I was just curious about what you girls regularly buy at the grocery store. I kind of struggle with this. I would like to eat more fresh organic foods, but since I've never done this in my life (I've lost the weight buy eating frozen dinners) I don't really know how. So, what are some staples in your diets?

I regularly buy:

Bananas
Romaine lettuce
Some sort of lunch meat for sammys
Nuts
LOTS AND LOTS of frozen dinners, my favorites are smart ones and Jimmy Dean Breakfast D'Lights. Of course this gets old.

I love stir fry, and eat this often with brown rice, but it's pretty bland, any ideas for how to spice it up a bit?

I just need some easy, fast ideas for eating FRESH

I graze on strawberries, celery with hummus (Trader Joe's has an eggplant hummus that is only 35 cal for 2T), usually have leftover dinner for lunch (I like Tofu Curry with Bulgur), or I have a veggie burger on an Ezekiel wrap with hummus, banana in my oats, apple with natural almond butter, then dinner is up in the air.
Must have on hand at all times: bananas, strawberries, apples, celery (though I am moving to cumcumbers this week, celery has gotten boring), tofu for some sort of stir fry, bulgur, I guess I'm pretty boring! Do you have a crock pot? That is my new favorite thing!

In the summer, I love salads! I have one every day. In order to have a variety, I like to keep a few things on hand:

Variety of greens (spring mix, romaine, spinach, etc.)
matchstick carrots
cabbage
red onion
Roasted red peppers in a jar
tomatoes and cucumber from the farmer's market
olives (canned, black)
Beans (chickpeas, white kidney beans, etc.)
almond slivers

I usually just throw together what sounds good at the moment. But, having these items on-hand makes it easier.

I am trying to make better choices when it comes to lunch meat. I've been buying the oscar mayer turkey from the deli wall at the grocery. It's not too bad in sodium, and only like 60 calories for 6 slices. What kind do you buy?

Some other staples I pick up every time I'm at the grocery:
greek yogurt
string cheese
seasonal fruits and veggies
salmon
salsa
cottage cheese
Some sort of no-salt seasoning (use it all the time)

Brown Rice
Lots of ground turkey
Whole wheat bread
Whole wheat tortillas
Black beans
Corn
Low fat cheeses
Light vanilla yogurt
Tomatoes and onions
Bananas

I've been trying to think of some crock pot meals for Thursday's when I have class from 930am-8pm! The one thing I've come up with is home made turkey meat balls frozen the night before, then put them in the crock pot on low and let them cook!

Often the makings for turkey chili: kidney beans, ground turkey, low/no salt diced tomatoes, lower sodium chili mix

lettuces
cucumbers
Campari tomatoes
low fat crumbled Feta
apples (though I'm getting bored with those)
any fruits that appeal to me that week
oatmeal, always oatmeal
low fat cottage cheese

Man, I'm boring! No wonder I've been bored with available foods.

all fruits
water water and more water
low fat milk
lots of boneless chicken
ground turkey
turkey bacon
pork bacon
yogurt
spring salad mix organic kind
turkey and ham lunch meat
laughing cow cheese
pepperoni
string cheese


these are mostly manditory things, usually my breakfast is my heavest meal.

I do have a crockpot! I actually have 2, I asked for one for Christmas, and I got a small one from my Mom and a bigger one from my boyfriends Dad. I just don't really know what to do with them... I love soup, but I get overwhelmed with recipes. I need some recipes that have very few ingredients! I don't know if you guys have ever heard of Aldi's but it is a very cheap grocery store that we have here. They have a brand called "fit and active" and they have a turkey tenderloin that is pre-marinated and it is wonderful in the crockpot.
I have gained 10 lbs since I moved in with my boyfriend and it is because he does not eat healthy. I feel like we are going to have to buy double the amount of groceries in order for me to eat healthy. This is why I chose frozen dinners because they are cheap, easy, and I don't have to worry about portion control. But that's OK, we are just going to have to cut back in other areas (maybe my frequent trips to Old Navy) so I can eat my healthy foods. Maybe, if I start to cook healthier he will get on the wagon with me

Thanks for sharing you guys, and any easy, minimum ingredient recipes for the crockpot... (or anything else) would be greatly appreciated!

From Coscto, cause I always buy these things in bulk
-Spinach
- Bananas
-Apples
- Yopliat light yogurt (buying them in bulk works out to 7 cents per yogurt)
- Orowheat bread rounds
- Ground turkey
- frozen, individually packaged chicken breasts
- solid white, packed in water tuna
-Kashi Go-Lean Ceral
- Oatmeal

From the grocery store
-Cucumbers
-Red bell peppers
- carrots
- red potatoes
- sweet potatoes
-low-fat turkey sausage
-2% milk American cheese slices
-Almond milk
- kidney beans, black beans and pinto beans
-brown rice
-frozen veggies (stir-fry mix, broccoli and green beans)
-Reduced fat peanut butter
-Diet Coke

Pretty much every time I go to a grocery store, I come out with these same items. Sometimes we buy more things (eggs, almonds, beef jerky). I used to buy a lot of frozen dinners too but then I realized it was just as easy to cook a couple times a week and have left overs the rest of the nights.

I actually have my old grocery list for this past week's evening meal shopping and the meals planned out right beside me, so thought I would share! I live with my boyfriend so all meals here are cooked for me and him. I love cooking and hate pre-made, processed food. I also eat a lot of stuff that people would think of as "bad" (e.g., burger, pizza), but because it's homemade, I control what goes in, and if I have something like a burger, I just limit what I have it with to keep it within my daily calorie allowance.

