Hey there! Welcome to Part 2 of my series on clean eating! Today I want to help you out by sharing some tips and an example of my clean eating shopping list with you. When you walk into stores like Fresh Thyme (my personal favorite) or Whole Foods, it can be extremely overwhelming. There are so many options and so many things to keep in mind, that it sometimes seems easier to just walk right back out the sliding doors. Believe me, I get it. Don’t panic, though! I promise this will get easier the more you do it!
A few things to keep in mind.
- Not every “healthy” grocery store carries ONLY healthy food. Check your labels!
- Stick with the fresh stuff when possible! Avoid those snacky/boxed/canned aisles.
- Organic is always the better option. Prepare to pay more.
- Because most of what you should be eating is fresh, don’t plan to buy huge amounts and expect it to last.
- Due to the above, you may have to shop a bit more often.
Plan ahead.
The thing that helps us stick to our clean eating guns in the Pennington house is planning meals ahead of time. We sit down with my planner each Sunday morning and decide 5 or 6 dinners for the week ahead. Based on those meals, I make up a shopping list of EXACTLY what we need. Doing this makes shopping trips quicker, and saves us from wandering around the store browsing (and buying stuff we don’t need).
If you’re someone with no willpower when it comes to the snack food aisles (like your’s truly), Kroger and many other stores offer a click-list program that is fantastic for this problem! You can click each item you need for your meals through the website, schedule a pick-up time, pay online, and just arrive to take it all home!
Staples.
In my next post of this series, I plan to share our favorite recipes with you. Actually, there will be a nice little downloadable PDF with shopping lists and everything for my subscribers! But for now, I want to share with you the items that we typically keep on-hand and tend to pick each time we go to the store. Since dinner is the only time all four of us are home, those are the meals we plan each week. Lunch and breakfast are usually quick or leftovers. The list I’m about to share is primarily for snacking/breakfast/pantry stocking purposes.
Breakfast
- Greek yogurt or kefir
- whole grain bagels
- sprouted whole grain bread
- gluten-free whole grain waffles
- bananas
- almonds
- natural almond butter
- granola (no sugar added)
- kombucha (we really like the Synergy brand)
Snacks
- organic carrots
- celery sticks
- organic cucumbers
- broccoli
- red/yellow/green peppers
- oranges
- organic grapes
- organic apples (not pre-sliced. Those are usually treated with preservatives)
- fresh pineapple
- organic berries
- almond flour crackers
- hummus
- sea salt popcorn
Always on hand
- natural antibiotic-free chicken breast
- ground turkey
- organic turkey bacon
- organic brown eggs
- almond milk
- quinoa
- rice
- whole-grain or spinach wraps
- organic spring mix (we love Organic Girl brand)
- red potatoes
- organic chicken broth
Go Shopping!
There you have it! Our basic items. You won’t get a week’s worth of meals from this list, but it’s a great start to help you out–especially if you’re wanting to replace your snack foods! Replace your sugary or salty snacks with all those fruits and veggies. In a pinch, you’ll even be able to get creative and throw together some veggies, chicken, and rice for a quick dinner.
Be sure to stop back for the third and final post in the series for some yummy clean eating recipes! And don’t forget to subscribe to receive the downloadble PDF of the whole series!
What are your clean eating must-haves? Share in the comments!
XoXo
Jessica
3 Like this post and show us s'more love!
Great ideas! Inspired me to clean out my pantry!
Cleaning out the pantry has to be the best worst job ever! Haha! It’s so much work, but I always feel so much better when it’s done!
Thanks for sharing your list! We have quite a few things in our pantry, it’s good to have some staples you can build lots of different meals from! 🙂
Hope that you are having a good week 🙂 It’s Australia day today, so a public holiday which is nice 🙂
Away From The Blue Blog
Great tips! Thank you so much for sharing. I am trying to get my husband to be a healthier eater. Easier said then done
You are so welcome! Recipes coming on Sunday! My husband wasn’t an easy person to convince either, but a little out of control blood pressure got him on board pretty quick. 😉
Thank you for these tips! This helps me understand better the whole clean eating concept. 🙂