Hunting the Healthy Stuff

For a change of pace, I parked the car in the underground parking lot at Mega Commercial (lots of room!) and hoofed it downtown to my fave bulk food/health store as I am back at it once again with the low carb/healthier eating. (At this time of year, I actually think it's faster to walk than to drive since the main drag was pretty congested!) It's interesting to note they have a good supply of dried cranberries which are excellent for your health and do really well in banana bread or bran muffins and come to life nicely with a bit of boiling water and a packet of Splenda for a side dish with poultry--hubby loves then heaped on top of his mashed potatoes. Anyway, I got some cranberries and then I found a bag of flax seed for the Omega-3 factor and this bag is mixed with Nopal cactus for extra benefits. Next on the goody list of favourable items was a jar of 100% natural peanut butter which I enjoy on grainy toast and I also found a small container of peanut oil which is good to cook certain dishes with, especially Indian or Thai food. Just as I was wrapping up my little shop, I found a big container of pecans in the shell which the Mexicans call "nuez" although nuez are technically walnuts. I asked the girl how they crack open the pecans and she simply grabbed two in her hand and squeezed them against each other. Voila! I do possess a nut cracker and during the holidays I've been enjoying REAL walnuts from the shell. Now I have some pecans to throw in the mix. Anyway, this store full of goodies is located just south of Ley on the same side of the road and worth a visit if you're hunting for something healthy, holistic, unusual or exotic.

Take a Lude!

Here's what happens if you go to the Commercial Mexicana during Christmas Vacay in the Marina. First of all, you will spend long minutes circulating the parking lot looking for a space to park the car and maybe you'll find one miles from the actual store. Then you will have to arm wrestle another person for a shopping cart and when you finally get one, the "fun" truly begins and here's why: All the shopping aisles are narrowed, blocked or otherwise littered with merchandise and WAY too narrow for the passage of more than one cart; in fact you have to squeeze through slowly and you may or may not knock something off the shelf as you do. Then there's the bumper car scenario which happens when ignorant shopper person leaves their cart in the middle of the aisle and makes any kind of passage impossible. After a few of those, you just bumper car them out of the way out of sheer frustration with the stupidity of it all. Then there's the young workers unloading merchandise in EVERY aisle during peak shopping hours and in the case of today, causing an honest to goodness log jam of shopping carts in which the only solution was a U turn and an attempt at another congested aisle. The Pharmacy inside the store is not to be believed! An old Gringa with her pills not sure if it's the Mexican equivalent and the 18 yr. old behind the counter cooly eyeballs the mounting line of customers and proceeds to haul out a 2,000 page medical dictionary and begin to slowly flip the tissue thin pages. Later for that! In the juice aisle there were only 3 cartons of orange juice left and they were on the highest shelf at the back and one needed a step ladder to get to them, or a pogo stick or a store assistant (not to be found for the price of gold) so shoppers are left to their own creativity. Meanwhile, an entire family of 10 is shopping en masse and want to pass by. It's a living, breathing circus and I warn you to not attempt it unless heavily sedated or drunk.

Live Lobster and Chocolate Chips.

Well, I've just come from a shopping excursion at the ultra new Soriana grocery store and must admit it's a pleasant surprise! The layout is very modern and the produce beautiful. There are fresh flowers, good chocolate, a wonderful bakery full of rustic breads of all varieties, fantastic cakes and desserts and even an aquarium with live lobsters. How very first world. The place is spotless and the service friendly and it made shopping for groceries quite enjoyable and a far cry from the old days when you had to push the rotten veggies away in order to find something semi-edible, or go to the tupper ware section to get coffee filters (??) or my fave foray for a sports bra when the sales girls paused from their chisme to tell me, "no son brasiels, son tops!" and quickly went back to their chisme. Yes, it appears those days are becoming fewer and fewer which is a good thing although I 'm not convinced all these super stores can find enough business since there are so many in a small area, but time will tell. Anyway, that's the low down on the new Soriana from my perspective. It's definitely worth a visit or two although no one will top the convenience of the good old Commer Mex.

Now That the Weather Has Changed...

This is the time of year I enjoy the most in Puerto Vallarta. Everything is lush and green thanks to several long weeks of rain and humidity. Now the City has been scrubbed clean and the mountains are shining in their coats of emerald green. The rivers are flowing, the ocean is cool and unsullied and the morning/evening air nothing short of invigorating. We have the BBQ working once again and jogging or riding a bike is a pleasurable option instead of a chore. This is the time of year when the Christmas decorations go up on homes and inside the hotels, there are posadas and parades, songs and celebration and an definite air of excitement as we head into the Christmas holidays. Some people make plans to fly out while many more are making plans to fly in, but we are staying put this year anxiously awaiting the return of our eldest daughter who has been living and going to school in Montreal for the past four months. Our tree is up and decorated, the stockings are hung, there are a few gifts under the tree and plenty of plans to be with family and friends. 'Tis the season to be jolly for sure!

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee.

From few options to many, the coffee consumer world here has grown to several options and it is nice to have more choices than we used to.
The organization known as "Organic Select" will deliver beans from the mountain finca of San Sebastian with your weekly order, which I've tried and like. There's "The Coffee Cup" which is located in the Plaza Marina and they have a tasty variety of good coffee, plus they offer teacher discounts which is a bonus we certainly appreciate. Yesterday the Starbuck's promo truck paid our school a visit and got the entire student body jacked on java for the afternoon, which wasn't ideal for teaching, to say the least! Anyway, there's a Starbuck's next to the school in the airport as another coffee option. Good news for coffee lovers young and old!