Andrew and I meal plan every weekend. We sit down and decide what we are having for dinner each night that week before we head out to the two, sometimes three, grocery stores we shop at. This is really helpful for us, because not only do we not overbuy food at the grocery store that goes to waste, but we also know each night without discussion what we are cooking, and who is cooking which night.
I wanted to share 10 of the food staples we always have on hand, that not only help with meals, but also help for snacking, lunches, and general healthy eating.
- Spinach: I use spinach for smoothies every day. We also add spinach to whole wheat pasta dishes, and several other meals throughout the week to make sure we always have a green veggie.
- Greek Yogurt: Another staple for both smoothies (always put greek yogurt in for extra protein) and snacks! So good with berries or granola. Also a great easy breakfast!
- Fruit (apples, bananas, blueberries, strawberries): Fruit is great for snacking, putting on oatmeal or yogurt in the morning, and for a sweet treat after dinner.
- Oatmeal: My go to morning breakfast. I get asked all the time what I eat for breakfast everyday. Oatmeal! Almost everyday for the last 7 years. I use Nature’s Path Organic and either add berries or a half of a banana sliced. Sometimes if I am feeling fancy, I add cinnamon.
- Eggs: I love hard boiled eggs on salads at home. I also love hard boiled or scrambled egg whites for my lunch protein. Eggs are easy to prep on a Sunday. Take all 12 eggs and boil them in a pot of water and let sit for 15 minutes. Then put them in a tupperware container and you have prepped eggs all week.
- Smart Pop Popcorn: The perfect afternoon or after dinner snack.
- Skim Milk: I do not drink milk by itself, but I do have milk in my smoothies (1/4 cup) or in my coffee. Always skim!
- Granola Bars: My go to post workout snack. My favorites are Clif Zbars and Kashi, and sometimes chewy 90 calorie bars.
- Hummus: Central Market black bean hummus is one of my favorite foods. I eat this at some point almost everyday. If you like spicy foods this you will love. I do not eat queso anymore because, well it’s just bad for you, and this to me is about the closest I will get. Also great for healthy nachos.
- Wheat Flour: I use wheat flour for baking and we also use wheat flour to make our pizza dough for homemade pizza every Friday.
I feel like having these food staples around all the time is great because it takes a lot of the guess work out of meals. I eat all my meals at home daily since I work from home, and having these items makes it so much easier.
I would love to know what food staples you keep around!
Great list!! We always have an extra jar of peanut butter; we eat it in sandwiches, on apple or carrots, wrapped in a tortilla before I go for a long swim. And my husband always has to make sure we have coffee!!
Your staples look very similar to what we always keep on hand in our house! I love using greek yogurt in lieu of sour cream for taco nights!
I keep most of these, as well! Greek yogurt, berries, oatmeal and eggs are my absolute staples. I’m pretty sure I eat yogurt every day. It’s just perfect. I’ve started putting pumpkin pie spice in my oatmeal, along with Splenda brown sugar. Delicious.
This is what we are working on. I hate meal planning! I tend to over judge and buy too much fruit and it goes bad before we eat it all
I tried the Special K Berry Medley granola bars, pretty darn good!
I love spinach and I use it often in my kitchen:)
A lo of these foods are so delicious. I think meal planning is a great way of saving money and time. My husband and I need to do that once I live with him too.
While my food staples are a bit different due to allergies, I have to say that having them in the house makes creating a meal jus that much easier!
You and Andrew could come hang out at my house any day because I have all of these staples here too!! LOL! Stacie xo
We always have nuts around. It is a great snack that is full of healthy fats are is good for you. I also love popcorn as another snack and to make it even healthier we pop our own popcorn in our popcorn machine. That way we know exactly what it being put in their and the little guy loves to see the popcorn pop.
I LOVE oatmeal. I just started making my own overnight oats. Highly recommended!
xo, Caitlin
And Possibly Dinosaurs
Your spinach tip is so on point. I try to add mounds of spinach into absolutely everything. I chop it really fine and put it in wraps and salads that I wouldn’t normally put spinach in for the added health benefits. I also LOVE hummus, but I eat so much of it at once that I think it kind of defeats the purpose of a healthy snack. Some people crave chocolate… I crave hummus. 🙂
Cameron Proffitt
Spinach is a must in my refrigerator!
This is a great list. For the boys, I always have 2% milk, and Almond Milk for myself. I’ve been eating oatmeal/steel cut oats for breakfast every day since I started my healthy eating plan, and I love it. We also need to have cheese…sticks for the boys and I keep 2% slices for myself so I can add it to my eggs. We always have bananas too.
Looks like a great healthy list!! We always keep frozen bananas in the freezer for smoothies and rotel because we seem to use it about half of the recipes I make 🙂
Autumn @ Stay gold Autumn