Some food things I brought back from the States and why

Quaker Grits
I imagine you can probably get these in Harrod's Food Hall for £5.99 a box of so (heck, they sell Marshmallow Fluff in Harrod's) but then they are just so much cheaper in the US.
And everyone knows, grits is good.



Four tins of Del Monte Lima Beans
I have not been able to find lima beans in England and I love them. I was reading that lima beans and butter beans are the same thing, but I am not convinced because limas are green and butter beans are white. But I love butter beans, too.


Three jars of Goya Adobo seasoning with cumin
I have not been able to find adobo seasoning in London and having it around it an old New York habit. I just found out that "adobo" means "I marinate", according the Google translation. Good with everything. Not had the cumin one before, but surprised to find adobo at all in Iowa.



Various Encore Gourmet Food Corp. items
They looked interesting and or useful and were 55¢ per large bottle at the Big Lots store (about 28p) . Apparently, Encore is the largest supplier of herbs and spices in Canada. Not sure how they ended up so cheap in the US. Saw them Walgreen's as well for 99¢ a bottle!
2 Chopped Garlic
1 Garlic Powder
2 Onion Powder
1 Lemon Pepper seasoning
1 Bacon Bits
1 No Salt seasoning
1 French Fry Seasoning (what the heck is French fry seasoning?)


Lawry's Seasoned Salt
I brought this back because I love it and can't get it in the UK. I tried a "copycat" recipe I found on the Internet and it is OK, but Lawry's is Lawry's.


McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning
Not sure what makes this one Canadian particularly, but I do have a weakness for pepper mixes and steak seasoning, even though I don't eat meat. I like steak seasoning on eggs, toasted cheese, grilled fish etc. This one has mixed peppers, coriander seeds, and other spices. Nice.


Roasted & Salted Soy Beans and BBQ Roasted Soy Beans
I brought these back because they are delicious and healthful and ought to be cheap as chips, given how cheap soy beans are. But in England, they only seem to be sold in poncy little one ounce sack are are outrageously overpriced. I bought bulk Waymouth Foods "Good Sense" soy beans at the Hy-Vee. They were $2.59 a pound. I brought back LOTS.




Sesame Sticks & Garlic Sesame Sticks
I brought these back because, as previously noted, you can't get the same sort of sesame sticks in London and I really like them. Probably should not have brought them back as I keep eating them!



Ancho chillis
Again, this is an item that you can get in London (From Cool Chile in Borough Market, for example) but they are just so much cheaper in the US. I brought back two bags of Mojave Foods Pasilla Anchos.




Plain orzo & rainbow orzo
Because I got carried away in Hy-Vee's bulk organic section. You can definite get orzo in London, but organic orzo for $1.99 a pound just seemed like a good deal.



Three quarters of a pound bulk linseeds
Again, because I got carried away at Hy-Vee's bulk organic section. I use linseeds a lot and these were only $1.99 a pound for organic linseeds.




Four jars of Butter Buds
You can get Butter Buds in the UK - Lakeland Limited sells them. But they only sell the individual sachets (very wasteful packaging) and they are a lot cheaper in the shaker jar and in US dollars. I don't use Butter Buds all the time (they are sort of "franken-food"), but they are nice to add a buttery taste without the calories or saturated fats.




Four Boxes of Minnesota Wild Rice
This is another item that you can get in the UK - well, similar, at least as Tilda do a Canadian Wild Rice. But again, it is so much cheaper in the US - and I LOVE wild rice.




One pound loose Green Tea
I drink litres of the stuff everyday, and when I say it in the Hy-Vee bulk organic section for $6.99 a pound, I bought a pound.



One bag dried lima beans
This is something I have never tried, but I do love limas and tins are heavy, so I bought a plastic bag of dried ones. They are white and do look suspiciously like butter beans. They are also larger than most limas you get in tins or frozen. I wonder if limas start off green when they are small and then turn white as they mature?




Starkist Hickory Smoked Tuna & Starkist Teiyaki Tuna
I bought these to eat in Iowa as they are in little foil sachets and ready to eat, but did not get around to eating them.


Polar Smoked Scallops
Happened upon these in the Target food section and they looked intriguing. They are individual 3 ounce sachets and were not expensive - I seem to recall they were $1.30 each.


So here's me, fuelling the food hoard again. I don't feel so bad about these sort of items, because they are either not obtainable in the UK or only as a vastly inflated price. But, must get on with using some cupboard item to make space for the new acquisitions.