FOOD!! it's time for the big one

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Petunia

Petunia

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2009
Messages
6,126
Location
USA
I do a big food shopping every so often and hire someone young and strong to help me get it all home (I don't drive and have bad back/knees etc so I am limited in what I can carry myself)
anyway it's time to do the BIG shopping and I am so tired of the same old things, I thought I'd ask you all what's usually on YOUR shopping list?

I also need to get household stuff, like dish soap, but I am drawing a blank on what other things I might need....


any and all suggestions welcome.

I don't much like to cook, but I do love to eat :oops:
 
I usually get a tub of feta cheese (well, it's really a block of feta cheese, but it's in a tub of brine). Then I get lettuce and cucumbers and greek dressing (Renee's makes a great greek dressing). So that's greek salad.

For a more interesting dinner, I take ground turkey/chicken, add some oregano, bread crumbs and an egg (I can get you the recipe), then I push a bit of feta cheese into the middle of the burger and cook it - a salty greek surprise!

Apparently I love greek food, lol Well, it's just a very versatile cheese, I think is what I'm saying - you can do the greek burgers with any type of meat, of course.
 
Chick peas ftw. You can make some awesome stuff with chick peas.

When we want something a bit different we do fish. When frozen fish goes on sale with stock up and there's loads of different ways to do it. We tend to eat salmon, tilapia, sole and basa fish a lot.
 
Silk almond milk and multi grain cheerios... I don't eat healthy usually, so a bowl of this for dinner helps cover me most days lol

Also canned water-packed tuna, ritz crackers, cheese slices, light miracle whip, instant oatmeal, frozen waffles and sugar-free syrup.

Lunch is fast food or eat at work, heh.
 
We usually buy family sized lasagna, french fries, roasts, pork chops, pasta and canned sauces, mechelinas (makes good sides), bags of frozen vegies, all the fixins to make home made pizza, stew meat and veggies.. just off the top of my head.

We cook a lot in the slow cooker, its amazing. Joe cooked a roast the other day, in half/half water and apple juice and left it for 12hours. It was fall apart yummy and the gravy was great!
 
Salt cod for fish cakes,fruit-apples,mandarins(its a good time of year to buy citrus),bananas,soup bone or leaks for making soup,fast fry steak,Brussel spouts(love these), baby spinach,carrots,potatoes,sweet potato,picnic ham,tinned ravioli.

Those are some things I got in the last few weeks.
 
Stir fry ingredients! Hummus and crackers. Fruit salad fruits. Bacon, eggs, toast, potatoes, veggie oil (yummy breakfast.) Pancake mix, maple syrup. Hostess apple pies (awesome heated in the toaster oven.) Rice (goes with everything! lol you can vary things so much with it its hard to get old.) Ham steaks (good for dinner or breakfast, I love ham lol.) Jamaican Beef Patties (just cook in oven for 16 minutes, nothing like homemade but good and cheap and easy, what more could one want? LOL!)
 
Greek yogurt, honey, whatever fruit (berries/bananas) --makes a delicious breakfast or dessert!!

Hummus and pita/pita chips, sugar snap peas and other dip-able veggies! (easy healthy snack)

Almond milk and Special K (good way to add protein to breakfast)

Frozen fish (like Tilapia. . . or Halibut if you feel like going all out (I love Halibut . . . it's so expensive to buy here), It's easy enough to sear on the outside in a pan and then finish in the oven.

Avocados+some good salsa=guacamole (plus some kind of dippy chip . . .pita also works here)

Lemons (for flavoring water, squeezing over fish/veggies, keeping guacamole green)

Pasta, tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella and olive oil (perfect simple meal)

Chicken broth/stock (always good to have on hand for cooking/soup bases)
 
I just pick 2 random veggies each week, one being something I've never tried or have always wanted to try. Then I make a stirfry...

I generally buy the same things every week because I'm unoriginal but I enjoy making a fun stirfry, plus if I make enough of it I have meals for the rest of the week. I made an elk stirfry a week or so back and ended up just using it as different meals all week. Elk veggie spaghetti and elk sloppy joes (since it was ground elk).
 
