Food Shopping: How Do You Do It?

1. Bagged salads. “Wash them”
2. Canned clear soups “Off brands are cheap too”
3. Apples
4. Yogurt
5. Powdered milk so “Great in a blender and more comes in a pack so your not always rushing to buy milk”
6. Frozen dinners “These are even organic”
7. Frozen veggies “Frozen vegetables” can have more vitamins than fresh depending where the fresh was shipped
8. Light bread “If you have good freezer bags you can freeze them for a couple of weeks”
9. Canned beans are great in salads and soups.
10. Quick oatmeal.

I shop at Aldi for most of my food. I don't know how many stores there are nationwide, but here in Wisconsin they are everywhere. They only carry generic brands and have a somewhat limited selection but most of their food is about 1/2 or even less than 1/2 of what you'd pay at a supermarket. I buy things like: rolled oats, tea, coffee, milk, eggs, frozen veggies and fruit, skinless boneless frozen chicken breasts, celery, broccoli, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, mustard, ketchup, tuna, etc. here. At the regular grocery store, I buy things that are more specialized or harder to find...specific types of apples, jicama, soda, etc. I usually try to go once a week.

I buy most of our tomatoes fresh. I just don't like canned tomatoes - but, it takes a special store different times of the year to get good tomatoes. Fortunately, most stores around here carry organic hot house tomatoes, and you can usually get them still on the vine.

But, I cheat on the rest of the vegetables. You can get pre-chopped onions and peppers, broccoli, etc., all fresh frozen, which cook up wonderfully. It saves me so much in prep time that I can't see buying fresh unless it's truly exotic (like purple cauliflower! yum!)

And, I buy my meat in bulk and freeze it and usually buy frozen tuna or salmon.

-Danielle

I love grocery stores. I don't know why, but I love them. Especially Whole Foods, but I don't have one near me, which is very sad. I love their salad bar and their frozen fruit and frozen Indian dinners.
Otherwise I go (or the roommate goes) about once a week to the regular grocery store. My list usually involves the following:
milk (skim)
sugar free Red Bull (If I have a paper due)
coffee
rice crispies or cheerios
eggs
whole wheat bread
whole wheat tortillas
salsa
organic frozen potato wedge things (very good)
fruit, mostly oranges and apples and bananas, but berries when I feel like splurging
veggies like asparagus, mushrooms, cucumbers, and that bagged spinach salad stuff
some of those baked lays or low fat chips, because they're good and better for you than regular chips
soups/rice/tuna/other things that are not quite so healthy but are cheap and fast (and better for you than fast food).

I go to the local meat market and buy their "freezer bundle" once every couple of months for the household's carnivores -- all different kinds of meat for an average of $2.50 a pound, and all cut there in his trustworthy shop. I go to the farmer's market every week for produce (what we don't grow ourselves) and fresh bread. Then I stock up on grains, nuts, dried fruit, and such at the co-op. We have a grist mill nearby, and I stock up there on cereals and flours and keep them in the freezer. I buy tea and coffee at church (lots of people do this where I live -- churches have fair trade organics). An occasional stop at the groecery for milk, and I'm set. These aere not necessarily the absolute cheapest choices, but I spend less than most ebcause I don't buy much processed food.

Weekly shopping looks like this:
Vegies - several packets of frozen veg (usually whatever is cheapest - mixes are great if you're making your own soups), some fresh fruit

stock cubes or stock liquid - v handy when making clear soups with froz veg and lean meat

milk - I buy organic unhomogonised

flat bread for wraps

salad stuff

tinned tuna and salmon - to go with salad and flat bread to make wraps

low fat yoghurt

low fat protein sources - mainly fish, chicken or turkey but also some lamb or beef, some tofu

About once a month i buy pasta, rice, or rice noodles - and that lasts me the month...

I also have oats for breakfast or weet-bix.

Snacky things like rice crackers, walnuts, and dried fruit

i'd head down to my local health supermarket and stock anything that comes canned or frozen or packaged, that is minorly processed. So I have some stock of every kind of grain, every kind of canned fish or veg, frozen veg. Most people have covered this.

One of the things I'd really recommend seeking out if you want to eat healthy is really, really good quality cocoa powder. The stuff I have is 23% fat, but only 0.3 percent saturated. Apart from being a good source of good fats in the morning to keep me sated, it gives an extra iron boost to my diet.
Normally, I'll choose a plain wholewheat cereal with very little added anything (I love weetbix) and I'll add some of this wonderfully dark cocoa powder to some hot hi-cal milk and sweeten with aspartame, and then either pour over cereal or dunk the bix. Yummy, super healthy low-gi breakfast, that satisfies any chocolate cravings for the day. (Obviously, if you're one of those people who react badly to aspartame, this doesn't work. As for cancer, the research seems pretty unsupportive, and I'm happier to avoid sugar but still get a sweet taste.)

I basically buy fresh and go to the supermarket after work every couple of days.

That way I don't have to freeze meat, and I get very fresh veggies and fruit!

I go to the local butcher for meats - I prefer to get my ground beef made fresh from sirloin. I make a huge pot of chili once a month and freeze it in portions - this is perfect for days when i'm in the mood for something quick and healthy.
Usually I stock up on chicken breasts as well, and grill them all at once and freeze them for quick additions to salad or wrap.
Also, I keep my whole wheat bread in the freezer, since I only eat a few slices a week.
Monthly I make a couple of pizzaa with whole wheat flour and low fat cheese and freeze them sliced for easy snacks. My husband doesn't know the difference between the regular and whole wheat flour.

