bulk food problem

Yesterday we went to Aguascalientes.  I think that was the third week in a row that we went over there.  Not that I am complaining or anything.  Yesterday we had a bigger purpose than just going shopping.  Not that that isn't a big enough purpose.  We needed to take my sister-in-law, Erika, to the airport there.

And, since we were already there, we should hit up Sam's Club!  I seem to be a sucker for bulk food.  I think it is just that I have it in my head that we won't be going back to "the city" for a handful of weeks and I want to make sure I grab what I think I might need.  It's has become a problem.

We *had* to buy another shelving unit at Home Depot so I could put all my stuff somewhere.  There is no pantry in this house.  I have three small cabinets that I use for food.

One for boxed, canned and misc. items.

One for chips, pretzels and bagged stuff.

And, one for all my assortment of pastas, salt, vinegar and other such items.

As you see, those cabinets are small.  There isn't much room for all the things I buy.

Not only do I have an issue of bulk buying (I mean, it's Sam's Club, there is no other choice), I have an issue of when I find something in a store that I usually don't see, I buy tons of them.  (Notice how many boxes of cake mix I have.  It is because I saw strawberry cake mix.  You don't see that here hardly at all.  So, my thought was buy a lot and the store will see that they are selling.)

Here is the new shelving unit with all our extras. 

The worst is the fridge.  Or, more like the freezer. 

I just can't help myself.  I swear my mentality is like stocking up for a blizzard.  I just feel compelled to buy everything!   

Here are a few goodies that I got yesterday.

CHEESE!  Who doesn't love cheese?  And, in my local grocery stores, it is hard to find certain cheese.  Some of the Mexican cheeses are decent substitutes.  But, if I can find the original, I'm buying it!  I got mozzarella, Monterrey jack, cheddar, Gruyere and Parmesan.  These are pretty big blocks.  I just cut them up and freeze them individually. When I need a block, I take it out of the freezer and stick in the fridge to thaw out.

And, this is really exciting.  I got a good recipe from a friend for some breakfast sausage, but I do too many things from scratch.  Finding something where it is like a shortcut is a jackpot!  So, this is great!  I had found some breakfast sausages at Costco, but they were the ready to serve kind.  Just warm them up.  Those kind aren't good for making biscuits and gravy because they don't produce enough fat.   As you can see, these are pre-cooked sausage! 

And, last, a new find!  Bagels!  I miss bagels.  And, I have looked online for recipes to make them, but they are all very involved so I have never tried.  Now I don't have to.  These keep in the freezer.  I pop one out, put it in the toaster and voila, you have a nice bagel ready for a frosting of cream cheese!  Or, the other day I made a bagel, egg, bacon and cheese breakfast sandwich.  I'm wild and crazy, I know.

Oh, how I love Sam's Club.  Although, there are products at Costco that I wish I could find at Sam's.  I am seeing a membership to both places in the near future.  Just remember, I have a problem. 

chinese goodness

A handful of months back there was a Chinese restaurant that opened up downtown.  And, true to Chinese restaurants, they deliver.  Love that!

We have ordered from there a few times and it has been pretty good.  Last night, however, was the first time I bothered glancing at the menu that Jorge picked up not too long ago. 

I spotted something on their menu and was so excited, hoping that they would be good.   Basically, it is non-crab rangoon. (wonton con queso crema on the menu)  Heck, I can do without the crab.  Let's try it! A while back I tried to make some from scratch, but they didn't turn out.  It will be nice not to have to wait until the States to have some.

It was really good!  I only wished I would've ordered more!  I did share with Jorge.  He should count himself lucky. :)

And, we ordered our regular Mongolian Beef!  It is really good!  Not as good as PF Chang's.  But, good enough for Jalos!

Their menu looks like it was copied straight from the US.

It's only 9:22 am.  I wonder if it is too early for them to deliver. HA!

new view

We went back to Cantia yesterday. I love that place.  This visit was a little different.  I didn't make Jorge walk about the store just so I could stare and ogle over all the pretty things.  I had a list.  A good thing for him.

The walls in our house aren't painted.  Not even a base coat.  So, if you lean against the wall it looks like the wall attacked you with a big chunk of chalk.

I'm not sure why the owners of the house never had it painted.  We are actually the first people to live in the house.  Jorge mentioned to the landlord about painting.  She seemed OK with the idea but it seemed like she assumed we would pay.  Without a base coat even on the walls, I wouldn't even want to guess how much it would cost for all the paint needed.

