Grocery time- What are your staples?

kimcatania
kimcatania Posts: 25
edited October 1 in Food and Nutrition
Time for my grocery trip and I need some fresh ideas. What low-cal, healthy items to you guys get religiously at the grocery store? What can't you live without?

Replies

  • KatieWH
    KatieWH Posts: 68 Member
    I love getting spring mix and panera's asian dressing. Very low calories and very delicious. Baked chicken, yellow peppers and cilantro really dress the salad up. Good snack items include string cheese, cottage cheese, greek yogurt and hummus with fresh zucchini or red peppers. Special K also makes a cracker chip that is really yummy and only has 110 calories per serving. What do you get? I could use some ideas too!
  • LOL- Well, string cheese is definitely a must. Always Grapes and bananas. Turkey Pepporoni, Tuna, eggs to hard-boil. Those are a few of my necessities.
  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
    Cottage Cheese.
    Yogurt.
    String Cheese (Or 100 Calorie-Packs of cheese.)
    Veggies. (Lots of them. Frozen packs, too, for work.)
    Fresh fruit.
    Lettuce.
    Walden Farms Dressing.
    Fish.
    Chicken.
  • Vicki_78
    Vicki_78 Posts: 81 Member
    hmmmm
    greek yogurt, spinach, chicken breast, chicken sausage, summer squash, grapes, bananas, rice (whole grain brown rice to make in my rice cooker) lean cusine bags for my work lunches
  • angijunbug
    angijunbug Posts: 205
    Egg whites!!! Fresh fruits & veggies, some frozen too! Nonfat plain Greek yogurt, prunes, chicken breast, hummus. Can't live with out my frozen treat aldi's fit & active fudge bar! It is huge for a fudgescicle & it's only 100 calories. Yum :happy:
  • moushtie
    moushtie Posts: 371 Member
    Yoghurt, salad, low cal salad dressing, spices in the cupboard to zing up anything. Mini milk ice creams- you can't get them everywhere but under 60 cals for a creamy treat! Lots of fruit.

    Also, pastries, oven chips, burgers... These aren't for me. It's my way of stopping my other half from wanting takeaway food. If he gets some I want some too!

    edit: I'll have to look out for that fudge bar in aldi.. I get my mini milks from there too!
  • Soup, lots of low cal soup.....100 calorie packs, oatmeal, low-cal string cheese, fruit, slim-fasts for breakfast, fat free popcorn, baby carrots and other veggies oh and don't forget the Diet Coke :) I'm in college so I don't cook, so these are just the dorm room staples but I'm pretty sure they are great to have around for anyone! Good luck, I actually really enjoy grocery shopping now, it's like a preview of all the precious calories you get to have that week!
  • acciomuscles
    acciomuscles Posts: 164 Member
    My grocery cart usually looks like this:

    Spinach, strawberries, blueberries, granny smith apples, watermelon, grape tomatoes, garlic hummus (the kind I get is 40 cal for 2 tbs), Bolthouse Farms honey mustard yogurt dressing (45 cal per 2 tbs), Chobani greek yogurt, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, Special K protein plus cereal, turkey lunch meat, eggs, canned tuna or salmon, and frozen veggies. Smoked or fresh salmon when I can find it!
  • Jackie_Snape80
    Jackie_Snape80 Posts: 152 Member
    Healthy Life 35-cal wheat bread
    unsweetened vanilla almond milk
    family-size bags of frozen broccoli/brussel sprouts
    Heinz reduced sugar ketchup
    Boca original vegan patties
    bag of baby spinach
    white or baby bella mushrooms
    large bag of small apples(any variety)
    whatever seasonal fruit is on sale
    a box or two of 10-min brown rice
    special K cracker chips
    salsa(less sodium and more natural ingredients, the better)
    Walden farms calorie-free pancake syrup(amazing!)
    large container of quick-cook oats
    Smucker's or Polner(spelling?) sugar free jams and jellies

    the list is endless, but these are always at/near the top
  • cowboydan43
    cowboydan43 Posts: 306 Member
    soymilk/ milk
    eggs
    light string cheese & normal cheese
    fat free plain yogurt
    fresh&frozen fruit (although I'm super stocked up on frozen right now)
    lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots, peppers
    frozen veggies (usually broccoli florets, maybe corn, just depends)
    canned fat free vegetarian baked/ refried beans
    salsa
    couscous/ brown rice

