You’ve heard of Trader Joe’s, right?! It’s one of my favorite stores, but there isn’t one anywhere near us. That happens when you live in the great north of Michigan! But we have an ALDI now and if you don’t know much about ALDI, it’s time you learned! I always thought ALDI was a poorly run discount grocer…you have to PAY for a cart?! But our local ALDI in Saginaw (where we used to live) wasn’t all that great and I rarely went. When we got ours here, I decided to check it out again and here’s why…
ALDI is owned by Trader Joe’s! Why is this awesome? Because Trader Joe’s provides really healthy options at amazing prices. This idea has transferred over to ALDI and in the last few years, ALDI has made it their mission to offer healthy, organic choices to people as well…at even better prices! Why are their prices so good? Because they save money by not making their stores super fancy. You’ll see a lot of products stacked in their original cases, because they aren’t paying extra money for store stock employees. Most items are generic and not in fancy packaging, to further save money for ALDI. You also pay a quarter to get your shopping cart (you get it back when you return the cart), and if you don’t bring your own bags, you also pay for bags…this all saves ALDI money in places where bigger stores pay out for extra employees and longer store hours for collecting carts, or paying for disposable grocery bags. This allows ALDI to give you the best prices on their products by cutting back on operational costs. It’s a win-win…
As you know, my kids have food allergies, and sometimes shopping can be daunting. We mostly eat fresh meals, because prepared foods don’t typically work for my kids. Which is fine, because it’s healthier, but I’m always on the lookout for foods and snacks that can make things a little easier, while also being healthy. I make most things from scratch to be sure they’re safe for my kids, and Aldi helps with that as well with so many pantry staples that are safe for my kids!
Enter ALDI…
They have so many amazing products under one roof, many of which are organic, non-GMO, no artificial colors/flavors, gluten-free, cage-free, grass-fed…I could just keep going…but instead I’m going to share with you our tried-and-true favorites from ALDI that are food-allergy-friendly for our family…
Just as a side note, the allergies we have in our house are dairy, egg, most nuts, sesame seeds, mustard and soy. I just wanted to put that our there because the products I buy are safe for these items only and you will want to read the labels if you’re looking for other food allergies specific to you.
Lark and Arlo love shopping ALDI’s with me. They can both ride up front in the cart together and they think it’s fun…which saves me a ton of time because Lark hates the cart otherwise so most of my time grocery shopping is typically eaten up by trying to get her through the store in a timely manner! Lark also knows that a lot of the foods we buy there are safe for her so she can actually be excited about buying food and even sometimes pick things out herself. She’s my cart helper too, putting the quarter and in and getting the quarter out. They have a ‘home/miscellaneous’ section too that changes out quite a bit and she loves browsing there too. They often have toys or home necessities that are just fun to search through for hidden treasures.
The two brands we love are Simply Nature, ALDI’s own certified organic brand. There are so many options with this brand and minimal ingredients…No artificial colors or flavors! The Simply Nature meats and eggs are also grass-fed and cage-free. Live G-Free is another favorite and is their in-house gluten-free brand. We aren’t gluten-free, but I like this brand because a few are dairy, egg and nut free and are alternatives for other, pricier brands we buy.
{1} Live G-Free Frozen Nuggets – We love these nuggets! They’re not certified organic, but they’re comparable, ingredient-wise, to our other favorite nugget by Applegate Farms but about half the price for more product.
{2 & 3} Live G-Free Baked Chewy Bars – My kids love these! Not necessarily healthy, per say, but hey, could be worse! These are great to throw in the diaper bag for day trips and their lunch bag for daycare. My kids love the Cocoa Loco and Caramel Apple flavors! These are comparable to our other favorite, Enjoy Life bars, but less expensive. I do still buy the EL brand when they’re on sale at our larger grocery store.
