Food...a comparison

The other day, I was talking to my dad about food. He was asking about the price of various items.

I bought 1 kg of carrots for $.99. That's $.50/lb. If I remember correctly, I bought 1lb for $.99 in the States.

I have been getting the most delicious strawberries for $1.50-1.98/250g. That is 1/2 lb or 8 oz. The best deal I found for strawberries in the US was $1.99 for 1 lb but usually bought for $3.99/lb. So pretty comparable on price, but definitely NOT on taste. The strawberries here are so juicy and flavorful. And red all the way thru, not white and grainy like some of the strawberries I used to get. And it's winter...just imagine what they will be like in the summer!

Wanna know a cool thing about food shopping in AUS??? As milk nears it's expiry date, they discount it.

I picked up a litre of organic milk for $2. It still had several days left before it went "bad". While that price is comparable to organic milk in the US if you buy it in the gallon, I usually buy it in smaller quantities where it's more $$.

The other day I was at the store, and they had 1Ls of skim for $.49. FORTY-NINE CENTS! It expired the next day, so I didn't get any. I need to figure out recipes that I can make with lots of milk.

I unknowingly got unhomogenised milk. When I first poured Andrew a glass, it skeeved me with the globs on the top. Then I realised it wasn't homogenised. Now all I do is give the milk a little shake before I pour it.

I bought a 2L of Diet Coke for nearly $6. In the US, I would wait and stock up when the price went to $.99. A case of coke (12 cans) is $24. yes TWENTY-FOUR dollars for a case of coke!!! The bottles I buy at lunch are $3.90 for 600mL (20oz) and $3.20 for 450mL (12 oz). Granted it's at the convenient mart, so it'll be a little cheaper at the grocery store.

A candy bar....$2 (give or take).
Small bag of chips (grab bag size)... $2-3

Oh, and Crunchy Nut Flakes (bursting with nutritious value I'm sure ) was $8.95 a box, while the uber-delicious All Bran Honey Almond Flakes was only $4.95

My dad made the observation that the healthy food are cheaper (more reasonably priced) and the stuff that is bad for you is outrageously priced. It's like they are forcing me to eat healthy... of course I still have my Diet Coke habit!
pics from coles

Food

Andrew and I woke up early (ok, he woke up early then woke me up). We walked down the street to the CBD. No, not the Central Business District sillies....the Central Baking Depot! They make delish meat pies and breads. This morning they made us delish pastries.

While I am putting up pics of food, I thought I'd add pics of interesting food finds. First the tall, slim Coke cans.

Second, French dressing??? Looks more like Italian to me. Despite their love of sauces (sauces.on.everything!), salad dressings are slim pickins...

The other day when my throat was hurting me, I picked up some lozenges. Butter Honey Menthol drops. OMG yuck! These were the foulest things....

Also, have I mentioned hamburgers come with the addition of BEETROOT? on a hamburger?

No HCFS. I've looked. Foods are actually made with sugar. Sugar....novel concept....

thoughts on food (again)

Stopped at Coles tonight on my way home from work. Picked up some generic/store brand TimTams. Just wanted to see if they tasted the same as I could always save some $, esp if it something I should be buying in bulk... Generic TimTams aren't quite the same. You can tell the chocolate isn't the good stuff, but these will definitely pass in a pinch... On a side note, I think this was the first time I didn't eat an entire package in one night....

Rene is still not feeling well. He has been sick since we got here. Picked up some soup and the fixin's for "bear juice" - lemons, honey, and the tea we already had on hand.

Andrew brought me his shoes this morning and said "Home?" Poor bear...this is home.... I think he needs to venture outside more. I would get stir-crazy and want to leave if I was cooped up in a 1bedroom apt for days on end.

First trip to Coles

Stopped by the grocery store today. First off, the store is not nearly as large as the chain grocery stores in the US. Of course, that means the selection is not as diverse.

Produce selection...a local/Australian produce :)

Meat is free range, grain-fed, blah, blah, blah (all the stuff we look for anyways - no searching for the good stuff).

