I LOVE Trader Joe's!

My favorite things that I must have are;

Morning Star soy sausage patties
TJ's spicy hummus
prunes w/ no sorbate
whole wheat pasta
TJ's marinara sauce (both the can & the jar are yummy)
TJ's artichoke hearts in a can
salad mix
whole wheat pizza dough (already prepared- in the frig section)
low-fat cheeses
Clif-bars
fresh fruits & veggies ( I love almost everything except green beans!)
canned black beans

I could go on & on!!

Great thread!

What I MUST have:

~ Luna Bars (Cookies and Cream, Tchai) - great when I know I have to eat on the run and I want to avoid temptations and extra cals (ex. when shopping)
~ low fat Cottage cheese - ! prefer the cultured one from Nancy, because it tastes like yogurt and it's good just plain
~ plain yogurt (I prefer 2% fat or more... it tastes much better)
~ thin rolled oats (I boil them for less than 3 min + splenda/stevia + cinnamon); they make a complete meal mixed with some cottage cheese
~ lite Jarlsberg from Costco - 7g protein, 50 cal/slice (I try to stop at 2/day, to avoid the fat)
~ ricotta (mix with a tbsp of honey or jam and you have a nice, high protein dessert)
~ Jell-O pudding 60 cal/serving
~ fruit - great evening snack
~ chickpeas (we put them in a mixer + garlic+ tahini+ very little olive oil+lemon juice - the best hummus ever)
~ artichokes in can (we put them in salads, in cauliflower dips)

These are the "diet" things...
aaa, and Stevia for sweetener

egg whites
jimmy deans 50% less fat sausage
Schwebel's light wheat bread
Orange juice
tuna in water
Mayonnaise Light
celery
chicken
brown rice
green beans ( frozen)
corn ( frozen)
carrots ( frozen)
mixed veggie ( frozen)
lean hamburger 4 oz
lean pork 3 oz
potatoes
Salmon 4 oz
Tilapia 4 oz
cod 4 oz
perch 4 oz
low fat and cholesterol free noodles ( home made )
tea
weight watchers fudge bars
weight watchers sherbet bars
weight watchers snack cakes
byers light ice cream
frozen light yogurt
spray butter
spray oil
apples
bananas
sugar free jello
cool whip free
kidney beans
northern beans

I use to love cottage cheese until I paid attention to how much sodium is in it. Once I stopped eating that my sodium is always very low.

- kidney/white beans, diced tomatoes, mushrooms green peppers for Chili
- WW Pitas, ff miracle whip, lean deli-turkey, baby spinach, alfalfa for turkey wraps
- red/orange peppers, cucumber, baby carrots for munching with hummus or "whipped" (blended) 1% cottage cheese
-eggwhites with ff kraft singles and veggies to make ommelettes.
-canned fish for that iron and as a salad topper
-yogurt cups, ff choco pudding, cheese strings

That's almost my entire list

WW yogurt
LF Triscuit crackers 7 crackers go good with the next thing
laughing cow cheese
Fresh fruit (bananas, oranges, apples, grapefruits)
canned fruit light pineapples (hate cutting up the fresh ones)
LF string cheese
sardines in tomato sauce
2% cottage cheese although I did try the FF and it is ok too
fresh vegies for snacking (baby carrots, cucumbers, celery, broccoli, cauliflower)
Luna bars
slimfast shake for those occasions when Im short on time for breakfast.
Blue Bunny has a wide range of ice creams Low or No fat & Sugar Free! the brownie one is awesome!
whole wheat toast w/LF peanut butter
nuts (pecans, walnuts and sunflower seeds)
I even do Peanut butter on apple slices for the extra protein
raisins
homemade 100 cal SF puddings with 2% milk I make two packages up on the weekend and put them in ziplocs small bowls for the week.
Do the same with SF jello

these are just basically my snack items

These are things I always have on handy:

canned beans (white, black, garbanzo)
tahini (blend with beans to make hummus)
peanut butter
low sugar jam
fiber one bars
90 calorie snack packs
TVP
canned tuna, salmon, chicken
progresso soups (quick work lunches)
animal cookies
light breads
lunch meats
popcorn
canned tomatos
nuts (soy, almond, macademia)

