Good Eats: The Healthy Kitchen Shopping List
Along with portion control, one of our biggest secrets for sticking to a healthy diet is having a well-stocked pantry. The reason is simple: If you have the ingredients on hand to quickly whip up a balanced meal, then you’re less likely to turn to things like chips and candy. It’s simple enough, but it really works!
To save time and money, we’ve started ordering our pantry staples from Thrive Market. Thrive Market is an online shop where you can find over 4,000 healthy, organic, natural foods, and products for 25 to 50 percent less than what they cost at a health food or grocery store. (There are plenty of gluten-free, Paleo, raw, and vegan options as well.) You pay a $59.95 annual membership fee, and then you can shop all you want. One of the nicest things about Thrive Market is that for every paid membership, they donate a free membership to a family in need. Their goal is to make healthy, organic, and natural food accessible to low-income families too.
We’ve gotten into the habit of keeping our cupboards full with items from Thrive Market and then stopping by our local farmers market to complete our menu for the week. Between the pantry staples below and the fresh produce, freshly baked bread, dairy products, and meat from the farmers market, we rarely have to step foot in a grocery store these days. It’s a pretty nice routine to get into!
Here a couple general guidelines to keep in mind when stocking your healthy kitchen…
- Buy organic and non-GMO whenever possible
- Always opt for whole grains over white flour
- Avoid white, processed sugars
- Look for low-sodium foods
- Steer clear of ingredients you can’t pronounce
- Try to incorporate super foods into your diet on a daily basis. Our favorite way to do this is by whipping up a skinny smoothie for breakfast or a snack.
- If you are on a special diet (gluten-free, dairy-free, etc.), stick with it and don’t cheat!
- Stock your cabinet with flavorful spices to make for a delicious meal without too much sodium or fat.
And here is our shopping list from Thrive Market. We order these items every week!
Grains
- Organic Sprouted Quinoa
- Whole Wheat or Brown Rice Pasta
- Organic Brown Rice
- Steel Cut Oats
- Multigrain Pancake and Waffle Mix
- Breadcrumbs
Canned Goods
- Non-GMO Canned Tuna
- Non-GMO Canned Salmon
- Canned Beans (Garbanzo, Cannellini, and Black)
- Canned Tomatoes or Tomato Paste
- Marinara Sauce
- Canned Chilies
- Artichoke Hearts
- Organic Low-Sodium Chicken or Vegetable Stock
Dressings, Sauces, and Condiments
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Toasted Sesame Oil
- Coconut Oil
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Organic Ketchup
- Organic Stone Ground Mustard
- Avocado Oil Mayo
- Pitted Olives
- Capers
- Reduced Sodium Tamari
- Organic Fruit Spread
Healthy Snacks
- Almond Butter
- Crackers
- Walnuts
- Cashews
- Almonds
- Applesauce
Superfoods
Beverages
You can also shop our entire grocery list by clicking HERE. We can guarantee that everything will be healthy and delicious, and that you will be amazing when you see how much you save versus shopping at a health food store.
With a little help from our friends at Thrive Market, we created this delicious recipe that you can make from scratch using the staples in our recent order…
Grain-Free Cherry Vanilla Granola
By Thrive Market
Going grain-free doesn’t have to mean a sacrifice to your morning routine. This healthy homemade granola is actually made tastier by being Paleo. Rich and nutty with smooth, sweet vanilla spices and tangy cherries, serving it up with some almond milk seals the deal!
Yield: 2 quarts
Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 cups raw walnuts
- 2 cups raw cashews
- 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 cup dried cherries
- 3 tablespoons hempseeds
- 1 large egg white
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/3 cup raw honey
- 1 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla powder or extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon Maldon sea salt
- almond milk, to serve
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the walnuts, cashews, and pumpkin seeds into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to break the nuts into small pieces, the size of rolled oats. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and stir in the coconut, cherries, and hemp seeds.
- In a small mixing bowl, beat together the egg white and water until foamy. Whisk in the coconut oil, honey, vanilla powder or extract, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Pour this mixture over the nuts and stir until everything is fully coated.
- Spread the granola mixture in an even layer on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in oven for 30 minutes, stirring once midway through the cooking process. Once golden-brown and crispy, remove from oven and allow to sit, undisturbed on the counter, for 10 minutes. This allows for the clusters to form. Break apart the large clusters with a spatula.
- Serve with almond milk and berries or eat by the handful for a nutrient-packed delight.
You can find even more tasty recipes on the Thrive Market blog!
We know you’ll all love Thrive Market as much as we do, so we partnered with them to bring you a little giveaway…
You could win a $500 Thrive Market shopping spree or 1 of 10 free memberships!
Click over to Thrive’s website to enter.
What are you going to order from Thrive Market?
Share your favorite healthy staples below.
This post is proudly sponsored by…
