The grocery store can be a daunting place. Often we go grocery shopping when hungry (when we let our stomach fill our carts), and when we have little time. However, what ingredients you have on hand an home is one of the most important components when eating healthy, using organic and local ingredients, and cooking healthy. Here are important tips to make sure you get the most out of the trip to the grocery store or farmers market, and how to make good choices for healthy recipes, organic and local produce, healthy eating, and healthy cooking.
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- 1. Produce, Produce, Produce
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The best source of local and organic produce is the farmers market! Check out the map and see if there is a local market near you. If not available, carefully look at the signs in your grocery store to see if they mention where the produce has been grown. Spend majority of your time in the produce section for fresh fruits and vegetables. The cheaper the vegetable, the more likely that it is in season as the farmers have a surplus in supply. You can allow fresh produce to ripen so it maximizes the nutritious and flavor potential. Fresh produce can also be less expensive than frozen or canned, but if not available, check out the freezer. Some frozen products, like peas, are great year round and always have good flavor.
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- 2. Buy Spices and Plain Condiments
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Pre-made salad dressings or other flavored condiments are sneakily not healthy. Although you may use just a small amount at each meal, there are tons of chemicals, sodium, sugars, and fats. The good news is that flavorful dressings are simple to create at home (oil, acid, salt and peppers is the basic combination) and just need a few inexpensive ingredients. Utilizing different spices can drastically change the flavor and add an interesting twice. Check out the farmers market for great herbs to add to the dressings – fresh herbs have very different flavors than dried herbs and can make a difference in a recipe. Here are some great recipes: Lime and Cumin give a fresh yet smoky taste Oregano and Red Wine Vinegar
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- 3. Avoid the soda or drinks aisle
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Sticking with water is one of the most healthy decisions a family can make. Even organic beverages can be high in unnecessary sugars. Try drinking seltzer, and flavoring it with fresh, local, produce – like raspberries and lemons in the summertime – as an alternative.
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- 4. Know your labels
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Don’t automatically choose products that aggressively advertise “Low- Whatever” or organic on them. If a product says Low-Sugar, natural sugar may have just been replaced with an artificial sweetener, yuck! There are specific guidelines surrounding how the term “organic” can be used – check out the question and answer section here for the rules
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- 5. Look for natural/organic/local foods
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Natural or Real does not necessarily mean organic. Look at the ingredient list of any product you buy to make sure you know what all the ingredients are! Healthy products will list all “real” ingredients- non-healthy foods are made up of lots of chemicals that you don’t know how to pronounce. A good rule to stick by products that contain five ingredients or less.
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- 6. Check out the freezer section
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Look in the freezer section for frozen fruits or veggies, but avoid pre-made items. Having frozen veggies on hand is a great way to always make sure there is something green on the plate when you can’t make it to the store, or when all the seasonal, local vegetables have left the farmers market.
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- 7. Good Carbohydrates: Whole Grains
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Carbohydrates can be found almost everywhere – yet most people focus on starches. When picking out bread at the grocery store, look for Whole Grains and Whole Wheat, and always make sure that whole wheat is the first listed ingredient. Same thing goes for pasta. If you try some whole wheat pasta and don’t love the flavor at first (it does taste different), try thinner noodles like spaghetti to start off with, then gradually move into others like penne or farfalle. Be adventurous! There are lots of alternatives to wheat flour in the market these days – try coconut flour, almond flour, brown rice pasta, or bulgar wheat.
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- 8. Make a List
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Being focused in the grocery store or at a farmers market reduces impulse purchases and makes shopping more efficient. By taking the time to plan meals, you become actively engaged with healthy decision making. When researching healthy recipes, lots of places offer to email you your very own shopping list! Spend time in the organic section to familiarize yourself with specific brands – then make sure to write the names of the brands down to remember them for future purchases.
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- 9. Be Creative
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If you have time, browse the aisles! See if you find any interesting, new, local or organic ingredients, then go home and find a new recipe to showcase it! A good place to start is the spice or Asian food aisle. Here is a recipe using Smoked Paprika, and here is one with Fish Sauce.
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- 10. The meat section
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Stick with Poultry, Fish, other lean meats, and check out substitutions for more ideas.
Image: flickr user NatalieMaynor, licensed by Creative Commons
