I’ve often written about my love of the shop Aldi! We now try to do most of our shopping there which although isn’t easy due to one not being terribly close, we do because we save so much money. On average around £35 in a weekly shop!

The thing is, it’s not just saving money and making a compromise on quality. The food, drinks and other goods (there are loads) are with very few exceptions very good, as good as or better even than the supermarket I consider the most expensive, Waitrose! I’m not just saying that I really mean it. Their food is amazing and from fresh ready meals like their Hunter’s Chicken to their frozen delights such a quail (4 in a pack) it is all completely undetectable as having come from what the mind imagines in a budget supermarket. I mean for a start you can actually GET quail! How posh is that!

I have lots of favourites, too many to mention really but a few are the anti pasti meats and nibbles (the stuffed peppers are out of this world and would cost about 3 or 4 times the amount in Waitrose), the vegetables are excellent quality and I love the Aldi version of Pimms whichis called Austins. At a fiver a bottle is worth buying three which would still come in cheaper than a bttle of Pimms on a supermarket offer and it tastes the same. EXACTLY the same!

I also love the nappies. I’ve talked of them often and Jimmy has been wearing them pretty much since he was born. I try other nappies for reviews but I only ever buy Aldi and that’s the truth. My purse can’t afford anything else and to be honest, they are pretty darn similar to Pampers while the wipes are actually better than any other I have used. 64 pence for 60 wipes in a packet with a hard lid so they don’t dry out. They don’t fall apart like Huggies (the most dreadful wipes in existence) and they are very wet without dripping unless you squeeze them and then they do! They are brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!

Jimmy in an Aldi nappy!

Aldi often have baby events selling branded products such as baby monitors, buggies and a whole host of other bigger items! All at Aldi prices of course! It used to be so that you could buy boxes of the nappies in the events only but these days they are extending a bg box of nappies at their usual nappy event price into every day shopping plus they are going to introduce a 4 pack of wipes for extra savings!

It’s not just nappies and wipes they do well for babies though! They have a whole Mamia range which is awesome and some new additions to these are the fruit pouches which we’ve been enjoying since they hit the shelves and continue to use even though we’re ell past the weaning stage and we LOVE the rice cakes which we got to try for the first time yesterday!

The new Mamia baby range at Aldi!

Aldi took us to London Zoo to find out more about the range, talk to their expert nutritionist Jo Travers and enjoy the sunshine. Jo says that an all fibre and no refined sugar diet is actually bad in the other direction and that until 2 babies don’t digest food like we do, they actually need a bit of refined sugar in their diet. I can feel less bad about the amount of ‘tickers’ (which is what Jimmy calls a Malted Milk biscuit) Jimmy eats now. He gets through a lot which I also buy in Aldi at 33p a packet! They are, and for the exact same product (they all have the same stamp on them so MUST be made in the same place) a third cheaper than my local shop! Seriously!

Jo says the Aldi products are excellent nutritionally because they contain everything a baby needs while offering variety and texture. Fruit is a brilliant first food as it is sweet and natural and the pouches are perfect! I love that you can pop the cap back on (mine never finish a whole anything) and keep in the fridge until the next day! I actually quite like them myself, they’re an instant good energy hit, fun to eat from, handy and mess free! Brilliant! The juice is also another winner in this house and a fraction of the price of Heinz which again tastes EXACTLY the same!

We loved hearing about all the products and even though we were fans anyway we are super pleased to hear about the new developments! Loving the big boxes of nappies going on permanent sale!

Thanks for taking us to the zoo Aldi, you made two little monkeys (three including me) very happy and we have to say after trying the hand cooked crips at the picnic we will be buying more! YUM!

Picnic fun at the Zoo with Aldi! Jimmy mainly chased a pigeon with a stick, he doesn’t eat much but Jo said that’s ok too and that it’s perfectly normal for some children to go days without eating much at all and then they stock up! We loved colouring in the books from Aldi and playing the game ‘Who Is It?’ which is the same as ‘Guess Who?’!

We had lots of fun at the zoo afterwards and our favourite animals were the gorillas, giraffes, penguins and the pygmy hippos! The children loved roaring like a tiger too!

The zoo is excellent fun actually and although it’s expensive to get in (thanks Aldi) it’s a truly fun day out! Luckily I had remembered a change of clothes because the children played in the fountain area for ages despite the rain and got soaked through!

Thanks to Aldi from my little monkeys and me (this was taken in the monkey walk through area) for a great day out!

And on the way home what did we drink? Apple and Blackcurrant Baby Juice (79p for 500ml) and it tastes EXACTLY the same as the Heinz one. EXACTLY the same! Katy from Aldi told me if they can’t make something taste as good as a branded product then they don’t sell it and will instead out the brand on the shelf. Not a problem that needs to be addressed with this juice I assure you!

Aldi took us to the Zoo to showcase their Mamia range.