    That's usually the stuff we always get. sometimes I'll get granola bars or cereals or whatever else if we need them. I like to have pita pockets on hand and keep them in the freezer & we typically have like 6 boxes of veggie burgers from Trader Joe's since we love them but it is an hours drive.
  • kaylynn54
    kaylynn54 Posts: 141
    Mine are salmon patties, tilapia filets, ground turkey, almond milk ( I just tried this today and I love it!!! Very low in calories), any vegetables in the steam pack but I especially love brocolli, Oscar Mayer Turkey Breast slices (only 20 calories per slice),
    Choceur Dark Chocolate Bar, (I only have one block of it each day) I am sure there is plenty more, but I can't think right now. I will probably think of everything when I go to bed ;-)
  • onions
    garlic
    celery
    bell peppers
    beans
    almonds
    frozen veggies (edamame, peas)
    soy milk
    olive oil
    safflower oil
    peanut butter
    silken tofu (use instead of cream to thicken soups and dips)
    dried herbs
    avocados
  • kaylynn54
    kaylynn54 Posts: 141
    Egg whites!!! Fresh fruits & veggies, some frozen too! Nonfat plain Greek yogurt, prunes, chicken breast, hummus. Can't live with out my frozen treat aldi's fit & active fudge bar! It is huge for a fudgescicle & it's only 100 calories. Yum :happy:



    I was in Aldi's today and looked over at the fudge bars and almost got them but instead I bought my coconut fruit bars. They are a little higher in calories (120) but so worth it if you like coconut. The also have strawberry fruit bars that I love. I think that they have 90 calories. I do love fudge bars though, so I think that I might try them on my next trip to Aldi's :-)
  • redpj1
    redpj1 Posts: 7
    I'm a southern girl so I must eat here a list of foods that I get- green snap beans, broccoli, lima and butter beans, cucumbers, green leafy lettuce, boston lettuce, zucchinis, green peppers yellow onions,collard greens, strawberries, blueberries, pineapples, apples, watermelon, grapes, carrots too. Chicken tenderloins strips, chicken legs, chicken drummetts, fruity cheerios, bananas, light french dressing, can't believe its not butter spray, fresh fish and shrimp. Smoke turkey wings and accent seasoning fat free milk kidney beans, sweet potatoes, sweet corn on the cob, whole wheat pasta and olive oil. Green tea and 100 percent fruit juice
  • unsweetened coconut milk (trader joes)
    baybel light cheese
    morningstar or boca crumbles
    boca burgers (varies)
    sandwich thin minis
    fat free or low fat cottage cheese
    FF milk (I make my own yogurt, want to try making cottage cheese next)
    zuchinni (fresh)
    Sweet pea pods and fresh celery
    frozen veggie blends (for soups or stir fry - best ones work for both)
    frozen pepper and onions (for stir fry or soups)
    eggs
    la tortilla factory high fiber 50 cal tortillas or lavash wraps
    true lemon/stevia in the raw packets
    Reduced sodium chicken broth
    fresh and canned mushrooms
    lean meat (whatever is cheapeast and looks good) or lean chicken sausages
    apples! How can I forget apples!
    frozen blueberries

    I try to always keep some convenience foods in the freezer like the boca burgers - very good when I'm too burnt out to cook.

