Cooking & Eating in Mexico

 

Making Eating & Meals Affordable

In order to save money and maximize your experience in Mexico, we allow mission teams to prepare some of their meals at the mission base, and then suggest they eat the Sunday evening dinner and the Monday-Thursday lunches at their specially chosen church where they’ll be serving for the week. Undoubtedly, food will play an important part of your mission trip experience so we provide a comprehensive plan that will allow your mission team to experience genuine, authentic Mexican food prepared by the ladies from the church you’ll be serving at and then allow you to prepare some of your meals at our mission base allowing your team to save money and enjoy a rich time of fellowship. Food prep is easy, and we have some great ideas below to make it extra easy, economical, and healthy.

 

We Provide Large, Furnished Kitchens & B-B-Q’s for Your Use on the Mission Base

Kitchens on the mission base will have all the pots and pans you’ll need. They will also have two refrigerators with freezers, two stoves, coffee pots, microwave, B-B-Q’s that use briquettes and other misc. items. If you plan on having special meals that are out of the ordinary, you might want to bring along some of your own utensils. We recommend bringing disposable paper plates, bowls, and cups for eating as this will save you a lot of time and work.  

 

Preparing some of your meals at the mission base will not only save you money, but we have discovered that too much Mexican Food during the week can cause many folks to get queasy stomachs toward the latter part of their trip causing them an uncomfortable time. So it’s good to have a place to eat some of your own food so you can stay healthy, happy, and have energy to serve while in Mexico.

 

Bringing Food to Mexico from the U.S.

Many mission teams choose to purchase their food in the states and then bring it with them to Mexico. They do this as food is a little less expensive in the States and the selection better. There is no problem whatsoever in bringing any food from the States into Mexico. However, some mission teams prefer to purchase their food locally here in Mexico to save time and the hassle of bringing it down with them. We have close-by stores (within about 3-5 miles from the mission base) that have safe food and a very good selection. Items like local fruit that are in season are definitely cheaper in Mexico and really tasty.

 

For those choosing to purchase their food (or the bulk of it in the states) a great option for grocery shopping in San Diego is Food 4 Less Grocery Stores. Here's a link to help you with directions to one that is on your way from San Diego to the border: 

http://local.yahoo.com/info-20774273-food-4-less-chula-vista?csz=San+Diego%2C+CA

 

If the above link fails to work (sometimes they change things a bit, just Google Food 4 Less stores in San Diego and choose the one located off Palomar St. It's located just off the I-5 freeway and is the easiest to get to on your way from San Diego to the border.

 

Food 4 Less

(619) 498-0327

660 Palomar St, Chula Vista, CA 91911

 

Another option that a few groups have used is to buy your groceries via Costco or Sam’s Club. You can place your order ahead of time, they'll gather everything together for you, and you just review your purchase and pick it up. You can do a Google search for these stores in the San Diego area if you'd like.

 

Here's a helpful hint: it's best to choose grocery stores located in Chula Vista, or National City, as they are located between San Diego and the border. They are easier to find and are located just off freeways I-5 and 805 (the two freeways that go from San Diego to the border).

 

Eating at Your Specially Chosen Church

We provide an option (highly recommended) of eating the Sunday evening meal and the noon meals at the church you will be serving at (Sunday - Thursday). They are tasty, authentic Mexican meals that will be prepared and served by the women of your specially chosen church. We will prep the church so that meals are traditional, healthy, and prepared with the utmost care in cleanliness. This also is a wonderful way to save time (you won't have to return back to the base between work time and VBS as sometimes you might be 20 or so minutes from the ministry base). It also saves money and lets you get to know the people and culture of Mexico better.  

 

A charge of $4.00 per person is the cost of this highly recommended option of eating some of your meals at your specially chosen church. This amount even provides enough food so the Mexicans serving with you can join you as well. It’s a popular hit for mission teams, and you will be hard pressed to buy and cook a meal for less than the recommended charge. It will be a highlight of your week and there's nothing that a Mexican treasures more than meals with friends.

More on Eating at Your Chosen Church  

 

Schedule of Meals

If you choose the option of eating at the church where you'll be serving at, the schedule would look like the following:

 

• Sunday Evening - Dinner

• Monday - Lunch

• Tuesday - Lunch

• Wednesday - Lunch

• Thursday - Lunch

 

Great Ideas for Meals Eaten at Go Missions to Mexico’s Mission Base

 

Breakfast Ideas

Many groups have each person bring their favorite box of cold cereal for the week in Mexico. Milk and fruit can be brought, or purchased here in Mexico. This provides a quick, healthy breakfast with little cost and work. We should also mention that most food will be cheaper in the U.S. than here in Mexico. Things like milk, bread and fruit can be purchased in Mexico if you like. Here's a link to a great shopping center for those flying in or wishing to purchase grocery items before crossing the border: Grocery Shopping in San Diego

 

Lunch Ideas

We provide the option (highly recommended) of eating the Sunday evening meal and the noon meals at the church you will be serving at (Sunday - Thursday). They are tasty meals that will be prepared and served by the women of the church. We prep the church so that meals are traditional, healthy, and prepared with the utmost care in cleanliness. This also is a wonderful way to save time (you won't have to return back to the base between work time and VBS as sometimes you might be 30 min. or more from the ministry base). It also saves money and lets you get to know the people and culture of Mexico. It’s a popular hit among all groups, and you will be hard pressed to buy and cook a meal for less than the recommended cost. It will be a highlight of your week, and there's nothing that a Mexican treasures more than meals with friends. A fee of $4.00 per person per meal is charged for this option. This amount also includes enough money so the Mexicans who are ministering with you can eat with you as well. For the five meals eaten at the church, it would be a total cost of $20.00 per person.

 

Once again, if you choose the option of eating at the church where you'll be serving at, the schedule would look like the following:

 

• Sunday Evening - Dinner

• Monday - Lunch

• Tuesday - Lunch

• Wednesday - Lunch

• Thursday - Lunch

 

Dinner Ideas

Here are some dinner menu ideas that many groups use and make cooking a cinch!

 

• Hamburgers (we have BBQ grills for your use)

• Hot dogs

• Precooked Lasagna from Costco or similar

• Sloppy Joes

• Spaghetti

• Chili

• Irish Potatoes

• Meatball Sandwiches

• Tacos

• Burritos

• Submarine Sandwiches

 

Also, some mission teams like to eat out at some local taco stands (we know the best ones). Fish Tacos and Carne Asada tacos are among the most popular. Each cost about one dollar per taco.

 

In addition to the above dinner options, more meals can be arranged to be eaten at your specially chosen church if you’d like. Cost is $4.00 per person per meal (the same as with the lunch option). Just one word of advice though for this option, eating a lot of authentic Mexican food catches up with most people so you might want to think carefully about choosing this option.