aldi – calivintage

this post was sponsored by ALDI as part of influencer activation for influence central.

you may remember a couple of weeks ago, i shared my ALDI grocery haul. so today i thought i’d follow-up and show you what i made! i went shopping ahead of memorial day weekend, but i wasn’t in the mood to celebrate with the typical bbq fare. instead, i opted for something a bit lighter: organic ground beef tacos with chips and guacamole, and a white wine sangria filled with fresh fruit. as i mentioned in my previous post, ALDI has just opened 26 new locations across southern california, and this was my first visit to one of their locations. i had a vague idea that they sold products at an affordable price, so i wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. but as i started to browse through the aisles, i was really surprised to see that they had lots of fresh produce, and a really great selection of organic products. one of the ways that they’re able to offer such affordable prices is with their own ALDI-exclusive brands like SimplyNature®, which includes usda certified organic and non-gmo verified items, liveGfree® gluten-free products, and NeverAny! products that are free from added antibiotics, hormones and animal by-products.

i was able to cook this entire spread in about 15 minutes and the cost was probably 50% less than what i normally spend at the grocery store. what’s even better, is that i didn’t have to compromise on the quality of any of the ingredients and was able to cook a fresh, healthy meal.

traditional tacos.

16 oz. SimplyNature® Organic 100% Grass Fed Ground Beef
1/2 cup diced Curry & Company Yellow Onion
Stonemill Essentials Salt and Cumin to taste
Pueblo Lindo Corn Tortillas
1/2 cup chopped Queen Victoria Cilantro
limes

start by cooking 1/4 cup of the onion in oil for 1 minute or until translucent. add the ground beef with salt and cumin to taste until it is cooked through. warm the tortillas, top them with beef, and garnish with cilantro and the remaining diced onion. serve with lime slices.

guacamole.

4 Mission Avocados
1 TopLine Farms Tomato, diced
1/2 a Curry & Company Red Onion, diced
1 Pueblo Lindo Jalapeno, diced
1/4 cup Queen Victoria Cilantro, diced
Stonemill Essentials Salt and Cumin to taste

mix together all of the diced ingredients, then scoop the avocado into the mix and mash to desired consistency. add salt and cilantro to taste. serve with SimplyNature® Seedy Rolled Tortilla Chips.

white wine sangria.

Earth’s Harvest Chardonnay made with organic grapes
2 Paramount Citrus Oranges
4 limes
1 Rainier Fruit Company Apple
3 Ripe N Ready Nectarines
16 oz. club soda or Summit Ginger Ale

pour the wine into a large jar or pitcher, slice the fruit to bite size and squeeze the citrus juices into the wine before adding the sliced fruit to the mixture. before serving, pour in the club soda. if you prefer something a bit more sweet, add ginger ale instead.

summer groceries

this post was sponsored by ALDI as part of influencer activation for influence central.

it’s been quite a while since i’ve shared a recipe, or even written about food, but i certainly haven’t stopped cooking! in fact, in more recent months, i’ve been making a very concerted effort to cook most of my meals at home. it’s almost too easy to order takeout, especially with a rambunctious toddler and a newborn to take care of. but those two growing babies are exactly the reason it’s so important to cook healthful meals at home. and while it certainly is a time commitment, we’ve found a lot of value in getting adam involved in the kitchen while we prepare our food, and we all feel really good about what we’re eating. the only catch is that it’s surprisingly expensive to buy fresh, high quality and organic food. so when ALDI got in touch and asked us if we’d like to visit one of their 25 new southern california locations, i jumped at the opportunity.

i have to admit that i wasn’t entirely familiar with ALDI before they got in touch. they’re new to southern california, so this was my first visit to one of their 25 newly opened locations. i had a vague idea that they sold products at an affordable price, so i wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. but as i started to browse through the aisles, i was really surprised to see that they had lots of fresh produce, and a really great selection of organic products. it’s memorial day this weekend, so i focused on some of my summer favorites: ingredients for ground beef tacos, chicken tortas, lots of guacamole, and a big pitcher of white wine sangria filled to the brim with fresh fruit.

one of the ways that they’re able to offer such affordable prices is with their own ALDI-exclusive brands like SimplyNature, which includes usda certified organic and non-gmo verified items, liveGfree gluten-free products, and NeverAny! products that are free from added antibiotics, hormones and animal by-products. and since they forgo the typical flashy marketing of other grocery stores, the savings are passed on to customers. seems like a pretty smart business model to me!

so i thought i’d share a little peek at my ALDI haul. i went in with $100 and despite filling up my cart, i still didn’t manage to spend the whole thing. everything you see in the photographs totaled $60, that includes the extra produce that didn’t fit into the photos, a bottle of organic wine, organic meats and cheeses, tons of produce, and a few name brand items as well. so i guess this means i’ll be heading back for more soon!

taco time

summer groceries