Home Away From Home...

I'm not talking about Bahrain. I'm talking about the MANY MANY grocery stores I've been frequenting lately. I swear, I spend more time there than ANYWHERE else. This Whole30 is a time-suck. I mean, I'm super grateful to be able to lead my family in this healthy journey...but it's consuming my life! 

I'm either searching for recipes, meal planning, making shopping lists, driving to the grocery store, fighting for a parking spot at said grocery store, actually grocery shopping, cooking, or cleaning up from the meals. Luckily I've been able to make time every day this week to work out - it's helped me keep my sanity and given me a break from the food. 

So....to keep my readers entertained and exposed to the crazy Bahraini world I want to talk about....

drum-roll please....

GROCERY STORES!

Exciting, I know. But, TRUST ME...these aren't your run-of-the-mill grocery stores!

So far the Bahraini grocery stores I frequent the most are: 

GEANT

Carefour

Al Jazira

Alosra

YES...I do go to all 4 of these at least once a week - more likely 2 or 3 times a week. So I'm becoming pretty familiar with them. And so talking about how different the grocery stores are is about as exciting as my life gets right now. Grocery stores, gym, cooking, cleaning...oh and wiping butts and feeding Davis, and constantly telling Caden to stop kissing Davis so much. Glamorous.

Here are a list of the things I find intriguing so far.... 

1. LIQUID CHEESE. They have aisles and aisles of this Kraft, liquid cheese. I'm not sure what else to call it. There are several varieties and sizes. These particular lot was in the "Ramadan Special" selection. I've never seen cheese like this back home. I can only imagine all of the health benefits. But hey...it's KRAFT...must be good? This is just one example of the STRANGE products I've found.

2. AMERICAN PRODUCTS. Most of the stores carry a few American products, which I am grateful for. I'm even more grateful when they slap a big American Flag on the shelf to make sure we notice them. I've still never seen any other country's flag posted. I wonder what makes us so special?

#3 GROCERY CARTS. Not only do you have to PAY to get a grocery cart, but these grocery carts are possessed. I HATE THEM. They don't just roll forward and backwards...no, of course not. They also go side to side or really whatever way you want them to go. Ever tried pushing an office chair down a hallway? Maybe that's a bad example....but because it can go anywhere - IT WILL go anywhere. I've run into a few people. They were not amused. Sorry, silly American coming through - nope, I can't even operate a grocery cart - but hey thanks for the American Flag signs.

 

So, to get a cart out your have to insert 100 Fil (about the size of a nickel and worth about 25 cents USD) into the cart to release it. When you return your cart, you get it back. A lot of people just leave their cart next to their car and don't return it. So, someone can get rich off of gathering them up and cashing in. Then again - it is SO hot outside, who wants to do that? I'll admit, I've ditched a cart or two and left my 100 fil before. Some things just aren't worth it. After loading groceries, Caden, a crying baby and myself in to the care in 110 degree heat, sweat dripping everywhere, the last thing I want to do it return a grocery cart to get about 25 cents back. 

#4 NOT FOR MUSLIMS. In case there is ANY confusion - there are signs all over the place making sure the Muslims are aware of what they are and are not allowed to purchase. 

#5 THE PORK ROOM. AKA - THE BEST ROOM! BACON - YAY! When we first moved here I wasn't even sure if I would be able to buy pork anywhere. Which, in my humble opinion, would have been a tragedy. 2 years without bacon. How un-American. Luck is on our side. The NEX sells pork products and so do most grocery stores. They just have the "Pork Room" set off from everything else. Often they are also labeled with, "NO MUSLIMS ALLOWED" signs as well. They usually have a pretty good selection. I just still laugh every time I enter the "Pork Room". I'm PRETTY sure the last time I bought pork the female cashier was afraid to even touch the package. She picked it up by the corner edge of the package and held it away from her like it was something rancid and disgusting. No my friend...in that package is the best thing in the world. BACON.

#6 PRODUCE. I've never appreciated the produce section of grocery stores back home like I do now. The produce here is difficult. It tends to go bad super quickly, and it's REALLY expensive. I spend an insane amount of money on produce each week. Not only that, but it's just odd sometimes. Like these GIANT green bell peppers we found a few days ago. Or the fact that red onions are teeny tiny. You need 3 or 4 to make up for 1 from back home.

Also - after you select your produce you have to bring it all to a special guy setup in the produce section. He or she, weighs it and tags it all right there. This is a simple, but easily forgotten step. When you are used to just grabbing it having the cashier enter it, it's easy to forget. Believe me, people in line DO NOT like it when they have to wait for someone to run your produce back to the Produce Man to get tagged because you forgot. I'm learning this lesson. 

One cool thing about the produce is that the fruit is usually delicious AND they have some fruit that I've never even heard of. Our goal is to try one new fruit each week. So far, so good. We haven't encountered anything too crazy yet. 

#7 SPICES. Okay, so not everything is bad or weird. Some things are pretty darn awesome. Like the bulk spices section found in the bigger stores. They have any spice you can think of and more. We've started buying all of our spices in bulk, which is a good thing with the Whole30, as we are going through it like water. The only problem is communicating how much I want to the Spice Guy. We pretty much have a system now. I point to the spice and use my hands to show how much or how little. 

