For many parents going to the grocery is not a pleasant experience. Especially if there are little ones asking to have everything! But I urge you to get excited about going to the grocery and make it a fun family trip (at least once a month). Remember that if you are excited about food…your kids will be too! We want kids to know where our food comes from and although a trip to a farm or farmers market is the best, the grocery is also a place to help them become familiar with real food!

I suggest making a family scavenger hunt for your family. Make teams if your kids are too young to participate alone. When you write out the shopping list involve your kids, get their suggestions for what they would like to have for dinner and ask them what things they need to get for that dish. Involve them and it alleviates some of the mystery or scariness behind food. Let them know that it is a fun game and at the end they get to pick out one special something from the store – maybe something they have never tried before! If this sounds miserable for you because you fear your child will knock everything off the shelves while running through the aisles screaming then just make a special one time trip and really make it more of a learning lesson than a regular shopping trip!


Foods That Should be on Your Shopping List!

I broke these up into sections as to how you may find them in the grocery. Do NOT be overwhelmed by this list or attempt to buy them all in one trip. Just ease into it, try a new dish here or there. ALWAYS be kind to yourself as you are making this adjustment, trying new things in the kitchen or figuring ways to get your family to like vegetables. It is not easy but remember why you decided to make the change for yourself and your family.

Produce: (be cautious as to not buy more than your family can eat before they go bad so they don’t go to waste – if as you are figuring out what your family likes and doesn’t like and at first have produce going bad faster than you can eat…don’t forget about your freezer! It loves to keep things fresh for you until you are ready to eat them)

  • Avocados galore – store these in a brown bag with apples on a counter to ripen them quicker or for soft avocados keep them in the fridge to slow the speed they ripen at
  • Carrots (great with hummus or as an on the go snack)
  • Greens either in the plastic clam packages or  – try swapping them every week so you can try different varieties and find your favorites
  • Lemons/Limes
  • Berries and tomatoes during summer months
  • Winter squash, brussel sprouts and root veggies during winter months
  • Sweet potatoes – the purple ones are my favorite!
  • Organic Apples
  • Various produce – I always suggest following sales when it comes to produce if you are watching your budget, make your meals for the week once you get to the store and see what is on sale

Meats/fish:

  • Organic chicken breast, thighs, drumsticks
  • Whole organic roast chickens
  • Ground bison
  • Bison hot dogs
  • Grass-fed sausage with no added sugar
  • Organic sliced turkey breast
  • Grass-fed bacon with low sugar
  • Organic Cage-Free eggs (Boiled, scrambled or fried egg) – the yolk is the best part so don’t forgo it
  • Wild caught fish – getting them fresh is the best but frozen is a good alternative for fish like Wild Salmon that you can only get 3 months out of the year
  • Gelatin/collagen – Great to add to smoothies and your family will never know

Dairy: (Other than contrary belief try to limit your dairy intake, with an exception of butter and ghee which in that case…get as much as you can!)

  • Grass-fed butter
  • Ghee which is clarified butter – this is sometimes not refrigerated but found on grocery shelves and is generally only at health food stores
  • Grass-fed milk cheese – try raw milk cheeses, they are often times easier to digest
  • Aged parmesan cheese
  • Whole milk that is NOT ultra pasteurized – Kalona Super Natural is my go to if I’m having craving milk
  • BPA-Free canned Coconut milk – be leery of the alternative milks in the refrigerated section, they are mostly water and most have a lot of additives and sweetness
  • Whole Yogurt – watch the sugar, I like plain then adding honey and/or fruit

Frozen:

Nuts and seeds + similar goodies: (Soaked and dehydrated are the easiest way to digest nuts, this is easy to do with raw nuts purchased at the store. Just soak them in water overnight and dehydrate them if you are fortunate enough to have a dehydrator or you can bake them at the lowest temperature your oven will go for 5-10 hours depending the nut. They should be easy to break in half. Make sure you cook them long enough so you don’t get mold!)

