The Queen's Table: Shopping List

Download Free Transitional Shopping List Here!

I created a down-loadable PDF file of a shopping list for you! I call it a 'Transitional Shopping List,' because it still includes familiar items that you should be cutting back upon. Along with some 'new to you' items, there are some products that I name by brand to help you with some of the carb substitutions. I've also left a few extra spaces, and areas to write in items for yourself. I hope you find this checklist a helpful tool than can encourage you to make healthier choices when doing the chore of food shopping! I used this printout every week at the market when I started, and I just love how easy it made our food shopping! In a four or five months you may have your store memorized for these new items and not even need this list!

TIPS

Read on down this page for how to approach food shopping now. Remember all the junk is in the middle aisles of the store. The produce is on the outer edges. Healthy veggies and greens are actually cheaper than meats, cheese, and processed foods. Always get yourself some healthy fats which are nuts, seeds, and avocados. Buy in the bulk section to save some money. Make a homemade veggie soup or stew each week to have days of leftovers. Wash and cut up your veggies and greens at the beginning of the week and store in glass containers in the fridge to grab and go for dinners, lunch, smoothies, and green juice. Freeze any produce that is in season and cheap, for later use. Freeze leftovers for later use on days you have no time to cook. Put the fruits that are going bad into that days smoothies (blended salad).

Happy shopping!

(To download this PDF click the word "here" above. When shopping list appears hover over bottom of page, an oval menu with symbols will be visible. You can click the 'save icon' to save the "shopping" list to your computer. You could also click the 'print icon' to print out your copy. Or you can go under the "File" column and click " save page as.")

Food Labels Are Important To Read

Don't believe everything you read on food packaging, even in the more health conscious stores. Read the detailed ingredients list carefully, and get to know the product before you buy. Most of your in store purchases should be real fruits and vegetables that have been grown without pesticides. Try to buy from a local farm first that follows organic or pasture raised standards. Realizing there are certain packaged foods we will still tend to buy at a market, here are some things and words to pay attention to when purchasing. The food industry uses a marketing strategy whenever we find out about something that is harmful to us and turns it around, and this ends up causing other problems. So just pay close attention to the labels.

"All natural" means nothing. Avoid extreme processing, and a long list of chemical ingredients. Most real food is not advertised! So stay away from advertised foods.

Multigrain does not mean whole grain or whole wheat. Read the label and look for the words "whole."

On labels anything less than 0.5 grams of trans fat, which is a "bad" fat that's been linked to heart disease and other conditions, can be legally rounded down to zero. That means if you eat several servings of a so-called trans fat-free food you can end up consuming more amounts of trans fat than you realize. To avoid it, check ingredient labels and stay away from anything containing partially hydrogenated oils.

Don't believe the word "local" on products like Frito Lay Potato Chips.

To boost their fiber content, many packaged foods have added fiber with names such as inulin, maltodextrin and polydextrose. They have not been proven to offer the same health benefits as the naturally-occurring fiber found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Plus, inulin can cause gastrointestinal discomfort. Organic foods also need to be as local as possible. There are so called organic products coming from China and Mexico. It is best to buy a domestic product when it comes to "organic."

Sugar is sugar...whatever it is called, and they all have the same effect on the body. Try to avoid products containing any of them. HIgh fructose corn syrup, barley malt, beet sugar, brown sugar, syrup, cane-juice crystals, cane sugar, caramel, carob syrup, date sugar, dextran, dextrose, diatase, diastatic malt, ethyl maltol, fructose, fruit juice, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, glucose solids, honey, invert sugar, lactose, malt syrup, maltodextrin, maltose, mannitol, molasses, raw sugar, refiner's syrup, sorbito,l sorghum syrup, sucrose, turbinado sugar, brown rice syrup, agave nectar.

Choose 'Fair Trade' on certain products that must come from the global community. Such as coffee, tea and chocolate.

Buy wild Alaska salmon for good omega-3 oils, not some 'thing' that they added to another food, as in mayonnaise. Chia seeds are a great source of omega-3 as well.

Check serving size and carb levels.

Remember American law does not require the labeling of products that contain GMO's. And since 80% of processed foods contain GMO's it is important to read labels and avoid the products that contain soy and corn as much as possible. Look for products that have the NON GMO Project icon on label. You can download a shopping list of non-GMO products here. GMO's have not been tested as we are the guinea pigs for these frankenfoods. The USDA works for the corporate lobbyists, not you.

And as Michael Pollan says,
"Eat food, not too much, and mostly plants."

Click Here To Get The EWG Good Food On A Tight Budget Guide!

Sometimes you do need to purchase items that come in a box or a package. Here are some of our favorite products to look for in your organic market. When you can't get things locally, sometimes these items can be purchased online. Some of my listings are here so you can familiarize yourself with how the package looks and recognize it in the store. When we do need to buy a product and not a whole food, let's do the best job we can in supporting healthier choices for ourselves and loved ones. These are some alternatives to the usual toxic food-stuffs pushed by the industrialized food industry. Remember snacks and desserts should be consumed only in very small quantities and only as a treat. These are still processed foods and must be eaten wisely. Some of these products do help with beginning your journey to eat more plants as they satisfy some old cravings. Family members who are not on board with your healthy ways may eat some of these products without a fuss. To see a list of what products are in my pantry go to this post.

Breakfast

Bob's Red Mill Creamy Buckwheat cereal

Bob's Red Mill Buckwheat Pancake Mix
Bob's Red Mill Gluten-free Pancake Mix
Buckwheat Pancakes
Ruth's Foods Chia Goodness Cereal
Arrow Head Mills Gluten Free Cereals

Baking and Breads

Bob's Red Mill Flours and Grains

Ezekiel Breads, Muffins and Tortillas

Nuts.com Gluten free flours

Wegman's Organic Marathon Bread pre-sliced

Wegman's Organic Multi-grain Baguette sliced in rounds

Lunch meat and cheese

Applegate Farms Meats

Ingredients