If you can’t see the video, try here: http://www.kgw.com/story/features/2015/03/13/skim-milk-white-wine-youre-doing-it-wrong/70268016/
Except for the wine, which I rarely buy anymore, this is part of my shopping strategy these days.
Here’s a peek at my cart:
- Fruit: When I’m doing 21DSD, the only fruit I buy for myself is green apples, green-tipped bananas, and very occasionally some grapefruit. The rest of the time I add berries, grapes, and sometimes pineapple. This week, I let my daughter pick out the fruit, so we ended up with berries, oranges, red apples, and some bananas.
- Vegetables: Most times I get the same veggies, which include grape tomatoes, cucumber (for the little one), avocado, zucchini (for zoodles), arugula, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Sometimes, depending on what I’m cooking for the week, I’ll add celery, onions, peppers, rutabaga, butternut squash, and leeks. When I know I’ll be short on time, I will purchase pre-cut and/or frozen veggies, to save a bit of preparation time during the week. Notice there are some pre-cut peppers and onions in my cart!
- Meat: I buy grass-fed beef and organic, free-range chicken almost every time I go to the grocery store. Most weeks I also get bacon and ham, which is usually sugar-free, organic, and preferably pastured. This week we got some uncured hot dogs, made from grass-fed beef. Some weeks I’ll also buy ground pork (organic, preferably pastured), sausages (chorizo, bratwurst, and the like), and occasionally bison and turkey. We also get a pork shoulder delivered every week from South Mountain Creamery.
- Dairy and Eggs: Sometimes I’ll buy cheese, butter, kefir, yogurt, and milk, all preferably full-fat and without sugar, but we usually get most of our dairy in the weekly delivery from South Mountain Creamery. I don’t consume the dairy (lactose and casein are not my friends), but my husband and daughter do. I’m sure there’d be a lot less tooting around here if they stopped! This week I purchased some low-fat kefir, that probably had a bit of sugar in it, for my daughter. We also have two dozen eggs delivered every week.
- Refrigerated packaged foods: This week I purchased some sauerkraut, Grillo’s pickles and a Chia Pod for my daughter.
- Non-perishables: I tend to stick to the “natural foods” section for most of my canned goods, which include full-fat coconut milk, canned/jarred tomato products, tuna, broth, and sometimes canned/boxed pumpkin. Olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, ghee, vinegar, tea, and spices are added to my shopping list as needed. Most weeks I also buy some bottled or canned sparkling water. There was ketchup in my cart this week, for the family.
- Frozen foods: While I usually buy several bags of frozen veggies each week, I didn’t have any in my cart tonight. I usually get gluten-free pancakes and cereal for my daughter, but she’s starting to eat more eggs for breakfast, so while there are some waffles in my cart, I’m hoping to phase those out soon. I’ll also very occasionally buy a gluten-free pie, and sometimes coconut milk ice cream. I almost bought a pie tonight, for Pi Day, but didn’t think it would be thawed and ready before my daughter had to go to bed.
All of the food in my cart, along with the food I had delivered on Thursday (pork, eggs, and milk), should last my family of three about a week, and we’ll likely add to the stash of frozen meals we keep in the basement. I average $170 per week at the grocery store, and $30 with the food delivery, so I’m spending about $200 per week on groceries. Considering most of the food is organic, grass-fed, and on the more expensive end of the spectrum for groceries, I don’t think that’s too bad.