Keto Must Have Grocery items!

Grocery shopping can be overwhelming to say the least, when you are changing your eating style to the "Keto way." It can be frustrating trying to read all of the labels before you even decide to put the items in your cart. Now, everyone has a cooking and eating style that is unique to them. This post reflects those things about me. If this isn't your style, I totally get it. Find something that works for you and run with it! But today, I am going to talk about my keto grocery haul from Wal-Mart, many of the things I try to never leave without and how I incorporate them into my weekly "meal plan!"

I would say I my "style" is all about having key ingredients around so that I can easily prepare any one of the several different options that I have in the back of my mind. Our family has several recipes that I use over and over, they are staple recipes that I can always go back to. For example, my husband ALWAYS has eggs and bacon for breakfast, he loves eggroll in a bowl and I eat a lot of salads and several green smoothies every week. So it would not be very smart of me to not keep the ingredients for these dishes on hand as much as possible. You will see the ingredients I am referring to.

Before I start, I wouldn't be a hardcore Keto person if BACON was not on the list! Trust me, we have bacon and it is ALWAYS on the list! I usually make a special Aldi trip (which is over 2 hours away from me!) every couple of months or so and stock up on several keto items. These usually consist of butter and bacon by the case, heavy cream, sour cream, cream cheese along with some meat that might be a decent savings. So these KEY items will not be discussed much in this post because they are already in the freezer from my last trip.

This post will revolve around my weekly Wal-Mart shopping trips.

The following items are things that I got today.

1. Spinach.

I like to always keep spinach in my fridge because I use it ALL THE TIME. I add it to scrambled eggs, add it to an eggbake, use it to make a quick side salad for lunch or a large salad topped with chicken for lunch, add it to my green smoothies and use it as an ingredient that I add to a number of dinner recipes. My kids have even started to eat it by dipping it into ranch...and I might be slightly proud of that fact. (Don't worry, next week they probably won't touch it...can someone say toddler probs??) I also like that Wal-Mart has an organic tub of it for a decent price. The container actually keeps the spinach fresh for well over a week, which is an added bonus!

2. Coleslaw Mix.

I always pick up at least a bag or two of coleslaw mix, it's super convenient to have on hand. One of our favorite meals is egg roll in a bowl. We like to use sausage as the meat, but its a great twist of a Chinese flavored dish without the added carbs. Now that it's summer I am also craving actual coleslaw, so I'll probably be making that instead of salad for a lunch here and there.

3. Zucchini:

I have been loving zucchini lately! It's super tasty at this time of year and I do several things with it. I make zoodles with my spiralizer and serve them with pasta sauce or Alfredo sauce, I chop it up and saute it and serve it as a side to salmon, and I also love grilling it since we are in the hot summer months!

4. Green Peppers (and onions):

I always keep peppers and onions on hand. I use them in a number of casserole bases such as Enchilada bake, chili, taco meat for salads or tacos as well as just sauteed to go with Philly cheese steak casserole (that we love). These are plain and simply staples.

5. Tomato

I always like to have at least one tomato on hand to chop up and put in a salad or to slice for hamburgers, BLTs or sandwiches. There is nothing quite as refreshing as a fresh tomato.

6. Avocados

I use avocados all the time. I slice them and fry them up with my eggs for breakfast, add them to my green smoothies, dip pork rinds or veggies in a freshly made guacamole or simply eat them right out of the skin! I try to eat 1/2-1 whole avocado everyday. It's one of the healthiest fats you can eat and has a lot of other important nutrients in it as well.

7. Romaine Lettuce Hearts

It seems obvious, but I'll say it. Salad. Chicken Caesar salad, lettuce for lunch meat lettuce wraps pr romaine lettuce boats. Just good to always have around.

8. String Cheese

My kids and I always eat string cheese. It's a quick source of protein for all of us. If I'm feeling extra fancy, I fry it in bacon grease...it's delicious!

9. Whole Plain Yogurt

I recently added whole, unsweetened yogurt back into my food rotation. I eat it with keto granola that I make myself or I blend it into a green smoothie for a creamier texture and better flavor.

10. 60 pack of eggs

60 eggs?? you may say...Well, my husband eats 4 eggs each morning, my kids eat 2-3 each, and I eat 2-3 each day. So we can easily go through 2 dozen eggs each week without using them for anything but breakfast! Then we use a LOT of eggs in the things we cook. The waffle recipe we use takes 8 eggs every time we make them! we like to have boiled eggs and deviled eggs for snacks and then will also use some to bake with, if it's a heavy baking week. But we go through 60 eggs in about 2-3 weeks.

11. Ground Sausage

We always have sausage on hand. Like I mentioned earlier I use it for egg roll in a bowl, but I also make a delicious eggbake with it or cook it instead of bacon for breakfast, use it in keto chili and keto lasagna.

12. Cheese whisps.

This is a new thing that I tried this time. These are a quick easy thing to grab on the go. I enjoy the BBQ flavor, kind of like BBQ flavored chips, and the crunch was very good. This is a great thing to grab if you're out and hungry.

The following are items that I did not buy today, but like to have on hand:

13. Onions

14. Beef Sticks

Along with cheese sticks, these beef sticks are a total favorite with me and the kids. They taste great, they are a super quick and easy snack and I always carry them with me when we are out. You can also order a larger quantity on Walmart.com if the store doesn't have them in stock.

15. Rao's Pasta Sauce

I use this when I make keto lasagna so it takes the big step of making your own pasta sauce out of the equation. I use it over meatballs and or zoodles as well. It has a great flavor and is lower on carbs for a red sauce.

16. coconut flour

I use coconut flour for a couple of different things. I usually tend to use it in baked goods, but mostly waffles of pancakes. The thing I like most about coconut flour is that it is very absorbent, so the quantity you use is very small. I usually buy it one pound at a time and it lasts quite a while.

So this is what a typical grocery day looks like at our house. When I have these items on hand I find that it is much more doable to put a keto meal or snack on the table, in much less time. When you are prepared with the right kinds of food, you eat the right food. If you eat the right food, you are better able to stay on track and keep seeing progress!