The supermarket weekly shopping list looks like this:
Diet Yogurts
Whole Wheat Multi Grain Crackers
Light Cream Cheese
Skim Milk
Fresh Veggies: Cucumbers, peppers, celery, broccoli, avacado
Fruit: Peaches, Bananas, Melon, Grapes
Parmesan cheese (I think I eat too much - I put it on everything.
Eggs
Low Fat Cheese Sticks
V8 Juice
Smoked Salmon
2 Salads in a bag (whoever came up with this is a genious)
Chicken or Turkey Breasts
Turkey Bacon

Monthly I purchase:
Whole wheat flour
Whole wheat noodles (I only eat once a week)
Whole wheat bread (one loaf lasts an entire month)
Brown Rice - Also eaten once a week
4 pounds Ground Sirloin (for the chili)
Cans of red kidney beans
Cans of tomato paste
Chicken for soup stock (I make my own since the packaged stuff has too many additives)
Veggies for soup stock
Peanuts (afternoon snacks)
Natural Peanut Butter

I think the best way to stay healthy and on a good eating plan is to be prepared. When I start to run out of snack ideas I get nervous and just run to the store again.

I rote a post a few weeks back about this on my blog about the troubles I have with trying to shop for healthy frozen food:

I used to shop for a lot of fresh produce (carrots, broc, calif, string beans) but have recently started to buy frozen instead. Seemed like I was throwing a lot of food away because it would go bad before I could eat it.

I've also gone to buying frozen strawberries for my morning smoothies and only buying fresh bananas ever few days or so.

For salad, I combine fresh romaine, bagged salad mini greens, some fresh cabbage and some pre-package matchstick carrots. I use the "Fit" produce washing spray to make sure everything is washed really well and if it's all patted ultra-dry before it goes into the fridge, the salad mixture will keep for over a week.

I usually shop for groceries at one of those big-box stores once a week and get everything I need. The farmer's market or fruit/meat market aren't conveniently located so don't usually hit them. Although in the fall I'll go out of my way to get to them for the harvet fresh veggies.

Being single makes it tough to buy in bulk - so most of my stuff is frozen to help prolong shelf life.

~Pam

My advice for saving time and ensuring that you buy only healthy food is to plan ahead. Take a little time one day a week to plan every single meal for the upcoming week. Create a menu, then create a grocery list from that menu, then when you go to the store, buy only what is on the list. I am able to avoid multiple trips to the store and keep my cupboards free of unhealthy foods by doing this.

And, while I know everyone is rolling their eyes and saying that would take too much time, it really doesn't--maybe 30 minutes to do the menu planning/list creating and another 30 to do the shopping. I do the planning while I'm drinking coffee and watching the morning news, which I do every Saturday, so I haven't added any extra time to my routine.

I go through each and every aisle looking for foods to review. I pick up fruits and apple sauce for me - already reviewed and that's it. I suppose when I am no longer a student I will (hopefully) get better habits.

I usually buy organic whole wheat cereals (Not supposed to do that, but I have addiction problem to grains), organic bananas and fruits, blueberries, organic yogurt, dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa), organic skim milk, and a variety of raw nuts to bring to work.

In other words, I go towards the outer parimeters of the supermarket that I go to and look for the organic versions of produce, dairy, and cereals, and try to avoid the regular cereals from the food giants (Did you know that Smart Start breakfast cereals contain hydronated oils? Thank god I am going healthy...AND green!

I'm obsessed with Grocery stores. I have a top 5 grocery store list of the city. Not just brands, specific location. In Toronto I rated it as such:
1) Whole foods
2) Highland Farms on dufferin (or, really any one of them is quite good)
3) R.C. Superstore
4) Loblaws on Bayview + Empress Walk
5) Any large No-frills
There’s a grocery store extremely close to my school, so I can just go buy what I need during lunch, before or after school.
My list usually includes these things:

Frozen Asian Style Vegetable Mix (they come pre-packaged with all the veggies you need)
Canned Broths or Soups
Light Bread (usually on sale end of the week, which I buy in bulk and freeze or just by one loaf a week)
Shirataki noodles
Canned Vegetarian Chilli
Frozen or plastic sealed Veggie Burgers
Tofu
Natural Peanut Butter
Canned Tuna
Vitasoy Complete (I'm picky about soy-milk)
Kashi Cereal
Fuji Apples
Bean Sprouts
Canned beans
fresh fruit like Asian pears and mangoes and berries
fat free microwave popcorn
sugar free Frozen novelties
a lot of other such things.

I suppose the only tip I have is to have a variety of different foods available (fresh, frozen, pre-packaged, canned) so that you can make foods from scratch when you have time, or make one item from scratch and the rest read-prepared or just something fresh, but easy to prepare. If don’t have any time you can whip out something ready-made but still healthy.
And buy low sugar or low calorie treats, especially if you have a sweet tooth. If you’re less likely to be tempted, just buy your favourite food item to eat when you REALLY want it. Even if it’s not good for you. But don’t do that too often or if you’re prone to eating it the moment it gets home.

I hate grocery shopping. I feel it is waste of my time and money. I know it sounds stupid, considering I am a food hound. But seeing as how I have a 7 yr old daughter and a husband to feed, there is no choice. Every other week I drive the 30 min. to a store called Woodman's. It is employee owned and HUGE! They have the best organic section outside of Whole Foods I have ever found. The selection is amazing and cheap. So I stock up on everything and freeze whatever I don't use right away. If it isn't freezable then I use my vacuum sealer thingy and I throw very little away.

diet staples: yogurt, wheat germ, olive oil, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatos, lemons, apples, almonds, tuna, milk, eggs, corn flour tortillas, olives, feta or parmessan cheese, tea.

occassional purchases: bananas, greens/vegtables (spinach, parsley, zucchini, etc.), other fruits, meats, bread, pasta, juices, puddings, jello.

metabolism boosting spices must haves: anise, cinammon, paprika, zatar, chili sauce.