Nutrition In The Kitchen

Cooking Classes in Woodland Hills, California

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Multi-Store Grocery Guide

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Grocery Store Shopping List-An Aisle by Aisle Guide

GROCERY STORE RULES:

  1. Ingredient List: 5 or Less is Best, More than 10, Think Again
  2. All Ingredients on the Label should be Sold in the Grocery Store

Before you head out to the store, you might want to check websites like Raise (see here – https://www.raise.com/coupons/walmart) for discounts that you could use on some of these ingredients to help bring down the cost of your grocery shopping bill.
**Please note that I have a separate shopping list for Trader Joe’s items**

Bread /Tortillas

Best choices:

  • Old Town Baking Company Whole Wheat Sourdough, and all by Old Town Baking Company (sold at Sprouts and Gelsons)
  • Bread with less than 10 ingredients and no added wheat gluten is okay
  • Ezekial bread if you like the taste
  • TortillaLand uncooked tortillas (in refrigerated section)
  • Mission Organic Uncooked Tortillas (in refrigerated section)

Avoid: added wheat gluten, cellulose fiber, soybean oil, soy flour, soy lecithin, monoglycerides.  Bread shouldn’t have GMO soy in it!!! 

Avoid: tortillas with more than 15 ingredients

Cereal

Best choices:

  • Kashi Heart 2 Heart, Puffins, Cheerios, Gorilla Munch, LoveGrown, Kix, Life, Frosted Mini Wheats

Avoid: 

  • anything with fake colors (blue/yellow/red with a number)
  • added soy including defatted soy grits, and soy protein isolate
  • most protein added cereal 
  • wheat gluten

Frozen Breakfast

Best choices:

  • Van’s 8 Grain Waffles
  • Frozen oatmeal 

Avoid:

  • Eggo
  • Most frozen breakfast sandwiches

Meat/Chicken/Fish

Best choices:

  • Best use of your organic dollar here is organic ground beef rather than regular ground beef
  • Ground turkey-brown to add to marinara sauce, or make turkey meatballs/turkey 
  • meatloaf 
  • Chicken
    • Roast skin-on bone-in chicken to add to salads/quesadilla/pasta and more
  • Sauté thin sliced chicken breasts 
  • Roast chicken legs
  • If possible, wild salmon is an amazing choice (it can be previously flash frozen)
  • Rotisserie chicken in the prepared foods can be a great time-saver

Dairy – yogurt, cheese, milk

Best choices:

  • Best use of your organic dollar: organic milk
  • My favorite yogurt brands: Siggi’s, Mountain High, Fage, Chobani, Stonyfield Farms
  • All milk is fine, A2 milk is a good choice if you have problems with dairy and want to try a dairy milk that may be gentler on your stomach
  • Milk alternatives-almond/cashew/coconut-all are fine HOWEVER, if you have a young child, check with your pediatrician/dietitian because they are too low in calories and protein for many kids under age 5
  • Coffee Creamer: Natural Bliss brand by CoffeeMate, Organic Valley Flavored ½ & ½ 
  • Cheese – for portion control, Babybel, Balanced Breaks by Sargento, and string cheese are good
  • Keep a good Parmigiano-Reggiano on hand to liven up salads, pasta dishes and more
  • Most cheese in the dairy case is fine

Avoid:

  • Yogurt with fake colors or cookie toppings, Trix yogurt, Go-gurt
  • Low-fat block cheese (it is better to use less of regular cheese)

Crackers/Chips/Granola Bars

Best choices

  • Triscuits with 3 ingredients
  • Skinny Pop or Boom Chicka Pop
  • SunChips and Organic SunChips
  • Stacy’s Naked Pita Chips
  • Ak-Mak and Kavli crackers
  • La Panzanella crackers
  • Nature Valley Oats & Honey granola bars
  • Kind bars
  • Pure Organic bars
  • RX bar
  • Larabar 
  • Orville Redenbacher Naturals-Simply Salted microwave popcorn
  • Most crackers with 2 or more grams fiber and less than 10 ingredients are fine

Avoid:

  • Crackers or chips with added protein (not needed at all)
  • Any chips with more than 10 ingredients
  • Fake colors-orange, red chips 

Fruit Gummies – Avoid completely!!  If you must buy these, they are dessert, not fruit. 

Canned fruit/applesauce/pouches

  • Most okay if less than 5 ingredients
  • Only buy applesauce without added sugar

Avoid:

  • Applesauce with added sugar
  • Fruit gummies

Frozen Meals

Best choices:

  • Many from Amy’s brand are good
  • Frozen meals with less than 15 ingredients
  • Frozen meals with all ingredients sold in the same store you are in
  • All frozen fruits and veggies are fine
  • Van’s frozen waffles
  • Outshine popsicles (the regular version, not low sugar)
  • Alexia frozen potato products

Frozen meals are fine if all the ingredients on the label are sold in a grocery store.

Avoid:

  • Avoid crazy-long 30+ ingredient products! 
  • Avoid “kid cuisine” frozen meals

Produce Section

Every single fruit and vegetable are fine. Nothing in this section is too high in sugar or carbohydrate 

Refrigerated Section

  • Refrigerated prepared hummus
  • Aidell’s meatballs and sausage

Canned Seafood

Wild Planet, Natural Directions, Whole Foods 365 and Sustainable Seas Tuna-these brands are caught in a more sustainable way, and the tuna are caught smaller and hence are lower in mercury 

Salad Dressing/Condiments

The first ingredient in almost all salad dressing is soybean oil-and this will be GMO soybean oil 99% of the time.  You can look for an organic salad dressing, which at least will have non-GMO soybean oil.  

Good condiments to have on hand for cooking:

  • Low-sodium soy sauce
  • sherry vinegar
  • apple cider vinegar
  • high quality aged balsamic vinegar or balsamic glaze
  • red wine vinegar
  • extra-virgin olive oil (California Olive Ranch makes a good everyday oil)
  • non-GMO or organic canola oil
  • hoisin sauce
  • Dijon mustard like Maille brand
  • Simply Heinz ketchup
  • Regular peanut or almond butter (not low-fat)