Grocery time!

I don’t know about you but if we have ice cream in the house I am bound to eat it as evening snack.  If it isn’t there, I easily reach for fruit and yogurt and absolutely love it!!!  The moral of the story….don’t buy food that you don’t want to be tempted by!

Here are a few tips to help you on your grocery store adventures so that you bring the best food possibly into your house for you and your family.

1. Make a list. Here are a few steps to help you with your list.
   1. Make a meal plan for the week so you know what groceries you will need for meals. You may need to pop back into the store for a few things that you need fresh near the end of the week but do your best to get everything you can.
   2. Check the flyers to see what is on special so you can plan your meals around that as much as possible.
   3. Make your list in the order that you will walk through the grocery store.
   4. If it isn’t on the list don’t get it unless it is an extra fruit or vegetable item.
2. Stick to the outside of the grocery store.  You will find fruits, vegetables, bread products, dairy products, meats, and fish on the outside perimeter.  The aisles tend to be packaged foods with added sugar, added salt, and higher saturated fat content. Only go down the aisles for things that you need and remember to look at the labels to find the healthiest options.  Items such as whole grain cereals, whole grain pastas, rice, quinoa, olive oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil, avocado oil, various types of vinegars, natural peanut or almond butter, and whole grain crackers are ideas of foods that you may want to get from the aisles. Here are a few things to look for on the label..
   1. Look at the ingredient list.  The ingredients are listed in order of weight.  Stay away from items that have sugar, glucose/fructose, corn syrup, or other words to describe sugar near the top of the list. If you have trouble reading the words in the ingredient list, there are likely too many preservatives in the product….just put it back and walk away!
   2. Don’t be fooled by Nutrient Content Claims.  For example, “lower in sodium” means that the product has less sodium than the original product.  The lower sodium product may still be high in sodium.
   3. Aim for high fibre, low saturated fat, and low simple sugar when choosing items.
3. Buy treats in small quantities.  If you like to have a “treat food” in your house, try to avoid the big bag/container of it.  Buy a small amount that you can enjoy once rather than several days in a row.
4. If your children ask for things throughout the store that are not healthy choices, don’t be afraid to explain why you are choosing to now buy it.  Kids need to learn why and how we make healthy choices.
5. Choose organic for the things that are more guaranteed to be organic.  Choosing organic fruits and vegetables is fine if you want to but remember that these foods are grown without pesticides, but may not actually be pesticide free if the wind carried pesticides over from the farm next door.  It is more worth while to choose organic eggs, milk, meats, and poultry if you are okay to spend the extra money on those items.

Hope these tips help with your next grocery store adventure and of course remember…never shop with an empty stomach 😉

Until next time….happy shopping!