Speak Out: Chicago Style Pizza

Posted by Data48 on Tue, Sep 18, 2012, at 6:39 PM:

I'm an Aldi's regular! Not so sure about that pizza though, I'm more a thin crust fan myself. I do love those spiral cut hams when they have them! Another great item that they only have occasionally is the Benita tamales. Chicken and beef both are mouth watering! I buy several packages when I see them there.

Replies (35)

  • If you ever wander over to Sav-A-Lot they have a great section of authentic Mexican products. The enchilada sauce is the best canned version I have ever ate.

    -- Posted by Data48 on Tue, Sep 18, 2012, at 6:42 PM
  • Me'lange, Thanks for the heads up. About those ribs, they were out when I went so I did some the old fashion way on the grill with the help of the crock pot. :)

    I've tried the humus, ok spread on the right cracker I guess.

    I do agree about the hams, eat my fill and portion off the rest to the freezer.

    Data mentioned tamales. The last great tamale I had was from Ford's in Kennett. They served them wrapped in newspaper. Fact is real tamales take a couple of days and a lot of loving labor so the best we can expect now days is a good immitation. I think I'll try the Aldi offering.

    Being from rural background of folks that didn't get out much, I have no standard to judge the tortellina but I'll try anything once [foodwise].

    One thing cheap for folks like me to like is the chicken burritos in the frozen section. A little Tonie Chachere's seasoning and some extra pepper makes a perfect appetizer for a meal starting with a bowl of beef beat and burgandy cabbage.

    I made a quick grocery run today and Aldi was my first stop. Later went to Walmart and noticed their everyday price on eggs was $.50 more than than I paid at Aldi. Then came the embarrasing moment [considering the medicine fiasco previously posted] when the checker followed me out with the bag of stuff she didn't put into my cart. One would think I would learn to make sure my purchases are in the cart before I leave! :)

    -- Posted by Old John on Tue, Sep 18, 2012, at 9:50 PM
  • Old John,

    Are you forgettin to take your daily ration of dark chocolate?

    -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Tue, Sep 18, 2012, at 9:55 PM
  • Wheels, Funny you mention that. I have never been a sweet guy, foodwise. Since I got this highly sought after part time job I find myself taking chocolate bars and sweets to snack on when I work through my designated lunch break.

    Do you remember the TV shows Hazel and Andy Griffin? If we could get aunt Bee and Hazel and the sunshine girls together we could gain a few pounds! :)

    -- Posted by Old John on Tue, Sep 18, 2012, at 10:11 PM
  • Old John,

    I don't need to be gaining any weight. Over the past couple of years I have managed to take me down almost 30 lbs. No dieting just quit eating so danged much. But I do find those Snack bars do kill your appetite for quite awhile.

    I do like sweets though. I think I could eat a half a gallon of ice cream if I tried. But I don't. I do eat a fair helping when I eat it, just not so often.

    -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Tue, Sep 18, 2012, at 10:19 PM
  • Wheels, I just finished my custom built Dagwood and I think I'm finished for the night!

    -- Posted by Old John on Tue, Sep 18, 2012, at 10:46 PM
  • And I'm finishing off the last of the quart of Prairie Farms Old Recipe French Vanilla.

    -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Tue, Sep 18, 2012, at 10:52 PM
  • Old John;

    I had an Aunt and Uncle in Paducah that made the best ho-made tamales ever! Uncle John was an contract carpenter so they made them during the winter when he wasn't working as much. They sold hundreds of dozens every year. All my friends starting pestering me about this time of year wanting to buy them. I miss both them and the tamales. The Aldi's one are of course not as good but they're about the best store bought I've ever had.

    As far as ice cream goes Schnuck's has Blue Bunny on sale right now two for seven dollars. Try some of the Double Peach. It's too good!

    -- Posted by Data48 on Wed, Sep 19, 2012, at 10:24 AM
  • Data, Somewhere I have a hand written translation of a tamale recipe. It starts with grinding corn on a rock and takes three women three days to complete. The basic ingredients don't include any of the hard to pronounce processed additives.

    The last time I tried some from a can it only took one bite to change them into dog food and even the dog wouldn't finish them. :)

    Me'lange, Sounds like some good tastes I need to try. I grew up pretty backwards, if it wasn't basic meat beans and tators, it was all Greek to us!

    -- Posted by Old John on Wed, Sep 19, 2012, at 10:48 AM
  • Old John;

    The Aldi's tamales are frozen, not canned. They're also wrapped in real corn shucks! I heat them up in my microwave steamer, a handy gadget that I use all the time! They had some when I was in there last week but they don't have them all the time. That's why I stock up when they do have them.

    -- Posted by Data48 on Wed, Sep 19, 2012, at 11:08 AM
  • "I do agree about the hams, eat my fill and portion off the rest to the freezer.

    -- Posted by Old John"

    I love food you can cook once and then eat on several times. I also always leave a big chunk of meat on the bone out of those hams and then throw it in a pot of beans. Some fried taters and good ol' ho-made cornbread make this one of my favorite meals!

