take a peek inside our grocery cart, part 2

take a peek inside our grocery cart, part 2 1
a real glimpse inside our freezer!

Besides produce, dairy, and bakery products, you would also find these foods in our grocery cart.

MEAT - We look for labels that say grass-fed, no antibiotics, and cage-free. Chicken is typically our meat of choice, but we buy beef sometimes too. We rarely buy ham, turkey, or pork. We try to eat meatless meals several times a week. I like salmon, but I usually don't because it's expensive and often farm-raised (not as enticing as wild).

BAKING - I keep a well-stocked kitchen with sugar, brown sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, dry milk, cinnamon, spices, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, active dry yeast, oats, Ghirardelli chocolate chips, honey, etc.

FROZEN - We almost always have frozen blueberries, strawberries, and peaches in our freezer for smoothies. We also freeze whole bananas for that purpose. Other things in our freezer? Steam pack veggies (so convenient!) - peas, corn, carrots, broccoli, and green beans. Occasionally, we buy vegetable lasagna (but I'd rather not).

take a peek inside our grocery cart, part 2 2THE MIDDLE AISLES - We don't buy very many foods here, but...we buy Bear Naked Granola (sprinkled on plain yogurt, it's one of my favorite breakfasts!). We buy plain Cheerios (and drizzle it with 100% honey). We buy peanut butter - the kind you have to stir (we look on the label to make sure it only has 2 ingredients - peanuts, salt). We buy Sun-Maid raisins, dried fruits, dark chocolate, black beans, and pasta noodles. If we are at a health food store, I sometimes buy licorice or gummy bears (candy is healthier there, right?).

DRINKS - Tim loves coffee, but we don't buy it at the grocery store. We get it almost exclusively from Camano Island Coffee. The girls usually get two drink choices at meals - milk and water. We have a filter on the tap...no bottled water. Tim enjoys good craft beers. I drink water 99% of the time, unless we buy Simply Orange Juice (I can drink a whole 1/2 gallon in one day - I like it that much). Every once in awhile, we'll get A&W root beer for floats or a bottle of wine for dinner.

What is in your freezer right now? What drinks do you buy? What else do you purchase in these categories?

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23 comments on “take a peek inside our grocery cart, part 2”

  1. drinks in our house are water, sparkling water, milk, lactose free milk (for my 5 yo), apple juice or white grape juice without added sugar, cranberry juice and the occasional diet dr pepper for my husband.

    I always have baking stuff on hand but rarely have time to bake - so our Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips get eaten solo.

    We love the Special K granola mixed with yogurt. That is our latest indulgence.

  2. We are actually lucky to have an extra freezer, so we have lots in the freezer. I'm hoping after this summer's garden and our CSA we will be overflowing. I'm thinking of buying a quarter cow from a local grass-fed place, but haven't bit the bullet just yet. We eat a lot of chicken, usually whole ones. We also eat a lot of ground turkey. There is always frozen fruit for smoothies and frozen veggies. In fact my kids almost prefer frozen veggies to cooked ones. I guess it feels good on the teeth :) That is how I survive making dinner most nights, just give them a little bowl of frozen veggies. Healthy and keeps them mostly quiet. We have homemade chicken broth in the freezer and usually a ball or two of pizza dough (Trader Joe's has really cheap and good pizza dough). I think there are some leftover soups and some cooked beans.

  3. I'm primarily a perimeter shopper too -- buying crackers, baking supplies, rice, pasta, coffee, tea and occasionally cereal, granola bars or sports drinks from the center aisles.

    In my freezer right now - a pan of frozen veggie lasagna (homemade!), homemade chocolate ice cream (first time I've ever made that and it's good!) a package of pork chops, a package of hamburger meat, a pork loin, frozen veggies, butter, bacon and then the stuff hubby brought home - ducks, geese, spoonbill, catfish, venison and a roadkill bobcat that hasn't made it to the taxidermist yet!

    From the meat aisle I usually buy chicken, pork chops - steaks - loin - ribs, hamburger (because I don't like hamburgers made from ground venison) and steaks - all when they are on sale. We have some friends and family who don't like to eat wild meat so I make sure to have some "regular" meat on hand - and I like chicken, pork chops and thick juicy grilled beef steaks. Hopefully we'll be able to purchase a side of beef this year - that way I'll be able to skip buying that at the grocery store.