Grains - Pasta, Lentils, Dried Beans(mmm chick peas) brown rice, white rice, couscous

Meat - We don't buy a lot of meat, its one of the most expensive things here. Tofu and Portabello mushrooms are often our meat. We keep frozen fish, that my dad catches in the spring, to enjoy all year(bass, walleye, catfish), and usually ground beef and turkey(meatloaf and tacos). We buy bulk chicken breasts and cook them in the crock pot right away, and shred and divide for casseroles and barbecue sandwishes. The occasional kielbasa for some good toscana potato soup. And bacon, when it's on sale.

Canned goods in our home is mostly beans, tomato products, and a few premades like soup and chili. Whatever's good and on sale. Cream soups like mushroom and tomato, and low sodium vegetable stock(and beef, for french onion soup).

Veggies here are a 3-4 times a week purchase, we have a really good inexpensive produce store within a block and a half, which is a nice short walk. So fresh veggies are always around - carrots and celery, onions and garlic, bell peppers, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini and squash, broccoli, fresh herbs, green beans, corn on the cob, jalapeno and jabanero peppers for David, Mushrooms all the time.

Snack foods tend toward cereal, graham crackers, corn chips and salsa, tortillas and cheese(lots of cheese here!) etc.

We do a lot of cooking - there's really never much pre-fab food in this house. I love it. When we have our own place, with room, I look forward to joining a CSA for our veggies and eggs(maybe even meat?) and doing lots of canning/freezing/etc.
 
chic peas, really?!?

why? :giggle:

I dunno, those are about the driest things I've ever tasted- that's what hummus is made from, isn't it?

don't much care for that stuff either.....
boy am I difficult or what? :nod:

I'm just surprised I guess that chick peas is on so many ppl's lists

Um, I have never made a stir fry in my life.. it sounds too much like cooking lol

got any easy stir fry recipes? what do you use for flavoring?
 
You don't like chickpeas?!? Blasphemy :wink2: lol. I love them on salad or made into hummus.

Oh they're surprisingly easy. You pan fry meat in soy sauce, teriaki sauce, etc and oil in a pan on the stove. Meanwhile, make rice. When the meats cooked, add veggies and more sauce to the pan and heat them up (they sell frozen bags of stir fry veggies, which are precooked, if using fresh cook veggies before putting in pan). Thats all there is to it, but I hear you I hate cooking too!! I make my bf do it :giggle:
 
Petunia said:
chic peas, really?!?

why? :giggle:

I dunno, those are about the driest things I've ever tasted- that's what hummus is made from, isn't it?

don't much care for that stuff either.....
boy am I difficult or what? :nod:

I'm just surprised I guess that chick peas is on so many ppl's lists

Um, I have never made a stir fry in my life.. it sounds too much like cooking lol

got any easy stir fry recipes? what do you use for flavoring?
Click to expand...


Sesame oil and soya sauce. Pure sesame oil can be pricey but a little goes a long way and it lasts a long time. It gives just the right stirfry flavour. Stir frys are easy, we eat something resembling stir fry usually once a week as it's a quick weeknight dinner. Use whatever veggies are starting to wilt in the fridge or open a bag of frozen mixed, throw in a can of baby corn or water chestnuts... and everything can go on white rice, brown rice, asian noodles (some cook up so quick you only have to dip them in hot water for a minute or two)...

Chickpeas are really versatile. A can of tomato sauce, a chicken breast, a can of chick peas and some seasonings... throw it all together, let the chicken cook right in the sauce. (this recipe here... http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Italian-Ch ... etail.aspx << I didn't have any of the spicy stuff on hand and it still tasted great without so don't let that part deter you) The chickpeas make a nice change from a usual pasta dinner and are really healthy.

And cans of chickpeas and beans go on sale pretty regularly for DIRT CHEAP. So a bell pepper, some celery and a nice vinaigrette and you've got chick pea salad. They can do a lot, that's why people love them!
 
I love chick peas anyway, but they are handy because they take on the flavour of whatever you add to them. I often fry up an onion and other veggies with some garlic, add chick peas and canned tomatoes (low sodium), and then add whatever spices I am in the mood for. Sometimes I use Indian spices, sometimes Italian spices. It is cheap, nutritious, and makes enough so that I have leftovers for lunches. You can also add some rice or pasta or meat.
 
stuff we always like to keep in the house... canned tuna, eggs, milk, bread cheese slices, granola bars, crackers (an assortment, they make great snacks), frozen pizza, tater tots, fish sticks, chicken bacon, kd, an assortment of cereals and canned soups.
 

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