What's On My Grocery List?

How was your weekend?
I wish that I could say mine was pretty eventful. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my post on Friday night:


I have been battling a nasty bug the last couple of weeks and it finally knocked me off my feet on Friday. So...aside from sleep, vitamins and soup, I spent the weekend prepping for some awesome posts this week! Yay!

I have been sharing a few of my healthy eating tips here and there, and today, I wanted to share a little bit about my grocery shopping habits.

Every Saturday, I sit down and create a grocery list for the week. I love to cook but I hate to choose what we will eat for the week. So as I sat down this weekend to put my grocery list together, I realized that there are a few items that I always have on my list every week. I keep these select items on my list because they are so versatile. When I am feeling uninspired in the kitchen, I can always turn to them to add a little something to each meal!

 I will share them with you and then share how I use them throughout the week in meals and snacks.

Easy Spinach, Cherry Tomato and Penne Pasta

This is my go-to dinner (and sometimes lunch) when I can't think of what to make. It's so simple! 

Easy Penne Pasta

Handful of Cherry Tomatoes

Drizzle of Olive Oil

Teaspoon of Garlic

Penne Pasta

Heaping amount of spinach

Tablespoon of Basil 

(you could use less, I love basil so I add alot!)

Sprinkle of Parmesan Cheese

I add a little olive oil to a pan over medium heat while I'm heating water to boil the pasta. 

 I then add a little bit of garlic and throw the Cherry Tomatoes into the pan with a little salt, pepper and basil (cover with a lid and let it sit). 

When the tomatoes start to "pop" I reduce the heat (keep covered) and throw a heaping pile of spinach in (don't worry, it will shrink...ALOT)

When water for pasta is boiling, I throw the penne in and allow it to cook until al dente.

When pasta is fully cooked, I strain, toss it in a bowl, throw the tomato/spinach combo on top and sprinkle it with a little parmesan! 

(Season with more basil or salt again if necessary)

SO EASY, right?!

I also love to use cherry tomatoes and spinach in omelets and salads. You could use the tomatoes as a snack with a little hummus too. And spinach is great as a smoothie ingredient as well!

I love having nuts in the pantry to have as a grab-n-go snack, to add in cereals, oatmeal, in salads, muffins, pancakes...the list goes on! I'll add them wherever I can hide them in meals.

Dried cranberries are awesome because they are also great to hide in food like muffins or to use in your own trail mix combination. I personally love them on salads to add a little sweet component. I use these all week long. 

Feta cheese is a great low fat cheese to add to salads, pasta, omelets. SO good! I can always find a use for feta. My husband and I cannot get enough of it.

Greek yogurt is great as is for a morning snack with granola and chia seeds, in smoothies and as a sauce substitution that may typically call for heavy cream--really handy to have in the house.

Apples are the best. And they last forever! Sometimes I get "fruit and veggie happy" and buy too much at the grocery store (hoping that I will eat it all) and it just isn't used fast enough aka it gets moldy and goes bad. Apples, however, are great because they last so long! I use apples in so many things: oatmeal, pancakes, as an afternoon snack, in smoothies, in desserts and I also use applesauce as an oil substitute. 

I never use oil anymore (unless it's olive or coconut oil) because of the horrible fats so many oils have. When I am baking, I always use apple sauce, you seriously cannot taste the difference! Give it a try, I promise you won't miss the vegetable or canola oil. 

I love using Trader Joe's Multigrain Pancake Mix and add apple sauce (to sub oil) and to dice an apple, toss that in (along with the milk and eggs), add some nutmeg and cinnamon and stir. When the pancakes have been cooked, I love to add applesauce on top, it's a great alternative to syrup! 

So there you have it! Just a few healthy, helpful grocery shopping tips! 

What do you keep in your fridge or pantry at all times? I'd love to know.

I hope you have an AWESOME week! Happy Monday!