It has been many years of tweaking my food choices to get me where I am today, and even now I am always learning ways to optimize my health and make even better choices for my family and I.
Our family eats mainly organic when possible, as well as aims to buy organic, grass-fed and finished red meats, organic pasture-raised poultry and eggs, and wild caught fish. Depending on availability, as well as our budget for each shop, these options can vary but we truly value the best quality possible to keep our bodies healthy and happy.
I want to share with you a recent grocery haul I did at my local health food store (Natural Grocers). Depending on what stores are in your area, you can likely find much of the same things at your local store. I live in central Missouri now with far less healthy food options than when I lived in Southern California, but I am still grateful for what I do have access to and continue to search out more places to go as well.
When I lived on the West coast, the main grocery stores I shopped at were Sprouts, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Costco. Between those four stores, I could find basically everything I wanted in the realm of organic and high quality meats. Since moving to Missouri, Natural Grocers is our “Sprouts” basically, and we also have a cute little health food store that has the best local organic produce that is big on seasonal options you can’t find at those other chain stores. Between those two stores I can find pretty much everything for a decent price, but Azure Standard has really been a huge blessing to our family while living here in regards to getting quality organic bulk options for the best prices around.
The Youtube video below showcases the foods I bought on my recent grocery haul at Natural Grocers. I gave brief explanations in the video about why I got some of the items, but I wanted to make this post to go more in depth.
I don’t really do meal planning personally, although I will have a general idea of a few meals I want to make within a week and then the remainder of ingredients are usually my standard foods that I know I can mix and match to do a whole bunch of different meals with as I feel led within the week. I know some people really thrive with meal planning as it takes out the guesswork during the week, but as a creative cook I find that strict meal planning kind of kills my enjoyment a bit in cooking and I instead like to always have a little improv going on.
The Items I bought and Why
Honeycrisp Apples
This fall was the first year my family had tasted honeycrisp apples in particular and we fell in love. They have a great crisp bite with the right amount of sweetness. They also had a huge crop this year in Oregon so our local stores in Missouri were selling them for 99 cents/lb which is so good for organic varieties. I wish I could say I preserved a bunch this year… but the fresh eating and the occasional apple crisp was way too good to pass up!
Garlic
Garlic is within the top 5 staples in my household. I try to put it in literally every meal that makes sense. It’s always a sad day when I run out before restocking. My husband and I are also thankfully on the same page about using an obscene amount of garlic in our meals. And have you guys tried making honey garlic yet? It’s a powerful immune booster and literally preserves the garlic basically indefinately! Over time (like years) the garlic is candied and does not really taste like garlic anymore. I will drink the infused honey or swallow one of the infused garlic cloves when cold-season is approaching or when I feel something coming on!
Avocados
It took me getting into adulthood to really appreciate the humble avocado, but now I genuinely get giddy when I get a super ripe one ready for my eggs in the morning. Avocados are an amazing way to get your healthy fats in and they can be added to so many dishes. Our favorite way to eat them is just to mash up 1-2 avocados in a bowl, add salt, pepper, garlic powder and lime juice and go to town with some tortilla chips. Yes this is guacamole without the salsa, but it’s okay… it’s so good.
Limes
Limes are one of those fruits that you may overlook until you have certain dishes that simply aren’t the same without them. Of course all things Mexican cuisine need this powerhouse acid to really shine, and so we love getting limes at least once a month to use in our guac, for whatever taco Tuesday brings, and for this particular week my spin on my mom’s enchilada recipe.
Cucumbers
I have to be honest here that while I can really enjoy a nicely salted cucumber slice here and there, I’m not crazy about them to the point that I make sure they are always on my grocery list. My little girls, however, are indeed in love with them and make sure I don’t pass them by in the produce aisle. We enjoy them as a simple snack on their own or with some feta, beans, and crispy sourdough flatbread to elevate them a bit. Not to mention they are a main player in my falafel night spread.
Celery
Celery is super necessary as a base to most soups and also adds great crunch and flavor to my stirfries and fried rice creations. I often forget about it but am soon reminded when I go to look for it on a weekly basis.
Green onions
My husband absolutely loves green onions. I have learned to really love them as well. They are so good on eggs in the morning, on top of stir fries, or added to soups when serving. Their flavor is subtle but surely makes a difference. They also make a beautiful garnish which is almost equally important.
Romaine Lettuce
The crunch from a good romaine lettuce is unmatched. I also love how fresh this type of lettuce is because of its water content. I will either use romaine lettuce soley to make a bomb salad or add it to other greens to create my own mix. I also recently learned from a friend that it’s actually really good when added to a soup at the time of serving. I never would have thought it would hold up in that type of situation but she claims it’s still crunchy! So cool.
