Saturday Night, July 22, 2023, and Your Dinner . . .

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

was? Leftovers, something grilled, baked, fried, sandwiches
or dining out?

It was a chicken pot pie I made in the Ninja Foodi. Depending
if I'm as ravenous as wolf tomorrow it might all be devoured
Sunday. No dessert.

[GM]

I had a p0rk loin so used some sliced for sammiches, using cheddar cheeze and lettuce on some
S. Rosen onion bunz...

Side was some coleslaw....

Maybe some Haagen Dasz vaniller later...

--
GM

[Thomas]

Did munchies most of the day but did make a stew from a bottom round roast with shrooms.
Right now, pickle brine is cooling to dump over some kirby's.

[songbird]

was excellent. :)

i'd not eaten much all day yesterday so i had
plenty of spare capacity...

started with a spinach, bacon, onion dip and crackers.
then went to salad with mixed fruits and feta cheese.
then to pork loin off the grill cooked to perfection.
with the pork loin i put some bbq sauce on it and
enjoyed. also had an onion quiche with crumbs on the
bottom and pasta salad.

for dessert there was carrot cake.

everything was so good i had seconds and snacked
a bit more on the spinach dip and crackers. i did not
have seconds on carrot cake but there's a good chance
i'll have some for breakfast.


songbird

[Bryan Simmons]

You should try the *Specially Selected* vanilla from
ALDI. It is the only ice cream that I know of that is
nearly indistinguishable from Haagen Dazs. Right
now they have the small containers of the vanilla
chocolate almond. Until recently, I always
maintained that there is Haagen Dazs, and there is
inferior ice cream, but the Specially Selected has
made me revise that.
https://www.aldi.us/en/products/frozen-foods/frozen-ice-cream-desserts/detail/ps/p/specially-selected-super-premium-vanilla-ice-cream/
I'll go so far as to say that if almost any Haagen
Dazs fan where given a bowl of it, and there was a
container of Haagen Dazs visible, they would
notice no difference.
>
> --
> GM

--Bryan

[Ed P]

On 7/23/2023 10:09 AM, Bryan Simmons wrote:

>>
>> Maybe some Haagen Dasz vaniller later...
>>
> You should try the *Specially Selected* vanilla from
> ALDI. It is the only ice cream that I know of that is
> nearly indistinguishable from Haagen Dazs. Right
> now they have the small containers of the vanilla
> chocolate almond. Until recently, I always
> maintained that there is Haagen Dazs, and there is
> inferior ice cream, but the Specially Selected has
> made me revise that.
> https://www.aldi.us/en/products/frozen-foods/frozen-ice-cream-desserts/detail/ps/p/specially-selected-super-premium-vanilla-ice-cream/

> --Bryan

I've not been to an ALDI in years. Can you still get the horse meat
lasagna? That got them a lot of great publicity.

The milk tasted odd, the produce was nasty, all the meats were brine
injected. Never saw a reason to go back. This week one opens about 2
miles from me.

[S Viemeister]

On 23/07/2023 18:13, Ed P wrote:

> I've not been to an ALDI in years.  Can you still get the horse meat
> lasagna? That got them a lot of great publicity.
>
> The milk tasted odd, the produce was nasty, all the meats were brine
> injected.  Never saw a reason to go back.  This week one opens about 2
> miles from me.

I went to an Aldi _once_. The so-called cheddar was strange tasting, and
when melted, frothed rather oddly.

Lidl, on the other hand, I would definitely recommend.
Fresh, good quality, and low prices.

[Bryan Simmons]

ALDI is very different now, and anything that they put their
Specially Selected brand on is super high quality. As far as
milk goes, every container has a dairy code.
https://www.whereismymilkfrom.com/finding-my-code/
The code on our milk from ALDI indicates that it is from
EAST SIDE JERSEY DAIRY INC in O'fallon, IL
Often retailers will sell the exact same milk (same dairy
code) labeled as both brand name and store brand. The
only differences are the labels and the prices. I have
seen the brand name (Prairie Farms) sell for almost
twice the price of the store brand (Schnuck's). Same
at Target.

--Bryan

[Bruce]

They can't be beaten on price here. Sometimes they sell the exact same
product for 70% of the price. Their vegetables are markedly cheaper
too and good quality.

[Ed P]

The one near me is open but the official Grand Opening is later this
week. I'll wait a bit and check them out.

Brand new shopping center. Only half the stores open so far and people
are complaining about parking. I'll keep an open mind. I'm told horse
meat tastes like beef.

[Bruce]

I thought shopping centres were going out of fashion and were being
closed down or abandoned. (Not that I see that here.)

