Money Monday: ALDI is my new BFF (again)

 ALDI IS A REVELATION.

We have had our moments shopping there-- here's Jack long, long ago when eggs were less that a buck a dozen

And here is toddler Minnie, sleeping sitting up in the cart

But we also have long stretches were we never ever go there even though it is the closest store to our house. I went the other day on a whim because I am tried of spending all my money on food, and WOW YOU GUYS WOW.

There are certain things I hate at Aldi-- bread, peanut butter, granola bars, knock off crackers and cookies, most ultra processed foods, most cheese, milk, off-brand yogurt-- and sometimes I forget to go there because I hate those things. Aldi will never be the only place we shop, but it definitely should always be A PLACE we shop. My goodness, I did not know that you could spend $100 and get two huge bags of groceries ANYWHERE in America anymore. But! That is exactly what happened on Thursday when I spent a mere $105 on a capsule grocery trip to get me and 4 kids through a holiday weekend. 

I got accessories for baked French toast (already had frozen bread cubes, eggs, and bacon but needed some berries and milk) for Friday night dinner, stuff for chicken quesadillas with chips and salsa and guac on Saturday night, and bake-at-home sourdough and veggies for avocado BLTS on Sunday. I also got a bottle of wine (that Wine Spectator says is good?), candy for Coop to eat on the plane to FL, candy for a pool snackle box, stuff to make chocolate chip cookies (trying the choc chips but do not have high hopes), nectarines, apples, and salad greens (a refill because we already ate all of ours, which makes me feel very virtuous), lunchbox cheese for Minnie, and coffee. That's a ton of stuff for $100. 

I also went to Aldi last week (along with Costco and Metro Market), so our cabinets were pretty stocked. I plan to go again tomorrow, once Ben gets home and we touch base about the upcoming week-- will also hit Costco and Metro, too. And probably Whole Food for take and bake pizzas and my favorite lemon parm bagged salad and something sparking to drink by a fire.

Metro Market: I mainly get 5 gallons of Fairlife milk (lol-- it is sold in half gallons, so this whole buying process is ludicrous and my cart must look nuts when the online shopping people are assembling it), my fave peanut butter, name-brand junk and lunch box staples that we just can't quit, chocolate chip ZBars (included in that former category, honestly, but I always trick myself into thinking they're healthy-ish), cooking accessories/spices, and some of our yogurt there, plus anything I couldn't find at Costco or Aldi. 

Costco: This is where we get certain things that we can only find there, as well as staples that we go through in massive quantities (think Chobani protein yogurt, lox, cereal, and chocolate-covered frozen strawberries, plus packs of Goldfish crackers, a couple varieties of pretzels and wine-- you know, the health foods).

Things on my permanent Aldi list:

organic produce and salad greens

eggs ($1.40 for 12!)

almonds

freeze dried strawberries

Colby jack cheese sticks for Minnie's lunch

whipped cream cheese

single origin coffee beans for cold brew

organic chicken

organic grass-fed 93% lean ground beef

salsa from the refrigerated section

frozen bagel pizzas (def an UPF but the kids like them better than Annie's and they are only like $6 for one million pizzas)

quinoa

organic tortilla chips

Random stuff I have found there lately:

name-brand candy for my snackle box

organic grass-fed sirloin steak for tacos

Chobani flips yogurts for WAY LESS than the grocery store

Built Puff protein bars for a little less than the grocery store

Things I haven't needed yet but will buy there when I do:

organic rice

frozen sweet potatoes

organic frozen berries for smoothies (these might actually be cheaper at Costco, so we'll see...)

organic plain greek yogurt-- will try this once before pledging forever loyalty back to Costco

baking staples (probably not chocolate chips, maybe not flour but sugars for sure!)

ice cream

frozen novelties (I saw Drumstick knock-offs and name-brand Snickers ice cream bars today)

Do you have any Aldi must-haves that I should throw in my cart?? We are generally not fans of stuff in the aisles themselves (except the random "Aldi finds" aisle which is a GEM and has everything from housewares to viral items of clothing), but the perimeter of the store is a gold mine.

Get excited because (complaining about) money Monday is on the way back to the blogggggg

Kindergarten is doing an alphabet-themed farewell to school and counting down the last 26 days with alphabet-themed days. K was kindness day, and they all walked out of school in adorable crowns. I LOVE KINDERGARTEN SO MUCH.

In fact! As you read this, I am getting ready to chaperone my 5th and final kindergarten zoo field trip! Expect pictures with sappy captions next week. Hopefully I can chaperone a grandkid's class or something.