They also have different kinds of nuts, different flavors of nuts ie: spicy cashews or honey cashews, all sorts of dried fruit, and things like almond flour, coconut flour...so much to explore here. This area makes me happy.

#8. The MEAT Section. I don't really want to talk about this. If you know me, you know why. I'm not a big fan of meat. I have to convince myself it wasn't once an animal to make myself eat it. My siblings tortured me when I was little. No, I'm not talking about how they convinced me that I was adopted, I'm talking about how they would make animal noises while I ate meat. SCARRED FOR LIFE. I still can't eat meat off of a bone - unless it's a hot wing - and even then, if I get ONE bite that reminds me it's an animal, I'm done. Meanwhile, Andrew picks up my half eaten hot wings and pretty much sucks them dry. That's teamwork.

So - there IS a meat section and they have all sorts of things that you wouldn't find in the meat section back home. I can't even bring myself to write about it. I think I'm going to throw up. 

HOWEVER, I do have to tell you the story of the bones. One day I noticed that they sold packs of "Beef Bones" and "Lamb Bones" at Carefour. I had NEVER seen this in a meat section before and I was pretty much immediately grossed out and had to leave without purchasing our meat. Fast Forward to the Whole30 and me trying to find beef broth without preservatives. Pretty much impossible. Remembering that they sell beef bones at the grocery store I looked up some broth recipes and decided that we had to make our own broth, or rather, that Andrew had to make our broth. I mentally accepted that I would have to go to the store and buy a pack of the beef bones...I had NO IDEA how horrible it would be. 

I bravely set out for Carefour last week. Beef broth was our only missing ingredient for the week, and it was time to make the leap and buy some bones. I COULD DO THIS. 

Well, I walked up to the meat section with confidence. I was going to grab the bones and get out of there. I was a big girl - I could do it. As my luck would have it - they were all out of beef bones that day. 

Damn. I was going to have to ask someone. I drove 25 minutes, parked in the crazy City Center parking garage, and got myself, Caden, and Davis in the store for these bones and we weren't leaving without them. 

So, I walked up to the butcher and said, "Umm, do you have any beef bones?" The butcher said he had to check in the back and came back out holding FLINSTONE STYLE HUGE WHOLE beef bones. These WERE NOT the small cut up bones from the packages out front. These were HUGE in tact leg bones from some poor cow. 

I literally started dry heaving right then and there. The butcher tried to hand them to me and I just kind of waved him off, and turned the other way. I tried to exlain that I needed them to be smaller and he cheerfully said, "OK!" and walked away. I watched him as he walked over to a saw and proceeded to saw them up into little pieces. I can't even tell you the horrible things running through my head at that point. I had to turn around and sing songs in my head. I was seriously about to throw up everywhere. UGH. I can't even write about it anymore. It was horrible. It scarred me even more than I already was. 

When it was all said and done he handed me my package of beef bones, and I carried them through the store like a waitress carrying a tray of food through a restaurant. Above my head where I couldn't see them. Did I look crazy? ABSOLUTELY. But the alternative was to actually puke. So I chose crazy. 

AND...YES - Andrew was the one that made the beef broth. I could not do it. I sat there and stared at the ingredients for about 15 minutes, then just turned and walked away. I may be able to eat the meat right now - but that is one job I still can't do.

That's about it on the Grocery Store front. Exciting?! Yes, I know. I guess I'm still amused by the little things here. 

OH....and a Whole30 update. Day 11 done. Still going strong. I haven't dreamt of food in 2 days! I just am craving peanut butter like nobody's business. Our food the past few days has been pretty boring. Veggies, grilled meat, salads, eggs. That's about it. However, dinner the past two nights has been pretty great. 

DAY 10 DINNER:  Chicken Rogan Josh

Rogan Josh is an Indian dish that Andrew loves. It's traditionally made with lamb, but as you can see from my rant above, I struggle with meat, and lamb is just something I can't do yet. So I made it with Chicken. It was delicious. Next time I am going to halve the amount of cloves she calls for and make it "mild" I did the "medium" version and it was just a touch too spicy. We also made cauliflower rice to put it over. Andrew made it tonight and it was perfect - you could hardly tell that it wasn't real rice! Definitely a keeper though. And I'm loving the blog this recipe came from. Tons of Paleo and Whole30 recipes. www.theclothesmakethegirl.com

DAY 11 DINNER:  Mexican Cottage Pie 

This was a fun one tonight. It definitely helped shake things up a bit. I have to say though, it really reminded me of our favorite Paleo Chili. I even topped mine with some avocado and chopped onion. It was DELICIOUS. Plus we have a ton of leftovers. The sweet potato cauliflower mashed topping was awesome. This is a great way to sneak a ton of vegetables in to your meal. Another keeper for us! 

That's all I've got for tonight. I hope you all enjoy going to the grocery store this week. What I would give to be able to drive up to a store, get out, walk a few feet to get inside, and then find everything I need in one place! You all are spoiled!

and That's 'Watts' She Said...