Between my private clients and Pilates Body Program clients I get a lot of questions about what to buy at the grocery store. There’s no question that the grocery store can be hard to navigate when on a quest to stock a healthy kitchen. Every package seems to be making some kind of “healthy” promise or claim to superfood fame.
So, I thought I’d share my weekly grocery list staples. We all get stuck in food ruts (myself included) so sometimes it’s fun to see what others are buying to inspire new snacks spice things up in the kitchen.
Here are the foods I have on hand nearly every week, regardless of the recipes I have planned…
For the produce bowl:
avocados
bananas
oranges
lemons
limes
garlic
For the fridge:
1% organic milk (for my man)
nonfat, plain greek yogurt (for snacks, “sour cream”, dressings, dips, etc.)
hummus
Farmhouse Culture sauerkraut (yep, here’s why)
crumbled goat cheese
unsweetened vanilla almond milk (for coffee & smoothies)
low sodium deli turkey slices
berries
organic cherry tomatoes
fresh basil
microgreens
eggs (organic, cage-free)
spinach
kale
Broccoli
baby carrots
sugar snap peas or peppers (for snacking)
apples
wine and/or beer
chicken breasts
ground turkey
For the pantry:
quinoa
Nut Thins
almonds (50% salted)
black beans
low sodium chicken broth (for soups & flavoring)
canned tuna (reduced sodium)
all natural almond butter with roasted flax seeds (Trader Joe’s)
all natural peanut butter
sliced raw almonds or pepitas (to toss in with veggies or salads)
steel-cut oats
plain popcorn
raisins (mix with popcorn for an easy snack)
whey protein powder (plain)
coffee
honey vanilla chamomile tea
cinnamon (to sprinkle in coffee & oatmeal)
honey
cereal (for my man)
bread (for my man)
For the freezer:
frozen mixed berries
Hopefully these staples will give you some new ideas as you make your grocery list this week. My staples have simplified since following The Pilates Body Program and following Drew Parisi’s wise advice – much less processed/packaged foods, dairy & gluten and a whole lot more nuts, seeds, fruits & veggies.
Okay your turn. What are some of your “must have” items that can always be found in your kitchen? I need some fresh ideas too!
6 comments
Whitney @ Whit Likes Fit says:
Apr 11, 2012
Most of my staples are already on here. Makes me feel much better about my fridge/pantry. Apples, almonds, humus, almond & peanut butter would be our biggies but I could add to your list – dried cranberries (love them in salads and oatmeal), peanut flour (I use it instead of protein powder) and Food should taste good multi grain chips, shrimp and low fat cottage cheese.
Fit Links: Kitchen Must-Haves and How to Make Any Trip Healthier | The Fit Stop says:
Apr 13, 2012
[...] You can officially ditch the takeout menus. Stock these kitchen staples and be ready to whip up coun…! —The Balanced Life [...]
AveriSN says:
May 15, 2012
I saw this kitchen staples list and I am pretty thrilled to see that, so far, I am doig okay. My fresh fruits and veggies varies throughout the year, since I like to buy local. I was wondering though, how do you feel about using raw agave nectar to sweeten your tea and other things…do you feel it’s better than organic raw honey?
Finding Balance with Meal Planning | lifefullyalive says:
Jun 18, 2012
[...] up a pantry: http://www.thebalancedlifeonline.com/robins-favorites/healthy-kitchen-staples/ (The Balanced Life also has a good post on meal [...]
Cori Hamilton says:
Dec 3, 2012
Robin,
First of all, I really love reading your blog and keeping up to date on your life! How exciting you are back in Colorado. Hopefully we can bump into each other sometime. I really appreciate all your ideas about healthy living, eating and exercise. It’s super inspiring especially as I work to drop the lbs after 2 kiddos! I’m interested why you still grab the non/low fat milk and yogurts? I think it is so important to choose a high quality (preferably organic, pasture raised) milk and yogurt (greek or not). I don’t eat a lot of diary products, but when I do, I make sure to grab my raw milk or raw cheese and full fat yogurt. Especially for kiddos, fat is vital! I have read so many well educated articles lately about the importance of ditching the “non fat dairy” and going for the real stuff. Here is one of them:
http://experiencelife.com/article/skimming-the-truth/
Would love to hear your thoughts!
Robin says:
Dec 3, 2012
Hi Cori! It’s great to hear from you and I’m so glad you posted this. I am actually in full support of full fat milk products and this is actually something that has changed since I wrote this post while back! I agree with you that less-processing is often better and am still exploring the raw varieties (haven’t taken that leap yet). I am in full support that fat is GOOD. I don’t eat a lot of dairy but my ideas about lowfat have changed in the past few months. I appreciate you sharing this link and love collaborating to get the best information. Thanks for sharing :)