Grocery Staples

Every weekend I spend some time planning the meals my husband and I will share for the next week. This is followed by a grocery list that I will carry with me on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning as I shop for them at our local markets.  Naturally, many items come and go on the list, but there are several that might as well be automatically placed there. Every household has their pantry and refrigerator staples and we are no exception. However, these must-have grocery items are not much different from what was on my pre-wife lists...it's just crazy how much faster they disappear in our house with two bellies consuming them. Henry and I are constantly eating these foods as they are often a part of almost all our meals-- we're pretty healthy eaters so these items are standard. I am SURE, our staples will be changing when babies enter the picture in a few years. Until then, here they are.

1. Black Beans // I add these to salads and mix them into veggie saute's a lot. We like our black beans because they are a good source of lean protein in side dishes.

2. Eggs // I have stopped purchasing eggs by the dozen and now by the case of 24. These are a breakfast staple with our toast or oatmeal in the morning. We also like to have them on hand when they are hard-boiled as snacks or toppings on salads. Since I bake a lot, one may be surprised with how quickly we go through a case of eggs.

3. Alvarado Street Baking Complete Protein Sprouted Grain Bread // This is the only kind of bread we eat 90% of the time. With sprouted grains and tons of protein, this loaf is great for our health and we love the texture and taste.

4. Unsweetened Almond Milk // Henry loves this with his protein shakes in the morning and I like to drink it with my snack or use it to replace milk sometimes.

5. Fat Free Milk // Milk goes in plenty of things in our house! Eggs, baking, oatmeal, protein shakes, coffee...etc, etc. Can't get enough of the moo juice, I guess.

6. Spring Mix // In our house, salads and veggies are constant visitors on our meal plates. I love big salads loaded with fresh greens and I also sometimes blend up green smoothies with this mix.

7. Justin's Maple Almond Butter // This. Stuff. Is. So. Good. Gah! It is very expensive though at about $10.50 a jar! However, we love it so much that we give in about every week and half for it. We eat this on our toast in the morning and Henry is also notorious for his special snack of "Almond Butter Fingers". It doesn't take much to make this snack...all he needs are his fingers and the jar. :)

8. Bananas // Our little family loves bananas...this includes our pups. They are good for you and easy to eat. I like to keep over-ripened bananas available for baking, but it's not often that they stay around long enough to get that ripe before we eat them all.

9. Quinoa // This is our go-to grain! I love replacing rice with quinoa and adding it to salads. We definitely eat a lot of this.

10. Old-Fashioned Oats // Breakfast by default is typically oatmeal. Starting off our morning with a bowl of it definitely gives us a good send-off and keeps us full for awhile.