We have one blank wall in the living room.  There are two small pictures hanging on the wall, but it just needed something.  Plus, I needed a place for me to put all my books.  They were stacked here and there.

Yesterday at Cantia I bought a somewhat solution to that.  I got these two shelving units to put against that wall.  I really like how it looks.  And, it shows off how much crap I have.

I even gave Jorge space on the TV stand for all his cars.  Now he can feel part of the decor.  He loves his collection. We already had the talk with the girls (mostly Emily) that those cars are off limits for little hands.

Now that I have changed the look just a bit in the living room, it is time to rearrange the bedroom!  I love rearranging furniture!

Oh, and just a FYI.  I found some sweet corn!  Jackie suggested looking at Waldo's ( a sort of dollar store).  And sure enough, they had some! 

I also scored this bag of Butterfinger goodness!

what a find!

Yesterday we set off to Aguascalientes on a mission.  Two missions actually, but only one interested me.  To look for a store and find out about another tattoo for Jorge.  Let's just not talk about the tattoo...

The store.  We go to Aguascalientes for most things I need that I can't find here in Jalos.  It isn't a bad drive, just an hour and a half.  Wish it were a bit closer, but it is probably a good thing it isn't.  It is easy to restrain from spending money when you live here, away from everything.

We saw a billboard a while back that was advertising a store called Cantia.  We had heard from a few others about the store but really didn't give it any thought.  During our last outing to "the city" we saw the billboard again and I told Jorge we should check it out.

I have to admit that most times (other than Costco) I have been disappointed when we go to stores here.  Either they still don't have any kind of selection and/or the quality of the items are horrible.  OR, they do have things that I haven't found anywhere else but the prices are so ridiculous that it just make me mad.

So, when we set off for Cantia I expected nothing and hoped for everything.  We got to the store, since it was a Friday there weren't many people there.  Bonus!  We walked through the doors and I am sure my face lit up.  It was so great!  It is pretty much a Mexican IKEA.  A little piece of heaven right there in Aguascalientes!

It wasn't as big as IKEA and didn't have as many products, but it has to be a sister store.  The design of the building, the layout of the store, the price tags, everything was identical to IKEA.  And we all know how awesome IKEA is.

Not only was it exciting that this store is within close proximity to me (I believe there is only this one in Mexico) but the prices are very affordable.  Oh my, I just am in love with the place!  When we left I told Jorge that I could spend the rest of the day in the store but I don't want to clean out the bank account.  Plus, we have a Honda Accord so we are limited in what we can fit in the car. 

I started to take pictures inside but Jorge pointed out that there was a sign when we first walked in that said no cameras. 

I bought a shelf that I intended on putting in the girls' room but it ended up out here by their craft table.  I'll get a second one for them later.

And the pink collapsible box that is on the second shelf.

And some nesting bowls.

And a really cute tote for the girls' stuffed animals...not that they will fit all their animals in there.

And this pitcher.  Do you see what is in the pitcher?  Yes, those are REAL lemons.  Found them at the Wal-Mart there.  My aunt and friend sent me some lemon peel that is jarred.  But, I am definitely going to find a few recipes that require lemon juice.  So EXCITED about this!

And, they had material at Cantia.  Cute material.  Remember, no cameras so no picture.  But, I did buy these two pieces of material.  They are upholstery material.  I think I will make a pillow cover with the green one.  The pink one I plan to make a headboard for the girls' bed.

I also bought a few other things.  A tart mould, a casserole dish, a pizza pan and place mats.  We will definitely be going back.  Soon!

fun in the sun!

We went on vacation to Puerto Vallarta a few weeks ago, as a family.  This was the first time the girls had seen the ocean.  I picked this particular resort because of the pool (or waterpark as the resort refers to it) for the kids. 

It was a nice time.  We were there for 5 night and 6 days.  Just long enough to be ready to come home at the end.  It was exciting being in a city that has a good amount of American's living there.  Not because I was looking to talk to anyone.  But, because they have a Wal-Mart and I figured that they might have products that I can't find.  I was right! 

They had A1 sauce!  Not sure about you, but I am a big fan.  And, when we buy steaks from Costco, a bottle of A1 will go nicely.  They did have lots of stuff that was imported from the US.  It was fun to see all of that stuff, but it was OUTRAGEOUSLY priced!  I got a few other things like Dijon mustard, body wash that I like, sushi rice, nori and sprinkles for cupcakes/cookies., nothing too exciting.  But the A1 was definitely the big hit for me.

