I think this would be helpful to all the newbies here. I'll start:

Shiritaki Noodles
Boiled Eggs
Lo-Carb Tortillas
Albacore Tuna
Almond Breeze
So Delicious Coconut Milk
Sweet Potatoes (new found obsession)
Spaghetti Squash
FF SF Jello and Cool Whip Free

I am interested to see everyones list...I hope to get some new ideas too. Thanks for playing!!

I am not totally sure yet since I've only been doing this for a week but this is what it looks like so far!

- Black beans
- Chick peas
- whole wheat tortillas
- Smart Start whole wheat english muffins (only 1 WW pt each)
- Salsa
- tons of veggies
- cilantro
- chicken
- FF yogurt
- Cheerios
- Tuna
- Egg Beaters
- Spinach
- Spray 1 cal dressing
- fat free cream cheese/ff sour cream

I use to eat lean cuisines every day for lunch before I started cal counting and I still have a few in the freezer but I want to ween myself off them and go to whole foods. Especially when I think about all the sodium in there! eek!

So far thats what I've subsisted on!

HadEnough - what recipes do you make with Sweet Potatoes? I have two in the pantry that I want to cook tonight, looking for ideas!!

I am still trying to figure this out. As a newbie calorie counter, I will be VERY excited to see some of those things.
Here is what I think so far. These are my lower calorie items. this is different from what my family keeps in the pantry/fridge.

Eggs
OM Deli Fresh Roast Beef (6 slices=1 60calorie serving... YAAAY!)
Frozen green beans, spinach, peas
Raw Carrots for cutting
Apples
Nuts. Almonds are my favorites, but we have a ton of walnuts leftover from Thanksgiving.
Silk soy milk
Regular 1% milk
Herbal teas
I can't wait to see more and add to mine.

My staples, whether they're on sale or not, tend to be the following-

- Apples
- Almond Breeze (unsweetened choc)
- old fashioned oatmeal
- Better 'n' Peanut Butter (for the oatmeal )
- for the last couple of months, I've been eating a mixture of Special K protein, Kashi Go Lean, splenda, cinnamon, and chocolate almond milk as breakfast
- Celestial Seasonings True Blueberry herbal tea (decaf for the evenings)
- coffee
- Coffeemate sugar free caramel vanilla creamer

otherwise, I tend to buy veggies and protein depending on what's on sale, and I try not to keep more than a week or two of food stocked at a time -

In the ads (or at the farmers' market), I typically look for
- chicken on the bone
- turkey (ground or whole)
- turkey sausage varieties
- canned tuna
- leaner ground beef
- summer or winter squash varieties
- bananas
- frozen veggies (broc/caul mix, whole green beans, peas, corn)
- cabbage
- baby spinach
- mushrooms
- eggplant
- avocados
- tomatoes
- cucumbers
- onions
- yams
- olives/pickles
- blue diamond flavored almonds

Yogurt
Low sodium Chicken stock
sea salt (today I had some regular table salt and about died when I tasted it)
frozen veggies
fresh veggies
whole wheat pasta
brown rice
Tilapia
Chicken

Interesting idea! I'm afraid my must haves are pretty boring but my standard fare includes:

Grapes
Apples
Low fat cottage cheese
Bottled water
sugar free pudding cups
egg beaters
skim milk
shredded wheat
chicken breast
lean pork loin chops (hubs fave)
veggies (carrots, celery, etc.)

I like this thread!

Eggs
Spinach
Broccoli
Edamame
Onions
Yogurt
Grapefruit
Apples
Grapes
Pesto
Pasta
Rice
Dark chocolate

Without a doubt, onions, garlic & olive oil. Everything I cook seems to start with that.
Fat-free plain yogurt
Salad greens, bagged or whole
Red peppers
Broccoli or cabbage
Old-fashioned rolled oats
Chicken leg quarters
Raw frozen shrimp
Ground turkey
Turkey sausage
Water-packed canned tuna
Chicken broth
Vegetable broth
Canned whole tomatoes, low salt when possible
Dried lentils
Chickpeas
Black beans
Cannellini beans
Hummus
Peanut butter
Almond butter
Apples
Walnuts

Lots & lots & lots of produce, which varies seasonally.
(Today it's broccoli rabe, green beans, broccoli crowns, butternut squash, zucchini and an eggplant.)

