Eating, Without Breaking the Bank

As you could imagine, eating out while travelling for 3 or 4 months would start adding up fast. So, often the places that we choose to stay in have breakfasts that are included or have kitchens that we can use. I usually ask if there is a grocery store nearby when booking. Bringing Italian Spices with me from home always works. It can be used to add taste to anything!

Portuguese food is really tasty though, and not terribly expensive, so we have been eating out at least once a week, sometimes twice. Every day, we get a pastry that we share from the local bakery. These bakeries are everywhere and the pastries are good.

But back to how we deal with food, and not break the bank. Breakfasts are simple. We buy a few items that we carry with us. We may go out for a hearty shared lunch and then we have a simple dinner at our accommodation. The go to grocery store here is Pingo Doce but every street has its own little vegetable and fruit store too.

So what might go on our shopping list or a week? The following is one big bag of food and gives me options for all sorts of meals.

Local cheeses (Azores), and Parmesan, Gouda and cream cheese
Milk, butter, eggs, yogurt
Cereals like Special K, Cornflakes or granola
Sliced meats (salami, ham, prosciutto and any local meat)
Canned tuna
Pasta (a very good jarred sauce here is Barilla’s Marinera)
Coffee (Delta ground or Buondi pods) and a variety of teas
Mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. Sometimes hot sauce (piripiri here)
Peanut butter
Lettuce, tomato, onion, red pepper, carrots, lemon, avocado
Apples, oranges, grapes
Cereal
Knorr Chicken soup mix for a base + tomato pieces
Nuts, dried fruit (apricots, dates, figs)
An oil and vinegar salad dressing in a bottle.
Olives
Bread, tortillas, crackers or baguettes
Wine, and sometimes Baileys for our coffee.

Here we can buy pre-cooked BBQ whole chicken, chorizo and spare ribs, so we are set with dinners and leftovers for sandwiches.

We also go into the local Chinese store and pick up some containers to store things in. Eggs are hard-boiled so easy to eat for breakfast, a snack or on the road.Read more