{4} Meats – there are a ton of meat options and most are hormone/cage-free/grass-fed. I pick whatever I need when I stop in. This Simply Nature organic, grass-fed ground beef is awesome and affordable, especially with as much as we eat tacos 😉
{5} Simply Nature Fruit Strips – Another great on-the-go snack option! These are similar to Stretch Island Fruit Leather, but again, less expensive!
{6} Simply Nature Squeezable Fruit Pouches – We go through fruit pouches like crazy! Another fantastic option for life on-the-go and lunches! I tend to buy whatever brand of these is on sale at our larger grocery store, but whenever I stop into Aldi, I grab a few boxes…I sometimes use reusable pouches too with homemade or other natural brand jarred applesauce, like these Squooshi ones, but at Aldi’s price, you can’t beat them and it never hurts to have too many! 😉
{7} Simply Nature Fruit Snacks – Same idea…easy snacks!! ’nuff said…plus they’re cute little fox, owl and squirrel shapes! These are comparable to our other favorite, Annie’s Homegrown Bunny Snacks…which I do still buy because again, our larger grocer often has two-fer sales on them. But the Aldi ones are still so affordable that I pick some up every time I’m in.
{8 & 9} Chips! – because who doesn’t love chips?! The Simply Nature sweet potato chips are awesome and whole30/paleo compliant even…and my kids love these Simply Nature blue corn tortilla chips!
{10} Little Salad Bar Guacamole – I typically make my own guacamole and my kids love it…but sometimes it’s hard to get avocados ripe in our area and when they are ripe, they sell out super fast! So I like to grab these individual guac cups to toss in my kids’ lunches and for snacks at home! They come in large pouches, these small snack cups, and larger tubs.
{11} Simms Snack Sticks – These beef and turkey snack sticks are awesome! Another quick snack that we all love! They’re probably not the best option (they do have corn syrup and some nitrates) but there’s no added MSG and they’re low in sugar and full of protein!
{12} Simply Nature Lemonade – My kids love lemonade, or anything sour, especially Lark! I love this healthier option for lemonade by Simply Nature…for all those times my kids refuse to drink water 😉
{13} Simply Nature Canned Tomatoes – Aldi is great for canned goods without additives!
{14} Simply Nature Frozen Fruit – We make a lot of smoothies and frozen fruit really isn’t all that affordable, but Aldi has frozen fruit at great prices! And organic, of course!
{15} Simply Nature Organic Coconut Oil – I use coconut oil for EVERYTHING! You cannot beat the price at Aldi…at all! I think it’s something like $5 a jar…the kids love it as a dairy-free butter alternative on toast!
{16} Simply Nature Organic Olive Oil – Another pantry staple for us and it’s terribly cheap at Aldi…we use olive oil in our kitchen like it’s going out of style (I even wash my face with it…maybe a post about that will be coming soon)…
{17} Simply Nature Marinara Sauce – Another good pantry staple to pick up at Aldi…organic, no added sugar and my kids love spaghetti so it’s a super quick, healthy and allergy-friendly meal! (you can even buy great organic and gluten-free noodles at Aldo too)
{18} Simply Nature Chicken Broth – More pantry necessities! Chicken broth comes in handy for so many recipes and it’s organic and from free range chickens!
Shopping with food allergies can be so difficult and at time, down right depressing, but I love that more stores, including Aldi, are offering so many alternatives these days! I can do most of my shopping for my kids’ snacks and meals at Aldi and also save a TON of money! I hope you’ll stop into your Aldi and give it a chance! So many treasures to be found, especially for those with food allergies or on restricted diets for other reasons. There’s a lot of good options for whole30 and paleo diets too. I don’t follow those religiously, but I do make a lot of recipes from both lines of thinking because they’re so healthy and typically safe for my kids or easily adaptable for them. You can also buy a lot of nuts, seeds, etc at Aldi at really great prices! We are mostly nut free for the kids, but I buy raw sunflower seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds there pretty often for baking, etc…
What are some your favorite allergy-friendly, or just healthy, options?