    I also always have peanut flour in the house, but buy that online. Some form of shiritaki noodle. Usually black bean soy sauce. Those are special trips or online, but always in the house.
  • Aldi's has some garlic and something hummus i thought about getting but never tried hummus before what does it taste like?
  • akaChuck
    akaChuck Posts: 233 Member
    Gotta have the Fage Mango flavored Greek yogurt. That and skinny cow ice creams! Occasionally I'll get baby spinach mix for a salad if I'm in the mood (not much of a salad person)
  • sugarbone
    sugarbone Posts: 454 Member
    Without fail every week is a lot of chicken, turkey, spinach, frozen berries, bananas, mangoes, and eggs! Sometimes brown rice and tortillas if I'm running low. I used to find these food really boring but now I have a bajillion delicious ways to cook em :)
  • eggs
    low sodium cottage cheese
    romaine lettuce
    reduced fat cheese
    chickpeas
    v8 fusion!
    natural peanut butter yummm
  • To me it's all about the total calories/day so I have a lot of flexibility but I always find myself getting
    6-8# boneless, skinless chicken tenderloin
    colby cheese
    feta cheese
    light boursin cheese
    extra sharp cheddar cheese
    2-3 other cheeses (guess I have a cheese addiction)
    6 cucumbers - slice'm thin with a mandalin slicer and use as a crunchy replacement for chips while lounging.
    6 ears of corn - 110 cals each, cooks in microwave without messing the flavor up, yum
    12 or so yogurts
    10 cal flavor things for bottled water
    bananas
    tang powder - mixed with vanilla protein powder is almost as good as sunny d and protein but much more portable.
    italian dressing
    body fortress protein
    I was eating tons of deli sliced turkey but the sodium was killing me so I've learned to bake chicken.
  • calliope_music
    calliope_music Posts: 1,242 Member
    skim milk
    almond milk
    greek yogurt
    cereal of some kind (i generally go for Cheerios!)
    tofu
    bananas
    apples
    oranges
    salad greens
    pita
    hummus
    string cheese
    cottage cheese
    plain oatmeal
    natural pb
  • Heinz reduced sugar ketchup

    Incredible product. It does have Sucralose, so whether you read the article about it yesterday, or the one last year, it could either be good or bad for you. For the small amount that you use in 2 Tbsp of Ketchup, however, I'm not worried.
  • organic fruits and veggies (non-organic if the selection is limited). chicken. fish. turkey. I go to the butcher shop for grass-fed beef.
  • PhoenixRising11
    PhoenixRising11 Posts: 245 Member
    bump
  • Earthbound Spring Mix salad
    Fresh spinach
    Red, green, & yellow bell peppers
    Cucumbers
    Avocados
    Fresh fruit
    Tuna
    Chicken
    Eggs
    Greek yogurt
    Light vanilla soy milk
    Nuts
    Zone Perfect Protein Bars
    Lance brand variety cracker packs
    Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches
    Usually some type of chocolate
    Green Giant vegetable steamers
  • 8one6
    8one6 Posts: 7
    Mini shredded wheat for breakfast. I love them and it makes keeping track of how much I eat easy. :-p
  • xcirce
    xcirce Posts: 20 Member
    If it is a big, all-encompassing trip, I will get:
    fat free cottage cheese
    fat free plain yogurt
    mission carb-balance tortillas
    planter's lightly salted cashews
    laughing cow cheese
    fat free OR original soy milk
    fat free/reduced cheese slices (kraft/sargento)
    thomas'100 calorie english muffins
    egg beaters original
    morningstar chikn nuggets
    morningstar sausage & bacon
    smart life veggie dogs
    fiber one/kashi cereal
    kashi trail mix granola bars
    frozen unsweetened fruit
    dried fruits (usually apricots, raisins)
    some fresh fruit
    nature's promise baby carrots
    dole shredded lettuce
    jif reduced fat peanut butter
    smucker's sugar free jelly
    pepperidge farms light wheat bread
    breyer's 1/2 fat nsa vanilla ice cream
    mott's nsa applesauce

    Yum!
  • KimmyEB
    KimmyEB Posts: 1,208 Member
    Cereals (Total Cranberry Crunch, or Fiber 1 Caramel Delight, usually...I wanna try the Kashi cereals, too, though!)
    Granola bars (Nature Valley or Fiber 1, usually...also like Praeventia's cranberry pomegranite, too!)
    Tuna
    Almond milk (I prefer Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Original...Silk's brand = gross, to me)
    Nonfat milk
    Bananas
    Spring leaf lettuce mix for salads
    Ground turkey, ground chicken, ground chuck, or whole chickens (boyfriend is a butcher, so whatever he brings home, we use :tongue: )
    Pepperidge Farm deli flats (usually regular wheat)
    Coffee creamer (International Deligh's Skinny Caramel Machiatto is my personal favorite, but the autumn and winter flavors are out soon...BJ's already has their pumpkin spice creamer out! I <3 the fall flavors!)
    Also in the fall, we make s'mores, a lot. So pretty soon, marshmallows, Hershey bars, and reduced-fat graham crackers are gonna be staples, haha.
    Veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, baby corn cobs, etc.)
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