Kitchen

[cantdrive55]

@Chicagoan, Great minds think alike, I picked up 10 today! I think it was you who suggested Carmellized onions on top, and that addition took the flatbread to the next level! On the ride home, I was thinking of different toppings for them. I'll probably pick up  at least 6 more. Enjoy!

[Chicagoan]

@cantdrive55yep, I love carmalize onions on my pizza.  The cashier said to me when buying 10 of them, you must know these are for a limited time, I said I have been waiting for months for these... lol   I wish I had more room in my deep freezer, but, I could hardly make room for 10 of them.  I need to clean out the freezer to make room for more.. lol  Enjoy your pizza!

[Toppers3]

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@chicagoan wrote:

@cantdrive55yep, I love carmalize onions on my pizza.  The cashier said to me when buying 10 of them, you must know these are for a limited time, I said I have been waiting for months for these... lol   I wish I had more room in my deep freezer, but, I could hardly make room for 10 of them.  I need to clean out the freezer to make room for more.. lol  Enjoy your pizza!

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Hi my dear @Chicagoan ,

You know that I was thinking of you with all of the fondness and affection that I have in my heart for you----when we were at Aldi's on Sat. and I was putting only two of those garlic flat bread pizzas in our cart...

"Only two," you say?! LOL!!  

Yes...because our freezer is still full of other good Aldi's things, that I don't have room for more than two, and we don't have another freezer, otherwise I would also be buying more than two at a time, those pizzas are soooo good!! 

I picked up a package of the chicken legs that they had on sale and we had those for the last two nights for dinner. 

Their fresh meat is really good, and at reasonable prices when they put out their specials.

I like the nice meal kits that are put together too that they sell in the meat section. They are going to have one coming up this week for pot roast, that comes with the meat and veggies already in it.

It's not pre-cooked, so you have to roast it. It gives you directions on the underside of the label, as to how you can prepare it. I have bought both the pot roast kit and the pork roast kit before, and they are both very good. They both come with a seasoning packet inside of the package, if you want to use it.

I've made the pot roast both in the oven and with the slow cooker, and it's good either way.

I'm going to make the pot roast again in the oven. It just tastes so good slow roasted. 

It's just the right size for the two of us, where we can get two nights out of it. 

[deb5555]

Did you say carmelized onions, yum.  Then you will love this recipe dip like I do.

1 large vadalia onion chopped (best)

1 tsp evoo

1/2 tsp sage

1/4 cup cream cheese lite or regular

1/2 cup greek yogurt

1 tsp worchestershire sauce

salt + pepper

Heat oil in medium pan low heat, add onions,sage, salt and pepper and cook til soft about 10 minutes.  Stir in cream cheese, yogurt, worchestershire sauce and cook thru.

It's perfect with extra onions u need to use up, add to crackers, bagels, I sometimes mix it in instant potatoes. Enjoy.

[Financialgrl]

I think the whole quarter thing is supposedly only so people return the carts to the front of their stores as opposed to leaving all over the parking lot but I often have someone say - "no here just take my cart also".  

My issue with most Aldi's I've gone - the lines at cashier are long and they only seem to have one or two lanes open.  I also find that most Aldi's I visit are extremely disorganized in the non-food part - or where they sell shavers, fake fruit, and an odd collection of stuff that's come the last delivery.

We are soon to have a Lidl's open about a mile from me - there are others nearby in other towns.  It's a German chain with the same "boxes on a pallet" and supposed to be a cross between an Aldi's and a Trader Jo and supposed to be a direct competition for Aldis.  

[deb5555]

I just bought our Thanksgiving turkey 22# from aldis, nice selection on everything.  Ours is recently remodeled too. 

[SeasonedCitizen]

Thanks for the note about the Thom-Con grapes. They are fantastaic and I've only ever seen them at Trader Joes. (by the way, TJ's and Aldi's are owned by the same corportion) and carry some of the same products under different names. I especially like their frozen French onion soup. Taste exactly the same. As to the wine --love everything I've ever gotten. My favorite is the Gluhwine--German Christmas wine that is red wine with. spices and you heat it to drink it. Lived in Germany for several years and first tried it at the Christkindel Markt when the snow made warm wine taste terrific!!! 

