My trip to america is in two weeks and im really excited about it!!! we're going to do loads of fun stuff and see my sister and her house and cats and all sorts, yay!
BUT the main reason I'm excited is because i absolutely love going to supermarkets in america, i think its the most fun in the world! seriously, i know im weird but its the novelty value.
So i want to bring a good few things home with me, diety food things.
what does everyone recommend? Sweet things or snack-foods are what im mainly looking for, but low point, and things that i wont get arrested for going through customs with!
Like these fibre-one bars ive heard so much about for example; are they worth buying and bringing home?
I am not sure what you get in Dublin, but I love Marathon Snickers bars. The one that I like is only two points on WW. I also love the low carb Snickers energy bars. Do you get Kashi cereal in Dublin? Anything by Kashi is great for dieting.
As far as junk food that I love to eat on WW, I love the Pirates Booty sharp cheddar swords. If you see that, you gotta give it a try. There are also Lay's potato chips that are like 1.5 points a serving. They are fat free and taste divine -- just like regular chips. They are made with Olestra. I had a friend come here from the Netherlands, and she loved Jellie Bellies. They are jelly beans, and there are so many flavors -- buttered popcorn, pear, margarita, root beer, lime, cherry, blue rasberry. Tons. I am not sure what the nutritional facts on those are, but she loved them!
Good luck with your smuggling, and I hope you enjoy your trip here.
im american living in england and i can tell you some things i miss that i wish i could buy here.. one is Crystal light.. i think its about 5 cals per glass, and comes in a multitude of flavors.. from tea to lemonaid.. its also really light packaging wise.. comes in a tube with lil cups of powder in em.. so wont take up much room in suitcase. also, low fat/cal jello brand pudding.. isnt like the puddings over here, more similar to your mouse.. comes in chocolate, butterscotch, etc... lil box of powder once again you add skim milk to, so light to bring back..there are a million sugar free candies( sweets) in the states as well.. from chocolate bars to hard candies. our diet jello ( your jelly) comes in many more flavors than you can get here as well, so you might check that out.. its jello brand.. we also have rice cake snacks that come again in a load of flavors and i think taste pretty good.. again, they are light to bring back..
when i go to the states to visit family, i always bring one suitcase with my clothes in it, and also bring an empty one that i can fill up with STUFF lol... good luck to you and i completely understand what you mean about loving to shop in american grocery stores.. i miss it.. so much more selection.. have a ball hun
Fiber One Bars are worth it (and they're the first thing that came to my mind). Buy a box to try out at your sister's if you want to make sure you like them... but both the original chocolate variety & the caramel ones... I think I could eat a box a day if it weren't for the consequences.
Oh my goodness Fiber One bars taste great! But they give me terrible gas... Even just one a day is too much for my poor insides.
I'm addicted to Odwalla Bars, which are 4pts each generally so they make a good snack for me. Other than that I'm not too into the diet-y food so much, but others have tons of suggestions for you! I hope you have a great time on your trip!!
Thats such a good idea! id ask my sis to do it otherwise but shes always in work when the post office is open. are you allowed just walk into any post office and do that? probably a silly question, but my sister always has to fill in a form when she sends us stuff so i though maybe you had to be a u.s resident?
Thanks a million for all the tips! Mamaspank, we have kashi here but only the muesli, ill definitely have a look out for other types! ive heard a lot of good things about crystal light so i think that'll be having a place in my suitcase as well! and pudding sounds yummy too!
one thing i would really like to bring back is ranch dressing, you cant get it at all over here but i know you can get packets of it that you make up with milk at home. how is that for points generally? because its just amazing...
Crystal Light is a definite. Do you have Pretzel Crisps there? They are made by the New York Bagel Company. They are like a pretzel with no insides. So, they are flat and very crisp. They are DELICIOUS, and at only 10 calories per crisp (the plain kind), very diet friendly.
I second those Fiber One bars. They make my mouth water just thinking about them.
I wouldn't think you'd have a problem getting food through customs as long as it's prepackaged. They are more concerned with fresh foods that could bring non-native insects and such into the country.
Perhaps you should ask someone at the airport before you leave Ireland? US customs won't have a problem with you taking stuff, it's customs in your own country that may cause difficulty.
I'm from canada and I always bring food back with me when I go to the states. I love all the lean cuisine that you have, so I always smuggle those home. I also buy the frozen turkey breasts (the kind you roast) when I'm at costco in the states (we don't have 'em here and even if we did the cost per pound is soooo much better in the states!)
It's funny though, b/c when my american friends come up to canada to visit they always want to bring back chips and chocolate bars (candy bars to you americans); I guess we have a several kinds of candy bars and chip flavours that aren't available in the states.
Funny story about customs - I was in Jamaica in May, and my bestfriend (who's Canadian) was living there with her fiance, so I always went down to visit (mostly because Jamaica is BY FAR the most beautiful place on earth) So it worked out well for me lol... anyway, back to the topic, My last night in Jamaica in May I went to a huge reggae concert, with my bestfriend and a whole bunch of Jamaican guys, they all gave me and my friend the weed to hold on our purses because they said we wouldn't get checked at the doors because we're "forgieners". So I was like ok whatever dude. At the end of the night, I gave them all their bags of weed back from my purse. Anywho, So I fly back into Canada the next day, everything went well with customs (which is unusual for me - I normally get my luggage check), I leave the airport, get in my car, and I'm going through my purse trying to find my 'Park N Fly' coupon... Don't you know, I find a giant bag of weed stuck in one of the pockets in my purse! I was like - HOLY SH!T!!!!. Thank GOD that was the ONE time customs didn't search me! I definitley would have gone to PRISON. I wouldn't want drug smuggler on my record, and I don't even smoke weed. Hahaha. I really don't understand how I got away with that.....
So I really wouldn't worry about bringing food back with you...
I bring snacks to Jamaica all the time!
Irish - sounds like an awesome trip! Where, specifically, are you visiting?
If there is a Trader Joe's nearby, they have lots of awesome items you could bring back. Ask your sis if she has a TJs. Also, what about Quaker Mini Rice Cakes? I like the cheddar cheese.
What can I smuggle through customs?
