xxxafterglow

Ugh, I'm nerdular enough to do this!!! My mom's a nutritionist, guess it passed on down to me. Anyway, I'll give you my general shopping list. It's two of us, we usually do maybe $50 every 2.5 weeks (although Berlin is fairly cheap compared to US cities). If you have a Trader Joe's near you, you can get some great shizz there for little $.

www.traderjoes.com

and my favorite cooking site (also focused on a healthy diet): Naked Chef...

http://www.jamieoliver.com/
he's on Food Network as well so you can search the site for his recipes
www.foodtv.com

Some tips for picking fresh produce
http://www.expertvillage.com/intervi...ck-produce.htm

GUIDELINES...

1. Buy produce fresh. If you aren't going to use it for a week or so, you can get it a little raw (not ripe yet)... you know, like green bananas.

2. Fresh, then frozen, then canned. With cans, check labels for stuff like sugar syrup (e.g. canned pineapples) or oil (tuna) - you want the stuff in water.

3. You can freeze bread, freeze meat and freeze meals. If you're living single, invest in some ziplock bags of various sizes. I used to prep a week's worth of bagged salads to take to work on Sunday night. It's great cuz you can slice up a loaf of french bread, freeze it, and toast it later in the oven with some damn tasty bruschetta!

4. Get the good stuff. Treat your body right! I can be a real snob about food but it's worth it. It doesn't have to be more expensive but please get some good honey ham for sandwiches, not bologna! And NEEEEVVEEER buy iceberg lettuce (get a bagged spring mix or baby spinach for salad and sandwiches)! While I advocate no white bread, I love a good French bread... the pleasure sensation is the trade-off. No need to deprive yourself!

5. Pay attention to nutritional trade-offs as you switch over your diet. Red wine has antioxidants, white wine has none and has more calories. Dark chocolate has antioxidants, milk chocolate has little nutritional value.

6. Shop seasonally. You may as well enjoy nature's bounty! The stuff that's in season is the stuff that looks really good. It'll also allow you to switch up your diet so you don't get terribly bored (more on this later).

7. When you get your new kitchen, invest in spices and seasonings. Here's what I have in my cabinet.

- Olive Oil (tastier and healthier than canola or vegetable oil) - also good for making your own dressing
- Balsamic vinegar (for salads and bread dip and some cooking)
- Sea Salt (better tasting than table salt)
- Whole peppercorns (better tasting freshly ground)
- Paprika (good with fish), cumin (good for Mexican), Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, etc.), fennel, lemon pepper, cinnamon, honey, brown sugar, a shitload of red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper (although there is better out there), etc... but take a look at the spice aisle and see what you like. Rule of thumb, whole spices and fresh herbs give more flavor... but dried can do the trick as well. I keep a basil plant in the house cuz we use it so much and the dried tastes like fish food.
- Asian gear - this is only cuz we cook a lot of Asian stuff.. but here it is if you're interested in doing stir fry or pad thai or pho or whatever... Fish sauce, soy sauce, cooking sherry, sesame oil. If you want to cook Japanese, you can get some good Mirin. This stuff is nearly always cheaper at an Asian mart in the Asia-town section of your city. You also get much better ones. Spring for Tamari low-sodium soy sauce over Kikkoman if you can get it. Low-sodium, definitely. Don't get Kikkoman!

8. Invest in appliances. This is what I have.

- Blender: for smoothies, hummus and pureed soups
- Mortar & pestle: for grinding spices
- Toaster oven: because toast is awesome. Also good for reheating frozen bread.
- Microwave
- Rice cooker (preferable to cooking in a pot if you are, like me, forgetful) - worth it if you eat a lot of rice - otherwise you can cook rice in a pot or microwave
- Sweet-ass wok: get a good one from an Asian place. It is great for everything. You want one with a roundish bottom and edge so you can slide the stuff around easily.
- Salt and pepper grinder. Seriously, you will never go back to the pre-ground stuff.

9. This is my food list.. it varies season to season but these are the basics - since you won't be eating this much (my boyfriend eats enough for two), use your own discretion:

