Top Ten Tuesday: Grocery List

I seem to buy a lot of the same things when I go to the grocery store. I'm sure we all have our own lists of what we consider to be staples for the fridge, freezer, and pantry. These are the things that are almost always on my list:

1. Milk - with a 3 year old in the house, we go through a lot of milk! In a few short months, when David starts drinking whole milk, we'll be going through even more. Maybe we should buy a cow to keep in the backyard...

2. Flavored coffee creamer - a totally non-essential purchase, but one that makes me smile every morning. I like coffee, and I like it sweet & creamy & flavorful. I'm looking into making my own to see if it will save money and still give me the joy of yumminess.

3. Pioneer Baking Mix - I have always used Bisquick, but I tried Pioneer Brand Baking Mix about a month ago, and it's wonderful! The first time I used it, I made biscuits, and they were so, SO good. They were fluffy and tender and yummy, and I was instantly converted. I don't think I'll ever buy Bisquick again!


4. Bananas - my daughter loves bananas, and is accustomed to eating one sliced banana every morning. It's easy, yummy, and good for her, so we try to keep bananas on hand.

5. Rotisserie Chicken - I get a rotisserie chicken every week or so. I love the flavor, and I love the ease of having something already cooked. I've looked at prices, and at our Kroger, it's really not that much more expensive than a whole uncooked chicken. When I buy the rotisserie chicken at Sam's Club, I get even more bang for the buck, because their chickens are larger. We typically have two meals straight from the chicken, and then I pick the rest & toss it in the freezer for casseroles and soups.

6. Sharp Cheddar Cheese - we eat a lot of cheese, because, well, it's yummy. We use it in casseroles, salads, as a topping, in eggs, pretty much anywhere you can think of to use cheese. I get a 2 lb block of sharp cheddar at Sam's Club and shred it in the food processor, and it lasts us quite a while. It's much cheaper to do that than to buy shredded cheese, especially at the rate we go through it.

7. Fat-Free Sour Cream - one of our favorite recipes is for Beef Stroganoff, uses 2 cups of sour cream. I can barely tell a difference with the fat-free version; we like it just as much as when it is made with regular sour cream. Since we have stroganoff so often, you can almost always find sour cream on our grocery list!

8. Peanut Butter - I have a 3 year old who is not allergic to peanuts, so this should be self-explanatory. The child LOVES peanut butter. Loves it. I think she would happily live on peanut butter sandwiches, milk, and applesauce.

9. Pasta - we eat a lot of pasta. I try to use whole-wheat varieties and have been very happy with Barilla Plus pastas, which add fiber & protein to our diet.

10. Frozen Mixed Vegetables - we don't often eat frozen mixed vegetable on their own, but we use them in recipes all the time. They're great for soups, stews, pot pies, casseroles, and even macaroni and cheese. Since we use them so often, Wendy will eat them, and I feel great about her getting a variety of vegetables all at once. (And we never, EVER, use canned mixed vegetables, because... *gag*)

11. Formula - okay, I was about to finish off this list, and was forgetting something obvious. Since I wasn't able to breastfeed, formula is always, always, on our list. We go through a lot of formula.

What kinds of things are always on YOUR grocery list?

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