We're probably going out.

Aldi is an interesting store. They have multiple locations in one area we spend time, but so far are absent from our home area.

We've found variability in product quality and value though, not unlike its distant but I think legally unrelated cousin Trader Joes. The good stuff is REALLY good. Sometimes rather unique too, things you can't find elsewhere. Other things, often run of the mill basic things, can be mediocre. Trial and error to find out.

I agree about produce. Some of it can be quite exceptional, high quality and very inexpensive.

Aldi's practice of imitating package design and colors for its private label products that compete with known brands sold in other stores is amusing. As a hypothetical example, if you were coming to the shelves where they have canned soup, you'd see red and white labels that from a distance look like Campbell's products. But when you get closer, it's their own product version with one of the many goofy names they use for their private brands.

(grumble, grumble...) I don't want to make dinner. I don't even want to think about making dinner. Or to figure out what to have. I really, really want someone else to deal with dinner. le sigh.

Might do baked scallops and a quick "stir-fry" of grated summer squash/zuccini/carrots.

I don't want to make dinner.

I love to cook but there are days I don't want to. More often lately, as my energy seems to run out in the later afternoon.

I have my canned stuff but also have cooked frozen dinners. There are some things like chili and lasagna which in my opinion are better after being frozen.

But your scallops and stir fry idea sound like a delicious dinner for relatively little preparation time. And of course if you don't harvest those zucchini the plant will grow through any open wildow and take over.

I do 90% of my grocery shopping at Aldi. The rest at either WM or a regional grocer that has raised their prices considerably since the covid inflationary period.

Mostly I buy the same products at Aldi every time but I like to try some of their 'Aldi finds' if it interests me.

I'm making BLTs for dinner with my very last home-grown tomato and a head of Aldi iceberg lettuce I bought last week(grown in Cali) and bacon from a hog we bought locally last winter. Steamed Aldi broccoli, and sauteed Cocozelle squash from my garden complete the meal.

“I wonder do some people take the lazy way out and mash them with skins on?”

I think some people just really like them that way.

We have a couple Aldi’s very close by, but I haven’t been that impressed the few times I’ve stopped. Maybe I should try again. I did notice the labels Elmer mentioned. I’m just a Trader Joe’s fan from way back.

Dinner tonight is BBQ’d chicken, potato salad (making today) and these tasty beans from Sam’s.

I love Aldi. I agree it is hit and miss, but I am glad to have it available - just 5 minutes away. It is my closest grocery store.

I COULD love TJ, if I could ever get in the store. 😆 If I am not there at the stroke of dawn, I no longer even try. It is also much farther away, so it is a 2 strikes situation for poor ole TJs.

I love mashed potatos, and have no preference for with or without skins. The skins give it some mouth heft and I am ok with that.

No clue on dinner tonight. I like what roxanna has proposed, maybe I will just show up there...

Not a fan. I tried one in Florida. the store seemed disorganized. And, I did not appreciate the look a like brands.

i di like Trader Joe’s and for me Aldi’s doesn’t xompare. This might be regional as Lucille and many people do like Aldi’s.

Leftovers, I hope. I'm thinking tomorrow, I'll make a southwestern style stew with chicken thighs, white beans, corn, peppers and winter squash. I like to make enough food to last for a few days.

Speaking of Aldi - they have some new organic chicken sausage flavors and I've tried 2 of them so far - barbecue and spinach/garlic - both very good, IMO. The leftover food I have is mixed barbecue sausage, broccoli, garlic chives and buttered jasmine rice - all from Aldi, except the garlic chives.

I always mash potatoes with the skin on. It's a far more nutritious method as the skin contains most of the vitamins, minerals and fibre. But then I don't like a soft puree. I prefer a mash with some body to it.

Dinner tonight is pasta amatriciana.