Budget Savvy Lifestyle

Aldi Fusia Asian Inspiration General Tso’s Chicken Review

January 12, 2022

Life can get busy and sometimes you just need a quick and easy dinner solution. That is why I am never opposed to checking out Aldi’s frozen meal options. Last night for dinner we had the Aldi Fusia Asian Inspiration General Tso’s Chicken. I figured I’d review and share my thoughts on it with you today!

The Fusia Asian Inspiration General Tso’s Chicken comes in a 26 ounce bag that is available in the freezer section of Aldi. It sells for $6.99. The suggested serving size is 5 ounces meaning there are about 5 servings in the bag. We found that this would comfortably feed four of us (three of us had it and there was enough left over for one meal), but 5 might have been a bit of a stretch.

Preparation for the chicken was very easy. You just have to put in on a tray and bake in it the oven at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. While you are baking the chicken, you are suppose to thaw the sauce packet in some hot water.

Once the chicken was done baking, I put it in a large bowl, poured the sauce over it, and tossed it with a spoon. There was more than enough sauce to easily coat the chicken. In fact, we had enough extra sauce to use some on our rice which we had as a side with this.

Aldi Fusia Asian Inspiration General Tso's Chicken Review - Is it any good?

So how did the Fusia Asian Inspiration General Tso’s Chicken taste? Overall, really good! The chicken pieces cooked up crispy and stayed pretty crispy, even after I added the sauce. I imagine if you had leftovers and reheated some the next day, it would definitelty lose some or all of that crispiness.

The sauce was tasty as well. It had a slight kick to it but wasn’t “burn your mouth” hot. It had a nice flavor to it. My husband said that he would have liked the sauce to have slightly less soy sauce in it but I didn’t find the soy sauce overwhelming. He said it wouldn’t stop him from wanting to eat the chicken again. He really enjoyed it.

If I was to have any criticism for Aldi’s General Tso’s Chicken, it would be that I wish the meat pieces were more uniform. They were all over the place with some being small, some medium, and some very large. All in all, we were really happy with the quality of the Fusia Asian Inspiration General Tso’s Chicken. My husband, myself, and even my 14 year old son (who isn’t a huge fan of Chinese food) all really liked it. I served it with Aldi’s pork egg rolls, some brown rice, and steamed broccoli. Even with these added sides, I fed the three of us with a serving leftover over for between $10 – $11. Not too bad for a quick and easy meal. It’s definitely cheaper than fast food 🙂

Aldi Fusia Asian Inspiration General Tso's Chicken Ingredients and Nutritional Info

Whenever I do an Aldi product review, I always like to include the nutritional and ingredient information for the product. We have food allergies to deal with in our house and I know how helpful this can be to others.

The Fusia Asian Inspiration General Tso’s Chicken comes in a 26 oz bag and has about five servings to it. A serving size is 5 ounces which is 290 calories. Like most frozen meals, it is on the high side for sodium! I don’t like overly salty things and I didn’t find this to be overwhelming on that front.

Allergens include egg, soy and wheat. I would also like to mention that sesame oil is also an ingredient. That isn’t mentioned in the declared allergens but I noticed it in the ingredient list and I know that is a pretty common allergy these days as it is one that my oldest son has.

Aldi Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

December 22, 2021

Today I have another Aldi recipe for you! This is a favorite of ours that we’ve been making for years. I love it because it’s super easy and very cheap to make. It also leaves us with leftovers which I usually repurpose into buffalo chicken nachos later in the week!

This slow cooker Aldi recipe requires just 4 ingredients to make (5 if you count the buns or rolls you put the chicken on!). There is hot sauce in it so it has a little kick to it but is not overly spicy. My boys have been eating it without complaints since they were quite little!

Here’s a look at the ingredients you will need:

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich Ingredients and Cost Analysis

2 lbs Boneless Chicken Breasts $4.00
1 cup Hot Sauce $0.50
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) Butter $0.25
1 packet Ranch Dressing Mix $0.43
1 package Hamburger Buns $0.79

Total Cost: $5.97 (feeds 8 or 4 with leftovers!)

Print Recipe

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

An easy slow cooker recipe for Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches. Uses 5 ingredients from Aldi and costs just $6 to make!

Adapted from here

Prep Time5

Cook Time8

Servings: 8 servings

Cost: $6

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
1 cup hot sauce
1/2 stick butter
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 package hamburger buns

Instructions

Put the chicken breasts in the slow cooker
Pour ranch dressing mix on top
Add the hot sauce
Cook on the low setting for 7 hours
Shred the chicken and put back in the slow cooker
Add the butter, stir, and cook for another hour
Serve on the buns

Notes

*This shredded buffalo chicken is good on buns, rolls, hoagies, etc.

**We like to eat the leftover shredded buffalo chicken on top of tortilla chips with some homemade queso sauce. It makes amazing nachos!

