Simply Nature Week - Garden Salsa Brown Rice Crisps

I'm sleepy. Here's the low down on Simply Nature's Garden Salsa Brown Rice Crisps. Crushed up, Wendy's would put these chips on their "Asian-style" salad, calling them "crispy Asian noodles."

Simply Nature Week - Raspberry Lemonade Twisted Fruit Rope

ALDI is really trying to encourage everyone to be healthier right now. Last week, they were selling elliptical machines, hand weights, and juicers. And next week, they're selling ab wheels and pull-up bars. This week is a push on their new brand "Simply Nature" which the ad says has "no artificial colors, flavors, or unnecessary enhancers" (I guess necessary enhancers are still on the table).

First thing I tried was the Raspberry Lemonade Twisted Fruit Rope. It was pretty good!  I really like mashed-up fruit (rolls, bars, tape, twists, I will happily eat it all). They were best when you bite a piece off and then let it dissolve in your mouth to capitalize on the flavor. If you just bit, chewed, and swallowed, it's could be a little bland. So try to remember to take your time. 

Gourmet Spreadable Cheese - Garlic and Herb Edition

ALDI is really stepping it up with their Specially Selected brand. Hit after hit after hit. I've thought about those Specially Selected cream puffs every day for over a week. I almost bought more of them tonight, they were so goo- ok, get it together, we're here to talk about cheese not cream puffs and you love cheese - cheese is almost your favorite food behind bagels, pho, clementines, vanilla soft serve, and waffles. (Fun fact: when we started this blog, I thought that I would have more fun with a blog dedicated solely to vanilla soft serve - just pictures of vanilla soft serve from all over the county (or more likely, all over Georgia). I was going to call it "A Soft Serving." You guys would read that right? When you're done reading this review, google-image search for "vanilla soft serve," you won't be sorry. It's a beautiful gallery.)

So Specially Selected Gourmet Spreadable Cheese Garlic and Herb flavor is pretty decent spread. This is clearly meant to knock off Rondele and it's totally adequate at that. We ate it with ALDI's version of reduced fat Wheat Thins (which are also perfectly adequate). Wanna see what it looks like?

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:

Cafe Bistro Soft Gingerbread Cookies

 

I've been talking to you guys for about nine months now which means that this blog is fully gestated and we're all family now. So strap in, I'm going to start laying some truth on you.

Winter is the best season*. People generally look adorable in winter clothes (hats, mittens, scarves, tights, perfect). Wearing giant fuzzy socks and a second cardigan at the office gets 30 percent fewer disapproving looks. Holding hot steaming mugs of hot steaming liquids. Christmas lights! Coats! ETC.!

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.

Piepocalypse Now! - The Final Reckoning -- Cherry Pie

And so we come to the end of the Piepocalypse and I've saved the worst for last. Readers I give you the worst pie I have ever eaten...L'Oven Fresh Cherry Pie.

Just Don't!

It's products like these that make me wonder if anyone at ALDI actually eats ALDI food. I don't think I have the language skills to explain just how horrible this pie was. But I'll try.

Piepocalypse Now! - Day Four -- Dutch Apple Pie

When we last convened, we had just finished a not terrible pecan pie. I just heard the oven timer go off so it must time for the warm pies, starting with L'Oven Fresh Dutch Apple Pie.

What country is Dutch anyway? Iceland?

With both of the fruit pies, I cooked the pie at 350 for 20 minutes so it was warm but not overly hot and tented it with some ALDI foil so as not to burn the crust. It worked out pretty well but there are no heating instructions so I was just winging it. I'm not sure what ALDI is thinking - maybe heat causes some horrible reaction in ALDI pies but none of the boxes had any reheating instructions. Note to ALDI: people enjoy warm pie.

Piepocalypse Now! - Day Three -- Pecan Pie

When last I left you I had just finished a disappointing pie #1 - Sweet Potato. On to day three - L'Oven Fresh Pecan Pie.

 How do I love thee?

Of all the things I have claimed to love on this blog, this one is closest to being true love. I love pecan pie. It is delicious. Toasted pecans on top of a dark rich sweet Karo syrup flavored filling in a flaky Crisco shortening crust. It's pretty close to the perfect dessert. I think we all know this review is headed for a fall.

Piepocalypse Now! - Day Two -- Sweet Potato Pie

When I left you last time, I had just purchased 4 L'Oven Fresh pies for tasting. Now the moment you've all been waiting 24 hours for - Let the pie eating begin!

First up, L'Oven Fresh Sweet Potato Pie.

3.14159265359

Sweet potato pie is one of my very favorite pies. Do they eat this anywhere else but down here in the South? It's very similar to pumpkin pie - I think they use the same spices - but it has a distinct sweet potato flavor. 

Nature's Nectar Sparkling Spice Pumpkin Cider

There is so much pumpkin-themed food still for sale at ALDI - we went to two separate ALDI's yesterday morning and I came home with one more pumpkin item (cookie mix). Are you guys tired of all this pumpkin yet? Honestly, I think I'm getting tired of it - the fun of it is starting to wear off.  When you can buy a pumpkin version of everything, nothing is special.

Don't worry, I'm not letting my encroaching pumpkin ennui affect my review of Sparkling Spice Pumpkin Cider!  Of all the pumpkin things I bought for Pumpkin Blitz, GC was convinced that this cider was going to be the only decent item. Boy was he wrong! Of all the items I've already reviewed, this one is the least likely to be purchased again.

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!

Deutsche Kuche Sunflower Seed Bread

This stuff is terrible. DO NOT BUY SUNFLOWER SEED BREAD.

Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels

Blog Business Up Front: I just want to say "Hi" to my extended family! I heard at a recent wedding that some of you are reading. Annnd, now you're famous - congratulations. As repayment, you must all write a guest review for us.  Haha, just kidding. Or not, we do need the help. Also, a wave to the Food Science Lab at UGA (seriously).

April was German Cuisine month at ALDI (at least at our ALDI). There were little Deutsche Küche brand items all over the store and most of them had high novelty factors. I knew I wanted to try at least one of them before they were ripped back out of the store and out of my life. There were a lot of questionable choices (bratwurst, peanut puffs, goat cheese, etc).

Out of all the choices, these Cinnamon Sugar Pretzels practically floated into my basket.  I thought these were a slam dunk, GC was predictably skeptical. They break open like any other pastry in a tube, with a satisfying pop. Then you have to form them into pretzel shapes, which I thought I could do with pizza-dough-spin dramatic flourish (I could not). You sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top and put them in the oven.