Okay, I confess to loving cheese curls, baked ones… bag marked gluten free and totally addictive in the cheesy crunch of these treats. But this post is not about them.  It is focused on treats you can buy for cheap at Aldi’s. These are products new to me. Just forget I mentioned cheese curls…for now!

Ever eat Green Pea Crisps by Simply Nature? Never tried them until recently, you can find these interesting snack crisps at Aldi’s… This is a baked whole pea pod with less fat than potato chips; about 120 calories for a one ounce serving.  They are very tasty, irresistible in their fluffy powdery crunch. Labeled gluten free, baked instead of fried and free of a lot of additives.  The coating is rice flour, baked with any of three vegetable oils.  I had even almost half the bag before I realized they had the note “Processed in a facility that uses, milk, wheat and soy.”  Whoops! Now that was a big downer.  I hadn’t gotten ill, it was my second time of eating them with no issues so I did keep and finish them another day.  Not sure I will buy again, a bit chancy in my opinion. I wish they would not use wheat in the same facility.  Probably not safe for those of us with celiac because even a crumb of gluten (wheat, rye or barley) is enough to make a celiac really ill.

I also bought some Aldi’s Gluten Free Mini Pretzels.  They were rather hard and crunchy; fairly similar to other gf mini pretzels.  Cheaper but not better tasting.

In the liveGfree food line available only at Aldi’s a stand out is their black bean and rice flour fiesta lime crackers.  They are spicy and crisp.  We tried them with a goat cheese spread I made with fresh herbs.  Amazing combination: the spread is basically plain goat cheese made smooth by adding a tbsp. of organic yogurt and flavored by a tbsp. of minced fresh herbs like oregano, garlic chives and thyme or rosemary.  Also ate some with extra sharp cheddar cheese and tomato jam; wonderful combo.  I have been enjoying their sea salt multi seed gf crackers for a while now; they are lightly salted and perfectly flavored.  Go with cheese or dips and are priced to please.  Why spend $4 bucks on crackers when you can go to Aldi’s and get these for less than half of that?

Saved the best for last: Aldi’s Hazelnut Dark Chocolate bars, big, crunchy, delish and only $2.  A must buy if you like dark chocolate, made in Germany and marked gf.

So, yes…get to Aldi’s; great prices, interesting and tasty gluten free products.  Just take a shopping bag or two with you; bags are extra!