What's in my Fridge

These are the things you will typically find in my fridge and freezer nearing the end of the week. It is strange, but also a fact that I never let my fridge get completely barren. I am not sure if this is a good or bad thing. Ideally I would only shop once a week and I would get everything I need for the week that would last until I shop again. This is absolutely not the case.

This is how I shop for groceries.

On Sunday, I head to the Farmer's Market and I get as many supplies as I can that are local and at the market. During this time of year I usually get some onions, potatoes, cashews from Cashew Guy*, greens (like kale, bok choy, salad greens, broccoli), and apples and apple cider. If there are things that the Farmers Market does not have, I try to find locally sourced things at a couple different markets throughout the week. Union Market, Whole Foods Market, and Back to the Land sometimes all get hit up during the course of one week.

Both Union Market and Back to the Land are very pricey, and so I try to get more of my things from Whole Foods, which price for price is a lot cheaper than even places like Fine Fare (at least for the kind of food that I will purchase anyway).

Things you will usually find:
Organic Silk Soy Milk, or Edensoy when i am trying not to consume soy lethicin
Smart Balance or Earth Balance which I use on my bagels or as a substitute in baking
Pacific Organic Vegetable Broth (when I am too lazy to make my own)
Glass Bottle of Water that I refill (got this as Pompidou and love it!)
Seltzer or club soda
Sprouted wheat bagels
Whole Foods Oat and Nut bread
Ekezial wraps
Coffee Beans
(Sometimes I have things like lemonade or pineapple juice when a recipe calls for it or it is on sale...otherwise I mostly drink water, or club soda mixed with a bit of berries or splash of dark cherry juice)

Staples:
red miso paste
tahini
kalamata olives
homemade mustard made by Marek
dark cherry juice (to mix with club soda/seltzer)
baby dill pickles
vegan worcester sauce
soy sauce or braggs
rice vinegar
chili oil

greens
radishes
basil
tomatoes
spring onions
mushrooms
avocado
shallots
ginger
potato
onion

soy boy ravoli
vegan meatballs
boca chik'n patties
frozen berries
frozen bananas
peas or edamame
and of course soy ice cream!

The freezer is where I generally have things for smoothies, which I drink almost every morning (mixed with almond milk), and also where I keep things for those long days where I don't want to cook from scratch. Things like Boca Burger chicken patties and Soy Boy ravoli and vegan meatballs are purchases that happen about once a month because I try not to rely on too much processed food in my diet.

The same goes for things like Smart Balance, Vegenaise and other vegan substitutes. I try to limit my consumption of these products due to all of the unnatural ingredients in them.

The more you think about what you have in your fridge, before you go shopping, the better equipped you are to purchase for the week. I try to keep as many healthy alternatives in my fridge and pantry as possible. After all, when you get the urge to snack and you have kale, you can make baked kale chips...would you do this if you had cookies in your pantry as well? Doubt it, and kale chips RULE!

In addition to this I always have fresh fruit in a fruit bowl on my table. When I get the urge to snack, I am more likely to eat a clementine, banana, blood orange, apple if they are right out in the open.

I also noticed that the presence of my glass water bottle has increased my water drinking habit ten fold. I highly recommend keeping chilled water in your fridge. You can even keep water with some orange slices, lemon slices, cucumber slices or herbs in it!