My mindset is that I am living in Portugal so I will embrace the culture including food and drink and try to buy locally sourced items where possible. We visit a local Lidl monthly for staples then visit our nearby village bakery, butchers and greengrocers for fresh weekly supplies. We also buy from delivery vans who drive through our village daily. This is all fantastic but for every Brit there will be something that they miss from their hometown. For some people I talk to it’s cheese as they feel it’s not the same taste, others say they can’t live without marmite for their toast or gravy for their roast dinners and others hanker over baked beans for their full English breakfast so pay a ridiculous price to obtain these items in the British aisle of a supermarket here. I recently had a conversation with hubby and I explained the foods that are hard to obtain here like pork pies, scotch eggs and monster munch crisps. He looked me directly in the eye and said “I would kill for a bag of monster munch pickled onion crisps right now”. What can I say, we have all this amazing food here in Portugal and hubby wants to embrace a packet of pickled onion monster munch! I’m not surprised as this is a man who puts mayonnaise on everything including roast dinners. For me personally the main thing I am struggling to locate is a sugar free squash/cordial and Options hot chocolate orange or the original chocolate flavour. My mum was diabetic and raised us on sugar free options so I like the taste of the sugar free drinks which are hard to find here. We drink a lot of water and way too much coke zero but sometimes you just crave a fruity drink half way through a hot sweaty renovation project or a middle of the might menopausal sweat. I could make my own lemonade but it would contain so much sugar.

It has taken me 5 months to discover that squash/cordial is not a thing here. Soft drinks come in cartons like juice and the ones you find in bottles are usually iced tea or they already have the water added. Portugal sells a packet version (a small sachet) of powder which you mix with water to make up a litre of the soft drink but I have yet to find one that is sugar free. They also sell bottles of squash but it is more like a sticky syrup and it is so sweet and costs a lot (around €4 per bottle). It also does not last like a bottle of squash back home as you need to add 1 part squash to 4 parts water. I even asked my Facebook friends and a lot suggested fresh juice or adding various fruits, spices and herbs to water. I’m not against trying this but it’s not going to taste like a glass of squash. We have an orange tree but too much fresh OJ plays havoc with my IBS. I don’t mind trying the adding weird and wonderful things to the water option that was suggested to me e.g. fresh fruit, honey, cinnamon, lemon, ginger, rosemary etc. but I really dislike green tea, it tastes like camel piss and sweaty feet to me (ha ha).

You can buy most products here and it’s easy to source tea bags, baked beans, corn flakes, milk etc. Most supermarkets have a British aisle with inflated prices and I don’t mind buying a bottle of Robinsons orange squash for €4 if I could find a sugar free version but I can’t. There are various websites where you can buy British foods and have them delivered but delivery is a bit expensive, I only want a couple of items so I don’t want to rely on buying through these companies. The British aisles do make me laugh. They have some weird stuff that I wouldn’t want e.g. Fray Bentos tinned pie. It’s strange as whilst I’m sat in my garden enjoying the sunshine and views, not once have I craved a Fray Bentos pie (ha ha). You can buy baked beans here. The Heinz brand is very expensive but you can buy cheaper brands for around €1.

Here are some websites where you can buy British food and they will deliver to Portugal. There may be more but these are the ones I know of:

www.amazon.co.uk

www.britishcornershop.co.uk

Update: I placed an order from British Corner Shop on 2nd December 2020 and never received the package. I was pretty pissed off and they don’t seem to care. I would NOT order from this company ever again. Apparently I have to wait 1 month before I can request a refund. No British treats for me this Christmas!

www.britishstoreonline.com

https://www.britishonlinesupermarket.com/

www.poundshop.com

https://www.britishessentials.com/

I am very jealous of people living in the Algarve as they have an Iceland and Waitrose!!!!! Next time I am in the UK I will stock up on Squash mini sugar free which are those handy small bag sized squash drinks that you drop into water – maybe I can bring a suitcase full (ha ha). Imagine the situation at customs. It will be like when I took Canderel sweetener to Las Vegas. Security opened the tub and half disappeared. That’s my fault for taking across foods that look like cocaine!

