July 22- Shopping for rations

No, really, the title to this entry isn't a clever joke. We really are on rations here! Can you believe that?

Since everything has to be imported by the Army, and the black market is so rampant here, military families are put on ration control when shopping at the commissary or PX. What that means for us, is, we're limited in the dollar amount we may spend on food each month, based on family size. We're also limited in the dollar amount we're aloud to spend on certain items that are valuable on the black market. There are things like perfume, and makeup that you're only allowed to buy $50 worth each month. Probably not that big of a deal. You can only buy 3 fifths of liquor per month. Again, probably not a big deal. If you go over your allotted spending amount, you're red flagged, and can't spend any more.

I've been grocery shopping at the commissary twice now. The commissary at our base, Camp Carrol, is small, and really only good for picking up necessities that you run out of during the week. We've been driving over to Camp Walker to do our major grocery shopping. We have one cart with just babies in their car seats in it, and one cart for food. We can't bring their stroller, because we have to have room in the trunk for our groceries we buy! Boy, I really miss our SUV's during those times.

So, we can find most of the things we need at the commissary. It may not be the brand you like, but you can generally find what you really need. I'm having a little bit of a hard time adjusting to this- I don't care if I am a "brand snob." And the commissary is definitely no Whole Foods. Heck, it's not even a Publix! Baby items are harder to find. There isn't a huge selection. They may only have one brand of diapers, and they're probably made of cardboard! Luckily, the babies' Grandmother sent them a huge box full of goodies for them last week, so we are stocked up right now! I'm starting to really appreciate the luxuries we have in the states that we really take for granted. I now understand why when people come to the US from other countries they're so blown away by our grocery stores, with their shelves stocked full of food.

Other funny little things about shopping at the commissary....

There is absolutely NO fresh poultry, of course.

The beef says "property of the US Government" on the absorbent pad in the bottom. Shudder. Not exactly something you want to see when making yourself a hamburger.

The milk doesn't expire for like a month and a half. How is that even possible? I don't think I want to know!

The eggs have absolutely no expiration date printed on them. Again, I don't want to know.

And lastly, last week I was so excited to find Toaster Strudels in the frozen aisle! Real Toaster Strudels! So of course I bought them. Well, the other morning as I was waiting for my yummy toaster strudel to pop up from the toaster, I started looking at the box. Advertised on it was "Win Tickets to see The Chronicles of Narnia." Didn't that movie come out over a year ago? Does anyone know what the shelf life is on Toaster Strudels? Again, perhaps a little disturbing.