Grocery shopping list

When I started this series of post labeled "what to eat", I mentioned that the second post would include a grocery shopping list and some tips and tricks to minimize your time in the kitchen while still eating a WFPB diet most of the time...

Well here it is...  my shopping list... this is what I make sure I have plenty off all of the time... you will see that it is not that bad... and once you get a rotation going on, grocery shopping becomes easy and quite inexpensive!
This list, however, does not include baking goods as this is not the main focus on this series of post (although you can see some baking goods in the picture)... provided, the posts are popular enough and I see there is an interest in the baking aspect of it, I will include baking grocery list and favorite recipes.

Shopping list:

Grains:

Oatmeal (quick cooking oat works... but none of the "pouch" stuff loaded with sugar and preservatives)
Brown rice
White rice (I like jasmine and sticky rice mixed 50:50)
Pearl barley
Whole wheat paste
Soup noodle
Rice vermicelli
Rice paper
Seaweed
Multigrain tortillas
White potatoes
Sweet potatoes

On some instances I will also keep some ancient grains like quinoa, couscous, kamut, farro.

Legumes (dry - because it is much cheaper):

Chick peas
Black beans
White navy beans
Pinto beans
Red lentils
Brown lentils
Green lentils

Others:

canned diced tomatoes
canned puree tomatoes
rice vinegar
Worcestershire sauce (vegan)
sambal oelek
canola oil
agave syrup
herbs and spice to our liking

Fridge:

Nutritional yeast
Almonds (raw)
Walnuts (raw)
Pecans (raw)
Ground flax seeds (ground at home, a week's supply or so)
Organic, natural peanut butter
Organic natural almond butter
Jam - homemade, local, bought at the farmer's market
Organic tofu firm
Unsweetened organic soy milk

Homemade "cheese" sauce
Homemade spicy peanut sauce

And store bought: vegan teryiaki sauce, sweet and sour sauce, fat free Italian dressing, salsa, soy sauce, vegan margarine

Freezer:

Corn, peas, spinach
Raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, bananas
Bread from the farmer's market
Whole flax seeds

and some cooked beans, homemade bean dips, left over stews or soups...

and a variety of homemade muffins, scones, brownies, cookie dough, pancakes...

Maybe I don't have to mention this but sill...  I also have at all time, carrots, celery, cucumber, bell pepper (all colors), cabbage (preferably purple), beets, onions, garlic, apples, oranges, bananas, and some other fruit depending what is affordable and in season...

This is it what you need.

The other thing you "need" is organization...  no one, even if you really like it (like me,)wants to spend all their time cooking and/or baking! No one can either afford it time wise!

So here is how I do it...

Every week, I have a routine...

I take a 2-3h  on Fridays to cook a batch of beans (rotate from one another depending what I am short on in my freezer) that I will use for the week and freeze in mason jars the extras for the other weeks.  I also, from the freshly cook beans, make a dip.  As I am doing this, I can work on muffins and cookies...  the muffins take about 5 min to prep... and while they are baking I work on the cookie dough that I freeze in balls ready to bake. And really, once you get use to this, 2h is really way more then what you need...

My second 2-3h on Sundays is use to cook a batch of brown rice with green and brown lentils - they cook together in the same pot for the same time - and I have my basis for lunches!  Alternatively, you can use quinoa, farro, kamut to do that too. While this is cooking I prep some white potatoes and sweet potatoes (cubed and seasoned without oil) that I oven bake each on their tray for 40 min at 420F - they will be use for snacking or warmed up for supper. While potatoes are cooking, I make a soup for the week and cook some mushroom (for lunches or wraps). After that, before I go to bed on Sunday I prep a stew that will cook in my slow cooker all night.

And this is it... most likely, all that will be left to do during the week is perhaps make one supper that is not covered, use a frozen left over... also make some spicy peanut sauce or "cheese" sauce when needed...

Quite frankly, beside those 4-6h split in 2 days, I spend maybe another 1h or 2h in the kitchen - that includes making lunches for work and school... and we eat a WFPB diet... 90% made home or sometimes more!

I always have food in the freezer if someone stops by or if I don't feel like making anything...

It is simple, efficient and inexpensive...  You can also do that as a family effort or with friends (then you get to share the results - which works well for single people if you do not like to eat the same thing for 2 weeks! You can also do this while drinking tea and looking at a cooking book, preparing you next grocery shopping list or making your next week's menu... because yes that too is necessary:  a grocery shopping list AND a menu.  Especially if you are new at this and/or have very little planning skills or memory!

Any questions yet?

What are your first impressions?

p.s. proof that works?  well tonight for supper I only have to reheat the huge veggie soup I made (with brown lentils and pasta) as well as peel some beets I cooked yesterday.  Also, because yesterday was a rock and roll day, I need to cook a batch or sweet potatoes... but that basically goes on by itself while I make tomorrow's lunches! Maybe I need 30-45 min in the kitchen today... Peeling the beets will be the worst part!

Be who you are... DREAM your life... LIVE your dream...
namaste

love&peace,

chloe

xox