    -- Posted by Data48 on Wed, Sep 19, 2012, at 11:12 AM
  • Data, Cornbread and beans is one of my favorites. There are so many variations too. Beans over the bread with sourkraut, or hash brown potatoes on top, green onions, the list goes on! I have to make my own cornbread because I've yet to find a mix without sugar in it. If I wanted sweet, I'd serve the beans over carrot cake which is good too. :)

    -- Posted by Old John on Wed, Sep 19, 2012, at 11:30 AM
  • Me'Lange, we love the tortellini with my wife's homemade fresh basil pesto topped with shredded parmesan cheese.

    And speaking of tamales, the last time I had any good ones was over ten years ago in central Texas. I worked for Asplundh Tree Co. and in the mornings a Mexican lady would sell them by the dozen at the gate to the yard. $6/doz...I don't know how she made any money, but they sure were good!

    Might have to try Aldi's just to see, but I'm used to eating at taquerias where you have to order in spanish!

    -- Posted by dchannes on Thu, Sep 20, 2012, at 6:39 PM
  • I'm thinking I would be a good dinner guest somewhere in this thread! :)

    I remember being well contented with a mustard sandwich until Mom baked pork rinds.

    dc, They probably tasted better knowing the cook decided to do something rather than sit and wait for a check.

    -- Posted by Old John on Thu, Sep 20, 2012, at 7:14 PM
  • Mr. John, My Granny could make supper out of nothing visible to me but an empty fridge.

    She used to feed me battered and fried salt pork wrapped in a piece of white bread that I thought was one of best things ever.

    And nobody cooked fried chicken better! ;)

    -- Posted by dchannes on Thu, Sep 20, 2012, at 7:27 PM
  • dc, That salt pork went well with the greens picked alone the lane wilted with the pork grease. Add some black eyed peas from the garden along side a bisquet and butter and a feast was had!

    -- Posted by Old John on Thu, Sep 20, 2012, at 8:41 PM
  • "black eyed peas"? Ick! I never could handle those darn things. Greens? Yes. I just could never stomach the black eyed peas. I'd swallow and it would reverse.

    Now, there was also a cut of steak that Granny always got from the butcher shop called 7 steak. Very good. You can't find it anymore.However, the butcher I talked to a month ago asked how I wanted my calf cut up. He said he knew about 7 steak and would cut me some! Salt, pepper and flour in the grease in a hot cast iron skillet. Add mashed potatoes and gravy from the drippings and there you go. A meal fit for a king. :)

    -- Posted by dchannes on Thu, Sep 20, 2012, at 11:28 PM
  • Me'Lange, I went directly Sunday's coupon that escaped being tossed and was disappointed how few $.50 or less coupons on anything I wanted. I couldn't justify the gasoline but it sure is a cool feeling to get a $1.50 item for tax only! I'll keep watching. :)

    -- Posted by Old John on Fri, Sep 21, 2012, at 9:52 AM
  • Me'lange, That reminds me of Dave Ramsey's line: Live like no one else when your young and you can live like no one else the rest of your life. [Paraphrased]

    I try to give that advice to young folks I'm around. Wish I had adhered to it with a little more discipline. Simply put, it means: don't worry about not having all the toys and luxuries your friends have because the new status symbol in America is not a new BMW in the driveway but a diveway, car and house paid for.

    Rick, Are we talking Ricky Ricardo food?

    -- Posted by Old John on Fri, Sep 21, 2012, at 11:34 PM
  • I go to the other room if Susie Orman is on. Something about her "go girl friend" vernacular is like fingernails on a chalk board to me.

    You do know how she first acquired any notable sum that made her a self professed money adviser I hope.

    -- Posted by Old John on Sat, Sep 22, 2012, at 12:19 PM
  • I wish to discuss "schlum-gooey". My wife thinks she is the queen of this dish I think. Sometimes it can be pretty tasty...other times I'm wondering if I can get away with saying anything to her about it without getting murdered in my sleep and also, how I can secretly feed it to the dogs. I love her dearly, but a chef she is not. However she does have some things she does well.

    She does this thing with goat and deer stew meat. She pours a little olive oil in the cast iron skillet and seasons and browns the meat, then she adds some water and simmers it for a long time to soften the meat. Also, somewhere in the middle of the simmering she starts to add various things to the mix...this is where she looses me...she puts worchestershire sauce for one and many other things seemingly at random, I guess whatever sounds good in her head! And 9 times out of 10 a miracle occurs. She makes some kind of very thin gravy in with the meat and we pour it over rice.

    Another thing she'll do is fry up some sausage, make a gravy, cook a pot of rice, add a can of mixed veggies and mix it all together. It's edible but that's all.

    Now here's a good one she came up with from somewhere...she calls it "Hopple Popple". She cooks this when we have an over-abundance of eggs on hand. It's casserole dish.