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches: Suggested Sides

There are many sides that go great with these buffalo chicken sandwiches. Here’s some suggestions:

French Fries
Tater Tots
Potato Chips
Potato Salad
Macaroni Salad
Macaroni and Cheese
Cole Slaw
Baby Carrots and Celery Sticks
Cucumber Slices
Fruit Cups
Clementines
Grapes
Watermelon
Apple Slices

More Aldi Friendly Recipes and Meal Ideas to Try

Here’s more delicious recipes you can make with Aldi ingredients!

Cheap and Easy Aldi Meal Ideas:

Chili Mac – Feed 4 for $4 with this easy and quick 4 ingredient Chili Mac!

Aldi Review: Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza

December 16, 2021

Today’s Aldi product review is Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza. This item is actually a longtime favorite in our household. It’s a go to for when we want a pizza night or a quick and easy Aldi meal!

This post may contain affiliate links. You can read my disclosure policy here.

Aldi Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza: Overall Impression

As I mentioned, this wasn’t our first time trying the Aldi Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza. We have had it many times. I thought it would be a good one to review and share my thoughts on.

Taste and Quality of the Mama Cozzi’s Pepperoni Stuffed Crust Pizza

The quality of Aldi’s stuffed crust pizza is on pare with other frozen pizza brands I have tried. Like other frozen pizzas, it looked to be slightly sparse on cheese but that wasn’t a deal breaker because there is cheese inside the crust too!

The sauce had a nice taste. It wasn’t spicy and didn’t overwhelm or distract from the overall pizza.

The crust was soft and chewy. Not hard and not too dense.

Aldi’s Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza is available in two varieties, Pepperoni or Three Meat. We got the pepperoni. We consume a lot of pizza and the pepperoni was good. It was on the thicker side which was nice. If I had once complaint about the pepperoni, it would be that I thought the pizza could have used a few more pieces of it.

Price of Aldi Stuffed Crust Pizza

The price may be a sticking point for some. Aldi’s stuffed crust pizza currently costs $5.79. That can be a little on the steep side for a frozen pizza. However, this is a stuffed crust frozen pizza and the name brand versions of stuffed crust frozen pizzas at the other grocery stores in my area typically sell for $8 to $9 when they aren’t on sale. So keeping that in mind, $5.79 isn’t all that bad.

The suggested serving size of the pizza is 1/6 of the pie. This means if you typically eat a couple pieces each, it will serve 3 people. We have cut ours into 8 pieces before and shared it among the four of us. My boys are teenagers now however so one pizza doesn’t usually cut it for us. What I normally do in order to keep costs down is buy one stuffed crust pizza and one non-stuffed crust frozen pizza. The regular crust frozen pizzas at Aldi are $2.75 which means the two pizzas cost us $8.54. Still cheaper than ordering pizza from a chain!

I just want to add that if you are looking for the best pizza value at Aldi, that would be their Take N’ Bake Pizzas. They are usually $4.99 – $5.99 per pizza, depending on what toppings you get on them and they are huge! They feed us (hungry teens and all) and we always have leftovers! However, we prefer the taste of the frozen stuffed crust pizzas over the Take N’ Bake ones.

Aldi Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza Nutritional Information and Ingredients

Here is the nutritional information, ingredients, and allergens for the Aldi Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza. I always try to post this information when doing a product review because we have food allergies in our household so I know this information can be helpful to others!

The Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza contains wheat, soy, and milk.

The suggested serving size of this Aldi frozen pizza, as I mentioned earlier, is 6 servings. You may however be able to cut it into 8 servings and serve 4 people if you don’t have a super hungry group or if you are serving it with a salad or some fresh fruit!

Aldi Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza Baking Instructions

The baking instructions are easy. Just heat the oven to 400 degrees and then bake the pizza for 18-21 minutes. They recommend putting it directly on oven rack but I used a pizza pan and it turned out great! I prefer a pizza pan to baking directly on the rack because it makes getting it into and out of the oven much easier!

Serving Suggestions with the Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza

The Mama Cozzi’s Stuffed Crust Pizza can obviously be eaten alone but you can also serve it with something for a more complete meal. We usually have a salad or some fruit with ours! Here are some side suggestions to with it:

Tossed Salad
Caesar Salad (Aldi sells kits)
Fresh Fruit (melon, berries, apples, clementines, grapes, etc)
Veggies and Ranch Dressing (carrots, celery, broccoli, grape tomatoes, snap peas, etc.)
Chicken Wings (Aldi sells frozen wings if you want to do an easy pizza and wings dinner night. They have buffalo and honey BBQ flavors)

Aldi Recipes:

Cheap Aldi Meals Ideas

Easy Chili Mac – Feeds 4 in minutes people for less than $4!

80+ Dollar Tree Stocking Stuffers 2021

December 15, 2021

Dollar Tree stocking stuffers are the best way to fill your kids Christmas stockings on a budget! I’ve been going there for years to fill my kids’ stockings.

There is nothing better than finding tons of great bargains for $1 each. Even the biggest stockings can easily be filled for around $10 if you play your cards right.

Here’s a look at the best Dollar Tree stocking stuffers I seen in the stores for this year!

Dollar Tree Stocking Stuffers: Games, Art Activities, and More!

Some of the many Dollar Tree stocking stuffers I saw in the stores included board games, card games, art activity sets, and wooden craft projects for kids.

