Grocery shopping help

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moriaht
moriaht Posts: 251 Member
in Food and Nutrition
HI Everyone,
Alright so last time i went grocery shopping i ended up with pizza pops, chips, and lots of other *kitten* that was easy, on sale, and convenient (along with healthy things, but who wants to eat carrots or an apple when there's pizza pops in the freezer?)
So i'm going back to the store today to re-grocery shop! I'm a student so obviously i dont cook much and like cheap things. What do you buy for snacks? I need things to take to work as a snack and things to much on when i get home that dont require much work. Any advice? thanks guys :)

Replies

  • osucristina
    osucristina Posts: 197
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    Pizza pops? I don't even know what those are, but they sound DELISH! haha.
    Laughing Cow cheese and Triscuit Thin Crisps are my "in a hurry" go-to snack.
    String cheese, fresh fruit ummm... I love to wrap some pepperjack in turkey slices, make a smoothie (that does require a little advance work, but they make travel cup blenders that are a Godsend)
    Hummus and ww pita bread (if you can heat the hummus up, it tastes even richer!)
  • ashley_jorah
    ashley_jorah Posts: 71 Member
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    My current trick to stop that is just not to go down that aisle. If I don't see it, I don't know it's on sale and it can't tempt me.

    I did by some mini-pizzas the other day, they were ridiculously cheap and my favourite. But, I haven't even eaten them, they're just taking up space in my freezer now! When I see the calories, I'd rather just make my own with pita, tomatoes and skim-milk cheese
  • BeautyFromWithin
    BeautyFromWithin Posts: 290 Member
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    -Chobani greek yogurt. I've been hearing about this stuff, just tried it yesterday - it's amazing! If it's too pricy, get Yoplait Light Yogurt flavors!
    - PopChips: There's different flavors, my favorite are Sea Salt and Vinegar and Barbecure flavors. You can have a third of the bag or around 22 chips for 120 calories, so it's a good deal!
    -FiberOne Oats and Chocolate Bars - They have 35% of your daily fiber and they taste like candy bars! So good! They're chewy.
    -Get romaine lettuce or spinach and some berries and other veggies you like that you can cut up into a salad.
    -Golden Plump has boneless skinless chicken strips that are amazing and a 4oz. serving is only 90 calories!
    -On the subject of meat Deli Fresh packaged turkey deli meat is 45 calories for 6 slices! Yum!
    - Sara Lee Delightful 45 calorie wheat bread!
    - Pita pockets
    - 94% fat free popcorn Kettlekorn or butter.. depending on your taste
    -Crystal Light packets for your water! (Lifesavers!)
  • dcladydi
    dcladydi Posts: 95
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    String cheese, grapes, Bagelfuls are my absolute must haves right now.
  • HoopFire5602
    HoopFire5602 Posts: 423 Member
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    if you can spare $5 a month, I highly reccomend e-meals. They have food plans and include a shopping list. The total cost of the food varies somewhat depending on what you want....they have low fat, low carb, gluten free, etc. I use the low fat plan right now and for 5 days of dinner it costs me 45-50 bucks. Check them out on their website...just google e-mealz.
  • pa_jorg
    pa_jorg Posts: 4,404 Member
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    You already know you should be getting fruits & veggies, so here are other ideas:

    Chobani chanpions yogurt (kids size) - always cheaper than "regular" size and they're only 100 calories
    Sorrento stringers cheese sticks - 80 calories each
    Laughing cow cheese
    graham crackers
    Terra chips - 150 calories in 1 oz. bags
    salsa
    seltzer
    whole grain cereals
    dried cranberries
  • moriaht
    moriaht Posts: 251 Member
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    Pizza pops? I don't even know what those are, but they sound DELISH! haha.

    Omggg you have no idea :)

    Thanks everyone!
  • moriaht
    moriaht Posts: 251 Member
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    Pizza pops? I don't even know what those are, but they sound DELISH! haha.

    Omggg you have no idea :)

    Thanks everyone!
  • jdavis193
    jdavis193 Posts: 972 Member
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    Hummus
    Fruits
    Veggies
    Watch out for lunch meat the sodium is very high
    String Cheese Weight Watchers has really low sodium
    Nuts
    Watch out for the special K, Kashi etc bars watch the sugars in them. Some are very high
    Dry cereal or cereal and milk for a snack
    Frozen whole wheat waffles
    If you like cauliflower you can bake it oh it's so yummy.. I have a new recipe that I am going to try...
    Nuts
    Cous Cous I mix green and red pepper with onion sautee them then put the cous cous in together and put balsamic vinegar!!! Yummy
    Canned shredded chicken or make your own shredded chicken
    Yogurt
    Cottage Cheese
    I just got whole wheat wraps to make mexican pizzas with yummy!!!
  • moriaht
    moriaht Posts: 251 Member
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    If you like cauliflower you can bake it oh it's so yummy.. I have a new recipe that I am going to try...
    LOVE cauliflower! what do you bake it with?
  • jdavis193
    jdavis193 Posts: 972 Member
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    I usually do 1tsp of extra virgin olive oil some minced garlic and pepper... I found another recipe I am going to try I will find it for you.
  • slowpoke12
    slowpoke12 Posts: 21
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    I can definitely identify. The other problem I have is going to the store with great intentions to make all of these healthy meals and snacks, spending WAY too much money (because we all know healthy food is more expensive) and then letting it go to waste because I'm either too lazy to cook every day or I'm going out to eat. So I'm now taking the realistic approach... I like to eat out and I'm only going to cook probably 3 times a week for myself, for dinner.