    She puts about 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a 9 x 11 pyrex pan cuts potatoes up into 3/4" cubes and covers the bottom of the pan with them along with hunks of onion and garlic. She stirs it around in order to coat the taters with oil, then into the oven to brown the potatoes. She usually flips them over a time or two. Meanwhile, she cooks some kind of meat to add to it. It could be bacon(crumbled), sausage, hamburger or anything similar. A dozen eggs beaten in a bowl and about 2 cups of shredded cheese on the side waiting.

    When the potatoes are done(20 mins or so), she pulls the pan out and sets it on top of the stove, sprinkles in the meat, pours in the eggs, pats everything down and covers it all with the shredded cheese(cheddar) and puts it back in the oven til the eggs are done and the cheese is about a golden brown(about 10 to 15 mins).

    This dish is a winner for supper AND breakfast!

    -- Posted by dchannes on Sun, Sep 23, 2012, at 9:37 AM
  • Me'Lange, Suzie won her seed money in lawsuit against her employer.

    dc, ".... many other things seemingly at random, I guess whatever sounds good in her head!"

    That sounds like the way I make soup or chile.

    My mother never followed a recipe although she had many to give her the basic idea. So many gals of the day didn't have on hand and didn't have in the budget $ to buy all the dash of this and that ingredients per a published recipe. I think that made them better at it than the recipe writers.

    For some unknown reason I collect recipe books and have several from the '30s and '40s. Many were from county extension clubs and some from product makers, several from churches. I even have "Aunt Sammy's Radio Recipes" 1931. Never knew there were so many ways to cook possum and beef tounge! :)

    -- Posted by Old John on Sun, Sep 23, 2012, at 12:32 PM
  • "Never knew there were so many ways to cook possum and beef tounge! :)"

    Old John,

    You may want to share some of those recipes with BC.

    -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Sun, Sep 23, 2012, at 2:04 PM
  • DC,

    You lost me when you got to the goat meat part.... contact Regrets, he's big on goat meat.

    -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Sun, Sep 23, 2012, at 2:06 PM
  • Wheels, Thanks, I'll send you one from the Pet Milk book on ground fowl, feathers removed.

    You might also enjoy "Ma's Cookin'" recipe for rhubard punch.

    -- Posted by Old John on Sun, Sep 23, 2012, at 11:53 PM
  • Old John

    I don't do ground fowl, feathers or no. The rhubarb punch sounds like a winner though.... laced with a little 'Jack'.

    -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 6:39 AM
  • Rick

    Can I think about that?

    -- Posted by Have_Wheels_Will_Travel on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 6:40 AM
  • "You lost me when you got to the goat meat part..."

    "I don't do ground fowl, feathers or no."

    Wheels, goat is not my favorite, but I will say this, a goat won't root around in it's own poop looking for something it missed the first time. That's a plus in my mind!

    Now, I never ate a pigeon and I don't know for sure what they eat, but I never heard of them eating themselves, poop or carrion. So I guess I'd try them.

    My father won't eat chicken. He said he ate enough chicken to last a lifetime when he was a kid.

    Now, the one animal that everybody does eat in this country, I don't eat. It's flesh is everywhere. Genetically speaking they are very similar to humans. However, they are nasty, they bite and they'll eat anything, including me if I fall down in their pen. Also, scripture tells me not to eat them...You guessed it, pigs. I don't eat dogs, cats or rodents; catfish, snakes or turtles either. Sound picky?

    I am reminded of the old saying, "you are what you eat". So I guess that makes me a fowl, beefy goat-man with doe eyes! Not to mention the fruit, nuts and vegetables I consume!

    -- Posted by dchannes on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 8:45 AM
  • "When you take a bite of chicken and see the dark brown/black meat on the bones , it has been to a cow pile."

    You're pullin' my leg aren't you? I mean about the dark brown/black meat on the bones? I guess they do go to cow piles if you let them. I don't. But they have a special way of sorting their food and digesting it. We will raise about 50 or 60 of them, out in a pen by themselves, for butcher. All they get is grains and whatever bugs are dumb enough to go in there with them.

    I guess you could say, "they are what they eat".

    I still say the pig is the nastiest.

    -- Posted by dchannes on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 1:24 PM
  • I still say the pig is the nastiest.

    May be true, but they sure are the tastiest!!

    -- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 1:35 PM
  • The hardest thing to let go of was bacon, for me. It's been 2 years since I quit eating it. Now, when I smell it... it just smells bad to me. I was surprised.

    Beef on the other hand... mmmm.

    -- Posted by dchannes on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 3:15 PM
  • I can't complain with beef either. Or chicken. Or fish. Or seafood.

    -- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 3:32 PM
  • Lol...I don't eat mud bugs either!

    -- Posted by dchannes on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 3:51 PM
  • I don't do tofu or bean curds.

    -- Posted by FreedomFadingFast on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 3:54 PM
  • That's good. It comes from GMO soy beans mostly.

    -- Posted by dchannes on Mon, Sep 24, 2012, at 4:03 PM

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