"And recently we actually shocked a cashier with all of our fruits and vegetables"! "Last summer while I was shopping the produce mgr passed by, looked in my cart and said, "No produce??" in a mock horrified way." "When I got to the checkout, the clerk commented that I had all "fun" stuff in my cart." "Any checkout clerk that makes a comment about what's in my cart other than "hmm, that looks good, have you tried it before?" gets a good case of the hairy eyeball. Ring up the blasted groceries and cork it, twinkie." Clerks are suppose to be trained not to comment on the purchases of customers. They would get more than just a hairy eyeball from me. I remember well the clerk who surveyed my load of veggies and cheese, who exclaimed with shock and disdain "Do you eat this stuff?!?!?!" I told her "No. Of course not. I am using this for a tablescape. My trunk is filled with Hot Pockets and Ding Dongs." I think she went deaf after I said it loud enough to embarrass her in front of everybody. I recently had a customer in line right behind me who LOUDLY proclaimed "Lady don't you think you're taking this vegetarianism too far?!?" when he scanned my load of fruits veggies and cheese on the check-out conveyor. I really blasted him because it was none of his business what I was buying. He wanted to make me look like some kook who didn't know that I should be buying what "everyone else buys" because that is what the television commercials tell us to buy - Popscicles, Fritos, GummieBears, oh and 'power drinks' to keep from feeling "run down" from a poor diet. (And BTW I am not a vegetarian. I just don't buy my meat at that particular store.) "Simple fact is that soda, chips, candy, hot dogs, sugary cereal, frozen pizza, white breads and anything made with corn, are the cheapest things to buy." That is absolutely not true at all. It is NOT a "simple fact". Soda has zero nutritional value just like plain water. If you wish to "quench your thirst" - Drink water. The cheapest things to buy are always going to be unprocessed foods. Things like dried legumes, and cruciferous vegetables, grains. Fruits and berries 'in season' are reasonably priced. Buy canned when they are out of season, and it is still better than buying CANDY BARS. Paying a buck-fifty for a candy bar for lunch, is not the cheaper option. You were kidding about the candy bars, right? Instead of eating potato chips, just cook a potato. Waaaay cheaper, and a microwaved potato will retain most of the vitamin C and nutrition. You can buy ten pound of potatoes for what one little bag of chips cost. Hot dogs are $3.99/lb in the store. You can instead buy decent meat for that price. You can get chicken for $.79/lb and even taking into account the bones in the weight you are still better off both monetarily and healthwise. Sugary cereal is cheaper than a bowl of cooked oatmeal?? Your kidding right?

Central California here. Raley's (Nob Hill and Bel Air in other cities) - full service regional chain with high quality meats and produce with a nod to organics and health foods. The prices are fair but not cheap. Safeway - close to me but I don't shop there often. I will drop in if it's the easiest store in my path and I need a few things. Prices tend to be high for general shopping. They do carry a few things I haven't seen other places. Walmart - they opened a small store close to me. I shop there some because of convenience. Selection overall is limited unless you want processed frozen foods and they have LOTS of that. I don't even walk down the frozen aisles. I rarely buy meat there. The prices aren't any better than anyplace else. O'Brien's - high end local small chain. If I want it and it's unusual I can usually find it there. They have an amazing cheese counter and a good wine department and meat counter. The best store is way out of my way for normal shopping and the one close to me lacks the cheese counter and specialties. Target - they now sell groceries and the store is a mere two blocks from the house so I do buy some things there. Most of the grocery stock is frozen and packaged goods, much like Walmart. The prices are quite reasonable. The meats I have purchased there have been good. I make an effort to buy some fresh produce so they will keep stocking it. It's a very basic selection. Trader Joe's - not close to me and not one of the bigger stores. They have things other places do not that I like to buy. It is also an 8 mile round trip by bicycle so I can shop and get in my daily bike ride as well. I am there once a week perhaps. Savemart - a local chain that has several stores around town and in nearby towns. I rarely shop there as none are in my neighborhood nor do they have anything I can't get elsewhere. Sunflower Market - a regional chain new to California. They are not a normal full service store and there are lots of things I can't get there. They focus on organic food and "natural" meats. So I can get wild caught fish there and meats that aren't injected with salt solution and organic produce. The prices are good and they are close to home. Produce is very nice. Greens - a newish and small gourmet store/deli with a nice selection of local specialities. Good cheeses. Not close, though. Food Maxx - a bag it yourself store I never use so I can't comment. Winco - another bag it yourself store. If I am stocking up this is a good place to do it. Produce selection is very good. Prices are the cheapest for doing a big general stock up shopping trip. Fresh & Easy - I have friends who like it but I have never been there. Costco - my first choice for meats. I have let my membership lapse as I now live alone. There are numerous outlet stores and dollar stores that sell groceries. Sometimes I will drop in. Selection is unpredictable and close to expiration date as a rule. Cost Plus - out of my way but a great source for gourmet packaged goods and wine. There are numerous small ethnic stores - Asian, Greek, Fijian, Indian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Eastern European and probably a few others I haven't seen. The Greek market is two blocks from me so I go there often. Lovely feta selection. And I really like the owner. He thinks my cannolis are great. And there are the stores that cater to restaurants but also sell to the public. I go in those now and then for certain things. I occasionally go to the farmer's market but I do it for a morning outing that includes live music and perhaps a pastry after a bike ride and maybe a chance to run into friends. The prices tend to be high but not always. I saw artichokes for 3 bucks a piece at the market. They were 99 cents at TJ's. But the beets were lovely and the greens (my favorite part) were crisp and fresh. Two bucks a bunch. A tiny bunch of organic chard was 3 bucks. I usually buy honey and raw almonds at the farmer's market when I need those things. Sciabica olive oil has a stand at one of the farmer's markets. No bargains, though. :) If I plan to do any canning, salsa and such, I will go to the farm stands out in the country. I have a favorite and I buy cases of whatever I want at a very good price. I think that about covers it for my town. I left out Kmart. I don't shop there ever. Eileen

