The Buy Only These 20 Items At the Grocery Store Video

Here's another video review. I was finishing up my walking indoors this afternoon and this one came up in my recommended videos. The title was something like Buy Only These 20 Items At The Grocery Store. That intrigued me, so I watched.

His aim was to suggest foods to build healthy menus, economically, which I think is what our group tries to do.

Here are the items the youtuber selected:

1-Olive oil
2-Garlic
3-Onions 
4-Whole chicken
5-Ground beef
6-Lentils or beans, canned or dry
7-Eggs
8-Canned fish
9-Salt
10-Fresh veg like carrots & celery
11-Frozen mixed vegetables
12-Canned tomatoes
13-Pasta
14-Rice, brown
15-Flour
16-Milk
17-Butter
18-Cheese
19-Peanut butter
20-Fruits -- apples, bananas, citrus were his mentions

Overall, I liked his list. It aligns with my own tendencies when grocery shopping. I buy basic ingredients that are budget friendly, and then cook and bake from those items. I also keep a basic shopping list in my notepad app. I use this as a springboard for developing my grocery list each week, adding some items and taking some off the list, as needed .

There were a few foods that I really think he should have included, rolled oats, yeast, sugar, and mayonnaise. Granted you wouldn't need to buy mayo every week, but making sure you always had some on hand to bind ingredients in sandwich fillings like egg salad, tuna salad, and chicken salad. I would also alternate whole potatoes with brown rice or pasta on a weekly basis for variety. And I would include both whole wheat and all-purpose flour in the flour entry. 

If money was especially tight and I could only choose a couple of types of fresh vegetables and fruits each week, I would alternate what I bought on a weekly basis. For example, week one, buy carrots, celery, and cabbage. Week two, buy a bundle of whatever dark leafy greens were budget priced, carrots, and sweet potatoes. Week three, buy celery, winter squash, and fresh green beans (if in season). I would buy either carrots or celery every week, as these veggies make good raw snacking or additions to meals, especially appropriate for lunch boxes. I would do something similar with fresh fruit, buying an in-season fruit like oranges in winter and spring, or melons in summer, or apples in fall and winter plus always fresh bananas. (Bananas remain steady in their price year round and can be eaten as is, go in smoothies, oatmeal, top pancakes, or baked into muffins or quick bread.) I would keep in mind that we need a source of Vitamin C each week. So in winter and spring I would buy plenty of oranges. In summer and fall I might make sure we always have fresh veggies to eat raw that are a good source of Vitamin C, such as raw cabbage or raw broccoli.

Otherwise, I think you could make a week's worth of varied meals that would satisfy both children and adults alike.

In thinking through a menu using just these items, I was considering what foods a kid might like, or not be embarrassed to have in their sack lunch. There's no point in going to the effort to make a healthy lunch of rice and lentils for a child's school day lunch if that lunch never makes it out of the bag to be eaten. Ditto on strange concoctions for breakfasts and kids who may not want to even take a bite.

So I set out to make a kid-friendly menu suggestion list, using just these above ingredients (plus my additions of oats, yeast, sugar, mayo), and the basic seasonings and baking necessities you might already have in the cupboard, items like baking powder, vinegar, and spices and herbs. 

Breakfast ideas:

smoothies using fruit, milk, peanut butter

muffins using flour, eggs, milk, sugar, spices, dices of fresh fruit, butter or oil

homemade banana bread using bananas, flour, egg, sugar, butter, baking powder

granola and milk using oats, sugar, spices, butter

homemade granola bars using oats and a binding mixture made of peanut butter, sugar, water, spices, salt cooked on the stove then poured over oats and pressed into a pan

hot oatmeal and milk

biscuit, egg, and cheese sandwiches

breakfast burritos using homemade tortillas from flour, oil, water and filled with egg, cheese, and spiced beans

pancakes with a fruit topping using flour, egg, oil/butter, salt, baking powder, milk

homemade pop tarts or hand pies using flour, oil/butter, salt for the pastry and sweetened cooked fruit for the filling

French toast using homemade bread, egg, milk with fruit topping, fresh sliced or cooked and spiced 

I think that all of those ideas would appeal to many or most kids and be welcomed by adults in the household too.

Lunches (lunch bag type for school)

Lunches get a little more difficult, as kids are very aware of what their peers think of what's in their lunch. But I think with some creativity, school lunches could be made appealing. Here are some suggestions:

Sandwiches on homemade bread using flour, yeast, salt, sugar, oil/butter -- cheese (grilled or cold cheese), peanut butter (in schools that allow peanuts), chicken salad (using leftover cooked chicken), egg salad, and tuna sandwiches.

Any of the above fillings could also go into a wrap sandwich using a homemade tortilla in place of bread. A batch of tortillas can be made and frozen separated by double sheets of waxed paper to be taken out of the freezer to thaw the evening before using. 

Leftover cheese pizza --when all my kids were in school, I made extra pizza each week. I would cut the extra pizza into slices, wrap separately and freeze to pull out to thaw one at a time as needed for their lunches. They had access to a microwave most years, but also told me they often ate the pizza cold.

Sides and desserts for the lunchbox:

pieces of fruit, either whole or cut

homemade granola bars

carrot or celery sticks

homemade peanut butter, oatmeal or sugar cookies

homemade hand pies

slices of banana bread

At-home lunches

Kid friendly lunches to be eaten at home are so much easier and there is so much variety that can be achieved. Here are some suggested lunch items:

scratch macaroni and cheese

homemade chicken noodle soup

homemade tomato,  vegetable or minestrone soup

grilled cheese sandwiches

jo-jo potatoes or oven fries

bean and cheese burritos with Spanish rice

chicken and rice casserole

rice and lentil pilaf

spaghetti, with or without meat in the sauce

cheese pizza making a scratch crust from yeast, flour, salt, oil, sugar, plus homemade sauce using canned tomatoes, topped with cheese

homemade fish cakes to be put on buns for a fish sandwich or eaten as is with homemade tartar sauce

sides of fresh vegetables and fresh fruit, plus cookies, hand pies, or homemade snack cakes/quick breads

Dinners:

All of the lunch suggestions, plus:

roasted whole chicken and all of the subsequent meals from the leftovers (plus stock made with the bones)

meatloaf or meatloaf burgers

Salisbury steak

burrito bowls using beans, ground beef, onions/garlic, rice, tomatoes, cheese, seasonings

tuna casserole using canned tuna, pasta, white sauce binder from butter, flour, milk, and salt, celery, cheese and bread crumbs

chili con carne using ground beef, beans, canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, seasonings

shepherd's pie using ground beef, frozen mixed vegetables, potatoes, and some flour top make a gravy

quiche or frittata using eggs, onions, vegetables, cheese, and pastry ingredients if making quiche

shirred eggs 

My take-away from this little exercise in coming up with meal ideas while sticking to a streamlined grocery list is this: you can make tasty, healthy, economical meals to please even the pickiest eaters using basic whole foods.