I was wondering...to those of you who have made a lifestyle change, as I am slowly doing, what groceries you are never without now..?

It would be great to hear from people about what they replaced in their shopping carts, and with what! Hummus is one thing I am never without now, as well as Ezekial bread. Also some great snack ideas that even my kids would enjoy(other than hummus and rice crackers)

My 3 yr old daughter could eat a tub of hummus on her own. She's a horrible double dipper who licks of the huge globs and puts the cracker back in for more. I'm sure no one wants hummus at my house anymore, eh?? LOL

When orange and yellow peppers are on sale, I buy 6, cut them up and put them into tupperware and eat them for snacks every day. Sometimes with hummus, sometimes without.

We also make a big pot of turkey chili once a week and then eat the leftovers for a few days. 93% lean turkey, fresh or canned tomatoes, spices, and all the veggies that have been in the fridge for a few days (mushrooms, sugar snap peas past the "best by" date, cut carrots, peppers that are starting to get soft, etc.). So good!

I also must have plain ff yogurt.

fruits, yogurts, seafood( shrimp, salmon, tuna all baked or broiled) lunch meats eggs, laughing cow cheese.................


this is a few of the things I usually get

I use little custard cups for my daughter's dip (peanut butter) so she doesn't double-dip. It's only one more dish to wash, and she loves that she gets a special dippign cup.

As for staples (low carb, high fat):

coconut oil
butter (salted and sweet)
cream
eggs
cheese: cheddar, parmesan, Kraft singles always. Brie or edam for treats
cottage cheese
greek yogurt
finn crisp crackers
double-fiber bread
Fiber One cereal (three kinds -- one for each person in the family)
peanut butter
almond butter
salad fixings
mushrooms
radishes
carrots
cabbage
baked beans
bacon
deli turkey and beef
hot dogs
sauerkraut
whatever fruit is in season
popcorn
frozen blueberries and mixed berries
frozen bags of broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach
frozen boxes of veg mixes (for quick dinners when husband is cooking)
frozen chicken, turkey burgers, Boca burgers, meatballs, hamburgers
Carb Smart ice cream bars (for an occasional treat)
canned tuna, corned beef, chicken/turkey


On top of that, we have a mobile Farmer's Market guy who comes by with his truck on Saturdays, so I get whatever produce looks good. And we go to a Mennonite butcher on Thursdays for meat for the week.

My shopping is quite minimal.

Produce - that's what I mostly buy
Fish/Eggs/Protein
Some sort of fat/mayo
Milk
Coffee/diet soda
Condiments/spices

And that's it. I have given up sugar, grains, starches, and processed foods for the most part.

The way I deal with the variety issue is I try to eat different kinds of vegetables. And prepare them in different ways. Also, I'm a spice junkie so I don't make anything that doesn't have black pepper, Sriracha, or jalapeno.

If I didn't binge on beans, cheese, and yogurt, I would add that to my diet, but I gobble that stuff up in a single sitting. In fact, last night I tested myself by buying a 4-serving tub of cottage cheese. And inhaled the container in one sitting

Here is my must have list. Some of these can be used as snacks for the kids. I don't have to deal with that and I think it does make it harder. How about freezing the little cups of yogurt?

My must have 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

Here are a few of my staples:

Oatmeal (NOT instant)
Fresh veggies for salad (I do buy the bagged greens for convenience)
Low fat cheese sticks
Fruit (bananas, apples, grapes are staples)
Double Fiber English Muffins
Fat free cottage cheese
Pre-packaged steamer bags of broc and green beans (in the produce section, again for convenience)

A suggestion for your daughter's hummus dipping....how about pretzel sticks?

Sunday evenings for me include making up 5 servings of oatmeal (I flavor mine with butter flavor extract and cinnamon) and cutting/chopping up fresh veggies for the week. I usually have to chop more veggies toward the end of the week. This habit has really helped me stay on plan. Having everything ready to go in the mornings is a great help.

Thanks so much all of you who responded to my question. I think it's great to see how many of you respond. It is very hepful to me as well. Alot of the stuff I do get but some not and is nice to add to my list.
Seeing how far some of you have come is amazing. KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!

Well, I make my own cereal out of oats, almonds, dates, raisins, and other dried fruits, so those are always on hand.