Red & yellow onions
Like garlic, onions are a MAJOR staple in our house. I will venture to say that onions are my FAVORITE veggie of all time. Am I weird? I don’t care… I love them. I actually saute them so much that my husband who loves them also has had to tell me to chill out a bit and not kill it… I beg to differ but I respect his expertise as a fellow foodie. The smell of garlic and onions cooking together is surely from Heaven so I appreciate getting a glimpse of majesty each and every day. Don’t be afraid of onions…. eat them raw, saute them in olive oil, bake them with other veggies, layer them under a whole roasting chicken, bread them and fry them, pickle them…. the list goes on my friends. Now if I can only figure out how to grow them in my garden successfully.
Cashews
My 1 1/2 year old just had a language explosion and one of her favorite words right now is “CAAA-SHHH-EWWSS” geez it’s cute. Not so much at 9pm when I’m staring into a dark room for an hour hoping she’s fallen asleep already, but I guess still cute then. I was never a cashew kinda person but my hubby loves a good handful of them (roasted & salted) in his lunch and now so do my girls. I actually can develop a headache if I eat to many, so I personally pass but I do think they are tasty and filling.
Chia Seeds
Chia seeds are so cool. They are so ridiculously small but have so many health benefits it is pretty wild. I love to use them as an egg replacement in baked good or my pancakes when I run out of eggs, and their main use in our home is in my tried and true granola recipe. I have made chia pudding a few times but can’t get over the texture so hard pass on that.
Pumpkin Seeds
The crunch of raw pumpkin seeds are so good, especially in salads, but I mainly add them to my homemade granola mix. They are packed with vitamins and minerals, not to mention a good amount of protein. Totally worth it!
Sunflower seeds
Like pumpkin seeds, I always pick up a package of sunflower seeds without the shells. They also make a great addition to my granola recipe, as well as a quick snack on their own with some apple slices or something. I like to buy them raw because they still have their enzymes in tact so that I can reap those benefits in a salad but of course if I’m cooking in the my granola or elsewhere it won’t matter at that point.
Shelled sunflower seeds
It’s a sad day in my house if we are out of shelled, roasted & salted sunflower seeds… at least for my husband anyway. They literally never get old for him. It beckons back to my memories of my cowboy Papa Tractor who also was rarely found without a bag of sunflower seeds next to him. The only struggle my hubby has now is that 3 out of my 4 girls surround him for seeds like little birds so it’s not as relaxing as before lol.
Oats
Ahhh, oats. I never thought I would say this but I really, really love oats. I think oatmeal as a kid ruined them for me but as a mom on a budget – they are such a blessing. I use oats to make overnight oats, oatmeal bakes, as the main ingredient in my granola, as part of the delicious topping for my apple and berry crumbles, for my knockout oatmeal cranberry cookies, and so much more. They are affordable and really fill you up, not to mention are good for your gut. Main staple in our home for sure.
Whole Chickens
When I first got married all I bought was drumsticks and the occasional chicken thighs. That was nice and convenient and I had specific recipes that catered to those cuts. As time progressed, however, I really started to pay attention to my budget and how I could get more bang for my buck. While at the grocery store I would notice that a package of 6 drumsticks was basically the price of an entire chicken. This was also around the time I was really focusing on healing my gut and knew I wanted to start making my own bone broth regularly. Whole chickens are are the way to go for that. So I started buying several whole chickens a month and I haven’t changed that pattern since. We now average 2 chickens a week, one always being for our erev shabbat dinner, and the other being either for taco meat on a Tuesday, a spatchcock curry chicken or something else another day of the week. We eat every bit of chicken on it, save the bones in a ziplock bag in the freezer and then make a big batch of bone broth with at least 3 carcasses. This system suits us well and I encourage you to try it out as well!
Grassfed Ground beef
If I could pick one food item that I know from experience makes me feel my absolute best: it’s grassfed beef. And when on a tight budget, ground beef is the way to go. I have tried and come up with countless meals using ground beef over the years to keep it exciting but it really just always makes everyone happy, full, and feeling great. Each month I also stock up on several pounds of ground beef. I was previously buying the ground beef shown in this haul for about $7/lb but my local Sam’s Club just started offering grass-fed & grass-finished ground beef for about $5/lb so that has been an awesome find for us.
Flax Ezekiel Bread
Frozen Blueberries
Blue Corn Chips
Organic Grassfed whole milk yogurt
Ketchup
Dijon Mustard
Orange Juice
Organic Grassfed Whole Milk (cream-top)
Grassfed Butter
Beef Sticks
Strawberry Jam
Peanut Butter
Organic grassfed Half n’ half
Organic Unbleached All-purpose Flour
Kombuchas
Pineapple Juice
Coconut Sugar
Russet Potatoes
Canned beans
Mild Verde Sauce
Small Corn tortillas
link granola recipe
tips of how to save money and make prepared foods stretch