Go To Grocery List

I recently had the opportunity to go on a Rural Grocery Summit. Can you believe it?! A whole 2 days of nothing but people talking about grocery stores. I quickly realized that I might be the only one who shares a passion of culinary retail when I began to share my findings and simply got blank stares. I am quickly realizing that not everyone gets giddy with excitement building their grocery list for the week. To those of you get overwhelmed by the grocery, I am here to help. Today, I am going to share with you my go-to grocery list.

1.       Apples – I always have apples on my list. I am a huge fruit eater but I have found it is perfect as my mid-morning snack. I can throw one in my person and leave it in my desk until I first hear word that my stomach is in need. I also throw them in smoothies or pair them with peanut butter as a per-workout snack.

2.       Lettuce – I always buy a head of lettuce and a bag of spinach. The lettuce can be the base of a salad, but most recently it’s used as a vessel to hold my turkey teriyaki lettuce wrap mixture. The spinach is for my morning smoothie or for my Saturday morning omelet.

3.       Sweet Onions – I am never without sweet onions. I add them to ground meat, I caramelize them for a grain salad, and I pickle them for sandwiches. In the world of Guy Ferrari, onions are “flavor town”.

4.       Yogurt – I always pick up some Greek yogurt. It is sometimes my breakfast and sometimes my dessert with some frozen fruit and a drizzle of honey. I add it to shredded chicken to make chicken salad or to my chicken enchiladas as a healthy alternative to sour cream.

5.       Coffee – Duh. No need to explain this one.

6.       Bag of Rice & Beans – This is my SOS life line. If I am need of a meal for a couple days, but don’t want to put in a lot of labor or dishes I throw a bag of rice in the rice cooker, a bag of beans in the slow cooker with lots of spices and I have lunch for at least 5 days.

7.       Eggs – Something I never want to be without. Scrambled eggs and broccoli is my go to week night dinner and it’s a must have ingredient in fried rice.

8.       String Cheese – I eat string cheese every day! It’s high protein, low carb, and makes the best snack. Lately I’ve been cutting it up and adding into pasta salad.

9.       Whole Chicken – roast chicken is a dinner staple in our house but what I like best about buying the whole chicken is that I get to use all the bones for homemade chicken stock.

10.   Peanut Butter – I am never without peanut butter. It is my dietary staple. Every morning I have peanut butter on toast, a rice cake, or added to oatmeal. And can I just say that sometimes you just need a scoop of peanut butter

Now this is an example of my personal go-to grocery list, so feel free to make this your own. Getting into a rhythm and routine of grocery shopping with allow for less stress and a much more enjoyable experience!