Coop made it to the ALL CITY 8TH GRADE TRACK MEET, which is a thing I did not know existed. He qualified in shot put (lol) and the 4X100 relay.

His relay team took 3rd, and they were, like, SO FAST and fun to watch

(Shot put might not be Coop's sport)

Talking strategy

Ready for the hand-off

I hope he decides to run track in high school-- it was very fun to watch. And between events, I sat on the bleachers and read an entire book

Speaking of Cooper's sport, he and Ben are taking their second trip to FL this May right now.

Which reminds me! We are not spending ANY MONEY EVER AGAIN. So, you can expect more complaining about that soon! (June is the month I don't get paid and plus also, Harry's bday, dance nationals, another out-of-state dive trip-- maybe TWO MORE AS WELL depending on how qualifiers go-- and Jack's HS graduation, plus dance recital weekend. YOU GUYS).

Luckily for me, walking around the neighborhood in my weighted vest is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

And! The pool opens tomorrow, so as long as I can keep the kids from charging one million dollars on our food account and keep myself from ordering toooooo many Titos and lemonades, we should be golden.
 

Tiny delights

 I finally got a mini Hydroflask, you guys! And it is everything I wanted it to be! It fits in the pocket of just about any purse, and it holds just under 7 ounces of water, which is actually PERFECT because the WORLD is FULL of filtered water fountains! Plus, it makes me GET OUT OF MY CHAIR and WALK to the FOUNTAIN, which is super helpful as well-- as you might imagine. (Sometimes when I am grading or reading stuff or doing course prep, I can sit for HOURS and HOURS).

I also worked at the library, which was freaking TREAT on a Monday.

Speaking of delightful birthday treats-- THESE SHOES. Love them. Also, I wear a size 5.5 in kids (which is a 7 in real people shoes) and now that I know this, I will never buy adult shoes again. (I used to buy my true size in kid shoes, which is a size and half bigger than my true size, so they neber fit and I didn't like them but now I am not so dumb!) 

And on the subject of delightful: Annabel thinking she is people

Last night, we made our own salads and grain bowl (I cooked SO MUCH quinoa, you guys, due to a measuring error, so we will aaaaaall be eating quinoa aaaaall week), and they were GREAT. The secret was giving everyone a big stainless steel bowl to mix them in. Harry was like oh wow I don't even usually like salad, but you guys made it fun. We made a bunch of different protein options (chicken, salmon, steak), and I used a snackle box for hold a bunch of veggies (corn, sweet potatoes, jalapeno, onions, tomatoes, peppers, etc). We had a variety of cheeses, nuts, and dressings to mix in, along with salad greens and SO FREAKING MUCH quinoa. It was great. I think we will start doing this weekly with different options. 

And, I think our weekly fast food era is over, at least for the summer when I have the time and inclination to meal prep and shop more thoughtfully. I've baked cookies, muffins, and brownies this week, and it has been a treat to deliberately feed my people, and I am glad we have time to breathe.

No cavity club 

Unexpected weekend at home: School carnival, park bench reading, garage storage, and more (j/k-- that's it)

 

We planed to go to Pekin this past weekend with Ben since he had to be on his campus for commencement. But then! He was unable to leave on Friday to come home (he owes me a fancy bday dinner, BTW) because things escalated quickly, so we decided to stay in town. LUCKY FOR MINNIE because that meant she could go to the fundraising carnival at her school. (Which we neglected to tell her about since we were going to be out of town. She came home on Friday and was like um all the kids in my class are going to a water park together. I said really, and she goes, yeah I wish I was invited. It's called Splash. And, because I am not a monster, I told her that Splash is her school carnival and everyone is invited and she could go, too! SHE HAD THE BEST TIME EVER

Luckily! She and Cooper (big bro of the freaking YEAR for taking one for the team and coming along) both got whistles.

In other news, I used the Ember mug that Ben's parents got me for my birthday, and it is the most magical invention. If you do not have one already, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? You tell it your desired coffee temp, and every single sip of your beverage is the perfect temperature. You see the steam coming off my cup? EVERY SINGLE SIP was steaming. Magic.

A brand new street by our house finally got sidewalks, so I can work on finding my perfect 20-minute jogging loop. Seriously, I want a 20 minute route that I can loop around as many times as I want to do whatever run I am looking to do (usually 30-40 minutes, but sometimes more), and this street is KEY.

