Would you share your family's healthy grocery list?

[one l michele]

I'm looking for ideas. You may PM or email me if you don't want to share it on the board. Thank you.

[*anj*]

Hmmmm....I'll try.

Dairy:
milk (from farm)
cheddar cheese
butter
mozzarella cheese (occasionally)
eggs
yogurt (not every week)


Meat:
whole chickens
ground beef
pork chops
chuck roast
fish (not weekly)
bacon/sausage
ground pork

Produce:
apples
bananas
oranges
lemons/limes
other seasonal fruits
onions
garlic
broccoli
cilantro and/or parsley
cabbage, regular and napa
bok choy (occasionally)
salad greens (most often in warmer weather)
potatoes
sweet potatoes
green beans
carrots
celery
kale/collard greens

Other:
pretzels
salsa
orange juice (if there's a kind I like on sale)
spices, as needed
masa harina (to make tortillas)
extra virgin olive oil
canned tomato products if I've run out of the ones I froze over the summer

I bake my own bread with flour that I make from grain purchased annually through a co-op.
I seldom buy cereal, opting instead to make granola.
I make my own peanut butter with peanuts purchased in bulk at a health food store.
I make my own jams and jellies in the summer when the berries are ripe.

[Audrey]

I'm looking for ideas. You may PM or email me if you don't want to share it on the board. Thank you.

Anj's looks pretty good. Here we grow a heck of a lot of our own produce which we cold-store, freeze and can ourselves. I make most of our own bread products (loaves, tortillas, bagels, rolls).

I make cakes and cookies (any desserts really) from scratch, not boxes. I know that sometimes it's cheaper buying box-mixes on sale, but I don't always know what's in them. Sometimes I can't even pronounce the ingredient list. Lol!

When shopping, I use the old standard of "shop the perimeters!" What that means is that usually the meat, dairy, and produce are on the perimeter of the store, with all the canned, packaged and processed foods in the aisles in the middle. I avoid buying in the aisles as much as possible, with the exception of the aisle that holds the baking stuff -- for flours, seasonings, dried fruits, etc.

I get our meat from a great local butcher, usually buying inexpensive, economical cuts like chuck roasts, hamburger, flank steak, and brisket; whole chickens, ground pork (to make my own sausages), pork loin roasts and sometimes pork tenderloins when they're on sale.

We buy lots of fresh fruit, which is one of our biggest grocery expenses. It's tough getting decent fruit here, and we're very passionate about it! :) If you can get a good deal on apples, for example, they are marvelous baked, stewed or poached as a dessert. Applesauce -- you can never go wrong with a good homemade applesauce. Fried apple slices -- yumm!

In winter, once we get to the end of what we've grown from the summer, we will buy vegetables, but try very hard to get seasonal stuff when possible. It's cheaper then, and fresher (usually).

For dairy, I try to buy organic cheeses and yogurt, but not organic milk (nothing against it! It's just so much more expensive.) We have our own eggs.

Hope that helps some. :)

[Colleen]

I do 98% of my shopping at a natural foods co-op. I buy a variety of organic fruits and vegetables ~ and in the right season we have many things growing here in our own garden. I also frequent the local farmer's market in season; most items there are not organic, but they're preferable in that they're grown locally and also without the use of pesticides. I try to limit the distance our food travels, so our winter palette is not always highly varied (heavy emphasis on kale, chard, and root vegetables, for example). I make exceptions for some produce, e.g. we do eat bananas and grapefruit, though of course they aren't grown anywhere close to Washington state.

My dairy purchases typically include organic butter, cheese, and cottage cheese. We have our own eggs and I usually make yogurt from our own milk. When we want flavored yogurt, I add a bit of honey and mix in berries that we pick in the summer and freeze. I also buy a gallon of Organic Valley milk for myself each week, because I don't care to drink our own raw milk (which is what my husband and boys drink).

Meat...I buy "natural" (not certified organic) chicken and, when necessary, beef and pork. We typically have beef and pork in our freezer, from animals friends have raised, though I'm running on empty just now. I'd say we have fish once every two weeks; chicken a couple of times a week; red meat a couple of times a week; and meatless meals for the remainder of our dinners. I buy one 12-oz package of bacon each week, again, "natural" with no added nitrates or nitrites.

Some of my staples include whole wheat tortillas, ww pasta, organic peanut butter, orzo, rice, beans, tofu, quinoa, wheat berries, and other grains. I make freezer jam and we have honey from bees that are kept here on our property each summer. I buy little in the way of beverages (save for wine;)). When it's available (fall and winter), I get a gallon of local apple cider each week, but I don't routinely buy juice. Oh, I do get decaf coffee beans (organic, shade-grown, fair-trade). I buy various snacks ranging from blue corn chips to rice cakes to Annie's cheddar bunnies and such.

I sometimes make my own bread, sometimes purchase quality local bread. I buy organic oatmeal and granola in bulk.

Let me know if you have specific questions.:)

[imeverywoman]

When can I come and live with you? Life on that farm sounds too quaint, too lovely.

I promise not to eat too much, never to shop at Wal-Mart and go for a daily run.

:D

[Colleen]

If good food, running, and "buying local" were the sum requirements for a good relationship, I'd be all set. Life's not that simple though, is it?:cool:

[OhElizabeth]

Michele, I sent you my grocery list. I watched an interesting lecture last night on the booktv station of cspan. The author was Michael Pollan and the book was "In Defense of Food."

I think you've said in the past your kids eat a lot of fruit for snacks. The next step to consider, if they don't already, would be to get them eating salad. My dd eats 3 cups daily, just like an adult, has for several years. Me, I'm just trying to get down more than 3 bites of anything without feeling like ralphing. NOTHING looks good, except that pan of processed macaroni and cheese from GFS, hehe... and I've been telling myself for two days I will NOT give in! :)

[imeverywoman]

I'll help homeschool the littles, milk the cows, listen when you speak (and encourage Hans to do the same), um.... I dunno, what else???

Okay. Then, you come to sweaty, hot, humid Florida and we can pretend we're tourists, go to Disney, eat too much, go on a rollercoaster....

Are you okay, today?

(You do know that I'm just messin' with ya, don't you, girlfriend?)

[lynn]

organic:
milk, eggs, cheese, yogert, butter, fruit(whatever is available), vegetables(whatever is available), tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, peanut butter, jelly, rice cakes, fruita bu, cookies, veggi/ chicken broth, cereals, poptarts

ezekiel bread, beans (navy, black, pinto) lentils (all organic if I find them), no hormones, organic, free range chicken, healthy pasta, chips, crackers, whole wheat bagels

potatos, brown rice, sweet potatoes, tuna fish

wild salmon, no hormone beef on occassion

[one l michele]

Michele, I sent you my grocery list. I watched an interesting lecture last night on the booktv station of cspan. The author was Michael Pollan and the book was "In Defense of Food."

I think you've said in the past your kids eat a lot of fruit for snacks. The next step to consider, if they don't already, would be to get them eating salad. My dd eats 3 cups daily, just like an adult, has for several years. Me, I'm just trying to get down more than 3 bites of anything without feeling like ralphing. NOTHING looks good, except that pan of processed macaroni and cheese from GFS, hehe... and I've been telling myself for two days I will NOT give in! :)

That would mean 15 Cups of salad alone for us daily, then add in the fruit and other veggies.