Viva Veracruz

[Diego]

This post is in response to Calypso's request for a list of items that I have recently acquired in the US on my trips to the border (Brownsville, TX) to bring down to our house here in Mexico. For the most part, they are items that are not available for purchase here. By that, I mean that I haven't been able to find them in Xalapa at Costco, Chedraui, Superama, or Walmart. That doesn't mean they're not there; it's that I haven't found them. In some cases, such as Rosarita enchilada sauce, I have attempted to have Superama order them, but to no avail. Ironic that enchilada sauce of any brand is unavailable here.

My time horizon started out at 4-5 months before resupply, but I keep extending it, and now, I hope not to have to go again till next year.

This list is a compilation of the last four trip lists. It might help to keep in mind that even though Shayla is disabled, she is still an avid 'foodie' who loves to prepare meals from all over the world, and, thus, needs spices and ingredients that simply aren't available here. On the other hand, many items that she needs are available here, often at Superama. She's kept her youthful figure, too; she says she enjoys making the food more than eating it. That leaves it to me to do the heavy eating; it's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

With one exception, I never buy and transport an item from the US just because it costs less there. That exception is baking soda, which is available here only in small spice jars as bicarbonato de sodio for 12 pesos for 139 grams (5 oz). In HEB in Brownsville, I buy a 4 lb box for $2, and we go through quite a bit of it.

Feel free to comment and question.

Border Trip Items
Walmart & HEB (Brownsville)
Various Salad Dressings
Rosarita Enchilada Sauce
Great Northern White Beans (dry)
Red Kidney Beans (dry)
Italian seasoning
Celery salt
Whole wheat flour
Box (4 lb) of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
Candy bags: Skittles & Starburst
Hydrogen Peroxide 3%
Feminine pads
Hydrocortisone anti-itch cream
Eyedrops for contacts (Renue)
Contact solution
Electric heating pad
Glide dental floss
Floss sticks
Calamine lotion
Tylenol caplets
Benadryl
Digital thermometer
Ziploc Easy Zipper Freezer Bags, gallon and quart
9-pacs of white and colored washcloths
Bristle baby bottle scrubbers
Rubber and silicon spatulas
Rechargeable batteries AA & AAA
Sticky dog hair collector (Scotchguard Fur Fighter) & refills
Egg crate bed foam

Internet Orders
Spike (5 lb)
Tinkyada Gluten & Wheat Free Brown Rice Pasta Fettucini
Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta Spaghetti Style Gluten & Wheat Free
San-J Organic Wheat Free Tamari Soy Sauce
Clothes that Shayla ordered online for herself
Lundberg, Short Grain Brown Rice
Arrowhead Mills, Whole Grain Puffed Rice Cereal  
Lundberg, Organic Brown Rice Rotini Pasta
Lundberg, Organic Brown Rice Pasta, Penne
Ginger People - Ginger Chews Original Flavor - 4.5 oz.
Ginger People - Crystallized Ginger
Ginger People - Pantry Essentials Natural Pickled Sushi Ginger
NOW Foods - Cocoa Powder, Organic - 12 oz.
Eden Foods - Brown Rice Udon
Bragg - Liquid Aminos - 32 oz.
Bragg - Organic Apple Cider Vinegar - 32 oz.
Source Naturals - Melatonin Liquid Sublingual Orange - 2 oz.
Frontier Natural Products - All-Natural Flavor Coffee - 2 oz.
Frontier Natural Products - All-Natural Alcohol-Free Flavor Almond - 2 oz.
Frontier Natural Products - All-Natural Alcohol-Free Flavor Coconut
Eden Foods - Organic Garlic Gomasio Sesame Seeds, Sea Salt & Garlic
Oxo Good Grips Swivel Peeler
Pamela's Products Simplebites Chocolate Chip Mini Cookies, 7-Ounce Pouches (Pack of 6)
Custom Craftworks Cotton Flannel Fitted Face Rest Covers 3-Pack
Pamela's Products Simplebites Extreme Chocolate Mini Cookies, 7-Ounce Pouches (Pack of 6)
NOW Foods Organic Quinoa Grain, 16 Ounce Bags (Pack of 6)
Al Wadi tahini bottles
Chef'n Sleekstor Large VeggiSteam 11-Inch Silicone Steamer, Cherry
CitriSolve cleanser & degreaser
Sonicare Elite (E-Series) Replacement Brush Head, Standard (2-Pack)
Silicon tubing (25 ft)

