Strange Grocery Items

Over the last month and a half, grocery shopping has been the interesting job I have to tackle every Tuesday. Even though Canada and the US are the most similar countries we will experience during this year long trip, there have been some adjustments we have had to get used to in our grocery experiences.

Note: none of these things are life changing in any way or really bother me. This is just an example of the odd things we run into on a weekly basis.

Biggest Adjustment: Milk in a Bag

Milk Bag & Pitcher

Ketchup Chips

Skewers

Smarties, or M&M's

The weirdest/biggest adjustment we've had to make is getting milk in a bag. Apparently the concept of a gallon jug has not made it across the border. We cannot figure out the benefit of selling milk this way or the downfall of the gallon jug. Baffling. We now have a milk pitcher. The bag has 3 'sleeves' of milk. Odd. But it's milk. Dan can not handle dinner without that glass of milk :)

Ketchup chips are close to Canadian's hearts. They love their ketchup flavored chips more than anything. In fact, in an article discussing the culinary treats of different countries, Canada claims ketchup chips are their contribution.

Meat skewers are also something we see all over the place. The stores sell them prepackaged and already marinated. The St. Lawrence Market sells all different types of meat skewers to throw on the grill. In the States, I don't think I have ever seen such a vast array of marinated meat kabobs. We usually just buy the items and make the skewers ourselves. Not really weird but more interesting, none-the-less.

Lastly, if you are looking for M&M's here, look no further than Smarties. They are not the sour little candies we know in the States. I am really not sure why there is a separate product here. They sell M&M's everywhere and every kind you can imagine. To be honest, I haven't eaten any Smarties, but they can't really taste all that different than an M&M.

I am pretty thankful that the changes haven't been too drastic. I am learning and experimenting with making more homemade items to make a healthier, more familiar food we are accustomed to.

The one thing that does make me nervous, more than unfamiliar foods, is the rioting going on around the world. It seems that every place we are seriously considering has some sort of protest or angry riot happening/recently happened.

London, Athens & Buenos Aires are our top three choices right now. Still doing lots of research and trying to make decisions, but with the constant changes in the market, political issues, and safety concerns we haven't made much progress. Every day brings a new obstacle to overcome.

For now, we are just enjoying the great weather and surroundings in Toronto. Nothing really new to report. Its been a quiet and productive week here.