What are your staples?
 

So, what are your dietary staples? Do you have certain foods that you eat every day, or almost every day? Something you'd make a special trip back to the grocery store for if you forgot or ran out?

What about your staple lunches and dinners? The "go-to" meals?

And how about seasonal foods you look forward to?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who needs some ideas and inspiration. :dizzy:

tilapia. light yogurt. sunflower seeds. grapes. celery. bag of salad mix.

these are almost always in our grocery cart.

Every day for breakfast I have a coffee with a chocolate protein shake mixed with it. It's so good, starts the day off right, and works for me as I hate cooking breakfast and eating something hot. So it works. Then I'm not hungry til 2pm.
At 2 pm I have lunch which is tuna with a dollop of renees mighty Caesar dressing, or 3 fried eggs.

Supper is protein and a bit of veg if I can stomach it.. I have crohns and am flaring right now so veggies are ripping me apart.

I love for snack unsweetened coconut mixed with a dash of splenda. So good znd filling! Also in the heat, liking sugar free freezies.

Bagel thins with cream cheese, Light Yoplait yogurt, FiberOne bars, & lean cuisines...FiberOne bars might be the key to my success!

Breakfast; 1/2 cup Stonyfield french vanilla yogurt, 1/3 cup granola, fruit & Berries. Almost every day. Usually works out to 280-315 in calories (depending on berry availability or fruit used). And Coffee!

lunches and dinners; Big clam shell of greens, chicken breasts, broccoli- always in the cart.
I had to start growing basil because I put it on just about everything i cook.
Just DH & me so I make a big green salad on almost every dinner plate.

Fresh fruit and veggies, lots of them!
Cottage cheese and extra dark chocolate (at least 72% cacao).

-greek yogurt
-individually portioned cheese (NOT string cheese, though. too salty tasting)
-V-8
-those sundried tomato tuna/crackers things
-lean cuisines or healthy choice
-varied meats and fish
-veggies
-nuts

1% cottage cheese
Reduced fat string cheese
Whole grain bread (at least 5 grams fiber per slice)
Fiber One bars or Fiber Plus bars
Fiber One yogurt
bagged salad

I used to get Fiber One bars but I had trouble stopping at one. They were like candy bars to me.

Here is my list.

*Fresh fruit - what type depends on what is in season and/or on sale
*Fresh vegetables - what type depends on what is in season and/or on sale
*Frozen chicken breast
*Eggbeaters
*Frozen veggies
*frozen pepper stir fry to have peppers and onions to add to other things when cooking
*Laughing Cow light cheese wedges
*whole wheat bread
*Babybel Mini Babybel Light cheese
*canned green beans
* Keebler Townhouse Reduced Fat Crackers
*SF Pudding
*SF Jello
*Light popcorn

spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots
blueberries, raspberries, strawberries.
In season melon.
Apples.
Roasted almonds, peanuts, and raisins.
full-fat plain greek yogurt
Meat of some sort (organic/free range and hormone free, preferably grass fed if beef)
Essentailly, fresh veggies and fruits, and meat. And greek yogurt. And nuts.

Breakfast is the same every morning: scrambled eggs with bacon and mushrooms, and onions. Oh, and some coffee with milk, no sugar.

Snacks:
Bell peppers dipped in cottage cheese
Mozarrella cheese
Sugar-free jello
Apples
Grapes
Watermellon

Meals:
Pizza on tortillas
Chicken fried rice with lots of veggies
Beef or chicken stroganoff
Gyros
Fajitas
Chicken noodle soup
Roasted veggies

My meal stapples change over time so I used to make lasagna/tacos/blacks beans+roasted chicken more often but I've gotten sick of them lately. There are also some former staples that I can't make locally because some items are unavailable/too expensive and so I really miss sweet potato fries and the south beach diet pancakes (cottage cheese+oatmeal+blueberries). :(

Desserts:
chocolate chip cookies (I make them with half the amount of sweetener that the recipe requires and use honey -i prefer maple syrup but it's too expensive locally- and add in flax seed, oatmeal, and unsweetened coconut to at least attempt to make them somewhat healthier)

Dannon Greek yogurt, la tortilla high fiber low carb tortillas, precooked grilled chicken, shredded lettuce, salsa, sf pudding, baby carrots, refried beans and tuna. And lots of different fresh fruits and veggies...yum.

Oatmeal
egg whites
fresh fruits (esp. apple, strawberries, blueberries)
fresh veggies (esp. cucumber, tomatoes, celery, broccoli, onion, squash)
tuna
greek yogurt
almond / cashew / coconut butter
chicken breast
fresh salmon
ground turkey

My shopping list varies, but I usually get a good mixture of fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meats and fish, etc.

*Kashi cereal. I love this stuff- right now I am on the cinnamon harvest one and it is delicious.
*Fat free milk (I get lactose free for obvious reasons)
*red leaf lettuce or organic salad mix. I really like baby spring mix. As for salad dressing, I like Newman's Light kinds.
*bell peppers, broccoli, kale, tomatoes, beets, etc. Various vegetables.
*Fruit! I always get bananas and apples,but now that it's summer I am enjoying all the fruits summer has to offer!
*natural whole wheat bread
*boneless, skinless chicken breast
*canned tuna
*Laughing Cow light wedges
*hummus
*carrots, celery, etc. With the hummus makes a great snack!
*natural peanut butter
*fresh fish. I LOVE salmon since I am from the PACNW.
*yogurt, but not the Yoplait kind since it has too much sugar. Trader Joe's makes good small Greek yogurts with fruit flavors.

I haven't lost a lot of weight yet, but these staples have helped me when I've lost weight in the past. When I'm on the road and need to get something to eat, I usually get Subway. Not as healthy as it's marketed, but better than a burger and fries!

Most things can wait until the next shopping trip, so I tried to limit my staples to things we would drive to the store to get or things that we always make sure to have:

• Eggs. Whether they're by themselves or a part of another recipe, we use them A LOT.
• Part skim mozzarella. I sometimes add Mexican/fiesta shredded cheese for a bit of cheddar or colby jack flavor but fewer calories than if I had all cheddar.
• Cans of crushed tomatoes for making quick pasta sauce.
• Parmesan cheese from the Smiths deli. It's probably not as good as Parmegiano Reggiano, but I like it much better than the Kraft parmesan.
• Canned black beans. I eat them topped with cheese and taco seasonings or mix them into other foods to make them more filling.
• Soy sauce. We have stir fry at least once a week.
• White whole wheat flour. I use it to make pancakes, crepes, pizza dough, bread, tortillas, cookies, etc. It's milder than regular whole wheat, but I'll use that in a pinch.
• Onions, garlic, and ginger. So many recipes call for onions and garlic that we usually pick up a few every time we shop. I get the minced garlic in the jar because it's so much easier. (Unfortunately, I only discovered it after buying a nice garlic press, lol.) I haven't found minced ginger, but I just get it fresh, mince it myself, then store it in the freezer. It's one less step to do while making stir fries.

Our go to meals if we aren't feeling creative or if we don't have a lot of ingredients are hamburgers, stir fry, and chicken soup with rice.

The seasonal foods we love the most are NM green chile and fresh cranberries. It's mainly my mom and I that crave those foods. Two years ago, I bought a chest freezer just to store the chile in, so we had enough to last all year. :D I haven't found unsweetened cranberries (dried or frozen) locally. I'll have to figure out a plan of attack for this upcoming season.