Lunch at Rancho Chico

Well, another cross-border shopping expedition resulted in my finding unsalted butter for $1.50/lb (I bought 4), eggs for $1.56/dozen, and 1lb Tillamook medium cheddar cheese for $4.86! Isn't that ridiculous? I feel so ripped off when I shop at home. Another trip to the States is planned for the first week of December, when we'll go overnight to Spokane, WA, and do some serious shopping with a grocery run in Colville on the way back.

As usual, we went to Rancho Chico for lunch! I was surprised it was open on a Sunday.

As usual, I had the Chicken Chimi. It's just so good!

My SIL had the Seafood Chimi, which is packed with scallops, shrimp, and REAL crab meat. I've had this several times and it's excellent!

My brother had the Macho Rancho Chilli Burrito. He said it was awesome!

Yum!

Cross Border Shopping & Lunch at Rancho Chico

Last week my dad and I went cross-border shopping to Colville, Washington, where there is a huge Wally World. Is Wally World the root of all evil? YES! Do I shop there anyway? YES - because I live on a very small budget, and the dollar was at almost 92 cents that day, so basically even with 10% added to the prices of the things I bought, I was getting a good deal. Here are some examples:

• 1 gallon milk (3.81L, so slightly smaller than the 4L jugs I buy at home): $2.34, which is about $2.60-ish CAD. The cheapest I can get milk for around here is $4.51/4L at Safeway, but usually I get it at the local overpriced grocery store (LOGS) for $4.99.
• eggs, 1 dozen: $1.32. For God's sake, the cheapest around here is $2.71/doz. at Safeway, but, again I usually wind up getting them at LOGS for $3.29.
• boneless, skinless chicken breasts: 5lbs for $15. There were 10 breasts in a package, so this works out to not only $3/lb but also $1.50 per breast. This is ridiculously cheap. I'm lucky if these go on sale around here for $4.99 - 6.99/lb, and even then, I don't usually buy them.
• whole roasting chicken: $0.98/lb. This is un-effing-believably cheap! Here, a good sale price on a piddly little fryer is $2.29/lb!
• ricotta cheese, 2lbs: $3.69. I pay maybe $4.99 minimum for half that amount here.

Not everything is cheaper, and you really have to know your prices in order to make this work out for you. Also, you do have to be aware of how much the limits are at the border. It's $20 for chicken, and about that for dairy products. And we've been dinged before, let me tell you. Apart from the limits, there is no duty on grocery items. If you go over your limit, at least on dairy, the duty is 300%. I stayed within my limits and I was fine.

Now, on to lunch. We always go to Rancho Chico because the food is great, the portions are huge, and the service is fast!

My dad had Arroz con Pollo - it was excellent. I've had it before and really enjoyed it.

I had the Chicken Chimichanga - which is what I usually get, because it's so good.

And for a sweet "dessert" they bring around these deep-fried tortilla thingies that have a simple syrup on them, as well as whipped cream and strawberry sauce - yum!

All in all, a great day out!

Saturday Laugh #5 and Lunch at Rancho Chico

On Thursday, I indulged in a brief cross-border shopping excursion. I scored in the clothing department with a $3 pair of denim capris, and I got over 3lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast for $9! $9! Again, the price of chicken in the States compared to what we pay up here in just insane. Anyway, as usual, we went to the Mexican restaurant Rancho Chico for lunch.

These are the Rancho Chico nachos from their dinner menu. Lots of cheese, as you can see.

I had the chicken chimichanga for lunch - excellent as usual.

Dessert - deep fried tortillas with sweet cinnamony syrup, whipped cream, and coulis - yum!