[dsi1]

I bought some hamburger from Target yesterday. The hamburger was processed and packaged in a place far, far, away. It's in a bright and shiny attractive packaging. It looks like a very clean product. There's no messy processing of meat at the Target, no smell or feel of blood nearby. I saw meat sold like this at the Tesco in the UK over a decade ago. I thought it was the future of selling meat. Now it's in our little town. Everybody is happy there's a Target in town. I suppose it will change things up - perhaps not in a good way. That's okay, I'm ready for some change.

[cshenk]

We used to have a small group that did shopping trips (groceries) about
9 times a year. Someone who knew the store would act as 'guide'. Some
were 'teaching' themed. Susan and I did scratch cooking sites and we
also did 'effective couponing'. I also did one on how to read labels
on pet foods and another on 'low salt cooking'. We turned a neccesity
into a little social gathering.

Aldi's was one of the trips. While there were some interesting finds,
there is little there for a scratch cook, being mostly premade stuff.
It's still the same and online searches show Lidl is no better (opened
here later).

[Bruce]

On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 22:03:56 +0000, "cshenk"
<csh...@virginia-beach.net> wrote:

>Ed P wrote:
>
>> I've not been to an ALDI in years. Can you still get the horse meat
>> lasagna? That got them a lot of great publicity.
>>
>> The milk tasted odd, the produce was nasty, all the meats were brine
>> injected. Never saw a reason to go back. This week one opens about
>> 2 miles from me.
>
>We used to have a small group that did shopping trips (groceries) about
>9 times a year. Someone who knew the store would act as 'guide'. Some
>were 'teaching' themed. Susan and I did scratch cooking sites and we
>also did 'effective couponing'. I also did one on how to read labels
>on pet foods and another on 'low salt cooking'. We turned a neccesity
>into a little social gathering.
>
>Aldi's was one of the trips. While there were some interesting finds,
>there is little there for a scratch cook, being mostly premade stuff.
>It's still the same and online searches show Lidl is no better (opened
>here later).

We shop at ALDI a lot and don't buy much premade stuff. We only go to
other supermarkets for more specialised stuff, like good quality soy
sauce or tamari or tempeh. Of course, American ALDIs may be different
from Australian ALDIs.

[S Viemeister]

On 23/07/2023 20:44, Ed P wrote:

> Brand new shopping center.  Only half the stores open so far and people
> are complaining about parking.  I'll keep an open mind.  I'm told horse
> meat tastes like beef.

It is a bit like beef, but can be rather tough.
Works well for braising, and in stews.

[S Viemeister]

On 23/07/2023 23:03, cshenk wrote:

> Aldi's was one of the trips. While there were some interesting finds,
> there is little there for a scratch cook, being mostly premade stuff.
> It's still the same and online searches show Lidl is no better (opened
> here later).
>

I shop at a Lidl in Scotland, and also one in New Jersey. I don't see
all that much pre-made stuff there, but perhaps that's because I'm
shopping for ingredients, not TV dinners. I don't pay any attention to
the soft drink section, either.
They do stock a wide range of fresh stuffed pastas, which counts as
pre-made.

[cshenk]

We've had several of the 'mega malls' close here but one still has a
waiting list to get store space. It's the one nearest me. Nice place!

[cshenk]

Quite possibly differnt. Definately mostly premade stuff. Last
search, ingredient price matches for making chocolate chip cookies. No
chocolate chips or vanilla extract. No brown sugar. Want to bake a
loaf of bread? Only self rising white flour, no yeast. Ick. No
thanks for me here. The only thing I liked at the Aldi's here, was
unique sausages, deli meats and interesting snacking cheeses.

[Ed P]

Many of the malls are and I was surprised to see this one going up.
There are another 5000+ houses going up in the county so I guess there
are enough to support it.

[dsi1]

I have made a quick-bread beer bread that was just wonderful. You couldn't tell it was a quick bread. My guess is that a lot depends on the beer you use. I used a thick brown ale and self-rising flour.

[Bruce]

On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 23:44:43 +0000, "cshenk"
<csh...@virginia-beach.net> wrote:

>Bruce wrote:
>
>> We shop at ALDI a lot and don't buy much premade stuff. We only go to
>> other supermarkets for more specialised stuff, like good quality soy
>> sauce or tamari or tempeh. Of course, American ALDIs may be different
>> from Australian ALDIs.
>
>Quite possibly differnt. Definately mostly premade stuff. Last
>search, ingredient price matches for making chocolate chip cookies. No
>chocolate chips or vanilla extract. No brown sugar. Want to bake a
>loaf of bread? Only self rising white flour, no yeast. Ick. No
>thanks for me here. The only thing I liked at the Aldi's here, was
>unique sausages, deli meats and interesting snacking cheeses.

Yes, they only sell things that the majority of people will be
interested in. If the masses don't need yeast, they won't sell it.
That's why we always have to go to a regular supermarket as well, once
a month or so.

