again with the humidifier

I've had another foray into life with the goofy Aldi humidifier, and I thought I would revisit the topic since I never returned to show a photo of the thing.

Here's the beast in action!

As an aside, I would very much like to take a moment to wax rhapsodic over Aldi, my discount grocer of choice. Aldi does a lot of things right, and I have a lot of respect for the company and I am also really happy to have one close enough to frequent. In short, I love Aldi.

I go there maybe once a week or two weeks, and it’s probably my favorite trip. The angels don’t sing when I go there (the way they do at the fancy Harris Teeter not far from here) but for some reason, I most look forward to this store. Is it the new organic products popping up here and there? Is it the opportunity to get my favorite junk food and snacks for way less than I can get them anywhere else? (By the way, Aldi knock-off Oreos are better than real Oreos, in my opinion, and the knock-off Cap’n Crunch has a permanent place in my heart.) Maybe it’s my favorite “off-the-shopping-list” treat, their fancy chocolate bars. Is it the section in the middle with the “stuff” instead of the food, where you never, ever, ever know what you’ll find but 98% of the time it’s something awesome? My latest obsession: the personal exercise trampoline for $25 that I should have grabbed immediately but talked myself out of. Why, oh why, did I talk myself out of that? It would be fun for the whole tiny family! I can just imagine Gabriel jumping around on that thing.

As I referenced above, Aldi is beginning to introduce organic products. They are part of the store’s Simply Natural brand, which includes both organic and all-natural/simple ingredients. Last week I picked up a jar of organic salsa and a box of organic honey nut cheerios to give to G as a snack instead of conventional snackies. Did you know that to be certified organic, the product is also non-GMO? When I can get non-GMO grains, I jump on it. Especially for my boy. There’s organic produce including spinach, cherry tomatoes, and apples, and there’s also organic honey. I think they are maybe also venturing into organic dairy, even, which makes me really happy because I try to keep our milk and butter organic. (Cheese is an aspirational goal that will likely not come to fruition any time soon.) And my latest, greatest finds: nitrate/nitrite-free BACON and DELI TURKEY. Can I just tell you how happy this makes me? It make me very happy.

There are some things I don’t get at Aldi. Their organic produce availability is growing, but it doesn’t encompass our whole diet yet and I try to stick to organic with the Dirty Dozen (or however many it is this year) so I get a lot of my produce elsewhere. I also don’t get my meat there, because I get the vast majority of my meat from Zaycon. And while Aldi has a lot, they don’t have everything, so there are other odds and ends that come from other places. But my Aldi list is usually a long list! And I spend way too much time there poking around the shelves, looking for new organic things and generally just scouting.

I should also probably disclose that I am not getting paid or otherwise compensated to write any of this. I just really like Aldi and I look forward to my trips there, as weird as that may be.

What about you? Have you ever been to Aldi?