  • Raw almonds
  • Raw walnuts
  • Raw cashews
  • Raw pecans
  • Raw pumpkin seeds
  • Pine nuts  – try making your own pesto!
  • Dehydrated fruit with no added sugar
  • Trail mix with limited dried fruit and no milk chocolate pieces – watch out for sugar covered nuts

Oils/vinegar: (Fats are your friend!)

  • Organic coconut oil – cook with this oil, it is the most stable at high heats
  • Avocado oil
  • Olive oil – but not to cook with, just to drizzle after something is cooked
  • Grass-fed lard
  • Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Coconut Secret Liquid Aminos
  • Coconut Secret Vinegar

Bread/grains/rice/cereal and such

  • Whole wheat pizza
  • Whole wheat pita (also great with hummus)
  • Whole wheat pasta – great tossed in olive oil or ghee after it has cooked and top it with parmesan (fun fact: Italians feed their children parmesan like American child get string cheese, they say it helps develop and strengthen bones)
  • Sprouted wraps
  • Low sugar, high fiber cereal
  • Brown rice
  • Quinoa
  • Granola with the least amount of sugar

Beverages

  • Herbal Teas – hundreds of varieties, there is bound to be one that your family can share together
  • Kombucha – watch the sugar
  • Coconut water
  • Stevia water enhancers

Miscellaneous

  • Organic fermented vegetables or kraut
  • Fermented miso
  • Olives
  • Hummus
  • Red sauce – watch the sugar, or making your own is very easy! My go to recipe is carrot, celery, onion and a jar of organic tomatoes  and basil, oregano and salt to taste
  • Granola bar – look for ones with no added sugar that only have fruits to sweeten
  • Grass-fed Beef Jerky (Epic Bars are very popular)
  • No sugar added nut butter – try one every month, sticking with peanut butter is boring, try almond or cashew butters or make your own
  • Fruit leather with no added sugar
  • Applesauce with no added sugar
  • Organic salsa – the refrigerated fresh kind is always better than jar
  • Non-gmo verified corn chips – I like the Sprouted Way Better sunflower or black bean tortilla chips or Jackson’s Honest Coconut Oil blue corn chips
  • Potato Chips cooked in coconut oil
  • Organic gluten-free crackers – Mary‘s are yummy and come in many flavors!
  • Organic black beans in Non-BPA lined cans
  • Organic kidney beans in Non-BPA lined cans

Shop, shop until you drop and remember that you don’t like everything and most likely your kids won’t either but try, try again. The goal is to find things they do like and with time you will. Don’t feel defeated when they don’t like your kale chips or first attempt at making hummus! They are not going to like everything. Prepare yourself for that. You may spend time, you don’t have, making things that they “claim” to hate and that really stinks. You fall off a bike and you get back on. Although I highly suggest eliminating saying bad things about food and not allowing them to say no or ew. Make a new family rule that you must try a bite of everything and if you don’t like it then simply say no thank you. I realize this is tough and possibly unrealistic for some to imagine. At first it will be the hardest, as they are getting used to how to talk about food with positivity and appreciating all that it does for them. Keep that chin up! You are planting seeds in their little minds and training those little tongues. You rock!

Have love for yourself and your efforts! – ML

P.S. If your children are older and you are making separate meals for each child…stop it right now! Family time is just that. Sharing food together. The same food. Think how it has been done for centuries. You eat what is in front of you or else you go hungry. If they don’t like it, they will learn eventually. This is especially tough. Think of the light at the end of the tunnel. What will you do with all that extra free time? You can do this!

Be cautious while shopping for healthy options. Millions of dollars each year go in to marketing products towards making you want them! "Natural" is a trick health term companies use to make you think they are healthy. Always read what is actually in the product!

Be cautious while shopping for healthy options. Millions of dollars each year go in to marketing products towards making you want them! “Natural” is a trick health term companies use to make the customer think their product is good for you. Always read what is actually in the product!