Frugal Grocery Shopping in Mexico

While I don't have a car here in Mexico, my sources for groceries are quite varied.

I live in Historic Centro in Merida. If I go one block east, there a tienda (mom and pop connivence store) where I can get soda, orange juice, bread, rice, noodles, snacks, eggs, yogurt, raisins, lunch meat and more. Plus, I can get some spices, fruits, vegetables like: garlic, bananas, pears, onions, potatoes, avocados, pepinos (cucumbers), tomatoes, bell peppers, and chili peppers. If I go one block west, there are two tiendas with similar selections with some variations.

I can go to Paseo de Montejo and walk north several blocks up to Chedraui's, a Mexican grocery chain.

Now, from my experience Mexican grocery stores don't have regular sales like in the states. They do have some items on sale but I haven't figured out where they advertise the sales. If I find an item I use frequently on sale, I stock up.

Once I am done, I catch a cab home at the corner near the Mexican National Monument (Monument a la Patria).

Or I could go to the Santa Ana market, an open air market and get freshly butchered chicken or pork as well as many of the spices, fruits and vegetables mentioned and more.

Pepinos from HoboTraveler

When I first came to Mexico, I tried to price various items from various sources to get an idea of where the best prices were -- I am still working on this because sometimes food vendors will give you the "foreigner" price which is higher than the Mexican price.

Stocking up on items I use frequently and limiting my visits to the grocery store saves money because I am not tempted to spend more than I intended and I save on cab money.

New Cookbook in Progress

My experience writing, researching and formatting recipes and information for Recipes from the Kitchen of a Frugal Non-Cook was positive and educational. So, I have decided to write another one during 2014.

My approach is to research recipes online and in books. Right now, I am rereading The Complete Tightwad Gazette since the author, Amy Dacyczyn, offers frugal recipes and grocery shopping ideas. I am always inspired by her.

I am also perusing my Mexican Nueva Salsa cookbook by Rafael Palomino and Arlen Gargagliano. I am hoping to increase my repertoire with Mexican and Yucatán-inspired dishes.

Plus, I will dig into my recipe collections.

What usually happens is that I adapt recipes I feel I can handle to suit my tastes, my budget and my skills.

What readers of my Cookbook do not see are my little disasters.

For example, I had wanted to try to make "Stovies", which are really boiled potatoes. Sounds simple right?

Here's the original recipe:

8 red potatoes, peeled and cut in half vertically
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup butter
Place potatoes halves in a pot with 1/2 inch water or milk
Season potatoes
Cook on medium heat for 15-40 minutes

Ok, here goes, do I use water or milk? Because I was low on milk, I used half water and half milk.

I added olive oil instead of butter, and 1/2 a cube of chicken bullion.

Also, I have two medium, white Mexican potatoes.

After washing the potatoes with soap and water, I still worried about potato bacteria as I peeled the potatoes.

Then, I had to chase the half peeled potatoes across the counter because once they were peeled, they were slippery and hard to hold in order to cut in half.

After setting the potatoes in the milk/water broth, I seasoned them with pepper and garlic salt.

At 5:58pm, I turned the electric stovetop to "medium." Who knew really, since the dial had no indicators.

At 6:14pm, I realized I had turned on the back burner instead of the front burner. They are not marked. This time, I took white nail polish and marked the burners F or R, respectively.

Soon after, I checked the potatoes and the liquid was boiling, there did not seem to be a low setting on the stovetop.

6:18pm, Checked and found the potatoes cooking on low now, not done, not even close. Tried 4 different settings. Now I wonder if they are cooking at all. Tried another setting.

6:57pm, They are cooking at a low boil. Fine. They will be cooked thoroughly.

7:07pm, They are done. They tasted pretty good. I added a little bit more salt.

In the end, I always feel like I spent an inordinate amount of time cooking even a simple dish and then I face a sink full of dishes.

In Mexico, the real landlords are the ants. They send out tracker ants looking for microscopic morsels of food and then after communication is made, streams of ants come to help bring home the booty. So, cleaning up immediately is essential.

This is why eating out can be so attractive. But, as a frugal cook, I accept the challenge to continue to create a diverse menu of frugal, tasty, "healthy" meals.

Here are the ingredients I used: 

2 medium, white Mexican potatoes, peeled and cut in half vertically
about a cup of milk and water mix
1/2 cube of chicken bullion
black pepper
garlic salt
a dab of olive oil

add milk and water to pan to fill with 1/2 inch of liquid
add chicken bullion and stir
set potatoes in broth
season with black pepper, garlic salt, and a dab of olive oil
cover
cook on low for 15-40 minutes until done
check to make sure they don’t stick

Ok, when I do this again, I will use a slow boil because the potatoes were hard and took a long time to cook on low.

UPDATE:

I had 1 potato and the leftover broth from making the stovies. I poured the broth into a glass casserole dish; cleaned and peeled the potato and placed the two halves in the broth and seasoned. I cooked the potatoes in the microwave for 15 minutes and it came out --- drum roll -- Perfect!!!