Whole Foods Order (shipped by bus by Shayla's sister from Dallas to Brownsville)
assorted whole grain crackers- 2 boxes
Lara bars
nutritional yeast
2 lbs dried yellow split peas
Organic natural smooth peanut butter (2)
WF honey mustard - 4
WF yellow mustard- 2
organic mayo- largest jar
Newman O's- mint, chocolate, pb, regular
mi-del ginger snaps- 2 bags
Toasted nori sheets- 2 pks
Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild Liquid Castile Soap - 32 oz
dropper bottle of stevia
Indian spices, chutney, & legumes

[Jonna]

Wow! That's quite a list. About half of it I'd say you could get here, at least in a big city not sure about where you are. The other I've never heard of or never seen here.

Most of us start out with a big wish list from NOB and as time goes on you find what you want here, you find something you like as well or you stop wanting the thing so the list gets much, much smaller. My list was never that large but it used to have about a dozen things on it and now there are probably one or two things I would bring back but that's it.
_________________
Jonna
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Blah! Blah! Blah! Ginger!

[Calypso]

That is quite a list. We have a few items like Lawry's Seasoned Salt and a type of Adobe etc. But nothing like that laundry list.

I usually buy two new pairs of jeans in the U.S. as they are a lot more expensive here and the leg length is problematic.

As Jonna suggests it seems like some of that stuff can be found in Xalapa (you are in Coatepec I believe).
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[Diego]

The list is a compilation of the last four lists, so it's a bit larger than a normal list.

I'm always happy to read about specifics. What particularly can be found in Xalapa at which store? As I've mentioned earlier, we shop weekly at Costco, Chedraui, Superama, and Walmart, so please let me know.

I, too, usually buy some jeans in US Walmart when I'm there for the same reasons, cost and size. I also keep an eye out for thin sweat pants, shorts, and colored t-shirts that I wear around the house.

Let me give you an example of something that would seem likely to be in Superama, but isn't. When we first arrived several years ago, we could purchase italian seasoning in the small spice jars in the spice section at Superama. This is an blend of eight herbs important for making spaghetti, some soups, and putting into whole wheat pizza crust. Over 25 pesos for the vial, but better than not having it at all. That continued for over a year. Then, last Christmas season, the spice section was wiped out, and I waited over a month for them to replenish. They never did bring back italian seasoning. Over a series of months, I made special requests with different managers, each of whom diligently wrote down the request but none never produced it. Finally, in April, one of them had the courage to tell me that they weren't ever going to have it because there wasn't enough demand for it. I can accept the truth.

So, when my son sent me a care package in May, he included a baggie full of italian seasoning. Then, when I went back norte this month, I found a really large container of italian seasoning for a few dollars at the grocery store. Now we're set for quite a while and can be generous in its application.

So, while it would seem that some things ought to be available locally, in many cases they're not.

If there were one spice that I had to pick among all the others to bring back that's not here in Mexico, it would be Spike. You might try a jar or box of it the next time you have the opportunity to acquire some, available in the spice section of most grocery stores in the US. It's a combo of 58 spices and herbs with just a tiny bit of sea salt. It enhances the flavor of virtually any dish. You shake or sprinkle it on. It's my secret weapon in the kitchen.

Yes, we do live in Coatepec.

[DavenRosy]

Extra Hot Horseradish - Beaverton Foods
Lawry's Garlic Salt
Molasses - Brer Rabbit best
US Butter

(Costco [Kirkland branded] is as awful as Gloria) best we've found is the Walmart Danish butter and New Zealand butter at Superama OOHHH for a few pounds of Tillamook, salted or even Challenge... why can't we find a butter made in Mexico without the repulsive smell and greasy, rancid taste?
And for that matter, a Mexican equivalent of an Omaha Beef top sirloin?
Here in Mexico, I, as a carnivore, suffer from the cost and quality of my chosen way to die!
_________________
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
- George F. Will

[Jonna]

I think part of the solution is to start trying things here and find new favorites instead of insisting on what you know from home. If you want to duplicate the experience of cooking in the north then you will always have these long lists of prepared foods to bring south. That's what most of those seem to be, not the original spices used but a particular combination of them that pleases you. Perhaps look online for what is in these prepared products and see if you can duplicate them. Or, start trying some of the prepared spice mixes here and see if you find some you like.

