No Manwich, grits or cornbread???

Am I dumb? I don't even know what a Manwich is.....

A manwich is a sandwich ...made for a man!!

"A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal."

Pancakes - I've seen Betty Crocker mix (both for UK style and US style pancakes) in Morrison's and Asda in the last week.

Sausages - try farm shops - can get some excellent ones...alternatively the "luxury" supermarket brand ones are good.

My fiancee thought the supermarkets were fine, interested by the different items and what can be used as replacements for things.

It's all part of living elsewhere though, of course there will be things you'll miss but don't expect to have everything the same and don't get too hung up on it

A manwich is a sandwich ...made for a man!!

"A sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal."

Ok it is official. I have been gone far too long now!

Thank you all for your suggestions....it's really nice to know it wasn't just me being a fool. DF clocked my growing frustration in the store and did all that he could to make the remainder of the grocery gathering quick. What we didn't get then, he went back and got the next day. He's a wonderful man, and probably knows better then me how frustrating things will be for me at times. I try not to let it get to me, but sometimes that's easier said then done. I did this grocery shopping trip after spending two days meeting his family members one at a time, which was stressful enough in itself.

I will do the walk through maybe one night next week. He says he's making me drive on this trip, which I dread...but it would be good for things like that when he doesn't feel up to going out. Driving here...ugh................that one really really really scares the heck out of me, but that's another post 

I've never made Manwich (sloppy joes) from scratch...I'll see if I can find a recipe out there somewhere.

I saw some chicken pies in the freezer section, but they didn't look or sound anything like ours...could have been that I didn't look properly due to my frustration...probably so.

One last thing...I didn't honestly take the time to look...do they sell Miracle Whip here? I asked DF and he said he'd never heard of it and didn't think so...

I wasn't sure what food products you could bring into the country with you. I will definitely bring a stockpile of Jiffy/Bisquick when I come here next. Can you bring coffee too? DF had a suprise for me when I got here...he went and got me a proper coffee pot    what a doll.

A Manwich, besides being the Yorkiebar of sandwiches, is a brand name for a sloppy joe mix.

A Manwich, besides being the Yorkiebar of sandwiches, is a brand name for a sloppy joe mix.

ah ha! That I do know. I spent much of my young life in the Ozarks so that probably explains that 

You can get Bisquick here.

To be honest, I bought half a dozen UK cookbooks, some UK measuring scales and just got stuck in! I threw away a heck of alot of ruined food but I eventually got there.

Great advice! Pick up a few basic UK cookbooks and scales and go to it! I think part of the fun of embracing a new culture is trying new things, so start experimenting and coming here for advice or tips! I can understand wanting comfort foods, but most if not all of them can be homemade - you don't need to give up if you can't find them packaged. Homemade cornbread is way better anyway! 

Oh, and I agree with StellaMarie - streaky bacon isn't really different in my mind to US bacon....

And PLEASE stay out of Tesco on weekends - that's the closest thing to hell I can think of. In fact I'd be inclined to say stay out of Tesco full stop, but I know that's not always possible thanks to their monopoly....

Coffee and Bisquick are no problem to find.

In general you can bring over dry goods with no problems. It's fresh fruit and meat products that tend to be problems. Might want to have a look at HM Customs if you are unsure.

I found this site:

http://www.foodsubs.com/

to be a lot of help with finding out how to translate things from one country to the next, Michigal.  I am not sure about Miracle Whip, but I know that they sell "salad cream" which tastes sort of like it, or could be mixed with mayo to make it more Miracle Whip-like.

There's a whole thread here somewhere about Miracle Whip. Apparently it is available, just not widely.

I import my own coffee, but I'm a coffee snob. 

Can we not be judgemental in this thread? We've all been there in culture shock of some sort or another, let's give each other some slack. That's the whole thing about culture shock, you don't expect it!

No, we shouldn't be judgmental.  But it should go both ways.

Sausages here are filled with a lot of bread and not as flavorful as you'd be used to. Lidl is good for European sausages which are a little more flavorful.

I find the sausages I get from my butcher to be very flavourful.

Michigal - you get used to it.  The *only* wobble in my entire move/adaptation to the UK was not being able to find yellow rice, tinned Cuban-style black beans and catfish on my first real shop once I'd moved.  I stopped, looked at all the food I was surrounded by and got over it.  So much so that I now find I have a very difficult time shopping in the US grocery store I spent 20 years shopping in before I moved to the UK!

Yes you can bring coffee....DF brought me some Wawa coffee this last trip.
She took back a jar of Tomato Chutney as she had some with a Ploughman's Lunch and loved it and said she'd not found that there.

She particularly loved our local market, the lamb (said you don't have it much in the US), the various cheeses.

Yep, I LOVE the sausages here! As someone else said, get them from the high-end supermarket range (we like cumberlands) or from a good butcher.

I also now pretty much prefer UK bacon.

That said, Peedal - did you have to mention the catfish???!!! I miss that, too!

I do agree, the high-end range of sausages are nice, but if you are looking a Farmer John type sausage, your best bet are the European style ones (imo). And Lidl has a good range of European sausages you won't usually find in mainstream grocers. Having said that, the main grocery down here (Dunnes, which I think is only in Ireland) sells this German brand of sausages and they are lovely! Almost like home.