed Benton's Chocolate Sandwich Cookies original version, so these were destined to be a slam dunk.

Pumpkin Blitz: Pumpkin Ravioli

I just ate this Specially Selected Pumpkin Ravioli for dinner and it was great!  Of course, I knew it was going to be great. I have also had ALDI's portobello mushroom ravioli which will be reviewed in the future (spoiler: also great).

You have to be pretty careful when making these raviolis as they're very delicate. I've never been considered delicate, so naturally at least one ravioli will break in the pot and a couple of more in the strainer. I will say that when the first one broke in the pot, my entire stove-area immediately smelled like pumpkin pie. So fragrant!

I ate them with a light mushroom sauce and it was perfect. So perfectly fall. I think I said before that ALDI's sweet spot was snack food, but maybe it's ravioli. I hope everyone starts buying their ravioli from ALDI! A bag of 15 ravioli is $2.50 which is three servings so that is definitely a steal.

I love it when ALDI does well. It makes me think that at some point, I might have enough awesome items that I can go to ALDI more frequently than the regular grocery. I give these Pumpkin Ravioli an A+. Bonus points for smelling so good (and I haven't been smelling too well lately).

Pumpkin Blitz: Pumpkin Spice Milk

I was jazzed when I saw Friendly Farms Pumpkin Spice Milk in the ALDI weekly special. Pumpkin and dairy are foolproof, right? I walked straight to the refrigerator section to pick this up and right as I reached for it, I hesitated. This could go horribly wrong. Things have gone horribly wrong in the past - sunflower bread comes to mind. Maybe this is ALDI reaching too far, they do that sometimes.

But you know what? This specialty milk is only $1.99 and I knew I would lay in bed at night thinking about it if I didn't buy it when I had the chance. Two dollars is a small sacrifice for peace of mind.

Pumpkin Blitz: Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows

Pumpkin madness continues with Pumpkin Spice Marshmallows from Baker's Corner.

Did anyone leave ALDI during pumpkin week without these adorable marshmallows in their cart? I hope not. Just look at how perfectly autumn these are. Just look:

Pumpkin Blitz: Beaumont Pumpkin Spice Coffee

I have a weird trigger about pumpkin-flavored things. When I see them, I must have them. So a couple of weeks ago when I discovered that ALDI was just starting their pumpkin-themed week, I dropped everything and ran to the store. They had so many pumpkin-flavored things! Here is a list of all the pumpkin-themed things that I can remember off the top of my head:

Pumpkin Cream Cheese, Pumpkin Bagels, Pumpkin Pancake Mix, Pumpkin Spice Milk, Sparkling Pumpkin Cider, Pumpkin Cookie Mix, Pumpkin Ravioli, Pumpkin Ice Cream, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Marshmallows, Pumpkin Chocolate Bars, Pumpkin Bread Mix, and Pumpkin Spice Coffee!

GC has reviewed coffee on this blog before (here and here) but this is my first time. I'm mildly particular about coffee - I don't need super fancy coffee but since I tend to drink it black, I do have a bar (it's just low). That said, this coffee is fine. Even though it's called Pumpkin Spice, I was really expecting it to be more Pumpkin Pie flavored. There was a reason why it is Spice and not Pie flavored; it was not sweet at all.


I mixed it with French Vanilla flavored coffee to sweeten it up, regular coffee to cut some of the spice, and alone. Each way tasted like scarves, boots and zero percent humidity. Perfect.

I give this coffee an A+. I will definitely be looking for this again. Extra point for being part of Pumpkin Blitz 2012.

Simply Nature Sweet Potato Corn Tortilla Chips

Simply Nature Sweet Potato Corn Tortilla Chips are really great chips.

They are not really great at being tortilla chips, however. Putting salsa or any type of dip on these chips is a mistake as it takes away from how delicious they are. They are sweet and salty and buttery. I hope these chips hang around so I can buy more.