    1. How long does your veggie lasagna take to make? I'm on-the-lookout for simple recipes that freeze well.

  4. Yay! Another Ghirardelli chocolate chip lover. When you were in Florida for the Disney Social Media Moms celebration, did you make it to the Ghirardelli shop in Downtown Disney? Amazing treats there.

    We also try to eat whole foods and organic as much as possible.

  5. My poor freezer is so bare right now! We have ice packs for our picnics, frozen bananas, ice and one package of stew beef...I need to get to the store :)

    We stick to milk, water, black tea and if we want something a little naughty we keep red gatorade powder in the cupboard.

  6. We keep most of the meat we purchase in our freezer. I like to buy meat once per month, then defrost as needed. We eat mostly chicken and turkey. I look for the no-antibiotic kind, but we don't look for the cage-free or grass-fed kind. We also have lots of frozen organic veggies. My son's favorite is peas.

    For drinks, we have water, diet Coke, milk, and OJ. We do a 50-50 combo of water and OJ for our son. I'm actually allergic to OJ so I don't drink that.

    I also like to keep a well-stocked baking pantry. I bake for relaxation and it's nice to be able to create a recipe without having to run to the grocery store. My neighbors know to call me if they run out of something mid-recipe!

    We have been buying less and less in the middle aisles, but our son's favorite breakfast is Cheerios. We haven't tried them with honey, so thanks for the suggestion! I also buy the Ragu organic spaghetti sauce and we really like it!

    1. I'd love to buy and freeze meat in bulk, but there's only problem with that - I always forget to defrost meat ahead of time! ;)

  7. In our freezer: frozen fruit (blueberries - great for muffins, peaches, mangos) frozen veggies (broccoli, corn, peas, carrots, and sliced peppers) a couple whole chickens, hamburger meat, and a few leftover meals, I also will purchase an extra thing or two of cheese when on sale so I can skip the weeks when it's not.

  8. I just read my husband both of your posts and I find it funny that we both have almost the same grocery carts! :) A few differences here and there, but otherwise they are very similar!

  9. I'm due for a shopping trip, so our freezer (and refrigerator...and pantry for that matter!) Is pretty bare. Right now, we have some frozen fruit in there for smoothies and frozen veggies. We have a steamer for our microwave, so I just buy the store-brand frozen veggies, and we are set. We too only do (rice) milk and water, with the occasional orange juice. We are dairy- and gluten-free, but when you stick to a meat, veggie, and fruit diet, it isn't that hard. Throw in some sweet potatoes, brown rice, and brown rice noodles, and there you have our diet. I make all of our sauces and most of our more complicated meals from scratch so I know what is in them.

    As much as I hate our allergy issues, part of me is thankful for them because they made me start reading labels and as you know, that alone will make you more aware of what you are eating. A label that has 30 ingredients when it really only needs 5 at most, well, I am certainly not going to feed that to my family. I follow the "dirty dozen" rule and buy organic when it makes sense. Fruits, veggies, and beans make great snacks around here, although we also do our fair share of baking.

    I have to say that our allergies have made me quite creative, and me and my girls have a blast making their "special" treats so they aren't left out at family and friend birthday parties. I'm also careful of certain foods when I am nursing, so I am especially diligent about making sure Mama has some "safe" brownies on hand. A girl needs her chocolate after all! ;)

  10. In my freezer... lots of frozen veggies, blueberries (usually that we picked, but we're out by this time of year!), frozen chicken from Costco, packages of beef from the 1/4 cow we bought with my parents, butter (I try to stock up when it's on sale, it freezes well), a few cans of juice for special occasions!

    Mostly we buy milk, and sometimes frozen juice. The hubby gets beer when his dad is in town or if there's a really good sale on the kind he likes. We try to keep some sprite and gatorade on hand for the sickie times.