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

On Sunday, July 23, 2023 at 6:44:59 PM UTC-5, cshenk wrote:

>
> Bruce wrote:
>
> > We shop at ALDI a lot and don't buy much premade stuff. We only go to
> > other supermarkets for more specialised stuff, like good quality soy
> > sauce or tamari or tempeh. Of course, American ALDIs may be different
> > from Australian ALDIs.
> >
> Quite possibly differnt. Definately mostly premade stuff. Last
> search, ingredient price matches for making chocolate chip cookies. No
> chocolate chips or vanilla extract. No brown sugar. Want to bake a
> loaf of bread? Only self rising white flour, no yeast. Ick. No
> thanks for me here. The only thing I liked at the Aldi's here, was
> unique sausages, deli meats and interesting snacking cheeses.
>

Well, that's most definitely an absolute lie. They have chocolate chips and
even high percentage chocolate bars for cooking. Not to mention flour, sugar,
salt, pepper, corn meal, brown sugar, many different nuts, lots of different cooking
oils, a great variety of spices, etc. and yes, most definitely vanilla.

[Bruce]

Yes, they must have done some research beforehand.

[Bruce]

On Sun, 23 Jul 2023 23:44:43 +0000, "cshenk"
<csh...@virginia-beach.net> wrote:

>Bruce wrote:
>

>> We shop at ALDI a lot and don't buy much premade stuff. We only go to
>> other supermarkets for more specialised stuff, like good quality soy
>> sauce or tamari or tempeh. Of course, American ALDIs may be different
>> from Australian ALDIs.
>
>Quite possibly differnt. Definately mostly premade stuff. Last
>search, ingredient price matches for making chocolate chip cookies. No
>chocolate chips or vanilla extract. No brown sugar. Want to bake a
>loaf of bread? Only self rising white flour, no yeast.

We just came back from ALDI. They had brown sugar and non-self raising
(white) flour, but no yeast.

[Bruce]

Yes, but they don't offer all the things a regular supermarket offers.
Maybe 30%?

[Gary]

That's got to be Lynnhaven Mall. I sure did spend plenty of time (and
money) there over the years since it opened. Haven't been recently
though. Glad to hear it's doing well. :)

[cshenk]

dsi1 wrote:

>
> I have made a quick-bread beer bread that was just wonderful. You
> couldn't tell it was a quick bread. My guess is that a lot depends on
> the beer you use. I used a thick brown ale and self-rising flour.

Quite different from what I'm doing with yeast based multigrain types.

[cshenk]

Suspect you have a difffernt selection. Here, it great for 'gluten
free'.

[Bruce]

On Tue, 25 Jul 2023 02:19:14 +0000, "cshenk"

Yes, I saw gluten free breads too.

[cshenk]

Correct and based on Joan's message, regionally selective in products.
Here with huge competition, shey showcase GF and premade things. Not
enough odd stuff to be worth a trip but they do have some odd canned
items of interest.

[Bruce]

On Tue, 25 Jul 2023 02:47:25 +0000, "cshenk"
<csh...@virginia-beach.net> wrote:

>Bruce wrote:
>
>> Yes, but they don't offer all the things a regular supermarket offers.
>> Maybe 30%?
>
>Correct and based on Joan's message, regionally selective in products.
>Here with huge competition, shey showcase GF and premade things. Not
>enough odd stuff to be worth a trip but they do have some odd canned
>items of interest.

We do 3 x ALDI, 1 x regular supermarket. That way we get the best of
both worlds.

[cshenk]

Yes. Some things closed but as soon as the place is refurbished,
something else opens. I see 2 empty right now. Smaller ones. 2 new
places opening (assume in those 2 locations).

[Bruce]

Can you update Gary a bit on the type of women you see there?

[dsi1]

Quick breads are typically nothing like yeast breads. What's remarkable is being fooled into thinking they're one in the same.

[cshenk]

Agreed. To me they are almost a different food group from yeast breads.

[cshenk]

Chuckle, if so, the Aldi's here must think 50% of us want GF fast boxed
foods that fix in 5 minutes. Fortunately, they are wrong but they
'found a nitche market' for the 'yuppie' crowd and are doing ok.

[cshenk]

Locations vary. Stocks vary also so could be they have both 'at times'
here but I don't go to places that 'sometimes have basics' when that's
exactly what I need.

[cshenk]

Here, just about anything you can think of that might have gluten, at
Aldi's has a GF option (or only option!).

[cshenk]

You eat GF?

[cshenk]

LOL. Well, now that I think about it, mostly trim folks. Walmart
swings the other way.

[Bruce]

On Tue, 01 Aug 2023 16:42:24 +0000, "cshenk"

No, not at all.

[Bruce]

Lol, thanks on behalf of Gary.