Grocery Must-Haves (the healthy edition)

I am a creature of habit.

Though my habits continue to evolve as I get older (and allegedly wiser), I still find myself drawn to the same items at the grocery store each week.

Though I can't really afford it, I've officially bought into the Whole Foods craze. I believe that their blueberries are better and their baked goods are better for me. I realize it's not the most efficient way to spend my $$, but my time (and my inside parts) are worth the extra $.10 per bunch of bananas. Plus, I like hippies. In small doses, anyway.

Here is my current list of musts:

1) Almond Milk. I have it in my cereal & my coffee every morning (creature.of.habit). I never thought I would abandon the stuff that comes straight out of the cow, but after reading Self, Women's Health, and Shape for 15 years, I've started to buy into it. I am now confident it is better for me and the fact that it tastes like vanilla is a bonus.

2) Cheese. Of any variety. Cheddar. Mozzarella. Provolone. Goat. Feta. Sometimes all of the above. I try to buy a mix of regular, low-fat, & gluten free so that I can feel better about the obsessive dairy intake.

3) Barbara's Puffins. Potentially the WORST name for a cereal ever, but they mix perfectly with fruit & almond milk. I highly recommend. Note: They are NOT as good as a bowl of Honeycombs or Frosted Flakes. But in the grand scheme of eating healthy, they're not so bad.

4) Panda's All Natural Licorice. Let's be honest, there's nothing "natural" about this stuff, but I love it. I buy the individually wrapped ones by the handful (helps with my portion control issues). It looks a bit like beef jerky, but whateves. It satisfies my sweet tooth (in the same way an english muffin is as a good as a bagel. It's not, but sometimes it has to be enough).

 

5) Quinoa pre-made packs. The ultimate lazy girl gift. Sometimes I want to dive into a bowl of pasta. Those evenings, I do just that. But on the nights I feel like being good, but need something hearty, I pop one of these in the microwave and eat it right out of the bag. I'm super classy.

 

Before you go judging my boring, healthy foods, please note these are only 5 of the $140 worth of groceries I seem to need on a bi-monthly basis. They're not all "natural" or "grain". But in order for me to justify eating out as often as I do, I HAVE to put something healthy in my body on the off nights.

Happy shopping.