Here’s some of the highlights:

3 packs of playing cards including Go Fish!
Checkers sets
Mini Etch a Sketches
LED Glow Art
Say It Again Game
Paint by Number Art Sets
Art Sets with Markers
Disney Themed Art Sets with Minnie, Frozen, and Toy Story
Crayola Art Sets (several different types)
Wooden Stacking Block Game (like Jenga)
Spin Art Set
Spiral Art Set
Frozen Spot the Difference Picture Kit
Cups of Kinetic Play Sand
Rubber Duckies

Dollar Tree Stocking Stuffers: Toys

When it comes to Dollar Tree stocking stuffers for kids, there are quite a few really great options in the toy aisle. In this photo you can see that they have these fantastic little sets of imitation Legos.

There are boards and building bricks sets. I used to buy these for my boys when they were younger. Obviously they aren’t of the same quality as the real deal, but they were still fun. We would keep them in a zip lock baggie and would use them to keep them entertained on road trips.

So in this picture, for stocking stuffers we have:

Make-It-Blocks Base Plates
Make-It-Blocks Roof Pieces
Make-It-Blocks 48 Piece Block Sets (in various colors)
Make-It-Blocks Building Blocks Stickers
Foam Dice
Travel Connect Four Set
100 Water Balloon Set with Easy Fill Nozzle

Here are some more great Dollar Tree stocking stuffer ideas that I found in the toy aisle:

Various Wooden Brain Puzzles
Musical Instruments including Toy Guitars and Recorders
Toy Dart Board Set with 4 Darts
Foam Shape Puzzle Sets
Play Currency Set including Cash Drawer, Paper Bills, and Plastic Coins

More goodies in the toy aisle. There are plenty of things to keep them busy with their hands. Perfect for working on those motor skills! We have everything from toy tool sets to play dough and accessories. Here’s a look at everything we have in this section:

Play Dough
Play Dough Cutters
Reusable Character Bags (Mickey/Minnie and DC Justice League)
Toy Drill Set
Air-O Play (looks like the colored play foam balls that stick together)
Squishy Toy Animals
Crayons

The toy aisle at Dollar Tree was absolutely packed with an endless supply of stocking stuffer options. Here’s what’s in this photo:

Action Figures
Toy Cap Guns and Caps
A 4 Pack of Play Dough
Toy Tool Set with Saw, Wrench, Nuts and Bolts
Toy Drill

And here we have:

Grow a Lizard (put it in water and it increases in size)
Play Masks (including Star Wars, Ninja masks, and skeleton masks which light up)
Toy Cars and Trucks

Another really neat stocking stuffer find at Dollar Tree is all these Matchbox cars and track pieces. My oldest son was obsessed with cars from before the time he could walk. He would have happily accepted a stocking stuffed with them 🙂

Here’s what we have in this photo:

Lots of Matchbox Cars
Matchbox Car Track Pieces
Toy Trucks including Ambulances
Take Apart Toy Trucks

This next part of the aisle was full of things for kids that love imaginative play. This section had:

Dolls (knock off Barbie-types)
Play Tea Set with 4 Cups, a Teapot, 4 Plates, and 4 Spoons
Barbie Brand Doll Accessories
Dolls
Small Plastic Dollhouses
Dollhouse Furniture
Pom Poms
Toy Baby Doll Bathtub with Accessories
Boas

Still in the toy aisle, this section had:

More Dollhouse Furniture
Plastic Toy Purses
Toy Unicorn Figurines
Toy Horse Figurines (like My Little Ponies)
Squeaky Minion Toys

The toy aisle at Dollar Tree is the gift that just keeps on giving, am I right? This section had dress up clothes and other fun pretend play toys such as irons and hand vacs. Here’s the complete run-down:

Dress Up Clothes (fairy wings, mermaid, ladybug, bumblebee, etc)
Toy Iron
Toy Hand Vac
Cooking Play Set (comes with a stove, pan, cooking utensils and more)
Play Food Play Set (plate, knife, berries, and banana)

Dollar Tree Stocking Stuffers: Candy

Candy always makes great stocking stuffers and Dollar Tree has a lot of it. In addition to their normal candy aisle which is full of all sorts of goodies you could include in a stocking, they also have a aisle of Christmas candy with lots of great stocking stuffer finds including:

Giant Candy Cane Sticks
Plastic Candy Canes full of Chocolate Coated Candies
Bags of “Coal” (chocolates wrapped in black foil)
Chocolate Covered Cherries
Flipz Chocolate Covered Pretzels
Dum Dum Lollipops
Truffles
Canisters of Christmas Themed Cotton Candy
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Kit Kats
Peanut Brittle
Double Crisp Foil Wrapped Chocolate Santas
Mini Candy Canes (in various varieties)
and much more!

Dollar Tree Stocking Stuffers: Misc. Items

A couple more ideas include glow sticks and magic towels.

The glow sticks I saw included bracelets, rings, and wands.

The magic towels are washcloths that come compressed and expand when you put them in water. They had a variety of Disney and super hero characters to choose from.