Has this scenario ever happened to you? You go to the grocery store with the best of intentions, planning to buy healthy, low fat food for your family. And then the first thing you see when you walk in the store is a big display of cookies. A dear, sweet lady is passing out free samples. And she hands you a coupon. You rationalize that with the coupon, the cookies cost practically nothing. Besides, your kids are really enjoying the free samples. So you put two boxes in your cart.
Tips and ideas for low fat family grocery shopping
Even the best laid plans for grocery shopping can be sabotaged if you?re not careful. It?s especially hard to stick to your guns when your kids go shopping with you. But there are ways to steer clear of the pitfalls and avoid temptation while maneuvering your way around the grocery store.
If you want to buy low fat food for your family, then here are some tips to help you get through the store:
Check the Store Circular
Before you go to the store, check the weekly store circular to see which low fat items are on sale. This will save you time once you go shopping, and you?ll know exactly what to look for once you get there. If you do not receive a weekly store circular in the mail, check to see if the store has a website. Most major supermarket chains have websites which allow you to view the store sale items.
Plan Your Menus and Make a List
Get out your low fat cook books and recipes and plan a weekly menu before you go shopping. Then, take your menu and make your shopping list. Be sure to include all of the ingredients you will need for your planned menu, as well as the basics that you purchase every week. Making a list before you leave for the grocery store will prevent you from impulse buying and will help you to get in and out of the store more quickly. Be sure to make a detailed list and stick to it. Buy exactly what is on the list and nothing else.
Concentrate on the Outer Perimeters of the Store
Once you get to the store, remember that the healthiest, lowest fat foods are located along the outer perimeters of the store. Change the way you do your shopping. You should be spending most of your time along the outskirts of the store, where the produce, meat and dairy products are located and very little time in the middle aisles, which is where most of the packaged, processed foods are kept.
Veggie Tales
You should be planning your meals around fruits and vegetables, so peruse the produce aisle and stock up. If there is a local produce store in your vicinity, check it out as well. You can often get large amounts of produce quite inexpensively. If you?re worried about buying too much produce for fear your family won?t use it all, split it in half with a friend or freeze the extras, if possible. I often chop up extra onions and green peppers and put them in freezer bags to have on hand for stews and stir fries. You can also freeze many fruits, such as blueberries and strawberries, to use for smoothies or for baking.
Buy Low Fat Dairy Products
In the dairy aisle, skip the whole milk products. If you are not already drinking low fat milk, slowly switch to 1% or 2% fat milk. After a few weeks of drinking 1% milk, you will be able to switch to skim milk without even noticing.
This is also true with other dairy products, such as cheese and sour cream. There are several delicious 2 % milk fat cheeses on the market. When using sour cream for recipes, choose low fat or fat free? you will not be able to tell the difference!
Consider trying soy milk, which is a wonderful low fat product. You may even be able to get your kids to drink it if you buy chocolate soy milk. My kids drink it and they love it!
Look for the Leanest Cuts of Meat
The meat aisle can get you into trouble, but not if you know what to look for. When it?s on sale, buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts in bulk so you?ll always have some on hand. When buying ground beef, look for packages that are labeled 90% lean instead of 73% lean. The leaner beef will be more expensive, but it is well worth paying a little bit extra for meats that are healthier and lower in fat.
Read the Labels
When buying prepackaged items, be aware of misleading food labeling. While the Food and Drug Administration is on target to change current food labeling to make it easier to understand, it hasn?t happened yet so it is up to you to decipher the nutritional content of the foods that you buy. Most product labels contain information about calories, fat, sodium and cholesterol. Basic math skills will tell you that if a product has 200 calories and 100 of the calories are from fat, then the product is fifty percent fat! A product is considered low fat if it contains 3 grams or less of fat per serving, so check the fat grams on the food labels and use your judgment.
The Well Stocked Low Fat Pantry
There are plenty of canned goods that you should always keep on hand. Buy lots of dried and canned beans. Beans are a staple of a low fat diet and they are inexpensive as well. Stock your pantry with cans of kidney, great northern (white) and black beans. Even baked beans are relatively low in fat? just don?t buy the kind that are drenched in bacon and brown sugar!
Canned tomato products, such as tomato sauce and crushed or diced tomatoes are great low fat products that will keep well in your pantry. Also have a jar of salsa and some canned vegetables and mushrooms on hand for last minute recipes, and buy canned tuna packed in water. Remember to always check the labels for fat and sodium content before you buy canned products.
Avoid the Cereal Wars and Other Traumas
If your kids are with you, you can expect that they will try to talk you into buying some less-than-healthy items. If they beg you for the latest sugary cereal, keep in mind that they may just be looking for the prize that is inside the box. Offer to buy them a little trinket later, and then stick to whole grain, low sugar cereals.
If your kids hound you for fattening cookies and potato chips, buy the ingredients needed to make low fat cookies and homemade oven-baked potato chips. Tell your children that they can help you in the kitchen once you get home.
Don?t let your kids talk you into buying sugar-laden juices or soda. Buy bottled water instead. Remember, you can control what food and beverages your children consume at home. If you don?t buy it? they can?t eat it!
Consider Online Ordering and Delivery
Finally, if you simply can not avoid temptation while you are in the grocery store, consider placing your grocery order online and letting the store deliver it to your home. Many chains are starting to offer this service, so it may be a worthwhile investment for you if it will make it easier for you to stick to low-fat only grocery shopping!
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