I am a creature of habit.
I like consistency, and get a happy knot in my knickers when it comes to planning, although not the family kind, considering I did get knocked up unintentionally.
I can be a little bit flexible (cough, lies and deceit, cough), but in general I’m not big on spontaneity and prefer my days to have routine to them. While I do take some creative liberties with my meals, especially leftovers, there are certain staples I must have on hand at all times. To run out of one of these items is a travesty and happens pretty much never because I get twitchy whenever we get low and immediately head to the grocery store.
Without further ado, since there’s already been too much ado, I’m sharing my grocery shopping staples with you. You’re welcome in advance for this riveting content today. Blame Meredith, she shares food favorites all the time, which I kind of love because I’m a grocery cart creeper. What can I say? I like seeing what other people put down their gullets. Hopefully you get a kick out of this post, and if you’re normal and not a weird food stalker, well then bully for you.
My Grocery Store Staples
Coffee: I cannot function without my hot cup of caffeine in the morning. It’s more than just a delightful and delectable drink, it’s part of my daily routine, right after I drink my lemon water that is. I also shell out the few extra bucks for organic, since coffee is the second most pesticide sprayed crop.
Lemons: before I down my jolt of Java Joe, I start each day with half a lemon juiced in warm water. I’ve come to crave the flavor, and even the tiny human has joined me in my quest for health and high acidity foods. The Hubby on the other hand can’t stand the stuff. To each his own.
Bananas: this should surprise no one considering I’ve written an entire post about this glorious golden fruit and the benefits of eating them publicly. Life doesn’t get much better than a bold and beautiful banana.
Eggs: these guys are my protein of choice, and between the entire family, we go through almost two dozen every week. Mostly, we eat them fried or scrambled, although I always have hard boiled eggs on hand for a quick and easy egg salad sandwich or to toss on top of a green salad. They call it the incredible edible egg for a reason. Who am I to argue with that logic?
Peanut Butter: this one is more for the kiddo than it is for me, considering she eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches like they’re going out of style. My preferential pecking method is to simply eat it with a spoon, although truth be told, I don’t think any other nut butter can compare with peanut butter, unless of course it’s Juli’s drippy white chocolate macadamia nut butter, and then all bets are off.
Cheese: at any given moment, I’ll have at least five different kinds of cheese in my fridge, usually more. Today, I have Asiago, blue cheese crumbles, cheddar, feta, mozzarella (balls and a block), Parmesan, smoked pepper jack and yogurt cheese. I puffy heart cheese.
Legumes: beans and lentils are my jam, not to be confused with actual jam. Mostly, I buy them by the can, but occasionally I’ll snag a bag of dried beans or chickpeas and cook up a batch to have on hand throughout the week. I add them to so many things: salads, stir fries, mujadara, chili, soups, and greens. They’re super tasty, while also being a great vegan source of protein and fiber. The kid loves them too.
Fruits and Veggies: while I’m not super particular about a specific fruit or vegetable, I always need one variety of each in my fridge at all times. Typically, I snag whatever is on sale at the grocery store, so it could be strawberries and broccoli, blueberries and asparagus, or apples and corn. You get the idea.
See, I’m totally flexible.
What grocery staples do you always have on hand?
aww, thanks for the shout out! I was excited to see this post since you mentioned you were working on it! I can’t live without coffee, oatmeal, or peanut butter in the house at all times. Without that, my morning just wouldn’t work out very well lol. anything else I can deal with but don’t mess with breakfast!
Don’t mess with breakfast. I like that, you should put it on a t-shirt or a bumper sticker.
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
I’ve been doing warm lemon water in the morning too with some ginger grated in – maybe it’s just me, but it seems to tame my stomach big time! I am delighted to hear your mini mi is on board too – my daughter jumps on board when she feels she is getting a bug but jumps off board as soon as she’s feeling better… to each their own eh?! So ginger is a staple in my kitchen along with garlic and onions and oats and avocados and EGGS!!!!
The lemon water is supposed to be really good for digestion and ginger is fabulous for calming stomachs so I can see where it would help. My mom is actually on board now too along with my little brother. 🙂
Yes to garlic!! I couldn’t live without it.