I do see Italian seasoning in the Superama here, I was looking for ground cardamom and went through every single spice they had. I did find my cardamomo eventually, but not at Superama.

The also have horseradish at Superama but it isn't the xtra hot version, I was happy to find it though. I got very excited at the local import market when I found Root Beer. I bought a 6 pack and Mimi and I drank it while our British friends held their nose and told us how disgusting it tasted. I haven't been back for more though, it is often just the surprise of finding something or the uniqueness of having it again.

Molasses is something I haven't seen, but I can't say I've looked for it. My guess is that it does exist in the sugar producing states like Veracruz since it is a byproduct of sugar. It might take some sleuthing to find what it is called locally but the adventure would be fun.

I rather like Mexican butter but I admit it is a different taste, I think like most everything else that it has lime in it. Because I'm alone in liking it in my house, we buy the Danish or the New Zealand butter but that is available in most stores and tastes like NOB butter to me.

I'm confounded by the enchilada sauce on the list. Have you tried any of the prepared salsa tomate that are at the store? There are dozens of brands of prepared tomato based sauces and they are specifically designed to be used in dishes like enchiladas.

As for the dried beans, there are large and small dried white beans that look to my untrained eye just like the ones sold up north. I don't buy them but why not try them instead? Or, try some of the other types that are available here. Like Peruano, an excellent dried bean in almost any recipe and with more taste than most in my estimation.

Just about everything below the Hydrogen Peroxide on your list is readily available here in Merida. It's hard to believe that they don't have much of the same stuff in Xalapa. Is there a CostCo in Xalapa? or a Sam's Club? They often have brands from NOB. Many of the drug store items you list I buy regularly at a pharmacy, benedryl used to be difficult to find here but it's been in all pharmacies for the last several years. Cortisone cream is there, Renue and contact solution are there, sanitary pads are advertised every night on TV so they must be available, I've bought digital thermometers (one for us and one for the dogs), heating pads, foam fingers mattress covers, etc. It's hard to believe that these things are so readily available here and don't exist there. Xalapa is a large city, it is prosperous, it must have the same types of products as are here. I could believe all this if you were a hundred miles from a city, really out in the boondocks.

I think I'll start a new post on the Hydrogen Peroxide, that interested me and I did some research.
_________________
Jonna
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Blah! Blah! Blah! Ginger!

[mcm]

Gosh -- that is quite a list. Lots of specific name brands, which I guess is part of the problem -- I certainly haven't heard of most, and got by without them when I lived in the US, for 45 years! But, we all have our favorites.

I tend to agree with the experience of others that after a while, one just gradually substitutes products and tastes for what's easily available.

I think that's especially easy to do for prepared foods.

As others have noted, many things listed (whole wheat flour, bicarbonate of soda in larger boxes, egg-crate foam mattress pads) are pretty easy to find here in Merida. Certainly the problem of Mexican inventory control (wait til something's completely gone from the shelves before reordering -- maybe), is a challenge. I like to think of it more positively -- it encourages experimentation with new products!

Re, butter -- I've found that Lala brand butter, which is actually made in Uruguay, is pretty good. I mostly use it for baked products.

Piloncillo (unrefined sugar, sold in cones) makes a fine replacement for molasses (just melt it with a VERY small amount of water).

[brenda]

One year I hunted all over our city, (never go shopping in the bigger centers as it is not cost efficient), for molasses.
Looked and asked everywhere and most of the people did not even recognize the Spanish name for it.
Finally in desperation I asked my landlady about it and explained what it was. She explained that it was not available here as a separate product because they just used the piloncillo which contains it.
I finally went over to the tourist town 15 miles from us and bought it at a fair cost from the one store that stocks NOB products. I rarely do this; but it was Christmas time and that means Ginger Snap cookies to me lol.
I took it to my landlady and she tasted it and thought I had been nuts to hunt for it. lol. To her it was just piloncillo lol lol. Nothing different.
That phase passed for me and I now don't even bother with the cookies anymore, do other things instead.
I usually use LaLa brand butter and have found out the following here. When you buy the little yellow tubs of it, it says made in Belguim; but when you buy the sticks in the cardboard package they say, made in Uraguay. Go figure??
Tylenol I buy here.
Feminine pads-- there are aisles full of them at the stores, not sure if they are the same as NOB or not.
Whole wheat flour-- I use the products here, I do lots of baking: bread, buns, cookies, pizza dough, etc. and have no issues with the flour here; although I know lots of people complain about the gluten thing with it here because it is made from soft wheat. I have no trouble with it.
Ziploc Bags: available here; although more costly but not worth the trouble of transporting them for me.
Rechargable batteries I buy here.



