Grocery shopping in Shenyang

I'm still trying to get the hang of grocery shopping here.  Back in the states there were 3 go-to stores (Giant, Target, Trader Joes- I love you!! I miss you!!) that I visited whenever I wanted.  I was so familiar with these stores that I arranged my shopping list by aisle. 

Here it's not so easy.  At least not yet.  My fabulous sponsor and friend Jen (a fellow foreign service wifey) has been taking me around town to all of my options.  Remember, going anywhere in Shenyang from where we live requires a car so I've always had to catch a ride.  Can't wait until Miss Odyssey (so named by NJ) gets here.  About 2 more months to go, hopefully less.

Our community has a small convenience store that is surprisingly well stocked with random Chinese and imported items.  Many of them are Korean, which is random because I only know of 2 other Koreans who live here.  But they have everything from chips, juice, bottled Frappuccino, cleaning goods, yogurt, bread.  I can definitely throw together a meal from here if need be.

My favorite store here so far is Yoohoo, which is a mostly imported food store.  Sure, everything costs an arm and a leg but for Eggo Waffles and Swiss yogurt, gotta do what you gotta do.  I've also visited 2 other imported food stores.  Riverside, which is tiny but has a pretty good selection.  I found Newman's Own pasta sauce, taco seasoning and Eggo Waffles (can you tell what J likes to eat for breakfast?).  They each cost about $8.  Ouch...  There is another one called Ole (loving the funny Western names for these stores), but I wasn't too impressed with their selection.  I think the foods here were even pricier than the other two.

And to think I used to clip coupons and stalk grocery circulars to use them on top of sales.

There are plenty of Chinese grocery stores.  They tend to be HUGE.  Most that I've visited are spread over 2 floors.  It's OK to shop there but it is a bit overwhelming for me.

On Thursday, a bunch of the Consulate ladies are taking a "field trip" to Xita, which is Korea town here.  We will be able to visit a Korean grocery store, Korean butcher, Korean rice mill.  I can't wait!!