My Grocery Must-Haves - The Fridge

Our fridge needs some serious
decluttering at the moment!

Recently, I've received quite a few emails from readers wanting to know what my favourite foods were - and what exactly I pick up when I go to the supermarket - so I decided to put together a series of posts, sharing my must-have items for both Jesse and I. 

First off, let's start with the fridge. Obviously, living at home - I have to share the fridge with my entire family. Whilst I'm ridiculously organised with baskets and jars and things in order - my family is the opposite. 

Jesse and I have one and a half shelves and one vegetable drawer to ourselves - and we share the cheese drawer with everyone else.

But let's get onto the food - right? As you may already know if you're a long-time reader, I have some serious allergies and intolerances - but Jesse has none whatsoever! 

Baby Cukes! If you're in Australia,
you can find them at Woolworths.
I love eating them whole as part of a snack.

Veggies: 
This includes vegetables stored in the pantry, just for convenience.

• Carrots 
• Cucumbers 
• Baby Cucumbers You can find them at Woolworths 
• Spinach 
• Beetroot For me! Jesse hates beets!
•  Zucchinis
• Butternut Pumpkin/Squash
  Once cut, I store the pumpkin in the fridge
• Potatoes I like the Baby Carisma potatoes from Coles and prefer them with the skin on
• Sweet Potatoes 
• Avocadoes
• Asparagus
  When in season
• Spaghetti Squash
  Occaisonally - Australians, you can find them at Harris Farm Markets
• Onion 
• Garlic 

Veggies Just for Jesse (because my food intolerances suck)-

• Green Capsicum/Bell Peppers
• Green Beans
• Broccoli 
• Tomatoes 

I am watermelon obsessed!
These containers never last more than a few days

Fruit: 

• Green Apples 
• Bananas
• Blueberries When in season
• Watermelon I eat 1-2 whole watermelons per week - obsessed
• GrapesFor Jesse

Dairy and Alternatives: 

• Chobani - I always have plain Chobani in the fridge, either 2% or 0%, depending on what I'm making - we use the tangy 0% for a sour cream replacement and the creamy 2% when we're having it on its own. 
• Unsweetened Almond Breeze - We go through carton after carton of Almond Breeze and I will not have any other brand - once you try Almond Breeze you can never go back!
• Fruche -
  The vanilla fruche may be Jesse's favourite food. We have a constant supply of it and he eats at least one a day.

Dairy Treats:

• Flavoured Yogurt
  Generally Vanilla yogurt. We like Yoplait's Vanilla best and it's great for a quick froyo base!
• Vanilla Le Rice -
  Le Rice is one of our quick desserts that we pick up when we feel like something sweet. Whilst I make Rice Pudding from scratch or quick brown rice pudding, sometimes you just want something you can pick up and eat without fuss!

Cheese: 

I am a self proclaimed turophile, so you bet my cheese drawer is stocked up!

• Reduced Fat Cheddar Cheese
  The more natural and fuller flavoured, the better. We like Bega So Light Vintage Cheese, Cracker Barrel Light Vintage Cheese, Mainland Noble Cheddar
• Parmesan Cheese
  We love Perfect Italiano Grated Parmesan Cheese and I also buy the small blocks from time to time (and have been known to eat chunks - shhh!)
• Cream Cheese -
  We like Philadelphia Extra Light best. I use it in pasta sauces, on sandwiches and wraps, in recipes, in cheesecakes etcetc.
• Cottage Cheese - 
  I like the Bulla Cottage Cheese best, it's the creamiest and most delicious of all the ones I've tried. I buy the large tubs because I eat it so much!
• Ricotta Cheese - 
  My favourite is Perfect Italiano Light Ricotta. I use ricotta in pastas, baked ricotta, ricotta muffins and on its own as a snack.
• Laughing Cow Cheese - Light
  Perfect for spreading on crackers or bread and it can also be used in cooking.
• Kraft Mexican Blend Cheese
  It's not low in fat, but it has a delicious flavour and you don't need to use much. We love using this on Mexican style dishes and I like to mix it through my avocado quinoa (recipe to come - one day!)
• South Cape Feta Cheese 
• Occasional Cheeses
  I love almost all cheeses (I'm not brave enough for blue cheese) and I often buy different cheeses when they come on sale. A lot of these are full fat cheeses - but that's perfectly fine! My favourites are; South Cape Smoked Cheddar, Edam Cheese, Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese, Dutch Smoked Cheese, Goat's Cheese and the list goes on and on!

Eggs:

• Regular whole eggs
• Naturegg Egg Whites
  I don't eat whole eggs - and never have because I think they smell/taste/look/feel awful - so I buy egg whites and use them in oatmeal, grits and other different recipes. One of my favourite ways to use them is to simply mash a banana, add some egg whites and scramble it together - yum! - but be sure to top it with lots of nut butter too ;P (Everyone in my family thinks the idea of sweet scrambled eggs is nasty - but trust me, it's so good!)

Dried Fruit, Nuts and Seeds:
I store my dried fruit and nuts in the fridge for two reasons - it keeps them from spoiling so quickly and it also makes dried fruit super chewy!

• Dates
  Whether they're whole dates (I buy the huge tubs from Costco) or dried dates, I eat at least a handful a day. Addicted.
• Raisins and Sultanas
• Dried Flattened Banana
  Easy to get in the US - but not so easy here in Aus! They occaisonally have the flattened banana at Aldi and when they do - I jump at it! Otherwise I make my own in my dehydrator
• Apple
  As I can't eat sulphur, I buy Made in Nature Organic Dried Apple from iHerb.
• Naked Ginger (uncrystalised ginger)
  I love ginger but it comes in handy when I'm feeling nauseous. I just eat a few chunks and I usually feel alot better very quickly.
• Almonds
  I generally buy Whole Natural Almonds, Dry Oven Roasted Almonds and Slivered Almonds
• Walnuts
• Pecans
• Pistachios
  I buy both raw pistachios and salted roasted pistachios (Jesse's favourite)
• Salted Peanuts
• Pepitas
• Sunflower Seeds
• Whole Flaxseed
  I then grind these up in my magic bullet when I'm using them.

Other Staples: 

• Cocobella Coconut Water
• Basil Pesto (I buy a brand called "Pacchini" which doesn't have any added nasties - you can find it at some IGA stores) 
• Maple Syrup 
• Butter Spreads (we buy both Devondale Extra Light and Nuttelex, which I use in baking)
• That! Dairy Snack - a super convenient snack to have around, it's shelf stable, gluten free and is a healthy kids green registered product
• Applesauce
  We buy it both in tubs and I also keep the baby pouches (yeah) in my purse for emergency snacks. Trust me, when you have hypoglycemia - you eat whatever you can :P 
• Salsa and Enchilada Sauce (for Jesse)
  We use salsa and enchilada sauce in many different recipes, so they're always in the fridge. 

Well, I think that just about covers it! Phew! 

So tell me, what's your current food-love? Anything I should try?!