50% off Gina's Dream

Smashwords is offering Gina's Dream for $1.50 for 30 days.

Go to: https://www.smashwords.com/

Use the coupon code: QS34B and get 50% off.

Any questions or problems, send me an email at ria.stonemail@gmail.com.

Enjoy.

Guy Williams: Man Behind the Mask by Author Antoinette Lane

Guy Williams: Man Behind the Mask
by Antoinette Lane

Research is key to writing a good book, fiction or non-fiction.

During a research session looking for information about self-publishing, I came across a book, Guy Williams: Man Behind the Mask by Antoinette Lane. It was a biography of Guy Williams, the actor, best known for playing Zorro on Disney's TV series in the late 1950s.

I loved the Zorro TV series and always wondered what happened to Guy Williams, so I got Ms. Lane's eBook from Amazon.

Talk about research, Ms. Lane spent almost 19 years researching and  interviewing Guy's family, friends, co-workers and more for this in-depth biography that goes into great detail about Guy's life from birth to death and beyond.

In addition, Ms. Lane got lucky, not only did Guy's wife, Janice Cooper, welcome Ms. Lane into her home for multiple in-depth interviews, she met many Guy Williams fans who offered to share their treasure troves of memorabilia for use in her book. You will find family photographs spanning the decades of Guy Williams' life as well as school pictures, modeling covers, actors' head shots and stills from his movies and TV shows.

As Ms. Lane notes:

“One of my objectives in writing this book,” the author writes, “was to make the reader feel he had met him too." Guy had some predictable traits, but he was also a walking paradox: masculine yet sensitive, firm yet gentle, conservative yet nonconforming, macho yet intellectual, simple yet complicated. There is a slight tendency to go overboard with minutia, however, and a little trimming should have been in order. But, as I always say, I would rather have too much than too little.
"

(from: http://www.bearmanormedia.com/index.phproute=product/product&product_id=180)

If you are Guy Williams or Zorro fan, this in-depth biography will tell you all you want to know about the man, his life and career.

Guy Williams: Man Behind the Mask at Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Guy-Williams-The-Behind-Mask/dp/159393016X

Antoinette Lane's Guy Williams: Man Behind the Mask Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/GUY-Williams-The-Man-Behind-the-Mask/122605604480183

Do You Want to Publish an eBook? -- Part One

Writing is hard for some. In addition, the choices about how to get published are complex.

If you have decided to write a book. The first rule of thumb is: Write the best book you can.

Next, comes choosing where and how to publish. There are some basic options: Traditional, Self-publishing, or Vanity Press.

Traditional -- as a writer, you solicit major and minor publishers either by tossing your manuscript over the transom, so to speak, meaning, you email your manuscript unsolicited to various publishing companies, or you can look for an agent to represent you.

It would be impossible to list all the sources and options available regarding finding an agent. A web search will turn up thousands of choices and advice. To start, my suggestion is to look for articles on self-publishing in well-known writers' publications like Writers Digest.

Important: join various online or terra firma writers' groups and find out what other authors do.

Now, if you have written the next great American novel and agents are knocking on your door soliciting your business, that's great, but most new authors do not have this experience.

Self-Publishing -- You have two options:

1) DIY (Do-it-Yourself) -- use a self-publishing house. After you have written your manuscript, you also edit it, format it, design a cover, and market it, and more. Self-publishing houses usually list the eBook on its website and may distribute it to online book retailers, check what distribution services the self-publishing house offers.

Note: DIY also means learning a lot of software packages, not just wordprocessing. You need to format your document for the self-publishing house's software. In addition, creating a book cover will require photo/image manipulation software. In addition, if you register your work with the Library of Congress, you will face the task of using their software as well.

A web search will find hundreds upon hundreds of self-publishing houses willing to "publish" your eBook. Do research to determine which self-publishing house offers the best services for the best "cost/return." The type of book you are publishing may affect your choice.

2) Purchase or Contract Services -- (a) use a self-publishing house and choose from a variety of packages which may include editing, book design and more.

Caution: in this industry be careful what you buy, not all packages are reliable for the quality of services provided.

(b) use a self-publishing house and contract privately with an editor, book cover designer, or marketing service, you choose which function you want to DIY and which you want to contract out.

Again, research is necessary. For example, to find an editor, look at their credentials, their experience in your genre, their fees, as well as, their customer service skills. Like self-publishing houses, there are plenty of editing agencies/editors out there willing to edit your work that are expensive and may not provide a quality service.

In the self-publishing world, there are many companies who want your money but do not provide services warranting the expense.

Vanity Press -- find a self-publisher and let them do all the work. Vanity Press has a notorious reputation for producing poorly formatted and edited, expensive products that don't sell. There are some full-service self-publishing houses that are reputable but are hard to find. Remember, marketing may still be up to you.

