LISTmania: kitchen staples and grocery goodness

I decided to sit down and make myself a grocery guide.  I am an incessant list-maker and actually found this otherwise tedious task to be kind of fun! J  I figured if I was going to make a list for myself I might as well blog it too.  You never know when someone else might find it useful!

My family and I have very eclectic tastes when it comes to food…and we really do LOVE to eat.  So sometimes a simple trip to HEB or Wal-Mart does not cover all of our grocery needs so I shop at smaller, specialty/imports stores a lot too.  I’ll start off with a list of my favorite grocery stores.  I normally shop at:

-         Wal-Mart

-         Food Town

-         HEB

-         Phoenicia specialty foods

-         Trader Joe’s (now that we have one in the area, even though it is far away!)

-         Asian grocery stores

-         Costco

-         Dollar stores (occasionally you’ll find some good stuff at these too!)

Now let's talk about pantry, refrigerator, and freezer staples.  Keep in mind that I love to cook and since I do, I am often experimenting and trying out some new recipe, or making up one of my own.  Because of this, I usually keep our pantry/refrigerator/freezer well stocked because I never know what I am going to need.  Here are the items that I like to keep stocked in at any given time.

Pantry Staples
Pastas Penne Linguini Thin spaghetti Orzo Vermicelli Tortellini Wide egg noodles	Dough Bread (whole grain) Tortillas (whole wheat or brown rice) Pitas Multigrain Baking and Pancake Mix Jiffy (cornbread mix) Pretzels Crackers (saltine, Triscuit, Wheat Thins)	Canned Goods Black beans Canellini beans Red Kidney Beans Garbanzo beans Corn (low sodium) Green Beans Artichokes Beets Tomatoes Sauce Tomato Paste Rotel Tuna Sardines Pink Salmon Chicken Cream of Chicken soup Cream of Mushroom soup Peanut Butter	Spices Garlic cloves Chili Powder Smoked Paprika Coarse Kosher Salt Pepper Mill Don’s Cajun Seasoning Cayenne Pepper Lemon Pepper Sweet Basil Oregano Parsley Flakes Red Pepper Flakes Rosemary Thyme Ground Ginger Curry Powder Sage Poultry Seasoning Asian Five Spice Coriander Sesame Seeds Tahini Greek Seasoning Mix Italian Seasoning Mix Worcestershire Sauce Heinz 57 Balsamic Vinegar Apple Cider Vinegar White Vinegar Rice Vinegar Olive Oil Canola Oil
Veggies Onions Sweet potatoes Red potatoes Tomatoes Grapefruit	Grains Brown rice Quinoa Oats (steel cut oats or old fashioned oats) Barley Wheat Berries Israeli CousCous	Teas Jasmine Green Tea (loose) Chamomile Earl Gray Mint Yerba Mate (orange peel, mint and regular) Kool-Aid Water Add-Ins (Lemonade, Pink Lemonade, Cherry Limeade, Strawberry Lemonade, Raspberry, Orange Awake) Coffee
Sweeteners Sugar Sugar Substitute (Splenda, Equal, Stevia) Coconut Palm Sugar Honey Agave Nectar	For Baking Cinnamon Nutmeg Cocoa Powder Sugar Brown Sugar Baking Powder Sweetened Condensed Milk Evaporated Milk	Cereals Special K red berries Special K vanilla almond Honey Nut Cheerios Cocoa Krispies (my splurge) Cream-of-Wheat Barley	Protein Powder (Dymatize Elite)