    I try not to buy too much from the middle aisles either but my weakness are Wheat Thins! And Goldfish crackers. Although I usually get half a dozen bags when they are on sale (as low as 88 cents!) and then try not to buy them when they're not. Same for cereal. We like Oatmeal Squares, Life, Corn Chex (and I use this for casserole toppings a lot), and sometimes multi-grain cheerios or Kix. Oh, and granola from Costco because it makes a good filling bedtime snack for me!

    I love chocolate, but I really appreciate good chocolate so I'm usually disappointed when I buy anything else. So I try only to buy Ghirardelli when it's on sale or something.

    1. I forgot to mention that we sometimes buy crackers too. For example, we have a box of Ritz crackers in our kitchen now - so good topped with cheese or peanut butter.

      I'm also highly selective about chocolate. I usually only buy 60% dark or higher - either Ghirardelli or other specialty brands.

  11. Because of my work schedule I don't get to cook as much as I'd like to. We don't have a microwave so we dont do frozen meals...our freezer is only 1/4 full. We have edemame, pot stickers, some frozen white fish, frozen vegetables and some frozen leftovers. I drink water with everything--Andy will drink milk or water. I'm a terrible baker and our kitchen is too small for any appliances...so no baking ingredients. There is always coffee...I usually buy fair trade from trader joes.

  12. Hmmm... I have three freezers. ;) One chest freezer, and two refrigerator freezers. We're 16 miles from ANY groceries, and we buy 1/2 a cow at a time, so we consider it a "necessity." In my freezers now? Well, off the top of my head... hamburger, steaks, pork cutlets (from 1/2 a pig... we liked all the other cuts, but will never get cutlets again) 3 whole chickens from a local(ish) farm, shredded zucchini, strawberries, chicken stock, bread from Aldi (our favorite, but we only get to Aldi about every other month), some fish oil capsules, a couple of freezer meals, shredded chicken, cooked beans, peas, ice cubes, coffee (both ground and coffee ice cubes for frappes), bread crumbs, I'm not even sure what else! Perhaps it's time to clean out the freezers?!

  13. Wow! Your groceries are very similar to ours. Even down to the 'every once in a while A&W.' :) The only drinks we buy are teas, usually in bulk, raw form. The occasional orange juice since I LOVE it soooo much but it takes so many oranges to make juice enough for 5 these days. And we buy almond milk. It's kind of become a staple for everyone else besides myself in the home.

    1. Fresh-squeezed orage juice is the very best (you're right about that!), but I think Simply Orange is a pretty good alternative too. Have you tried it?

  14. Oh dear, in my freezer right now: Eggos, leftover scones from the Spring Time fair, blueberries (the husband is a blueberry and yogurt fanatic), and bread.

    Drinks: I'm with you, Steph. 99% water. My husband enjoys beers that I can't pronounce the name of. And we always have some sort of juice, and diet Coke for when we need a special "liquid treat."

    As far as the in-between aisles, you're definitely more healthy eaters than we are. Our cereal choice is either frosted mini-wheats or cocoa puffs. And I'm always buying something that I can bake (cupcakes this week, fudge last week). But we are banana eaters, so we get lots of those, too!

  15. In our freezer right now? We also love the SteamFresh Veggies, and I'm with you on the berries and frozen peaches (also mangos!). We try to keep some "freezer meal" on hand like my homemade stuffed shells I make in big batches and freeze for a quick meal and tomato sauce. Cheese - we buy bulk shredded cheddar and mozz and freeze.

    We like to get our coffee from Raven's Brew or a local roaster, Daybreak.

    We like to make our own granola, but I agree Bear Naked is amazing, as well as Bakery on Main.

    We are the same with the baking items, and the plain cheerios (which is our most commonly bought cereal). We also have a local soda bottler (glass bottles) that we get a variety of flavors from and save for special occassions like a picnic meal, company or just a good "movie beverage" when we have a little movie night as a couple! :)

    1. Frozen mangos! I'll have to look for those. I bet they'd be delicious in smoothies!

      Have you shared the recipe for your stuffed shells? I'm interested.

      Soda in glass bottles tastes better, don't you think?

  16. Those steamfresh veggies are such a life saver in the winter or the rest of the year when I haven't made it to the farmers market. Love them! So glad the technology has achieved better frozen veggies.

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