My Choice

For myself, I choose Option 2b to publish my first eBook, Gina's Dream (GD), for these reasons: I knew Gina's Dream was not as well-written as say a Dorothy Sayers novel, so I did not want to spend the time and money looking for an agent. I choose to use Gina's Dream as an experiment in self-publishing. I self-published Gina's Dream as an eBook on Smashwords.


Future Articles:

Formatting your work

Choosing an Editor and Editing Services

Choosing a Book Cover Designer

Choosing a Self-Publishing House

What Happens After Publication?

Marketing Your eBook

An eCookBook has been Born!

Recipes from the Kitchen of a Frugal Non-Cook has been published by Amazon.

A Cookbook for Non-Cooks?

It's no secret, I can't cook. But you gotta eat, so over the years I have developed some "simple" recipes to create a variety of menu choices other than peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and a bag of potato chips for dinner.

As mature Expat living in Mexico, I enjoy life and work on writing all those stories and books I put on hold. Also, as a print addict, former typesetter with some journalistic training, and booklover, I have found the world of epublishing an exciting adventure and an education. Who has time to cook?

Review by: Ted Summerfield on Dec. 20, 2013 :     
Ria has crafted a wonderful cookbook of flavourful and quick recipes for chili, salads, stews and other mouthwatering fare.

Ria included some personal stories in her cookbook, making it a treasure to read compared to some dry, "just the cooking facts" cookbooks I've read.

As an added bonus, you don't need to know how to cook to make any of these recipes. There are no weird ingredients found only at some artsy-fartsy, high-brow, high-priced, food emporium, just simple, easy to create food.

This collection of easy recipes is for non-cooks who feel like an alien in the kitchen.

Recipes from the Kitchen of a Frugal Non-Cook provide ideas for a variety of sandwiches from PB&J to Dagwood Sandwiches, and simple recipes like: Tomato Salad and Coleslaw.

Yet, with a skillet and pot with lids, a microwave and a crock pot, you can make most of the recipes in RKFNC.

Among the recipes are some basic ones like a spaghetti recipe with suggestions for a variety of toppings that can be used elsewhere.

Personal stories are included with some recipes as I navigates some of the Dangers! of cooking.

There are crock pot recipes like Two Bean Corn Chili and Pork and Pineapple Chili. Ria's Basic Skillet Recipe is for the more adventuresome. RKFNC has a few recipes using leftovers.

The egg, a beautiful product of nature, is used in many ways. See recipes for: making an omelet or using hard-boiled eggs for sandwiches or egg salad, or adding an egg to fried rice.

Try Ria Stone's Microwave Small Dish Cake! In addition to recipes, I promote my first eBook, Gina's Dream. Take a peek at the Bits, Bites & Books Café's menu for other ideas.

RKFNC is not a dieters cookbook. Olive oil is used in almost everything and cheese is a frequent ingredient.

As I writer, I see food everywhere.

Find Recipes from the Kitchen of a Frugal Non-Cook on Amazon and other eTailers.

Ria Stone, Author

Expat Ria Stone lives in Mexico where she appreciates life and has time to write.

Ria says, "self-publishing Gina's Dream was a wonderful adventure and an excellent education." It was a positive experience, so she is looking forward to working on her next novel.

As Stone explains:

"Gina’s Dream began as an idea after reading several research papers, in the early 1990s, where basic life functions were being manipulated for singular purposes without regard for the universe’s ecosystem. The idea started as a story about humans in the future, who live in rival camps because earth has been so contaminated that communities are biologically isolated from each other due to rampant disease. Each camp fights for resources including fertile women, and continues to develop biological weapons to fend off raiders and mutated diseases. I know where the idea started, but it’s hard to recall the various stages of development of the story and how it ended up in its current version.

When I read Gina’s Dream, I see the influence of many fine authors whose stories I have read or watched on television. I see the influence of one story, Star Trek’s: Assignment Earth, more than any other. But, I would like to also acknowledge: Harlan Ellison’s work, particularly his contribution to Star Trek, City on the Edge of Forever; two of John Varley’s work, Persistence of Vision and Steel Beach; Ursula Le Guin’s Lathe of Heaven and The Left-Hand of Darkness; Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land; Spider Robinson’s Time Travelers Strictly Cash and other Callahan’s Bar Stories and Star Dance; Frank Herbert’s Dune; John Boyd’s The Doomsday Gene, and many more. I would also like to thank the many science fiction convention organizers and fans. As well as enjoying the conventions themselves, I found the convention goers smart, funny, creative, and intellectually generous."


Additional Information:
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/RiaStone

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitsBitesBooks
Bits, Bites, & Books Café: http://bitsbitesbooks.weebly.com/

Author's picture taken at Gina's Dream Book Launch Party 11/2/13 on Mexico's Day of the Dead holiday. Party held at Cultural Bistro in Historic Centro, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.