Porridge- oats, raisins, low fat milk, cinnamon
Sweetener
Veggies- mixed frozen(cheaper)
Broccoli!
Deli meat
Rye crispbreads
Low fat mayo
Canned tomatoes
Stock cubes
Low fat sausages
Chicken breasts

Hmm I think I got most of them

The things I always have are:

Protein:
Egg whites and egg beaters
Raw almonds
Sliced turkey
Tuna packets
Frozen salmon
Fresh tilapia (cooks super fast...dinner ready in 10 minutes flat)
Chicken breast

Fruit:
Bananas
Grapes
Cherries (if in season)
Oranges
Frozen berries and strawberries

Vegetables:
Romaine lettuce
Red and yellow bell pepper
Cucumber
Corn
Lots of different frozen steam bags veggie
Baby carrots
Asparagus (if available)
Sweet potatoes

Dairy:
1% milk
Assorted yogurts

Grain:
Whole grain bread and buns
Wheat tortillas
Brown rice

Snacks/other:
Fiber one bars (chocolate man these are good)
Nectar cacao protein bars
Odwalla bars (love the almond ones)
Sugar free jello pudding snacks
Baby dill pickles (I know high salt)
Chow mein noodles (for my salad on occasion)
Newman's own light sesame dressing (delicious)
Fat free italian dressing
Breadcrumbs
Pam spray/olive oil spray
Smart balance light
Yellow mustard

These are my absolute must haves....These are my before dinner staples...For dinner, it just depends what I have put on the weekly menu, but ofcourse its mainly protein and veggies...

Canned Tuna (different flavours)
Source Yogurt
Fibre 1 Cereal
Apples (fruit)
Salad mix
Eggs

I always have-
Canned tuna
Low-fat cheese
Wholemeal pasta
Extra light mayonnaise
Chicken breasts
Frozen veg (broc & carrots)
Wholemeal bread
Mustard
Reduced fat peanut butter

Great thread for grocery shopping ideas!

My staples are both cabinet items and refrigerated/frozen. These are always in stock:
albacore tuna pouches
cans of kippered herring and sardines
frozen shrimp
frozen single serve fish, shark, salmon and tilapia
(gosh after seeing all those fishies listed I'm thinking my mercury levels must be crrrrazy)
frozen bags of chicken breasts, for a little variety from seafood
dried black beans
salsa
Laughing Cow and Boursin cheeses
HUGE bag of mixed fresh veggies from Sam's (for only $4.00)
spinach
grapefruits for juicing
blueberries
pistachios
hot sauce and salsa
onions, and lots of them


The sad thing is these have always been staple items- just with alot of candy and buffalo wings thrown in for good measure. Ah well.

Hmm... well, at any grocery store, I always need:

Amy's refried black beans
tortillas
Frigo cheese heads light string cheese- it's the only light variety, nad they're mixed bag is great.
shredded light cheese
fat free milk
an assortment of fresh veggies (I keep half in a bowl on the counter and half in the fridge)
100 cal packs doritos (I need chips with sandwiches...)
dryers slow churned cookies and cream
eggs!
red potatoes
light or fat free (depends on if they have Cabot)sour cream (for dips, especially ranch dip!)
smart balance spray
carrots and cucumbers
lettuce
broccoli
beef knuckle bones (okay, they're for the dog... but I have to keep my favorite piece of exercise equipment happy!)

From Trader Joe's (my mothership- even though I have to drive half an hour each way, I go atleast every other week)
multigrain baking mix
whole wheat mini bagels (70 cal each- lowest I've found yet!)
smoked salmon
fresh mozzarella
garlic mashed potatoes
strawberry fruit leathers
pecan praline granola
lowfat organic yogurts

from the frozen section:
chicken gyoza (230 for 7)
gnocchi ala sorentina (or whatever its called, so good! and next to nothing calorie wise for a whole bunch of food)
frozen fruits
sweet and sour shrimp stirfry