I have also found it difficult to source Quorn mince (or a similar alternative) for chilli con carne. We have been asking the butcher to mince up the beef on their machine (they do look at us as if we are weirdos) and Lidl also sell minced beef in packets here but in the UK we used quorn mince as we ate 1 vegetarian meal per week and it was less fat so healthier. The vegetarian mince in the frozen section in Continente is very expensive and some of the vegetarian mince contains gluten too. I asked my Facebook Portugal friends and soya was recommended so we managed to buy packets in Continente at a very cheap price just over €1 per bag 500g. I think you need to soak it or cook it in the chilli juices but I am intrigued to see if it works and what it tastes like. Someone who lives in Central Portugal takes a cool box with them when visiting the Algarve and stocks up on Quorn mince then rations it (ha ha). Not for me, I need to be able to buy local and am happy to try alternatives and adapt. I could not find the British aisle in Continente Forum shopping mall, Coimbra but I did find a Brazilian aisle!

Now onto the Options hot choc drink – I cannot find this anywhere! You may be thinking with all the hot weather why would she want a hot chocolate drink. We do get a lot hot weather but we also have our fair share of cold winter nights and I miss an Options in front of the log fire. You will never guess what they use here! NESQUIK, I know I haven’t bought that since Josh (my favourite son) was about 8 years old, bloody Nesquik. I was going to ask Teanna (my favourite daughter) to post me a few from UK but I have realised that it now costs £10 to post a small parcel from UK to Portugal (up to 2kg) but only around €7 from Portugal to UK, so I won’t bother as I’m not that desperate for a hot choc drink, it’s just that when I get serious and start my diet properly, it’s a great 40 calorie drink that replaces the urge for chocolate and I just love the chocolate orange flavour one. 

I have just sourced a shop about a 30 min drive away which sells sugar free Robinsons squash. I think it’s around €3.99 but worth every cent! Amazon UK seems to be the best deal for Options hot choc. 100 individual sachets for £26.49 and £9.50 delivery which equals 35p per sachet. This is not bad as they are often X3 for £1 in the UK supermarkets so I placed the order and am eagerly awaiting delivery. It’s not the orange flavour just the Belgium choc flavour but still nice.

So that’s it for now. Who would have thought that I would miss squash, quorn mince and Options hot choc. Well that’s me, a basic girl at heart (ha ha). Enjoy your full English and your Yorkshire pud, I’m off for a pastel de nata. Oh and if you ever visit me here at Casa Valhal you are not allowed across the threshold unless you have a tub of Options hot choc or two (orange flavour) and a sugar free Robinsons squash and throw in a family size bar of Cadbury fruit and nut chocolate (solely for the protein content in the nuts of course) and we could become best friends for life!

Coke is very expensive here and not great for my health
This is what I need to stock up on when I visit the U.K
This is the squash they sell here
They also sell this packet/sachet powder you mix with water
Most drinks here are juices in cartons
Vegetarian mince is very expensive here and likely to contain gluten
You can buy canderel sweetener or a supermarkets own brand
I mananged to find Soya and it’s very cheap to buy

Quick Update – The Chilli Soya Recipe

It was very successful indeed. Apologies, I started eating it then realised I wanted to take a photo for my blog (ha ha). It tastes just like quorn and very cheap as 100g made enough for 4 portions. High in protein too and the beans (pulses) also have protein in so a very filling meal. A total result. As you can see I top it with cheese so not vegan unless you use vegan cheese. My point was not to eat a vegan meal but reduce my meat intake and saturated fat. I do need to abolish the cheese though as not healthy. Just had a little laugh as spell check wants to change quorn to quran!

Hot Chocolate Update

Look what arrived, I can’t contain my excitement!!!!! 100 Option Belgium choc drink sachets. My life is complete.

Sugar Free Squash

Look what I managed to buy at Hiper Feirã in Mortágua: Sugar free Robinsons squash and it only cost €2.59 and €2.95. I am a happy bunny! I slightly embarrassed myself whilst taking photos of the British aisle. A Portuguese man was trying to walk past whilst I was taking photos of the produce and I looked a bit of an idiot. Then I got some weird looks in the car park posing with bottles of squash. The things I do to get a photo for my blog (ha ha).