I brought my laptop so I could work (during the night and the girls' naptimes) and the first night we got there I was pretty hyped and Jorge and I were up late (for me) working.  It got to be midnight and instead of tracking downstairs to the overnight snack bar that the resort offered, I ordered Dominos!  Dominos is not really my favorite, but it isn't available in Jalos and definitely not at midnight!  So, they delivered to the resort and it was pretty good.

We also went to the Outback Steakhouse on Jorge's birthday.  I got excited when I saw there was one there in PV.  Other than going for Jorge's b-day, my only purpose was to get a Blooming Onion.  Guess what?  They were OUT of onions!  How is that possible?  Isn't Outback famous for their Blooming Onions and should have them "in stock" at all times?  I was disappointed.

Overall we had a nice relaxing time.  The girls really enjoyed themselves and said they want to go back.  Thought you might like to see some pictures (some have been put on FB already, but some of you don't have a FB account ).

This was the first time on the beach.

Bella posing for me in the pool.

One of the bartenders took Emily behind the bar and let her make her own "Spiderman" drink.  So for the rest of the trip she wanted to make her own drinks. 

The girls being goofy on the balcony of our room.

Jorge made Emily into a sand mermaid.

Jorge and Emily in the kids pool.

Emily taking a little mushroom shower.

Me and my girls sitting on the beach.

Bella and Emily sitting on one of the water hoses in the pool.

The view from our room.

Saying good-bye to the ocean.  This was the day we left.

Costco... a little piece of heaven on earth

Some of you already know this, but I am employed again! My awesome friend, Bradley, called me up in June and asked if I would be interested in working for him part-time from here in Mexico. I didn't have to think about it at all. I didn't care what I would be doing. All I knew is that I have been itching for some responsibilities that don't involve kids for a while. Being a mom is great and all, but I need something more. I just like working. AND, the money is always a positive!

The money is what is allowing our lives to be a little easier and better down here. Jorge's income is just pathetic and I have been struggling with trying to maintain staying within our tiny budget. I have gotten a lot better, but still not close to what it would take to live off of his income alone.

With this extra income we now have, we went all fancy and got a membership to the Costco in Aguascalientes. It is the bigger city about an hour and a half from here. It has the big mall and movie theaters and fast food restaurants and Wal-Mart and Home Depot. You get the point.

Yesterday we got the membership and bought lots of fun stuff at Costco. I don't think I have been more happy here in Mexico than I was yesterday!

Before we had even been in the store 1 minute, Jorge spots a cart with Coors Light in it. For some reason that is his favorite beer and the only place we have been able to find it is at Chili's (you know, the restaurant). And at $3 plus a bottle, well, he only has a few when we go every so often. We see commercials for it on our TV and know that there is a distribution center in Monterrey but haven't found it for sell anywhere. Well, at least until yesterday. You might imagine how happy he was.



After spotting the beer, I headed straight for the cheese section. My heart melted immediately because of all the variety. Remember we got that small refrigerator? Well, I had to pick and choose. But, I was happy knowing that I can go back whenever I want and buy a different kind.

We went down almost every aisle. (Towards the end, with a full cart and a small refrigerator at home, we decided to skip going down all remaining aisles. We will leave those for our next trip.) We got to the frozen food section and I didn't think it was possible for my heart to melt a second time, but it did! I found this!


Edamame! (note how large the bag is compared to the microwave!)

And these!


Chinese dumplings!

And we found salsa for dipping chips in. Funny that I live in Mexico and you would think that would be a staple, but they just don't do the chips and salsa like in the States. So, I have been on a mad hunt for a recipe and have found something close but no cigar. Now I can just pop over to the Costco for some more. And you see we got some asparagus! And crab meat (imitation but still good!). And you can see my provolone and colby jack cheese! Love is in the air!



I wasn't lying about the size of our refrigerator. You can see how packed our freezer is. For my non-meat eating friends, don't read the next line. We bought STEAKS! And pork chops and a bunch of chicken. It was WONDERFUL!



Next time I hope we can control ourselves a little bit more. I am sure we looked like fools. Oh well. It totally made my day.

what's a happenin'

Nothing new has been going on lately. Been blog surfing, finding neat little projects I want to try when I get back to the States. I will soon have the advantage of finding all the supplies needed for all these projects that look so cute.

I have moved up my *departure* date. I originally had planned on coming back in mid October. Being here is just becoming increasingly harder. I am not ready to leave Jorge any earlier, but I just feel more trapped than ever. He understands and has been very supportive, so he said, "leave earlier". So, I am leaving in a month. I should be back by September 1st. We will probably head out of here on August 29. It is about a 33 hour drive. Yikes!

