I paid $11.32 for a medium sized jar of peanut butter today. The last time we were in the US, in November of last year, we stocked up on organic peanut butter as we were hitting the last of the jars we’d purchased the last time we were in Texas (December 2006). We had managed to stretch those jars almost a year and knew that the little we could smuggle back on the plane wouldn’t last long. It is only recently that you could even find peanut butter in Mexico, and while it has arrived, it is costly. I have given up the organic straw man here in Mexico but refuse to compromise on peanut butter (the food most heavily laden with pesticides – and please dear reader, if you know otherwise, a comment wouldn’t hurt) so today we took ourselves down to DAK (or is it DAC?), the organic store (yes! Playa has an organic store and if I REALLY cared about my minons, I’d find the money to keep them in organics) to look for sage (also the only place to find sage) and see what piracy we’d have to commit to afford organic peanut butter. One hundred and eighteen pesos a jar. The dollar has tanked down here, so while that would have been $10.62USD a few months ago, it is now $11.32.
In an effort to reduce town trips and our food expenditures, we have been shopping the Wednesday fruit and veggie sales. Everywhere we’ve been in Mexico, the stores generally offer veggies and fruits at sale prices on Wednesdays. I’ve tried most of the stores in town (both Chedraui’s, Soriana, Mega, Bodega Aurrera, Wal-Mart) and found that the store generally most expensive, Mega, has the best Wednesday prices. AND it seems that the prices are best on the midmonth and endmonth paydates. For John, who also keeps abreast of the prices, here’s what we paid today: tomatoes $9 (usually run $18), limones $7 (usually $10-12, golden apples $12 (generally in the $25-30 range), mango oro $7 (generally $18-20), mango ataulfo $11 (this is robbery since we’re in season; they should be around $5), piña $4 (normally $6-8), melon chino $5 (normally $10-12), watermellon $2 (normally $5-6) and white onions $5 (normally $8-9). Avocados simply will not come down in price now, even on Wednesday, and are hovering around $30-35/kilo but on sale you can find them for $28-29. We only went $21USD over budget in food last month, so this seems to be helping a lot.
I would be very careful how much money I spent on organic food. They have been doing random tests in Canada of supposedly Organic veg etc. and have found that there is only about 2% on the shelves that the customer is paying extra dollars for is truly organic.
The best way is to grow your own. Then you know what has been used to grow your vegetables if you want organic. I have found in the summer months here that local farms are the best way to get truly organic because local gardeners do not use all the extra products to enhence growth especially small producers.
I’m a fan of the natural and organic peanut butters- Maranatha makes a heavenly one. Sorry I can’t help talk you out of that one. I have a picky eater child who has limited proteins he’ll eat, one of which is peanut butter. Every once in a while my budget will be pinched and I’ll resort to the cheapest peanut butter on the shelf, but I try to stock up on the organic when it goes on sale so I don’t have to buy the other crap.
You could grow a few pots of veg & fruit perhaps, to offset some of your costs at the produce market?
Hmmm… I think I know what we can bring you for Christmas..
I have been drinking smoothies made with various fruits and organic peanut butter for the last few weeks in an attempt to get the last 20 off my frame. I don’t think I could ever get tired of that creamy, natural goodness that is organic peanut mush….unless it was $11.32 a jar. :*()
Oh, and psssst……..poooooooooosssssssssst.
knock knock
I’ve been patient – waiting, waiting, wondering, worrying, wishing a post would be coming……
Ditto Ta Ta, Maybe you should give up this blog. It gets real old checking in over and over and seeing nothing new!
I know that Kathy has been working really hard on her course! And Jamie is working hard holding down the fort. Before everyone starts emailing me ( just kidding Christina)
Every one is doing good! We have been having great times with the kids playing a game called settlers. And I have to say Jesse and Pike are VERY smart kids. My husband and I can´t believe how smart all the kids are these days,way smarter than we were at that age…It must have something to do with home schooling! LOL
Okay,I looked at the new photos – what do you mean you had a systemic allergic reaction?
Were you in the hospital?
I hope you are feeling better and it wasn’t an allergy to peanuts.
Love,
Aunt Kathy
what is a systemic allergic reaction – do you mean an anaphylaxis attack? more details please.
Ok, Natalie, You’ll have to comment more often, so we know what is going on down there….
Yeah, Michelle and Aunt Kathy. I got bit by something and had a pretty good allergic reaction to it (by googling the next day and asking the allergic folks). So I guess an EpiPen and allergist should be on the list. The infernal list.