Read last week that another German grocery is coming to us--it starts with L and I can't remember the name. Had never heard it before. 

Oh, and their. Peach Bellini that was advertised this week is really great.

[Chicagoan]

@Toppers3aww... your sooo sweet!  I like their chicken also and pot roast in the cryo bag.  I haven't tried the kit before, but, I certainly will now!  I love a good pot roast and it goes a long way for meals.  It is just me, so I make up plates for a couple of days and roast always taste even better the next day.  I love Aldi's prices, I get sticker shock everytime I do my other grocery shopping at other stores.  Example, I use half/half in my coffee and I buy 4 quarts at a time (expiration date is at least a month out if unopened) Aldi's price is $1.69 and $3.49 at the other stores, that is a huge price difference.   I love talking about Aldi's buys!  You have a wonderful week!!!!! 

[Chicagoan]

@deb5555omg... that sounds wonderful.  I will be making your recipe in my near future!  I make 3lbs of onions at a time and freeze in tiny packages wraped in plastic wrap and in a freezer ziplock bag.  I use them in omlettes, pizza, salsa... etc.  Here is the recipe I use...  

CARAMELIZED ONIONS.... Delicious, sweet like onion jam

5 large raw onions yielded about 2 cups caramelized onions.

Cook time: 1 HOUR

INGREDIENTS
5  or more medium or large onions, yellow, white, or red
Olive oil
Butter 
Salt
Sugar 
Balsamic vinegar 

1... Slice 1/2-inch off the stem ends of the onions and the roots off of the root end. Place the onions cut side down on the cutting board. Cut them in half through the root end. Peel back the peels from the onions. Lay the onions cut side down and make angled cuts into each onion, aimed at the center, cutting almost all the way, but not completely through the root end.  Make the cuts to your desired level of thickness. The root end will help hold the onion together as you cut it, making it easier to cut. Then cut a V in the root end to cut out the tough root holding the slices together.

2... Use a wide, thick-bottomed sauté pan for maximum pan contact with the onions. Coat the bottom of the pan with olive oil, or a mixture of olive oil and butter (about 1 teaspoon per onion). Heat the pan on medium high heat until the oil is shimmering. Add the onion slices and stir to coat the onions with the oil. Spread the onions out evenly over the pan and let cook, stirring occasionally. Depending on how strong your stovetop burner is you may need to reduce the heat to medium or medium low to prevent the onions from burning or drying out. After 10 minutes, sprinkle some salt over the onions, and if you want, you can add some sugar to help with the caramelization process. (I add only about a teaspoon of sugar for 5 onions, you can add more.) One trick, by the way, to keeping the onions from drying out as they cook is to add a little water to the pan.

3... Let cook for 30 minutes to an hour more, stirring every few minutes. As soon as the onions start sticking to the pan, let them stick a little and brown, but then stir them before they burn.
The trick is to let them alone enough to brown (if you stir them too often, they won't brown), but not so long so that they burn.

4... After the first 20 to 30 minutes you may want to lower the stove temperature a little, and add a little more oil, if you find the onions are verging on burning. A metal spatula will help you scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan as the caramelization proceeds.
As the onions cook down, you may find you need to scrape the pan every minute, instead of every few minutes.
Continue to cook and scrape, cook and scrape, until the onions are a rich, browned color.

5... At the end of the cooking process you might want to add a little balsamic vinegar or wine to help deglaze the pan and bring some additional flavor to the onions.

Store refrigerated for several days in an air-tight container or freeze in small packages

[Chicagoan]

@FinancialgrlI have a friend that lives in Virginia and loves Lidl there, she said it is a little more upscale than Aldi's but the prices are just as good!  So far Lidl's are just opening on the East coast and none currently for my Midwest area.  Darn!