    For snacks, I like popcorn. You can get those 100 cal serving bags. I also like salsa and chips. I realize chips aren't your diet friendly food, but that's my guilty pleasure and if you're eating within the suggested serving size, than it makes sense to me. Salsa is a low-cal and zero point dip unlike things like cheese and hummus. I also try to buy a canteloupe or watermelon to be cut up as soon as I get home from the store. And that's a good snack throughout the day. If I don't cut it up immediately though, it will sit on my counter for days. Also, Special K, has a chip/cracker that is low in cal and great for a snack too. They can be pricey though and you want to get them when they are on sale. (that's the only time I'll buy them.)

    For quick dinners, the frozen vegtable steamers are good. You just have to pop those in the microwave to go along with whatever you're making. Sometimes I grille/bake a few chicken breasts at the beginning of the week and use for salads throughout the week for dinners or lunches as well as hard boiled eggs. Hard boiled eggs with hot sauce are another great snack. A litle red hot will make anything better!
    And for the college student who doesn't want to cook... I always found the crockpot to be easy. You can put an entire chicken and veggies in the crockpot, slow cook for a couple of hours while you are away at class or work and come home to dinner ready. Do some googling for crockpot recipes.. you'll find it to be very easy.
  • lesley1981
    lesley1981 Posts: 329 Member
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    Last week I started buying my grocery shopping online, it's a godsend!!

    Because you're not trawling the aisles of the supermarket you're not picking up stuff for the sake of it, therefore saving yourself money as well as not getting all the bad stuff, only stuff you NEED
  • jdavis193
    jdavis193 Posts: 972 Member
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    I usually do 1tsp of extra virgin olive oil some minced garlic and pepper... I found another recipe I am going to try I will find it for you.


    Here it is.
    http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/09/oven-roasted-cauliflower.htmlhttp://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/09/oven-roasted-cauliflower.html
  • CraftyGirl4
    CraftyGirl4 Posts: 571 Member
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    I agree to the tip not to even go down the aisle where there are things you don't need like chips and whatever. I started to last night, and then thought to myself "What do you really need down there?" When the answer was "nothing", I just turned my cart around and went down the aisle with oatmeal.

    For snacks, hummus and veggies does it for me. I also like apples and peanut butter. I just bought this peanut butter from Peanut Butter and Co. called the Bee's Knees that has honey in it. It's not the same as the other peanut butters with honey. It's smoother and tastes a lot better in my opinion. I also like Greek Yogurt (Chobani preferably).

    Cheese, crackers, grapes and veggies make a quick no prep (or minimal prep) lunch. I always keep steam in the bag grains (brown rice, barley, etc.) in my freezer as well as steam in the bag veggies. Stir fry some of those veggies and meat or tofu and throw in a grain and that's dinner.

    I am also a big fan of taking part of one of my weekend days and having a "prep" day where I kind of think out what I am going to use for the week and cook whole grains, slice/dice veggies and anything else that will hold up well. I make lentil chili in bulk and freeze it in individual portions. I have also made veggie lasagna and stuffed peppers to freeze. It's nice for when you come home exhausted, don't want to cook and can just reheat.
  • phenrichs
    phenrichs Posts: 102
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    Apples are my heroin, crack whatever. Always have been. Loved em since I was little. But too get tired of the same old thing. Quaker makes some KICK A55 rice cakes. Hated rice cakes as a kid. Was like eating styrofoam. Now they make em in carmel corn, cheese, and chocolate. They are good and only about 40 - 60 calories each. Great crunchy alternative.
  • BeilaLin
    BeilaLin Posts: 189
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    Things on my grocery list EVERY time:

    -Eggs
    -Yogurt
    -Fruits: kiwis, bag of apples, grapfruit/organes, bananas, mangos, nectarines, any fruit on sale
    -Veggies: Green bellpeppers, mushrooms, kale, red onion, frozen broccoli, salad bags
    -Some sort of cheese: Lowfat shredded cheese/fresh mozzarella cheese/feta cheese
    -Garbanzo beans (to make into hummus)

    Other stuff I try to stock up on:
    -Frozen Fish
    -Frozen shrimp
    -Almond milk
    -Steel cut oats/rolled oats

    I try to stay away from the snack isles

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