Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Brands

As I currently ponder our next trip to the grocery store, I have been thinking about brands and how I have very little knowledge of the brands here in Santiago. Almost all of the stuff I buy here, I usually buy the cheapest brand, or the brand that Ro's mom always had in the house. In Montana, I would always buy the cheapest of everything except when the penny pincher coupons came, then I would use those and buy whatever the coupon was for. In MN, I ate whatever my parents bought, and if we were to move back there, I know what to go cheap on and what not to. So here's my list of what I bought there, and what I buy here.

FOOD
Ketchup
US: Heinz                                                                  Chile: Carozzi or JP

Milk
US: Cass Clay or the cheapest at Sam's (1%)             Chile: Lonco Leche sin lactosa semidescremada
                                                                                    *I don't drink this... yuck! But Ro does.
Spaghetti Sauce
US: Ragu traditional or Hunts mushrooms                     Chile: Carozzi salsa lista or Mama Mia
                                                                                   *occasionally spurge and buy Great Value veggie.

Bread
US: Cash Wise Split top wheat                                    Chile: Ideal integral

Noodles
US: Sam's Bakers and Chefs elbow mac.                     Chile: Carozzi espirales or spaghettini

Soup
US: canned Food Club                                                Chile: powder Maggia

Mayo
US: NEVER MAYO always Miracle Whip!!               Chile: Hellman's Light

Mustard
US: French's                                                                 Chile: JP

Mashed Potato flakes
US: Idahoan Baby Reds                                               Chile: whatever's cheapest
                                                                                    *usually make em from scratch!
Orange Juice
US: Minutes maid frozen concentrate                            Chile: Andina or Watt's 100% jugo
                                                                                     *Ro doesn't drink this....

Powder Juice Mix
US: Kool-Aid                                                              Chile: Livian
                                                                                     * I don't drink this very often....

Rice
US: Minute                                                                  Chile: whatever's cheapest
                                                                                     *I fuck it up everytime...watery or crunchy...sigh

Margarine/butter
US: Country Crock/ Land o Lakes                               Chile: Next margarina/never butter...

Ranch Dressing
US: Hidden Valley Ranch                                             Chile: Great Value (Walmart brand)

Honey Mustard
US: Newman's Own                                                     Chile: Great Value

Barbecue Sauce
US: Sweet Baby Ray's                                                   Chile: Hunt's or Great Value
                                                                                      *have a great homemade recipe!!
American Cheese
US: Baker's and Chef's                                                Chile: Santa Rosa Cheddar
                                                                                    *It's not really cheddar....

Canned Tuna
US: Chicken of the Sea                                               Chile: Robinson Crusoe


HOUSEHOLD SUPPLIES

Napkins
US: Mardi Gras                                                           Chile: Lider brand

Toilet Paper
US: Charmin or Cottonelle                                           Chile: Lider or Comfort

Paper Towels
US: Scott                                                                    Chile: Nova or Elite

Dishsoap
US: Dawn                                                                  Chile: Quix or if I spurge, Dawn

Toothpaste
US: Crest                                                                    Chile: Ro uses Colgate, I always bring Crest!

Floor cleaner
US: Mr. Clean lemon                                                   Chile: Lysol disenfectante, the blue kind.



I am sure there are more things, but I can't remember right now. And as far as fresh fruits and veggies go, we buy most everything at the feria. We buy carrots, potatoes, kiwi, bananas, cilantro, tomatoes, and onions at the feria. In the US, we have fresh food from the garden and trees in the summer and fall, canned food from the garden through the winter and store boughten frozen or canned fruits and veggies also. In the US I buy canned mushrooms, here we buy fresh mushrooms at Lider or Jumbo. And we rarely buy meat because we can't afford it, but when we do, Ro's uncle has some connections and gets some beef for cheap. In the US, I eat the beef my dad raises and it is obviously much more delicious. All other meats that I eat in the US like fish, venison, pork, or chicken usually comes from the stockpile my dad has in the deep freeze. The fish is obviously caught by us or a relative, the venison usually shot by my brother, pork from and uncle that raises pigs, chicken from an uncle or frozen chicken breasts from Sam's. 

4 comments:

Leigh said...

I kept messing up Chilean rice too until my host sister taught me to fry it first. Now it comes out decent!

Emily said...

If you're looking for ways to cut back on expenses, try buying cheaper mayo, making your own salad dressings and cutting out the BBQ sauce and cheddar. I'm definitely not telling you guys not to have those little luxuries if they make you happy, but since you say you're not too familiar with products here, I figured I'd mention it.

Heather said...

The Great Value brand thing still cracks me up. I mean, I know the whole Wal-Mart owns Lider thing, but it's just strange to see it all here. Back home I was a Super-Walmart, "one trip for everything girl" so I have definitely had to make some adjustments with the brands and the amount that I can buy at once! And I too am a Crest girl so I will definitely have my visitors bringing me reinforcements of the Crest Whitening plus Scope. :)

Shannon. said...

Leigh, I have tried frying I still F it up!!

Emily, we buy sauces very rarely, I usually make my own bbq, and we buy the cheese maybe 2 times a year. I was mainly trying to compare the brands. I guess I should look for a cheaper mayo, I just don't know what to buy.

Heather, In the US, I rarely bought anything Great Value, even though I did go to Walmart for most of my shopping needs. It is kind of funny that now I buy it mainly because there isn't much of a choice. And Crest Whitening plus Scope is THE best toothpaste ever. My mom works at a dental office and she would buy a box of it, 12 tubes at a time. I have a stockpile here now :)