My husband and I usually go to the store once every 2-3 weeks. This varies if we realized we didn't buy enough food, or ran out of something, or bought too much food. We usually shop at Sprouts because they have a good selection of the dry, packaged, and frozen goods I like to buy, as well as a pretty decent selection of seasonal organic produce.
I do make a grocery list but it's often fairly loose. It's more of a reminder of "Things I am out of that I must buy more of," than a list of everything we intend to buy. I don't always list produce (unless I know I'll need something for a specific recipe) because I like to just look and see what's available and go from there.
There are a few things I like to keep stocked on hand at all times because they're a key ingredient in many of my meals. I always replace these when they run out. These are:
Bakery Items
- Whole wheat bread (I usually buy 9-grain)
- Cracked wheat sourdough baguette
- Brown rice pasta
- Corn tortillas
- Whole wheat pita bread (I use this as pizza crust a lot)
Fresh Produce
- Potatoes (yukon golds and russets always, sometimes baby red potatoes and sweet potatoes)
- Sweet yellow onions
- Garlic (I like to have 2-3 heads at a time as I use a lot of garlic in my cooking)
- Green onions
- Tomatoes
- Avocados
- Pre-washed mixed greens (usually a baby spinach, kale, and chard mix)
- Zucchini (this is my favorite vegetable so I always keep some on hand)
- Some kind of fruit, usually bananas, mangoes, apples, and berries (I'm not a big fruit eater but my husband likes these for snacks, breakfast, or smoothies)
Frozen Produce
- Frozen broccoli
- Frozen cauliflower
- Frozen brussels sprouts
- Frozen stir-fry veggies
- Frozen mixed berries (great for smoothies)
Non-Dairy Items
- Unsweetened almond milk (I use this in place of regular milk in most cases)
- Unsweetened soy milk (my husband prefers this, and I like it in coffee)
- Earth Balance sticks (I try not to use this often, but like to have some on hand for when I do need "butter")
Dry Packaged Items
- Bob's Red Mill Potato Flakes (I love instant mashed potatoes for breakfast, and this is the only brand I've found that has nothing but dehydrated potatoes in it)
- Whole wheat flour
- Whole wheat breadcrumbs
Breakfast Items
- Kind Cinnamon Oat Granola (for the rare times I want a sweet snack)
- Shredded Wheat
Spices & Baking
- Garlic powder
- Garlic pepper
- Ground black pepper
- Paprika
- Basil
- Onion powder
- Nutritional yeast
- Vegetable stock
Condiments
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Apple cider vinegar
- White vinegar
- Balsamic vinegar
- Rice vinegar
- Yellow mustard
- Almond butter
- Lemon juice
- Lime juice
- Tomato paste
- BBQ sauce
Canned/Jarred Items
- Beans (black, chickpeas, butter, kidney, and great northern)
- Green olives
- Artichoke hearts
- Diced tomatoes
- Dill pickles
Frozen Meals (I don't eat these often but like to keep a few on hand just in case)
- Gardein Crispy Fingers
- Amy's Dairy-Free Vegetable Pot Pies
- Gardenburgers (Black Bean Chipotle & Veggie Medley)
Snacks
- One bag of Kettle Crinkle Cut Salt & Vinegar chips (my special occasional treat)
- Larabars (to keep in my purse/car for emergencies)
- One bar Endangered Species dark chocolate (I go through this so slowly because I only eat like one square of chocolate a week, if that, since I don't have much of a sweet tooth)
Tea/Coffee
- Celestial Seasonings Morning Thunder
- Some kind of Roobios
- Some kind of jasmine green tea
- Some kind of chai
- Kona coffee
And I'm not going to list all the boring things like paper towels and toothpaste because this blog is about food. ;) So yeah, the above is stuff I like to have on hand at all times, but if I'm planning on cooking specific things for the week (or just want to try a random ingredient that looks good) I grab additional stuff like other veggies/fruit, different beans, other spices, etc. That probably seems like a long list, but keep in mind I don't buy all of those things every week. Many of those items last months or even over a year (such as the spices and condiments) while others I usually have to buy every few weeks (such as the fresh produce).
And for fun, here's a bonus bare-minimum list! If you found the above list far too lengthy and intimidating, you will like this one. Last week, my husband and I were on our honeymoon in Hawaii. We were staying in a condo with a full kitchen, and wanted to avoid having to eat out for every single meal (because that's expensive and unhealthy). Since we were only going to be there for a week, and weren't going to cook every night, we needed a very very small amount of basic food items to just get by on. This is what we came up with:
- Three yukon gold potatoes
- One zucchini
- One onion
- One bag mixed greens
- One head garlic
- One can of chickpeas
- One can of diced tomatoes
- One can of artichoke hearts
- Two large avocados
- One package of corn tortillas
- A tiny bottle of vinegar
- Lime juice
- Paprika
- Pepper
- Garlic powder
My husband also bought some shrimp, salmon, and fruit for his meals. We ate meals at home about half the time and actually had a lot of the above ingredients left over at the end of the week. I made tomato sauce on the first day with the canned tomatoes, some garlic, spices, and vinegar, and used that on a lot of my meals. Most of my meals consisted of some arrangement of the above ingredients on a toasted or warmed tortilla, for example: chickpeas, avocado, onion, mixed greens, and a little lime in a tortilla. Breakfast was usually an oven-roasted, vinegar-drizzled paprika-seasoned potato with some of the homemade tomato sauce on top. So as you can see, when you need to simplify, it's totally possible to get by with just a few staple items: some kind of carb, some kind of protein, some veggies, and a few simple things for flavor!
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