I love baking at the holidays, but I also am very economical about my time and money. I recently discovered Aldi supermarkets. I had been there in the past, but was taken aback by having to pay a quarter to get a cart, so I had avoided going there for awhile. You do get your quarter back when you return the cart. I suppose it all boils down to the fact that in some ways, we are all spoiled. Then when we have to alter the way we do things, we feel it is a sort of an injustice. I had to pick up a single item, and I was by the Aldi, so ...what the heck. When I entered, I found they had Betty Crocker icing for cookies for $0.99. It is usually around $4 at other grocers. I can't buy butter and powdered sugar for that price. Some other great deals they had in the week following were some really adorable German chocolates, in a bag perfect for gift giving, for only $2.50. Each bag contained a Santa that is about 7" along with a variety of about 8 chocolate ornaments. That just says Christmas to me. I really get tired of the same old stuff from the box stores. Then this past week they had spiral sliced hickory, honey hams for only $1.69 lb. The ham I got cost just over $20. We had it for dinner last night, and it was fabulous. Then we had it on our biscuits with eggs and cheese for breakfast. We no doubt have 5 other meals worth of meat left over. Not to mention the bone that will make a tasty pot of beans on some cold snowy day. The savings more than made up for having to return my own cart.
I said before I like baking, so let me get back to that now. I found cookie dough half price at PickNSave. I couldn't even buy the ingredients for what I paid. Not to mention the time I am saving. Now I don't mind spending extra time decorating them extra special with that Better Crocker frosting I got. I got some peanut butter, sugar, and gingerbread doughs. I must say, I have never bought these premade doughs. But, now I'm all set for any last minute events that may come up. A little of the holiday stress is relieved, and I'm even feeling a little more generous in my gift giving after getting such good deals.
