Saturday, December 31, 2011

Menu Planning for 2012 - Part 2

We don't have a lot of grocery shopping options here - just a Food Lion and a Harris Teeter. Our Walmart isn't a supercenter yet (though rumors have been flying for years) and to be honest, I won't buy produce at Walmart anymore after several bad experiences with it going bad very quickly. For the most part, Harris Teeter costs more than Food Lion for most things, but they do have some killer buy 2 get 3 free deals and they double coupons, so I shop there occasionally.

Here are some things I like to keep in stock:

apples, bananas, melons
green peppers, onions, carrots
avocados
black olives (Sebastian is the only one who really eats them.)
almonds
peanut butter (and Nutella for Sebastian, for now.)
sugar free or reduced sugar jelly
eggs & egg whites
winter squash (and canned pumpkin)
frozen vegetables
ground turkey
lean cuts of beef & pork
boneless skinless chicken breast
canned tuna
old fashioned oats
brown rice
dry beans & canned refried beans
quinoa
whole wheat pasta (I also make my own)
cheese (shredded, sliced, blocks, sticks - you name it.)
whole grain bread (I really like Nature's Own Double Fiber, but the bread is mostly for Sebastian.)
non-sugary cereal (Rice Krispies, Cheerios, Corn Flakes, Fiber One original)
milk
spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste
canned fruit in light syrup or water (Mostly for Sam. I'm not big on canned fruit, except for mandarin oranges.)
chicken, beef and vegetable broth (I know I should be making my own but this is much more convenient, thank you Dollar Tree.)
pickles (Sebastian considers them a vegetable and I won't argue.)
protein powder (I actually have several containers that are rather old. I doubt they are good any more. I mainly use them to make protein granola bars because as a shake, they taste like ass.)
popcorn (We use an air popper that my mother bought for me back in 1993.)

I'm sure I'm missing lots of a few things but that's pretty much what I have to work with. In my past post, I talked about how I wanted to do Weight Watchers or Primal/Paleo and keep Meatless Mondays. I also want to stick to the Power Foods (or better yet, the old Filling Foods list). Or Michi's Ladder. Or just use some damn common sense.

There's enough in my freezer to get me started for a week - several bags of frozen vegetables, various forms of poultry, lean beef. I'll go through the sales flyers this weekend to see what's on sale and go shopping Monday or Tuesday, then I'll have an idea of what Week 2 will look like. I'll be getting my recipes mainly from the following sites:

Cooking Light
Eating Well
Skinny Taste
Emily Bites
Everyday Paleo
Primal Kitchen
Paleo Parents

I copy most recipes into my much loved Living Cookbook software, which does everything under the sun, including calculate the Weight Watchers Points+ for the recipes. I admit, I am a recipe hoarder. I belong to a Living Cookbook Yahoo Group and I used to import every single recipe that came through. Now I'm much more selective, picking the things I'm likely to try, leaving pickled pig livers to the more adventurous eaters. I'm sure those are Primal foods but, really, I'll pass.

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