payday tomorrow- your top food/supplements 5 items and why?

I agree about the lack of need for supplements if you have a balanced diet unless you are a super lifter or something. (I am SOOO not! I do take two of my kids' vitamins every day because I like them...I am just a kid, I guess)

Five required foods each week:

*Fresh fruits and veggies (broccoli, baby carrots, baby spinach, strawberries, grapes, kiwi, whatever else I like that's reasonably priced and looks good)
*quinoa or barley - they are both pretty easy to cook with and offer a great nutritional addition to any meal
*skinless, boneless chicken breast - again it can be used in SO many ways
*whole wheat/grain pasta - my two young kids love it plain and it's an easy addition to any meal (although I only eat it about 1-3 times per week myself)
*natural peanut butter - it's my go to food for a quick snack. I love it on bread, celery, crackers, from the jar;-)

If I had to stick with only 5 food items:

1. Baby spinach (so good in green smoothies!)
2. Frozen fruit (usually mango, strawberries, and/or pineapple--ditto)
3. Bananas (good in smoothies and as a snack by themselves, good source of potassium)
4. Black beans (good in soups and stews or in burritos, great source of plant protein)
5. Hummus (another good source of plant protein, can be eaten with crackers or raw veggies or as a sandwich spread)

My 5 must haves are:
Almond milk
Vi shake mix
Boneless/skinless chicken
Fiber one choc chip bars
Fresh fruit

Green Tea
Baby spinach leaves
Carrots (great to munch on as a snack)
Tofu
Steam fresh bagged veggies

My favorite snack ever=100 calorie popcorn, it feels like I'm eating a lot and totally gets me out of the "I want to eat the whole house" mode.... I would have been so miserable at the beginning especially without this stuff!

I do my payday shopping at Costco usually, so I typically grab:

Asparagus, raw (awesome roasted in the oven and thoroughly covered with lemon juice)
Granny Smith apples (I'm not a big fruit fan, but I like these)
Nonfat Greek yogurt (being a gluten-free vegetarian, I rely on this as a pretty good portion of my protein)
CoQ10 (good for inflammation and improving skin elasticity)
Hearts of Palm (just because I LOOOVE them)

If I'm not going to Costco but to the regular grocery store:

Diana's Bananas Banana Babies (chocolate dipped frozen bananas-- absolutely delicious and a better choice than an ice cream bar)
Big pack of thin corn tortillas (my main "bread" since I am avoiding gluten)
Fennel bulbs (only if they look good/are on sale, I like these a lot, but nutritionally they are probably just sort of meh)
Red onions (onions are good and good for you!)
Canned tomato products with no salt added (avoiding sodium and find it much more convenient than making my own sauce in my teeny kitchen)