Also! I am in love with this new blue Lulu color. Ben bought me a bunch of workout gear from Lulu for my birthday, and I hated it all because he just bought what Dorothy wears in my size, and the thought of running outside in teeny weeny shorts and bras was hilarious to me. But! I exchanged it for the gear I wanted, and now I love it! Also, bless his heart. (I am loving Swiftly tanks, Shake Ot Out shorts (my Lulu was out of Wunder Train running shorts, but I am definitely going to try those one when they're back in stock-- I almost went with Fast and Free shorts, but they are SO UGLY with the little reflectors and the awkward pocket I would look like a dumbass if I happened to wear them to the grocery store or to watch Minnie's tennis lesson) and Flow Y brays).

My brother got me a Made In baking dish, and it made THE BEST fudgy brownies (every piece was like a corner!) and was pretty enough to also serve them. LOVED IT. Can't wait to make more stuff!

I do about 99% of my reading on park benches these days, and I am not complaining.

PARK SZN!

Also bike season-- I hope you, too, are hearing the wicked witch theme in your head

(Only Minnie and Cooper have bikes on the bike rack-- Minnie because that's what she does right now and Cooper because he might need to BIKE TO WORK at the pool if he doesn't have a shift with either of his bros)

I solved my first problem for 48, you guys! I realized I was tired of tripping over everyone's shoes when I open the door from the laundry room to enter the garage. We have shelves on either side of the door-- a set for me and Ben and a set for the kids-- and the idea is that people will put their shoes on a shelf. But instead! They kick them off as they're walking inside, creating a treacherous pile of shoes at the bottom of the steps, and I keep tripping and almost breaking my neck.

So. I asked Ben to BUILD A SHOE FENCE. Which he did with logs, garden fencing that absolutely does not keep out the bunnies, and a couple of pool noodles because the fence is sharp, and we didn't want to cause MORE accidents. I LOVE IT SO MUCH mainly because it is so very janky. **chef's kiss**

Also he finally put all the sleds in the attic, so if we get a May blizzard, it's all Ben's fault.

 

I am FOUR DOZEN: intentions and reflections

 What a fun birthday!!

My last dog walk as a 47-year-old

I made myself the most ridiculous Snickers cheesecake and ate it for breakfast

Sunglasses from the children (to replace one that one of them borrowed and accidentally ran over)

Ben and I had lunch together and went shopping in the cutest little town

I had a fun afternoon collecting bday freebies and discounts

And we ended the night with a toast

Yay 48! I am looking at four dozen roses as I write this and thinking about some intentions for this year. I just read Big Time, and you absolutely should, too, because it made me feel optimistic about the amount of time I have to spend and excited about all the ways I could spend it.

Some things I want to do this year:

1. Say YES more often, especially when the thing sounds a little scary. (Look for me in a crowded Chicago elevator and on a dinner cruise with a bunch of teen/tween girls next month, for example)

2. Practice radical kindness-- like as a default frame. (Spoiler: this is not my current default frame in any area). How nice would it be to take care of myself from this frame? (Like in a Foucauldian sense of rhetoric that cares for the self, not, like, a lot of bubble baths). Seriously, though. Think about running and lifting weights and eating foods to fuel your body from a place of radical kindness to yourself-- how great is that frame? And then when you apply it to interactions with others? I mean.

3. Run by 7:30 most* mornings. I feel better when I exercise at the start of the day even at the expense of resting, so I want to spend this whole year prioritizing that feeling. What is "most" though? NOT SURE. I am also really into the don't-break-the-chain mentality and am afraid that if I have a few late mornings, I will abandon the whole project. One thing I have going for me is that I HATE to be hot, so early mornings are going to be my best bet this summer, and in the fall/winter, I will basically have no choice.

4. Notice when I catch myself complaining and figure out how to make the situation better. While time is plentiful, it is also precious, and I want to spend this year developing a problem solving framework as opposed to more of an bitch-and-moan framework. I really hate our current job situation with Ben in an entirely different state most of the week.  As we seek solutions, I can't just write off these years or lose them to a litany of complaints. So, I am going to notice what bothers me and fix it, in a very Rosie the Riveter, yes-I-can sort of way,.

Highlights from 47:

Discovered these most amazing eye patches that have transformed my life for the better

Saw fam in Madison

Celebrated a preschool grad

Went to Charleston with Dorothy

Lots of pool days

Grew out those fucking bangs

Sent Minnie off to kindergarten!!

Marigold Fest!

Fam pics!

Coffee Fridays with Dorothy and Cooper

Bradley Homecoming

One more visit to my mom's office before she retired

Ran our first 5K

Successfully repped our favorite side dishes

 Ran another 5K

Rang in 2026 on our favorite beach

Volunteered every week in kindergarten

Saw lots of dive meets

Jack's senior prom!