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
Wow! You take beautiful pictures of food. A lot of the foods you wrote about also show up in my grocery cart each week. It’s so funny for me to think about – when I had 3 teenage boys living at home, my grocery bill was easily triple what it is now, and it looked a LOT different.
Anyhoo…in my grocery cart now are coffee, fruit, oats, veggies of all stripes (except kale; I’m anti-kale), and some delicious, tangy yogurt in a glass quart jar that is made 15 miles from my house at a local dairy.
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Now that yogurt sounds incredible.
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
Love seeing what people buy and eat in a week. (WIAW are my favourite posts.)
jac recently posted…Fatto Bar and Cantina
It’s so fun to creep on others peoples meals.
Years ago, I shared a post on my eats for an entire week. It was exhausting but fun for the voyeur.
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
Wow, I too am a cart sneak peeper! Not in a nosy way as much as I’m thinking that I might be missing out on some great new thing since I too am very much stuck in my own routine, lol!
Your photos are gorgeous.
I love to peel one section out of rhe curved part of a banana and scoop a little out. ( put that into my pie hole) fill the digit eith peanut butter then stud the length of it little broken pieces of dark chocolate. I leave the rest of the peel on to keep my hands neat and scoop out bites with with the spoon. It’s my happiness snack.
I tend to over purchase canned and packaged goods….organic tomatoes of all sorts, black, kidney, cannelloni beans, organic oats, things that are shelf stable for a very long time. I get hives if I’m low on beans, canned or dried.
Fresh items worry me because I have anxiety over waste and will cook for the first two days until every is used, LoL! Except eggs! Like you, we always have those, nice and fresh because we eat so many.
Your cart looks so healthy. …..where is the dark chocolate?
I’m all about shelf stable produce (bring on the canned beans and tomatoes) because it makes life simple. I hate wasting food too.
Peanut butter + a banana + chocolate = a small slice of heaven.
I’m more of a white chocolate kind of girl, but there’s generally a bar of dark in my cabinets too.
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
Coffee sugar almond creamer coffee coffee coffee. Haha. And tons of broccoli, tofu, chicken legs, olive oil, sausage, potatoes, bananas, greens, cauliflower, and shredded cheeses. And tortillas and tons of eggs. Oh and milk and chocolate syrup and Ben and Jerry’s. Yup my grocery list ma’am
I like your grocery list, especially the ice cream and coffee.
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
Those are some of our staple too. Although I’ve been on a tahini kick more than pb these days ♀️. Now I just need your granola ❤️
Just emailed you my lovely lady, on the inside and out.
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
Love this post. I am totally a grocery cart creeper. I have caught myself before staring at someone’s groceries on the little conveyer belt and thinking “yup we’d be friends”. Cuz that’s how you choose friends, right?
Totally, especially if their groceries ice cream, potato chips and chocolate. 🙂
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
I’m pretty sure we have a Costco subscription solely for the cheese.
Cheese is my manna from Heaven.
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
You are just the queen. Of all things, but mostly of cheese and good food. These staples are the best around, and many are ours as well. Always coffee (obviously). Dan and I go through a lot of eggs so always have a 12 pack in our fridge (and have learned that I can never go back from free range/organic yolks). Then I always need peanut butter, a banana or two, some sort of berries, and probably some broccoli.
We get our organic eggs through our CSA share so it’s a win all around.
Meghan recently posted…Grocery Shopping Staples (Things I Must Never Run Out Of Or The World Might End)
YEEES to all the eggs! Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Aside from that, I always have a tub of whole fat yogurt. So versatile.
Oh yes, full fat yogurt is a thing in our house too. Only way to eat it, I say.
You know I am a creature of habit, routine and organisation too and proud of it! I always know what we need and plan for our meals throughout the week, it makes me happy!
Some of our staples are, of course, eggs – David and I eat 3 dozen each week alone. It’s probably the one food I simply could not live without! But also on my list would be broccoli, potatoes (both sweet and regular), avocadoes, yoghurt and chicken…
Oh and the leaning tower of cheesa comment…. Does this mean you too are a goofy movie fan? (Please ignore if you haven’t got a clue what I am on about! Haha!)