I don't purchase a lot of stuff from NOB now. The following is what I buy sometimes.

1. Werthers Original candies
2. Licorice black or red, the Austrailian one is great. Forget its name. It is in a brown paper type sack.
3. Kraft brand Buttermilk Ranch Salad Dressing for when I don't make my own.
4. Cream Style Corn, I know sounds weird but we like it sometimes
5. Heinz pork and beans, the absolute best brand. In a pinch I can make do with Bushs brand

This is what I bought last November on my last trip to the USA. I bought 12 cans each of the corn and the pork and beans and still have about 8 cans of each left, so we don't eat them often. Nice once in awhile.
Thats my list, short and sweet lol.
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[Diego]

Hi Jonna,

I posted my list in response to a suggestion from Calypso. I'm quite enjoying reading what others miss from the US and want to bring back with them.

[mcm]

Hi Diego
Although you didn't mention my post, it's similar to Jonna's, and I doubt either of us intended to sound either patronizing, or doubt your shopping skills! I'm quite impressed by your marathon tours to the US, in fact.

I think we were just noting, as a general thing, which might be interesting to others less knowledgeable about shopping in Mexico, that the same items, or reasonable substitutes often do exist, though sometimes aren't found where one would expect them, based on comparisons with the US.

Jonna and I both live in/near Yucatan, but like this forum for its generally friendly and low-key attitude. And some things are not so different from Veracruz....
best,
mcm

[Diego]

Hi Brenda,

[DavenRosy]

the Xalapa Wally's has Great Value zip bags with closure tab in both quart and gallon size... they're not quite as tough as the Zip Lock brand, but serve ok without leaking for marinading meats and other uses including the freezer. Quite a bit less costly as I recall...
_________________
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
- George F. Will

[brenda]

Hi Diego. Yes, I like those bags with the white tab on too, they are so much easier to use. They are available here at times, perhaps when the store orders wrong lol?? Who knows, when they have them I buy them for sure.
We are Canadian so some of our favorite things perhaps would be different or odd to you.
One thing I just had a friend send down to me was a couple of the plastic hummingbird feeders. I found them here once about 4 yrs. ago and since then have never found them again. So every so often I get a friend to bring down a couple for me as I have given them to the landlord also.
Recently Walmart and Sams Club opened here and I was sure they would have them. They had the premixed nectar which I never use; but no feeders??? Oh well.
We seldom go NOB and when we go to Canada we fly so don't bring back much stuff.
Some things I miss such as sweet corn; but I have found it here twice now, happy day that was.
Some things I used to really like I had totally forgotten about until I saw them in the stores up north.

To be honest I now find it very overwhelming to go into the grocery stores in Canada. Whole isles of 1 product in 5 million different sizes, shapes and marcas. Yikes, and the prices also are overwhelming lol.

I remember going to buy tomato juice in Tucson a couple of years ago and just stood and stared at the endless variety on the shelf for about 5 minutes before I could even actually start to make a choice. I really felt like a "yokel" lol.

Everyone has different likes/dislikes and things that make their life comfortable wherever you are, go with it and enjoy life it is too short not to.
Have a good day.
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[Jonna]

You know, I think you are absolutely right.
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Jonna
A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.

Blah! Blah! Blah! Ginger!

[Calypso]

Hmmm - covering the philosophy of using what you have available where you live - or not - is an interesting add to a list of what we want from our homelands. And a good point.

I will say Jonna is the most helpful and positive spirit we have on this Forum.

I am always happy anytime I see her name in a post. In addition I think she has incredible wisdom.

As others have suggested we all have different ways to fit into the same puzzle - and that for me is a good thing. Dialogue is good as is diverse opinions.
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