I “shop the edges”.  Very rarely do I ever actually need to go down an aisle in the middle of the store other than for the occasional condiments, personal hygiene products or the chip aisle for a bag of pork rinds.

Frequent misconceptions I hear about eating a low carb diet is that it’s significantly more expensive than a “normal” diet, have to go to the grocery store more frequently, have to buy 10 pounds of bacon at a time, etc.

I actually spend less money on food now.  True, a pound of pasta is cheaper than a pound of bacon.  But I probably don’t eat much more bacon than the average person.  Not only do I spend less money now, but I get better quality food for that money.  I buy organic as frequently as possible now.  Maybe non low carb but really healthy eating people spend less than I do.  But I can assure you that what I saved on meat and produce in the past, I burned on overpriced cereals, chips, frozen snack foods, fast food, bakery items, etc.

So what’s on my list?   Here’s a general idea of what I might buy in a given month (maybe not all in one trip). I do not ever intentionally buy a low fat or skinless version of anything in any section below.  As a matter of fact, on everything except for meat, if the only option available is low fat, I’ll pass on it completely.

MEAT – When I get to the store, I hit the meat first because what i find there will kinda help direct my meal plans and the rest of my “list”

• Pork  -Bacon (i buy a 3 pound pack and that lasts about a month or a little longer), sausage, chorizo, pork loins/chops
• Chicken (usually buy a whole organic chicken that ultimately goes in the crockpot)
• Turkey burgers
• Fish -talapia, salmon, catfish, halibut, etc – generally if they have something wild caught at a good price, I’ll try it
• Shellfish – this stuff is more occasional – scallops, shrimp/prawns, clams, crab
• Beef – ground beef, occasional steaks, stew meat, occasional roast/brisket, etc.
• Also in my freezer at the moment are some venison steaks, buffalo burgers and some duck that I’m not sure how to cook.

DAIRY/Other Cold Stuff –

• Cream (heavy cream, half and half)
• Sour Cream
• Cream Cheese
• Eggs (lots of eggs)
• Butter
• Cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, swiss, parm, gouda, goat, brie… I love most cheese except for the super moldy blues)
• oscar meyer NY Style hot dogs (only 1 carb per dog and preserved naturally in celery juice and some of the best hot dogs I’ve ever eaten regardless of carb count).

PRODUCE (amazingly my favorite place now)

I’m gradually shifting toward trying to eat primarily what’s locally in season though I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that a few of these are just staples I have to have on hand all of the time (cauliflower and spinach mostly). So not all of this stuff is stuff I have around all of the time.  I could really list everything in the produce section but I won’t so I’ll just list my faves.

• Baby Spinach – I’m never without a giant tub of fresh organic baby spinach.  If it starts to get old on me, I dump the remainder of the container into some kind of casserole, egg puff or turn it into pizza toppings.
• Cauliflower – I eat a LOT of cauliflower
• Brocolli
• Squash – have yet to meet a squash I don’t like.
• Onions, green onions
• Celery
• Peppers  – various green, red, yellow, orange bells, jalapenos, whatever else looks good
• Tomatoes
• Mushrooms
• Potato Substitutes (Jicama, Celery Root, Turnips)

“DRY” GOODS – pretty much anything that’s not kept in refrigeration in the store falls into this category for me

• Oils – coconut and olive
• Condiments – Mayo – I currently like Kraft Home style, Mustard – found a genric deli brown with no sugar, bbq sauce (walden farms sugar free is the only sugar free I’ve found), tomato paste, dill relish
• Flours/Seeds – Flax seed, coconut flour, almond flour, whey protein
• Herbs/Spices – sea salt, various peppers, garlic powder, oregano, dried basil, italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, rosemary, thyme, chili powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin spice
• Sweeteners – stevia, stevia extract and xylitol
• Other stuff – various extracts (vanilla, banana, almond), unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder with no aluminum
• Occasionally adams natural peanut butter (lowest sugar content I’ve found in organic)
• coffee
• pork rinds!

Sometimes I’m more on top of my groceries than other times.  But no matter what, I try to make sure I never run out of the following 6 things.  If I have these, I can come up with something I like:  eggs, cauliflower, cream cheese, some kind of meat, some kind of cheese, spinach

Obviously I deviate from this list from time to time if there is something specific I want. But regardless, there are some things that never enter my cart.

• bread of any type
• pasta of any type (no I don’t buy the Dream Fields voodoo)
• snacks containing processed sugar (candy, snack cakes, pie, cake, ice cream, cookies, etc)
• potato chips, crackers, tortillas
• beer

Also, I tend to stay away from, though not quite so religiously:  lunch meats other than my occasional hot dog, processed cheeses like American and Velveeta, milk, corn, carrots, potatoes

Thanks for reading and happy shopping