27th June 2020 Squash Update

Look what I found in Intermarche, Arganil today:


2022

Mince Pie Rant in January

If you follow my posts you will have read my mardy mince pie Christmas rant about not wanting or willing to pay a hefty €5.25 for a packet of 6 mince pies. It’s the principle just in case you think we are financially poor (ha ha). I’m also stubborn as a mule and once I commit to something there is no turning back. Today we had our 2nd visitors to our casa. I met up with a lovely Instagram friend who bought the gorgeous gift of mince pies, brandy butter and builders tea back from Elf Town in ireland. What a cool job! So today in February I am enjoying a delicious festive mince pie because I can and why not! I think hubby is on his third which got me thinking, I wonder what the world record is for eating the most mince pies in one sitting. Curiosity got the better of me: Competitive eater Sonya Thomas, from the US, set the record in 2006 by eating 46 mince pies in 10 minutes. WTF 46 mince pies holy moly. I don’t think I could ever be a speed eater, I like to saviour every mouthful. We are also enjoying some homemade vanilla custard with fresh eggs from my beautiful feathered ladies and today is a well deserved rest day from exercise. I have decided to weigh myself just once a month to make sure I’m still maintaining my goal weight and surprisingly I am actually a bit under so all is good in my battle to live a long healthy life, fight my perimenopausal flab and middle age spread. Every new friend is a new adventure and the start of more memories. So here’s to good friends, never above you, never below you, always beside you.

The Unbelievable 2022 Mince Pie Update

If you think Mince Pies were expensive in Christmas 2021 fast forward to 2022, €7.30 WTF! They can stick them where the sun doesn’t shine. My Irish friend pays 0.79 Cents for 6! Repeat after me. “I will not give into temptation”. I have given hubby strict instructions to boycott the British aisle forever. I nearly stole a packet, shoved them down my granny knickers and ran like the wind but I don’t want to be in a Portuguese prison over the holidays (ha ha).

Update (21st Jan 2023)

I LOVE a friendly food trade. Fresh eggs happily exchanged for British Mince Pies. You might remember my recent mardy ass menopausal lady rant about not wanting to pay a whopping €7.20 at the local village store for 6 British mince pies. I LOVE the simple pleasure of swapping food and harvests. If you have surplus then share the JOY. Do they taste different because it’s not Christmas? Hell No, they were absolutely delicious with banana and homemade vanilla custard made with fresh eggs from our gorgeous hens. Sharing is Caring. Mince pie after a day of DIY (with a picture perfect view).

The Crazy Ass Brit made Baked Beans

The crazy ass Brit made Baked Beans from scratch! British baked beans on Portuguese pão – When 2 cultures merge at the dining table (ha ha). I worked out that it cost me a mere €1.50 in total = €0.30 per can instead of shop price of a whopping €1.60! I have plenty leftover to freeze. Burgers, sweet potato fries and baked beans (all homemade), so yummy. I followed this simple recipe but used a whole bag of dried beans (500g) and adjusted the other ingredients accordingly which made the equivalent of X5 400g cans and they really do taste like Heinz and the best part is no artificial additives or preservatives.

https://www.recipetineats.com/homemade-baked-beans…/

Chant after me everyone: Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart, The more you eat them, The more you fart, The more you fart the better you feel, So eat your beans with every meal (ha ha).

OMG Gifts Galore

Hubby had to return to the U.K in 2022 for work purposes so I was left flying solo, it was utterly traumatic (ha ha). Look what he returned with, OMG he’s a keeper for sure. I have paxo stuffing and gravy so a christmas roast dinner is on the cards. I no longer have any chocolate left (ha ha).

Belated Easter egg from my gorgeous dad

2023 Update

I returned to my home town of Bristol, UK in March 2023 to celebrate my birthday week. I haven’t visited Bristol since we relocated to Portugal over 3 years ago. Here are some of the treats I purchased for hubby.

Hot Cross Buns & Dog Faced Crumpets

There were so many different choices of flavoured hot cross buns! I resisted buying the dog faced crumpets from Asda (ha ha).

Hot Cross Bun Therapy

Here we are enjoying our hot cross buns back in Portugal. Unfortunately they got squished in my suitcase so ended up as flat as my titties! (ha ha).

Graduation UK Trip

In July 2023 hubby and I returned to the UK for 10 days to celebrate my daughter’s graduation from Uni and my son’s 30th Birthday. We split our time between Bristol, Essex, London and Nottingham. I absolutely love M & S Food and miss it a lot. We enjoyed yummy Welsh cakes, scones and hot cross buns. We also miss the British traditional ice cream vans as this is not a thing here in Portugal. There is nothing like a Mr Whippy 99er (ice-cream with a flake) yummy, just don’t ask for a 69er! (ha ha). Finally we purchased the obligatory Duty Free airport Toblerone’s (ha ha). You can source these in Portugal but they are very expensive for a small one and these were gigantic.

More Gifts Galore

Hubby had to return to the UK in September 2023 for a last minute business meeting for work. This is my mini haul he purchased from London. The man did good (ha ha).