I LOVE THIS

Gluten-free, Dairy-Free, Vegan, Low-Calorie, Low-Cholesterol, No GMOS, All-Natural
It's the perfect frozen meal for busy nights.
Or the perfect meal in general.
And it's delicious.

Besides that, I keep apples with me all the time. They are the only food I can eat while driving, and help me not stop and get fast food.

tomatoes
onions
bananas
plain oatmeal
low-sodium Better N' Peanut Butter
Almond Breeze
black beans
Morningstar veggie sausage (links and patties)
eggs
romaine
spinach
low-sodium canned soup (mostly tomato, but sometimes I branch out)
Barilla whole wheat pasta
Hunt's canned pasta sauce
brown rice
Greek yoghurt
Flatout Flatbread
whole wheat bread (either regular or "thinwhich", depending on what I feel like)
Laughing Cow light swiss cheese wedges
part-skim mozzarella
pecorino romano
Trader Joe's meatless balls
Trader Joe's chickenless nuggets
some sort of meal/cereal/snack bar, like SoyJoy, Luna Bar, Lärabar, or Odwalla bars

onions
garlic powder
onion powder
apples
frozen veggies (cauliflower and stir fry veggies, and broccoli)
extra or double fiber bread (a decent double fiber is hard to find)
peanut butter
eggs
cheese
chicken
canned tomatoes
pasta

Chicken
Tilapia
Ground Turkey
Apples
Grapes
Spinach
Brown Rice
Eggs
Tortillas
Frozen Corn
Frozen Green Beans
Frozen Peas
Carrots
Shredded Cheese
Yogurt
Sugar Free Jello
Tuna
Honey Wheat Bread
Cottage Cheese

Fun

Almond breeze (unsweetened original)
Old Fashioned oats
Smuckers natural PB
Splenda packets
Sugar free vanilla caramel coffee mate + dunkin donut original coffee
boneless skinless chicken breasts
boneless pork loin chops
sweet potatoes
birdseye steamfresh veggies and brown rice
Arnold Sandwich thins (either multi-grain or whole wheat)
Laughing cow cheese
Turkey pepperoni
Turkey bacon
turkey sausage
93/7 ground beef
beans (kidney, pinto, chickpeas)
hummus
fresh tomatoes, baby carrots, baby spinach or romaine lettuce
hummus
apples
eggs/egg beaters
Light string cheese
fiber one cereal (prefer the honey cluster kind)
whey protein powder
salsa
light or fat free sour cream

This is so helpful!

Almost any fish is good
Chicken breasts
tuna
yogurt
edemame
fat free cheese (its not so bad)
skim milk
green leafy vegetables give the most fiber

just a few things i can think of..

2% milk

coffee

raw spinach

dried grains of all kinds-quinoa, brown rice, barley,cous cous

dried beans-lentils, pinto, black, chickpeas

canned beans-same as dried plus kidney

spices of all kinds

eggbeaters

boneless skinless chicken breasts

pork loin (I grind it for homemade super lean sausage)

london broil (for super lean and cheap ground beef)

ground turkey only the white meat kind and if it isn't on sale and I run out I sub home ground chicken breast meat

hot cereal-oatmeal, millet, and a 7-grain kind

almond milk

frozen raspberries and blueberries

canned veg for Robert

tilapia portions for Robert

salmon portions for Robert

canned chicken

boxed jiffy cornbread

canned tomato products

turkey burger patties

frozen sweet potato fries

low fat or f/f yogurt

Yikes! I sure keep a lot of food around for just two people! BUT, Robert just pointed out, our grocery budget is $50 a week, which I think is pretty cheap. Sometimes something is on sale too low to resist, like a few weeks ago there was boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.69 a lb. so I went ahead and got 20 lbs and then reduced my weekly allowance to $45 for 6 weeks to even it out. Most weeks we spend less than allowed and I put tye extra aside for a "rainy day".

I buy some stuff that isn't on my staples list if I am making something in particular, but usually the staples pretty well keep us covered for all the menus that I plan.

Barb