Refrigerator Staples
Dairy Milk Eggs Butter (Best Life) Cheese Feta Swiss slices Kraft American slices Parmegiano Reggiano Laughing Cow wedges Cream Cheese (cooking)	Veggies Salad Mixed Greens Mushrooms Cucumber Parsley Cilantro Cauliflower Sugar Snap Peas Celery Zuchini Squash Asparagus Brussel Sprouts Green Bell Pepper Red Bell Pepper	Fruit Strawberries Mangoes Grapes Watermelon Cantaloupe Bananas Apples	Dressings Lite Ranch Light Champagne Vinaigrette (TJ’s) Caesar Vinaigrette Newmann’s Own Low-Fat Sesame Ginger
Roasted Red Peppers Dill Relish Sweet Relish Olives Capers Banana Peppers	Smoked Turkey sliced meat Honey Ham sliced meat Canadian Bacon Bacon	Sugar-Free Apricot Preserves Sugar-Free Orange Marmalade Pollener’s All-Fruit blueberry Sugar-Free Apricot Preserves Sugar-Free Orange Marmalade Pollener’s All-Fruit blueberry	Ketchup Bar-b-Que (sweet baby ray’s) Frank’s Hot Sauce Brown Mustard Mustard Olive Oil Mayonaise Sugar-Free Syrup Hershey’s syrup
Mexican sauces Salsa Valentina Jalapeño Salsa (Pineapple Mango)	Asian Sauces Low Sodium soy sauce Sriracha Hoisin Ponzu sauce Sweet chili sauce Oyster Sauce Chili Garlic Sauce	Reduced Fat – Croissant Dough (in a can)

Freezer Staples
Meat Chicken breasts Chicken Sausage Ground Turkey Tilapia Fillets Salmon Turkey Breakfast Sausage Pork Tenderloin Pork Loin Whole Chicken Beef Steak Cubes Rib-Eye or New York Strip Steak	Veggies Peas Corn Brocolli Chopped Spinach Mixed Veggies	Nuts Walnuts Pecans Sunflower Seeds Sun Dried Tomatoes Chocolate Chips
Pie Crusts Filo Dough

Now that you know what I usually have available in my kitchen, let’s talk about where I usually shop.  Where I shop definitely depends on pricing because let’s face it, I’m a cheap frugal girl!  I like to get the best price possible for the items that I buy.  Sometimes this means going to different grocery stores for different items but I also don’t like to drive all over town.  Driving around wasting gas defeats the purpose of saving money on groceries!  With that being said, here are the stores where I usually shop at.

Where I Buy What
Wal-Mart This is where I get the majority of my groceries.  Btw, Wal-Mart price matches, although I don’t have the patience to do this! Produce Meat Breads/pastas/etc Toiletries Cleaning supplies Paper goods	Food Town Meat Produce Dairy	HEB Fish Shrimp produce	Dollar Stores Water add-ins Sometimes you can find things like bread, spices, canned goods
Hong Kong Market (Asian Grocery Store) Frozen Edamame Jasmine Green Tea (loose leaves) Asian sauces Brown jasmine or basmati rice	Phoenicia Pitas Lamb Chicken Hearts Filo dough Imported cheeses (Feta, Parmigiano Reggiano, Fontina, Asiago, Romano, Goat) Fresh olives Beet Salad Prosciutto Greek yogurt Fennel Imported Olive Oil (large quantity) Spices Teas Desserts (baklava, chocolate covered almonds, imported chocolates and truffles) Sundried tomatoes Wheat berries Garbanzos Tahini Israeli couscous	Costco Trash bags Toilet Paper Paper Towels Strawberries Watermelon Frozen organic broccoli Ground turkey Chipotle Black Bean Burgers Salmon Steaks Laundry detergent Dish soap	Trader Joe’s Grapefruit Brown Rice Tortillas Imported Italian Pastas (Orechiette, /Stuffed Ravioli and Tortellini) Canellini Beans Cereal Wine Whole Wheat Pizza Dough Bacon Ends and Pieces Chicken Sausage Italian Blood Orange Soda Fresh Basil plant Cookie Butter

I hope you find these lists helpful!  Of course you’ll have to tweak them to suit your own family's likes and needs, and to the grocery stores that you shop at.  Nevertheless, I’m hoping this helps, even if just as a starting point for you.

Questions for you:

What are your favorite stores that you shop at?
What are some of your favorite grocery store items?
What are some items that you always have in your pantry/refrigerator/freezer?