Buy these! I loved them - because of these chips, I'm going to buy any Simply Nature brand foods I find at ALDI.  They get an A+. Extra point for being semi-fall themed. Happy fall!

Guest Post: Bremer Kids Chicken Nuggets Complete Meal

We would like to welcome our first guest reviewer! Thanks for sharing the burden of this completely voluntary blog with us; we couldn't do it without you, GD.

Hi there loyal readers, nice to meet ya. I’m the Gentleman’s daughter and possibly only reader of What’s Good at ALDI? So this blog entry is somewhat of a diary to myself. Listen, self, I love ALDI. My husband and I are trying to raise three kids and I don’t know if you’ve ever been around a child, but they like to eat. As much as I love to cook for the family, there are those nights when a bottle of wine and some water crackers is a full meal for me. Those nights are the times that I forget about the words “healthy” and “mono sodium glutamate” and turn to frozen meals. The kids are always begging for those god-awful Kid Cuisines, so when we saw these on sale at ALDI, we couldn’t resist. These guys were on sale for a meager $0.99. When I see something on sale for less than a dollar, my brain reads “Free”. We scooped up three and headed home with three super excited children.

You want dinner AGAIN? I just fed you dinner yesterday!

Free Dog!!!

Not Purchased At ALDI

So I found this dog wandering around my neighborhood and I'm trying to find it a home but I need to post some pics somewhere and then it dawned on me - I can work two angles today - one, a solid review and two, trying to find a home for this dog. So today I give you a win/win - Shep Premium Cuts With Beef in Sauce dog food and a free to a good home pup!

Looks Better Than ALDI Chili

Frozen Blueberry Waffles

Finally a review of frozen waffles. If this blog has a weak spot, it is definitely waffle-related. Well Breakfast Best Blueberry Waffles are here to rescue us all.

I eat frozen waffles for breakfast a lot of mornings while driving to work. You can toast them and wrap them up in a paper towel then delicately balance them on top of your coffee cup while you try to lock the door before the alarm goes off. And two waffles are less than 200 calories, so it's perfect. 

I Play It Straight -- Milk Chocolate Coated Butter Cookies

Since I have nothing but good things to say about this product, in this post I'm just going to play it straight. No wise cracks - just a solid review. I give you...cafe' Bistro Milk Chocolate Coated Butter Cookies.

Delicious!

Flatbread Melt

Annnnndddddd I'm back!  I apologize for my extended absence but I recently became the proud owner of every season of Gilmore Girls on DVD, so you can imagine how busy I have been.

In order to make it up to you I bring you a very special entry: Bremer Selects Chicken Quesadilla Flatbread Melt!

This is the ALDI item that started it all. On my first trip to ALDI, I was marveling at all of the neat little prepackaged meals like this. GC warned me that I "would be sorry" if I ate any of them. Not one to back down from a challenge, I cased all of their frozen foods and picked the Chicken Quesadilla Flatbread Melt as my test.

Cheese Puffs n Stuff -- Cheese Puffs

Hey everybody, GC is back! Sorry for the delay, I had some technical difficulties. Dead phone which had all my sweet ALDI photos on it and dead hard drive which had my ability to login and write posts on it. But both have been rectified and I've got a TON of reviews to get to so without further adieu I bring you ---- Clancy's Cheese Puffs!

Pony

This was a review requested by one of our most dedicated readers - my daughter. Since I never got her that pony she wanted, I decided this was the next best thing.

Ole! Salsa!

It is important that when you host an Arbor Mist Wine Tasting Party (more on that later), you provide snacks. GC was nice enough to stop by ALDI and pick up some classy snacks to pair with the classy evening we were about to have. 

I'm going to go out on a limb and state that snack food is ALDI's sweet spot. In addition to several bottles of Arbor Mist, ALDI pita chips, crackers, hummus, and salsa were all served. First up for review is Grandessa Signature Mild Salsa.

(Please excuse the poor quality of the photos; they were taken quickly.  So much AM to get to)