Other stuff to buy:
Ground turkey, and other turkey like turkey chops
boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salmon
canned tuna
hummus
chicken and beef stock, low sodium
canola oil and extra virgin olive oil
plain popcorn
honey

Produce:
onions
garlic
bell peppers (all colors)
spinach
romaine lettuce
cucumbers

Cheese
eggs
soymilk (for the ex-bf [we are roommates and friends])
vanilla flavored soymilk (for me, for smoothies

frozen veggies, all kinds
frozen fruit, for smoothies

For me some of my staples are
*Newman's Own Balsamic Vinegrette dressing...there is always a new bottle on the shelf. I love it.
*Cucumbers and Tomatos. I chop half of one of these up, put 1 TBS of dressing on and eat it as a salad. SO good, and I never seem to get sick of it.
*Cheese Head's light string cheese
*Crystal Light especially Fruit Punch. Tastes just lilke Kool-aid to me!
*Some type of nuts. Right now its Cashews because pistachios went WAY up in price. :P
*Chicken Breasts...always buying those...can't get enough of them.
*Olive oil. Use it as a base for a lot of meals.

I'm replying before I read the other folks' responses, but I'm going to read them because I'll bet there are some great ideas here!

First, my diet is a bit odd because I adhere (usually, ahem) to an anti-inflammatory diet. Picture the Mediterranean diet but with foods known to have inflammatory properties or allergens removed or limited.

I am never without the following:
Brown Rice, Quinoa and Amaranth
Beans
Eggs
Chicken
fresh and frozen vegetables
Nuts
olive oil
fish (usually wild Alaskan salmon)
Green tea

Instead of cereal or other common breakfast foods, my typical breakfast is actually a mix of steamed brown rice, quinoa and amaranth with either black beans or kidney beans and a tbsp of olive oil, sprinkle of salt and spices, hot. I know it sounds weird (my best friend thinks it sounds disgusting) but 2 cups of that tides me over until lunch with no hunger and no sugar crashes. It seems to be the right mix of protein, carbs and fat for me. I never was able to make it until lunch on any breakfast food, not even Kashi's high protein cereals. Lunch is often sauteed or steamed vegetables and chicken. Dinner is often salmon with steamed or baked veggies.

Fresh veggies (leaf lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, tomatoes, avocados, bell peppers)
Fresh fruit (always bananas, grapes, pineapple; other fruits in season)
Bolthouse Green Goodness (sorta like a juice)
MLO protein powder
Butter
Eggs
Cheese (I'm a cheese freak. There are always at least 6 different kinds of cheese in the fridge!)
Cottage cheese
Chobani Greek yogurt
2% Milk
Silk chocolate soy milk
Coffee creamer
Coffee
Herbal tea
Hormel Natural Choice lunch meat
Chicken (boneless breasts, bone-in breasts and legs)
Ground turkey
Turkey Italian sausage or Al Fresco chicken sausage
Ground beef
Boneless sirloin pork chops
Fish (tilapia, haddock, orange roughy, cod - whatever is on sale)
Canned albacore tuna
Steel-cut oats or Cheerios
Nature Valley peanut butter granola bars
Wasa Rye Crisps
Skippy or Jif natural peanut butter
Smuckers Simply Fruit strawberry jam
Kensington Farms chunky unsweetened applesauce
Raw almonds
Salad dressing (balsamic, ranch, French, Italian)
Dijon mustard
Mayo
Pace picante sauce
Hunt's No Sugar Spaghetti Sauce
Agave syrup
Green & Black's 85% Dark Chocolate Bars

thanks all...this is great!!

I follow Bob Greene's Best Life Diet and use his Best Life grocery list:

8th Continent Soy Milk
Barilla Plus Pastas
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Blueberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Winter Squash
Oats & Honey Granola Cereal
Raisin Bran
Cheerios
Fiber One Cereals and Bars
Flatout Wraps
Grapefruit
Broccoli
Green Beans
Peas Spinach
Canola Mayonnaise
Lipton Green & Organic Teas
Tomatoes
Mushrooms
Progresso Soups
Total Regular Cereal
Wheaties
Wasa Crispbreads
Wish-Bone Salad Spritzers
Yoplait Yogurt