What We Eat

Cooking great, healthy lunches and dinners does not have to be time consuming or expensive, but it does help to have a well stocked pantry and refrigerator. I know many of you are seasoned chefs (way more than I am!), I thought I would share what is ALWAYS stocked in my kitchen in addition to my general weekly grocery list. Overall we make breakfast about 7 times a week, lunch 4-6 times a week, and dinner 5-6 times a week (for both of us), so there is a lot of cooking and/or food prep going on in our house. Helps us save money to eat really great dinners out and to travel 🙂

Always stocked pantry/freezer items:

oats
grains, like quiona or amaranth
black and pinto beans, dried or canned
olive oil
red wine and balsamic vinegars
jarred beets
several cans coconut milk
agave nectar
white and brown sugar
whole wheat flour
almond butter (usually several jars!)
canned pumpkin and/or butternut squash
whole grain pancake mix
curry paste

hot sauce
herbs and spices including:
basil
oregano

crushed red pepper flakes
cayenne
chili powder
tarragon
rosemary
thyme
black and pink peppercorns
sea salt

bag frozen, peeled shrimp
several bags of mixed, frozen veggies
frozen pizza
an extra loaf of whole grain bread
coffee beans
Lyon’s tea bags
herbal tea bags

We often go to the grocery store, produce market and/or farmer’s market a few times a week. Our shopping list usually includes:
lots of bananas, some ripe, some greenish
14 apples (an apple a day)
onions
habaneros
garlic
canned tomatoes
tortilla chips
gallon skim milk
container vanilla soy milk
2 bags baby spinach
2 bags butter lettuce
2 pints grape tomatoes
large butternut squash
Greek yogurt
some sort of protein, usually chicken or salmon
seltzer water
cheese, usually one soft and one hard, brie or goat and cheddar
sweeties! ice cream sandwiches or ice cream, shortbread, dark chocolate

Breakfast for me is usually yogurt mixed with almond butter followed by an apple. If I don’t go to the gym, then straight to work, we have green smoothies, otherwise we have them in the evening. Lunch is often something involving beans,grains, and vegetables with hot sauce or tomato sauce, and you see most of our dinners! 🙂

There you have it. Most likely you have your own system down, but I like to think we have a pretty healthy, delicious lifestyle, and I thought I would share.

What are your pantry and supermarket staples? Anything unusual?