- Eggs
- Milk (this is the boyfriend, I'm lactose intolerant)
- Cheese - one hard parmesan, one to shave up for pizza, and occasionally sliced cheese for sandwiches
- Sandwich bread (the heartier, the better and tastier)
- Sandwich meat (buy what you'll use cuz it can spoil easily)
- Canned fish (canned salmon and tuna - salmon esp. is good for Omega-3s and the cans have edible bones which are a GREAT calcium source) - for tuna salad and what have you
- Canned tomatoes (for pasta)
- Pasta (whole grain is better)
- Rice (brown is better but I'm partial to jasmine)
- Basic Produce: Tomatoes, onions, salad greens (can be bagged) - for salad and sandwiches (baby spinach or spring/herb mix), garlic, ginger & green onions (if you're cooking Asian)
- Frozen berries (for smoothies - high in antioxidants)
- Yogurt (can be frozen but try to get low or non-fat) - for smoothies and eating
- Vegetables - colorful veg and dark greens are good: spinach/mustard greens (I'll stir them up in pasta or put them on pizza), green/red/yellow bell peppers (can use in EVERYTHING!), carrots (for snacking and cooking) - they have better nutritional content than celery, and I'm happy cuz butternut squash and pumpkin is in season (you can get butternut squash frozen, I believe)
- Fruits - whatever you like but try the seasonal stuff and weird stuff, too!: bananas (good sliced on muesli for breakfast or sliced in yogurt with a swirl of honey - damn, that's real girl food, it's tasty though!), lemons, limes (for cooking and spiking water), apples - go by what looks good.
- Meat - I get lean chicken breast mostly but also some lean ground pork or beef - it depends on what you want to eat. Fish is good, too, but I find chicken to be the most versatile - you can get big honking bags of it frozen. Since we're in Germany, we always have a salami in the fridge - good for pizza, flavoring pastas and sandwiches.
- Butter, not margarine. Mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup.
- Pre-made sauces... pesto, curry (get it canned), pizza
- Frozen veg - I use a broc, cauli, carrot mix - great for stir fry or just steaming up. I never seem to go through fresh fast enough!!
- Whole wheat crackers and pita bread for snacking

A rough guide to what we make ...

- Pizza. I think we try to do pizza once a week. You can make the dough from scratch (roughly 1.25 hrs of rise time) but it's also nice to get a bunch of flatbread (about 10" round) and do it on that - the flatbread's lower cal (less carbs). Spread some sauce on it (or drizzle some olive oil), whack on some veg (mushrooms, olives, cooked spinach, fresh basil torn up, etc.) and shave some cheese over.

- Pasta. Tinned tomatoes are fine but fresh is better. Sautee the onions and garlic in olive oil, add tomatoes, add some chopped up bell peppers, add ground meat. Stir it up with the pasta and some spinach / mustard greens (gotta incorporate those where you can).

- Stir fry. Sautee onions, garlic, ginger, add veg (broc/cauli/carrots/bell peppers), add meat, add sauce (check recipes but most will call for soy and sherry). Do it up with some steamed rice. If you have a lot of leftover rice, you can do fried rice the next day (whack some chopped or ground meat, chopped onions, eggs, and a frozen peas/corn/carrot mix into the wok, then throw the rice in - add water if it's a little dry, season with salt/pepper/soy to taste). Stir-fry noodles are good too (but you need more oil).

- Curry. We eat a lot of curry. I dunno, it's good. You can buy cans of coconut milk and curry and just add meat and veg. Do it up with rice.

- Steamed fish and veg ... there's a lot you can do with this. I'll do my salmon with a coconut milk / wasabi sauce. But I'm a snob. Side of grains like a good hearty bread.. .mmm.

- Soup / stew - it's the Big Pot philosophy. Put everything in a big pot and cook it. Some soups (e.g. butternut) you can puree in your blender so it tastes rich but is pretty low-cal and really healthy.
http://www.soupsong.com/

- Salad - make your own dressing and make a salad that appeals to you. It doesn't have to be rabbit food. (My current fave: torn up red leaf and arugula with fresh mozz, figs and schwarzwalder ham drizzled with olive oil and balsamic, salt, pepper. See? Snob snob snob. But it's good!).

- Smoothies - you can blend anything. Put in chopped (and peeled) fruit, add liquid (milk or water), blend and adjust (honey's good). Add yogurt if you want but a banana or half an avocado will give it a great creamy texture, too. You can make a batch and save some in your fridge.

- Salsa (chopped tomatoes, red onion, lime juice, cilantro, salt, pepper, chopped avocado) and hummus (pureed tahini, chickpeas, olive oil and a little garlic) for snacking

- Omelette - sautee your fillings first (onion, green pepper, tomato, diced ham), set aside, and do up your egg mix (whisked with a little milk) - add fillings when it's looking almost done, shave some cheese over, fold.

The more you cook the better (and more experimental) you'll get.

Hope this laundry list helps a little. It is tricky if you're eating single so just start out buying what you can use in a week (if it's produce) and go from there. Also, if there's food you dig, try making it at home one night (e.g. fajitas - sliced beef marinated in lime juice, chilies, cilantro, tequila, salt, pepper fried up with onions and sliced bell peppers served with warmed tortillas (which also freeze well, microwave to warm up)). Cooking with friends can be a lot of fun, too.

PS - we got all of our appliances on Craigslist for super cheap - sometimes ppl unload their cabinet goodies there too.

EDIT - sorry if this reads as dictator-y. It's just some advice and my experience.

EDIT 2: HOLY CRAP you're in SPOKANE!!!??? I used to live in Seattle. Ok man, no excuses! Washington has an AMAZING selection of produce (I grew up near Chicago - it can't compare) and awesome seafood. It's a great place to get healthy food.

EDIT 3: We also keep a big bottle of homemade iced green tea or lemon water in the fridge. If you make powerfully (sourfully?) lemony water, rinse afterwards with regular water cuz it can wear down the enamel on your teeth.

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