Jorge will drive us to the border and then will hop on a bus back here to Jalos. The girls and I will cross the border alone and keep driving and driving and driving. The last time I did that drive the girls were 16 months and 2 months old. So, surely this time should be a bit easier. Let's still keep our fingers crossed.

I ordered a cell phone and my mom is mailing it along with my new license plate. I wrote my resume yesterday, ready for my job search. I have been thinking about what I want to take back with me. I have never went across the border from Mexico to the US with a car load full of stuff, so I can only assume the border patrol will search through everything in the car. I don't want it to be a long process. That day is already going to suck. Like I want to stand there watching them take everything out of the car while I am crying.

So, I will probably only take clothes and toys this time around. About 6 months into my return I plan on bringing the girls back for an extended stay with Daddy. They will stay for about 4 months or so. At that time I can take back whatever other items I want, in preparation for getting my own place.

I am just ready to get back and get things going. I hate transitional times. It is like being trapped between the past and the future. Very uncomfortable for me.

swines and chickens

Here at the Ramirez household we have been free and clear of the Swine flu that has been and is still going around. The three of us girls don't really get out of the house much. Jorge's hours at work are 10 am to 2 pm and back at 4 pm to 7 pm. It really takes up most of the day not allowing us to really do much or go anywhere, especially since Emily goes to bed around 7 pm.

The people in town have been wearing masks for preventative measures. We did have to make a trip to the store last night for diapers and the cashier and other employees were wearing masks. Those darned pigs!

Speaking of farm animals, the chickens around here must be a decent from the dinosaurs.

Buying eggs at most stores here is a little different than in the US. Here the eggs are not refrigerated. Mostly you will find that the farmer just packed a bunch of eggs in egg cartons. They are not sorted by size.

Take a look at the difference in size of a few eggs that we recently purchased. One is probably your "large" egg in Kroger and the other is most likely from a dinosaur chicken.

Sitting side by side:

Normal egg:

Large and in charge Dinosaur egg:

I guess we got our money's worth. We just bought 30 eggs for $2.25. Very cheap. And, that is more eggs that we normally buy. Jorge's fault! :)

the little things

I am usually not the type of person that gets excited over the little things. Actually, I don't get *excited* that often. I am going to blame that on my personality. When things happen it is usually because I have planned it that way. All of you reading this blog know that I am pretty anal when it comes to anything.

Living here has changed that. I have been removed from my element and thrown into a place where nothing is familiar. So when I see something that is familiar I go crazy with excitement.

In this little town there isn't much in the way of grocery items that I would want or need. There is one store in particular that I always joke about only having cookies, rice, beans and cleaning products. The aisles are crowded with those. I should take pictures the next time I am there to show you what I mean. I can't talk total trash about that store because it does carry Dawn dish soap (the only place I have found it so far--I am brand loyal and that is a big problem here).

We found a gemstone the other day when we were driving back from the border. We needed to stop and buy a gift and a birthday cake for Jorge's little brother, Paul. He turned 8 on the 23th of October. We stopped at the Bodega (a branch of Wal-Mart) in the town that is about 20 minutes from our town, called San Juan. We walked through the automatic doors and I thought I heard the angels singing. It is just like a Wal-Mart. Big, lots of stuff like electronics, clothing, decor and groceries. The Bodega here in Jalos is small and has no variety of anything. Of course we found the actual Wal-Mart in Aguascalientes (about 1 1/2 hours from us), where we go every 3 weeks or so. But to go there is a much longer trip with toll roads. This place is like driving to Greenwood for us. I LOVE it!

I needed some groceries and certain ingredients that I know we don't have here so we went there today and I found a BIG jackpot. I have been craving brownies for a long time and couldn't find them but today that all changed. Jorge thought I was going to cry I was so happy when I saw them.

I have also found block and shredded mozzarella cheese, romaine lettuce, Welch's white grape juice, a oh so lovely frozen cheesecake, Kraft Singles (you know the slices of American cheese) and the list could go on.
They now have all their Christmas decorations out. Whoa! They are pricey. A standard set of lights to go on the tree are $19. I will be buying some items in the US and bringing them back.
I get to experience the joy of the small things down here. My mom always laughs when I tell her my crazy stories about finding items that I couldn't find before. I am sure there are plenty of things down here but there is a lack of those giant stores that carry everything under the sun here which makes finding things more difficult. Shopping in the US is easy and you can find anything. I am stuck here now so I will look forward to all the things that have yet to be found.