I think we all have our grocery shopping staple items – Those things that are always in our shopping cart when we go to the grocery store.
Here are my go-to items. The things that I never leave the store without.
My Grocery Shopping List
Avocado
Avocados are my favorite superfood. I have it just about every day. I make the same breakfast for Aaron and I almost every morning – egg, cheese and half an avocado on whole grain toast. Since my daughter recently started eating solid foods, avocado has become one of her favorites too.
The oils of avocado are so good for your skin, and your health.
Dark Leafy Greens
My go-to dark leafy greens are kale, broccoli rabe, spinach (always organic because it’s one of the most pesticide contaminated foods), arugula, and red romaine lettuce.
With kale, I usually make kale chips. They’re so easy and quick to make. Just wash the kale, tear the leaves from the stem and into large bit size pieces. Lay the leaves on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sea salt. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes or until it gets crispy and the edges are golden.
When I buy broccoli rabe, I always steam it in a pressure cooker with a few cloves of chopped up garlic. Once fully steamed, I toss with olive oil and sea salt. It’s so good.
Spinach and arugula I often use as toppings on homemade pizza. I load the pizza right up with a mound of the greens because they practically cook down to nothing. I also use spinach in my favorite green smoothie recipe.
Red romaine lettuce has lots of uses. I use it on tacos, burgers, in buffalo chicken salad wraps (my fav), and of course salads and sandwiches.
Bananas
I’m addicted to this peanut butter banana smoothie.
Asparagus
Asparagus is SO good for you. I usually make it once or twice a week with dinner. I wash it, cut the ends of the stems off, lay it out on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, sea salt, and spritz with lemon. Then bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness. Once it’s out of the oven I give it another spritz of lemon.
Lemon
Lemon is a must in our house. I start every day off with a tall glass of water with lemon. It’s the first part of my morning routine.
Garlic
I try to use garlic as often as possible because it’s so healthy, especially during cold and flu season. I most often use it with broccoli rabe, or on top of homemade pizzas.
Organic Bell Peppers
I get organic because bell peppers are on the dirty dozen list, meaning they’re one of the foods most contaminated by pesticides.
Bell peppers, especially the red ones, are an excellent source of vitamin c.
I often make mexican stuffed peppers, stuffing them with quinoa or brown rice, black beans, grass fed ground beef, tomato sauce, hot sauce, and once fully cooked, top off with cheddar cheese and diced avocado. When I don’t use them for stuffed peppers, I’ll either slice them up for a homemade pizza topping, roast them in the oven with olive oil and sea salt, or eat them raw with dip.
Certified Humane Free Range Eggs
My breakfast about ninety percent of mornings is an egg sandwich with avocado.
I’ve become very picky about the eggs I buy. There are so many different labels on egg cartons today: free range, cage free, pasture raised, humane, vegetarian fed, natural, organic, no added hormones… you get the gist. It can certainly be confusing to understand what the best options are. Some of the terms mean absolutely nothing and are just placed on the label for marketing. I’ll probably write an entire blog post on the subject, because there’s a lot to it.
I choose certified humane free range eggs. Not only is it better for the chickens, but the eggs are way healthier too. I love Vital Farms Pasture Raised Eggs, Pete and Gerry’s Organic Eggs, and Nellie’s Free Range Eggs. I also like to buy from local farms with pastured chickens – that is, the chickens are free to roam and peck for food like nature intended.
**Update: As of 2022, I no longer buy eggs because we have our own backyard chickens that supply us with them daily.
Grass Fed Beef
I love tacos, and make ground beef tacos usually once a week. If I don’t, I’ll do burgers or mexican stuffed peppers with the meat instead.
Grass fed beef means that the cows were allowed to graze and forage for their own fresh food, rather than being fed grain in a confined barn. This benefits the cows, and the meat – making it healthier (richer in omega 3s from the grass diet) and tastier too.
Organic Chicken
Because it can be used for so many dinner dishes, I pick up organic chicken breasts, tenders, or thighs – whatever is on sale, and choose what to cook from there.
I always choose organic chicken [when I buy from the grocery store] for a few reasons: 1) I HATE supporting factory farms. It’s seriously sick the way that conventional chicken (or any conventional meat animal) are raised… if you’ve seen the Food Inc. documentary, you know what I mean. Organic chicken farmers tend to (not always, but usually) hold much higher ethical standards. In the food industry, we vote with our dollars, and I want to vote for the farmer’s who are humanly raising their animals. 2) I do not want to be eating the meat of an animal that regularly consumed antibiotics.
I do like to buy from local farms, because I can see the conditions that the animals live in. When I do this, “organic” on the label usually isn’t an option, but I can see the the chickens are free range, pasture raised, and the farmer’s guarantee no antibiotics or hormones used.
Food Babe Vani Hari has a good article How To Choose The Healthiest Chicken For You and Your Family.
Organic Yogurt
I love yogurt in my smoothies, so I always have it on hand. It’s a great source of probiotics. My favorite brand is Stonyfield Organic.
Almond Milk
Another addition to all of my smoothies. I use it for anything that I previously used to use dairy milk for.
Nut Butter
Again, the peanut butter banana smoothie. I literally have it almost daily. Also, these peanut butter banana overnight oats are delicious. Aaron also just eats it by the spoonful, so it goes quick in our house.
Sourdough or Whole Grain Bread
For my morning egg sandwiches and PB&Js with the kiddos. Sourdough is my current favorite for everything sandwich related, but I also love Dave’s Killer Bread.
Dark Chocolate
True dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants, and it’s so satisfying for cravings.
There are certainly times when I go to the store and buy much more than this, but these are the given items that I always put in my cart, no matter the season.
In the summer months, I tend to buy a lot of fruit. I crave it in the summer and add things like strawberries (always organic strawberries because they top the dirty dozen list), blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, pineapple, and watermelon to my cart. Gotta love a summer-time fruit salad!