arkansas_girl, and I only say this because I care, they have decaffeinated brands now that taste just as good as regular! :) lydia1959, While they don't carry Fritos® *brand*, they do carry corn chips, their generic/store brand is Clancy's. And no they don't carry Diet Rite® brand cola, again, they have their own diet cola. They have very few brand name items however quite regularly have Oscar Meyer® bacon, Miracle Whip® salad dressing and a few other name brands at times but the whole point of the store is that about 95% of the products are generic/store brands. One rep said they will get a brand name if they can't get the quality or price they want or they just won't carry it. They guarantee the items so if you don't like it, they'll refund your money and replace the item on most items. Since you want brand name items, discount stores like these are not for you. I've found some of their products to be better than brand names, most are equal to and a few are not as good IMO. But I'm not a brand-loyal person on too many things so I find Aldi and the comparable type stores to be great. Keep in mind the average Aldi carries about 1400 SKUs so they're obviously not going to have as big an assortment of major things. They also go for items they get the right price and the right quality so produce can be hit and miss. Aldi is a store you shop first then go to another store to pick up the things like zucchini. Onions will vary. Sometimes they'll have red but sometimes they'll have white or yellow. Again, it varies. If you want a *guarantee* they'll have a particular type, then it's not for you. But then, no store can guarantee it! LOL (I see more out of stocks and perpetual OOSs at Malwart than any other store.) I'm surprised about the salsa. Around here they always have it and it's usually in the aisle as you come into the store, by the chips. Casa Mamita is their brand name, however if you're going to look for a variety of "heat" and a variety of flavor, don't expect it. Generally they carry one of each types. Green onions are hit and miss. Generally I think it's because they spoil quite quickly so I seldom see them there. Shredded cheese is in the cooler, most stores it's against the back wall with salads, sausage, milk, eggs, sour cream, etc. You need to get used to what they *have*, and know they will *not* have 50,000 to 80,00 SKUs as a large grocery store nor 100,000+ SKUs like a super center to cover all needs. (In fact, that's one of their advertising bits You don't have to search through aisles of camping gear to find your ketchup.) Nor will a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods for that matter. People that shop these stores realize they're not going to get *everything* in one stop. They're specialty stores. Whole Foods for "natural" stuff, TJ's for yuppy stuff and Aldi for low priced staples. I'm not surprised you didn't find green onions, red onion, zucchini and canned green chiles. They do carry a substitute "Rotel" tomato and chilis though. And of course your brand names are pretty much a given, though they do carry diet cola and corn chips, though not the flavor you were looking for. Frankly you could simplify your trip for those two things by picking them up when you get gas and you're not really doing an additional store. Most gas stations carry Diet Rite and Fritos. I'm very surprised you didn't find salsa and shredded cheese. I take it you didn't ask someone about it? I started making a list of things they have that I would buy. I check my Aldi List before going there, then do an Aldi trip. Although I pretty much do the same for any other store. I keep a price log so I know which stores have better prices on certain things. Keep in mind, Aldi is about a 10,000 square foot store with about 1400 SKUs as mentioned. They cannot physically carry the variety an 80,000 sq ft common grocery store would nor a 130,000-150,000 sq ft "super store". Their model is to carry bargain basics and some special things. An air conditioner for $60, cast iron pans for $30 and under, flash drives cheap, lawn chairs, and more. But they won't have it all the time. I consider it garage sale shopping in that you never know for sure what you can get, just like I experience at Malwart for that matter! LOL All stores run out. Not all stores carry "everything". They can't. No one store is for everyone, that's why there's so many. And as I mentioned earlier, rumor has it that Aldi gets its pop/soda from Dr Pepper Snapple Group, who make Diet Rite. Can't verify this yet, but wouldn't surprise me. BTW, while they don't carry a 100' aisle of various breads, they carry white, wheat, a few buns, and they also have a 12 grain bread that I really like and it's about $1.69. Considering the comparable bread at any other store is $3-$4 there's times I'll make a stop just for a few things that they have that I like better or save me lot. I don't like having to stop at multiple stores to get what I want, but unfortunately these days it's nearly a requirement. I can't get decent produce at a Walmart here, they just don't have it in stock or the quality is SO poor I wouldn't feed it to farm animals. (They don't get anything locally.) Cub and Rainbow are hit and miss. When Aldi has produce, I've had 95% good luck with the quality and of course the prices are substantially less. I got used to the Aldi concept long before Aldi came into this area. We had a store called Save-A-Lot owned by Nash Finch and it basically was the same concept. No frills, bag your own, store brand mostly and closeouts/special purchases. Again, not the place to buy everything but a great place to save money. I was saddened to see them close but I understand when they saw Aldi moving in, they gave up and closed the doors.

Chest or upright freezer? After blanching are you flash freezing them on cookie sheets before bagging? Which type of Foodsaver bags - pint, quart, rolls that let you make your own? Long skinny bags made from the rolls will lay flat. Are you freezing in portion sizes or not? Dave