Nary a HFCS to be found. They use....wait for it...sugar! Must say, food tastes much better with sugar vs the other crap. I am going to love not having to scour labels to find food I can feed my son.

We found some actual ketchup. Had to buy it. "Tomato sauce" can not substitute for ketchup on "hot chips".

The splurge...Diet Coke. $5 for 3 1.5L (on sale)

oh...and Dark Chocolate TimTams!!!!

My name is Nicole....

....and I have a TimTam obsession. If you don't know what a TimTam is, you are missing out.

They are this little chocolate biscuit that alone, aren't that spectaular, but dipped in hot cocoa are the most delectible bits of gooey chocolate I've ever had. My favorite is the caramel filled ones, b/c as you can imagine...warm gooey caramel is heaven.

Now, don't get me wrong...I'll eat them w/o dipping in cocoa. I can eat a whole pack and hide the packaging just so people won't know I ate them. I can stealthyfully eat them so little ones don't know what mommy just threw in her mouth. I'm addicted....

It appears I'm not alone in my obsessions....linkeroo

(I just found TimTams with Crunchy...why, oh why do they do this to my hips....)

Misc food stuff....

After work, I stopped to pick up my "favorite" meal.

Yummy meat pie. (admittedly not the best pic...but trust me...it's yummers!)

I also picked up a 'fairy cake' for my favorite little guy. I got a blue sprinkles for him and a Hokey Pokey for me. I love Hokey Pokey and Crunchie bars. I'm hoping they have Hokey Pokey ice cream this summer like they did in NZ.

Andrew has been working on showing you how old he is. I would have the camera ready, and he refused to do it. Then as soon as I closed the camera, he would do it perfectly... so here is my best pic of "2"....

A Saturday morning Down Under...

Got up early (surprise, surprise).

Went to Pancake on the Rocks for b'fast. I really wanted to order the "Devil's Delight" - chocolate pancakes with strawberries, cream, chocolate ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Unfortunately, this didn't seem like the best choice for a healthy b'fast.


Walked around Darling Harbour - remembering places we had visited back in 2004. (Our hotel was located one block from where we now work.) They have an area set aside for watching the World Cup. It's been pretty lively some mornings when I walk to work. Andrew got to see some big boats, and hear one of them blow the horn. Exciting!

Snack time

Got out of work early again :)

Andrew and I went to the little cafe downstairs for hot cocoa and a cookie. It was a yummy snack. He also likes to run around and dance in the open space - burning off some energy to (hopefully) go to sleep.

He has Debbie, the coffee girl, entranced with his cuteness. She made sure his cocoa wasn't too hot.

Happy Birthday to me...

Another anti-climatic birthday.

My co-workers bought me some cupcakes from Babycakes. They were delish....

Blackbird

When Rene and I were here in 2004, we ate at Blackbird Cafe. We raved about the waffle breakfast - crisp waffle with fresh strawberries and chocolate mascarpone. We even added it to our cooking repertoire by buying a waffle iron when we returned to the States.

Ventured over there today for lunch...not quite what we remembered. The food was "bleh" and the service left a lot to be desired. We asked for a table inside as it was very sunny out. After winding us thru the entire restaurant (pushing the stroller), the waiter sat us on the patio....in the sun. Once we were seated, we couldn't get anyone to take our order (or bring us a high chair).

We will not be frequenting this restaurant this time....

Food...

Our first meal, I'm happy to say, was not fast food!

I ate yummy yogurt with bananas and delish toast - thick, smothered with butter and grilled... Rene had beans and sausage and toast and eggs. Classic - gave me a heart attack just looking at it. Andrew... he didn't eat much, but that's nothing new.

We've since eaten: Chicken schnitzel (with 'salad'), more yogurt (with honey), more toast, wavy crisps, fresh fruit, TIM TAMS, lemonade (baby bear's favorite)

I've started drinking coffee again. I swear, the only time I drink/like coffee is when I'm abroad. Of course, it's loaded with milk and sugar. How else do you get the best of the Tim Tam?

My favorite right now...banana bread that is masquerading as toast. Take a loaf of banana bread (no nuts), slice extra thick, slather with butter, grill, call it b'fast....