Stuff I bought grocery shopping:
Mushrooms
Red onions
Romaine lettuce
Red peppers
Milk
Butter
Light halloumi cheese
Mozarella cheese
Chopped tomatoes
Low-fat soured cream
Red kidney beans
Multigrain wraps/tortillas
Ciabatta
Minced lamb
Lean beef steak mince
Turkey breast steaks

Stuff I already had in stock:
Flour
Yeast
Seasonings, herbs and oils
Basmati rice
Potatoes
Bacon
Frozen peas
Green pesto

Evening meals I ate:

Friday: Lamb burger seasoned with salt, pepper and a pinch of cumin, in a ciabatta bun with two slices of halloumi and light mayonnaise, served with some spicy potato wedges (spiced with hot chilli, paprika and black pepper) [850 calories]

Saturday: Lamb meatballs with cumin and garlic, served in homemade flatbread with halloumi cheese, caramelised red onion, shredded romaine lettuce and a soured cream/light mayonnaise dressing (I made my boyfriend spicy potato wedges on the side). [847 calories]

Sunday: Homemade pizza with lamb mince, halloumi cubes, mushroom, white onion and mozarella, on a pesto base (made my boyfriend garlic bread on the side, just from butter, minced garlic and ciabatta) [841 calories]

Monday: Chilli con carne made with lean beef steak mince, served with basmati rice and a dollop of low-fat soured cream [544 calories]

Tuesday: Left over chilli con carne and basmati rice as before (gosh I love second-day chilli!) [544 calories]

Wednesday: Fajitas made with seasoned thinly sliced turkey breast steak, red pepper and sliced onion, topped with shredded romaine lettuce, low-fat soured cream, spicy barbeque sauce, wrapped in a multigrain wrap [636 calories]

Thursday (tonight!): Ceasar salad served with grilled sliced turkey breast steak and smoked back bacon bits, with low-fat ceasar dressing and croutons [505 calories]

Friday (tomorrow): BBQ turkey steaks (seasoned with smoked paprika, chilli, and cayenne), served with spicy potato wedges and peas [will calculate calories tomorrow, probably around 600!).

You can see some of my weekend evening meals are fairly high calorie, and that's because I love cooking and enjoy treating myself (within reason!) at the weekend. This week I got lamb and halloumi, which I don't normally do because lamb is fairly high fat, so I just make sure to drain away excess fat, and only eat lamb once every month or two. Typically at the weekend, I've got time to make dough for pizza/flatbread etc, so I often make some sort of thing like this!

For lunches, I tend to eat a lot lighter - I'm usually at university, and don't feel so hungry, and as I enjoy cooking I like to eat the bulk of my calories as my evening meal. Typically for lunch, I make things like seafood salad with prawns and home-made Marie-Rose dressing, couscous salad with pesto, green olives and peas, a tortilla wrap with tuna mayonnaise and salad filling... etc. Stuff that is easy to prepare and around 350 calories or less.

caseygail, I feel the same way! My husband is all red meat and processed crap... It is so difficult to find healthy recipes he'll even try because he isn't even open minded about food. We have a relatively new Aldi here I've been thinking about trying, are they pretty good?

tinycities, thanks for the ideas!

Amanda: I love Aldi. You can't get everything you may need there, but they have a lot of good stuff. Like I said they have a brand called "fit and active' and it has a lot of low calorie snacks, whole wheat pastas, etc. Their canned foods are SUPER cheap. I am always amazed at how much money I save there. I can fill up my cart for a little over 100 dollars. I always feel great when I get to the cash register because it is ALWAYS cheaper than I think it is going to be.
However, when you go be prepared. It is not like your typical grocery shopping experience. The aisles are not organized like a normal grocery store. You just kind of go up and down each aisle and pick as you go. You also have to bring your own bags. They sale canvas bags there that I always use I think they are $1 a piece they are huge and usually 4 or 5 is plenty. Also, make sure you have a quarter because their carts are chained together and you have to have a quarter to unchain them ( you get the quarter back at the end.)

So that is my grocery shopping at Aldi 1:1 session for the day

Persian cucumbers
Tomato
Red Onion
Green Onions
Zucchini
Red Peppers
Cauliflower
Peas (frozen)
Spinach (fresh and frozen)
Green beans (frozen)
Shrimp (half a pound a week)
Chicken (a few pounds a week)
Ground beef (93% lean) - Not often though
Fish - usually white, sometimes salmon (1 lb at a time)

These are my major staples I buy some vegetables frozen because they keep longer.

I pretty much buy the same things every week:

Egg whites
Baby spinach
baby carrots
hummus (I like either the 40 spices or just regular)
Arnolds Sandwich Thins OR Flat-Out Wraps
Laughing Cow Light Cheese (Swiss or French Onion)
Chicken Breast
Salsa
Brown Rice
Asparagus
Grape Tomatoes
Bell Peppers
Cucumbers
Cherries (bing or Rainier)

I hate salad, but I chop up veggies and eat them raw.

Hmmm, let's see

-Baby Spinach
-Carrots
-Apples
-Blueberries
-Strawberries
-Bananas
-Old Fashioned Oat Meal
-Almond Milk
-Peanut Butter
-Hummus
-Whole Wheat Pita
-Vegan Boca Burgers
-Brown Rice
-Black Beans
-Salsa

That is a basic list, but I can go pretty far on that and whatever random things I have in my kitchen.

Amanda, definitely try Aldi! I get almost everything there. I buy a TON of the Fit & Active foods and I honestly only go to the regular grocery store for things like Arnold Sandwich Thins or other specific things I can't get at Aldi. But, 95% of my stuff comes from there. I love it and save SOO much money.