If you know me, you know I love love love to go grocery shopping. I remember when online shopping for groceries was ONLY available in Chicago, New York, London, etc., and I would go onto their sites and pretend I had a residence there so I could get a free membership. If you didn't live in the area they would charge you $2.00 a week or something to look at their items! I faked my way through it, and I literally fake or pretend shopped hours and hours online. I spent an average of $400 weekly in pretend money. I bought everything I wanted!! It was glorious and I cherished my time with Peapods and other online stores. So unique. So fresh.
Now, everyone and their customer's dog have online shopping. Since C19, you're even encouraged to do online food shopping. They either deliver it to you, or you come by and pick it up curbside. It sort of takes the fun out of it. I love going into the store and going up and down literally every aisle, staring, gawking, reading, again pretending, and just thoroughly enjoying myself. Aldi is my favorite store now, and I know that may trigger my UK friends who think Aldi is on the lower end, but here in Oklahoma, Aldi is rather nice. The people are nice. I think one thing I really appreciate, but my UK friends hate, is the speed of which the Aldi cashiers will zip a customer through a line. OMG...done! Sort of like Chick-Fil-A but without the greeting and the smile!
My UK friends also don't appreciate that you have to pack your own bags at Aldi, but that's not really a problem for me. It's not even a First World Issue for me because I, yes I, Jude Stringfellow, am the FIRST Girl Sacker in Oklahoma City, THANK YOU!! It's a fact. I don't know where it may be archived, but it is a fact. Lisa Gann and I were hired at the same time, but I accepted the job about two hours before she did, so there you go, I was first. The store was called Humpty Dumpty, yes, I'm telling the truth. My mom thought it would be a perfect job for me and since girls weren't allowed to sack groceries we had to petition the store manager to let me do it. My mom can be pretty convincing. You may have guessed where I got my moxie. Apples don't fall too far from their trees!! If I had taken after my father I would have become an engineer or something. Mom was so much more fun.
I love food. I have always loved food. I use it. I make it. I share it. I am a foody! You can keep your damn diamonds, I am not that interested in them. I am interested in rocks. I'll take a rock and research it but I don't need carbon on my hand. I'll take a burger in my mouth with avocado, bacon, cheese, and smoked ranch dressing! STOP...I'm drooling. OK, so back to the fact that Aldi is my favorite store. You can't beat Aldi chocolate. You can't. I also love the fact that the brands are "off" brands, but they may just be German brands with English translations. I don't know. I love the produce, I love the bread, I love the cereal, I love the chips. I love the cheeeeeeessssseeeee, and I love the meat. I've already told you I love the chocolate, but it's worth saying a second time. I can spend so much time and so much money at Aldi. I don't find anything shameful about those facts.
Today, my good friend and I hit up Winco for their bulk section. Aldi doesn't have that. Winco is such a big store, you can certainly get your steps in just walking it so in the winter time or when it's raining I do that. Winco has about 16 rows, or 8 aisles of bulk foods. Literally every meal, spice, nut, grain, dried fruit, and loose chocolates (think chocolate covered raisins or nuts) you can think of. You scope it out, tie it off, label it, and it can be literally 50-60% cheaper than buying it in a box or tin. I buy baking soda there for .63 cents a pound, but it's .99 cents a pound box elsewhere in the same store. You buy it without the box and it's amazingly cheaper. This is the concept. Steel cut oats are $1.20 a pound bulk, and about $2.85 for the same amount in the round cardboard box. CRAZY!! I just had to buy a few containers and label them. Why so much baking soda? I put 1/3 pound in my bath every night. Posh-Posh!
Winco is good for meat as well, they do have more of a selection than Aldi. Bacon for instance, can have 20 different types, cuts, sizes, etc. I'm good with just average bacon, but why not splurge now and then and get the thin smoked so I can wrap it around my asparagus and treat myself to Heaven! (add cheese) We must have ended up with 15 small bags of this or that from the bulk. She was into the flours and meal such as flaxseed, she took a few types of lentils home as well. I did a couple of lentils, but I was more focused on the trail mix, dried fruits, and chocolate covered anything - - it's a weakness but I'm really not seeking any therapy for it at this time.
I you don't do fizzy water you may not care, but my daughter loves Bubly brand. I am a LaCroix fan myself. Both were on sale today and yeah, I stocked up on that. Here's my friend going for the house brand, but she did get pink grapefruit, which I may have to try because back in the day I was a Fresca drinker. I won't expect any of you to understand, but it was .... refreshing! I may have to do that. The bottom line is, we had more fun at the grocery store than most people do at Disneyland. We see things, try things, decide on things, put things in perspective. She bought bulk coffee and we both celebrated that she would not be drinking crap coffee for another month or so. If she ever thinks of going back to it I'll twist her arm behind her back and force her back to Winco's bulk section!!
OK, we did have a MISHAP today in the bulk section. I wanted honey and I was trying to show my friend how you can just get your own from the cool self service dispenser. They sell the bottles separately, but that's not the issue at all. I opened a new bottle, tried to get the dispenser to work, and when I forced it I was DRENCHED (my hands were) in thick, goey, ooey, clover honey!! I wasted at least 4 ounces of the stuff trying to make it go into the bottle and the dispenser wouldn't close!!! It did close after a few seconds of cascading amber icky-sticky everywhere. Thankfully Niki ran off to find a paper towel, but with no way of knowing when she would return there I was sucking my fingers and my hands for about six minutes just waiting on her to get back. Her paper towel was lovely, but it was dry, and that wasn't helping much. FINALLY, an employee came by and we were able to get her attention and I was allowed in the back to wash my hands. Good on Niki!! Such a friend.
We both had more than 15 items so we couldn't go to the self check, but I did notice that only one side of the self checks were being used. No one had a credit card I guess. They were all lined up in the cash or credit card line. I never carry cash really. We ended up in the best lane however as the lady was all about our choices for the bulk. I know some people don't like chatting with cashiers but I do. We share recipes, talk about traveling, we make up things, we lie to each other for the fun of it. I'm all about it as long as there's no one behind me being triggered by the friendliness -- then again, it's Oklahoma, it's expected. We talk a bit - - even to people we really don't know or have never met before. It's our thang. You're welcome.
That's it then, you are caught up on my grocery escapades! This wasn't a baking spree, I do more of that around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. This was just stocking up and being fun with a friend. I can't take my daughter, she's boring. She wants to make a list, stick to the list, go around the store in one big circle, and get things in such an effective and efficient manner so as to get out as soon as possible. Where's the fun or the adventure in that? I have failed my kids. At least my mom KNEW I belonged in a grocery store for my first job. (Well, not my REAL first job, but the one that mattered) ENJOY YOUR FOOD and think about how many people were actually involved in bringing it to your table from the farm to the register! It's an amazing thing when you think about the logistics of just anything whatsoever - - mind blown.
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