Sunday, September 2, 2007

My Most Recent Shopping List

I live in Chicago, where our selection of grocery store is adequate, but could be better. Depending on the volume of groceries I need, I'll hit some combination of the following stores:

Target: Has inexpensive staples, such as milk, plus the cheapest price on Fiber One that I've found.
Trader Joe's: An inexpensive alternative for gourmet and organic items that I'd otherwise buy at Whole Foods. This is my go-to place for nuts, in particular, and also Greek Yogurt. (Trader Joe's sells a delicious private-label version of Fage Greek Yogurt.)
Whole Foods: Love the store, sometimes hate the prices. I think Whole Foods sells some of the freshest seafood.
Jewel/Dominick's/Treasure Island: These are all Chicago-area chains. They have a large, reliable choice of products, and the prices are lower than Whole Foods, but more than Target or Trader Joe's.

My shopping list this week included:

Meat, Poultry and Seafood:
Canned white/albacore tuna, packed in water
Frozen shrimp (look for a brand that's not from China, where the shrimp are individually quick frozen, so you can use as many or as few as you like)
Deli-sliced turkey
Precooked, sliced chicken breast chunks

Vegetables:
Celery
Green Onions
Del Monte Canned Diced Tomatoes (if you can't get high-quality ripe tomatoes, these are a great substitute
Bagged greens mix with butter lettuce and romaine

Fruits:
Green, seedless grapes
Apples
Oranges
Lemons
Frozen blueberries

Dairy:
Eggs
Breakstone's 2% Milkfat Cottage Cheese
Reduced fat, presliced Swiss cheese
Reduced fat string cheese
Feta cheese
1% milk
2% or fat-free Greek yogurt (it has a rich, sour-cream-like consistency)

Grains, Cereals:
General Mill's Fiber One Cereal or Trader Joe's High Fiber Cereal
Steel cut oats
Orzo pasta

Nuts:
Walnuts
Sliced almonds
Almond butter
Reduced fat peanut butter

Other:
Whole Foods 365 Whey Protein Powder, vanilla flavor
Cedar's Original Hummos
ZonePerfect and Balance Bars
Granulated fructose (Whole Foods sells this in bulk for a great price)
Nescafe Decaf French Roast instant coffee

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