Basic Healthy Shopping List Handout

cooking
Written By Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Here is a new handout that gives folks an essential healthy shopping list for a healthy eating plan.

  • It uses common, inexpensive ingredients that are minimally processed.

  • A food group layout helps folks understand how to make a balanced eating plan.

  • It can be a checklist to see what you need for the week.

  • It is easy to mix and match items from each food group to make a MyPlate meal.

  • Items are relatively inexpensive in most markets.

  • Sauces and cooking methods can be adopted for cultural preferences and diversity.

  • If these items are purchased as unprocessed ingredients, most are low in sodium, too.

Click the image below to download the printable PDF Healthy Shopping List.

Here are a few meals you can make with these items.

  1. Roasted: roast a chicken with yams and brussels sprouts (seasonal choice) and in about 1-1.5 hours all items are done together.

  2. Chili - combine tomatoes, onions, beans, and lean poultry or meat to make a delicious chili. Serve over brown rice.

  3. Omelet - make a large vegetable omelet for dinner. Serve with whole-grain toast.

  4. Stir fry dinner - stir-fry veggies, peanuts, soy sauce, and lean protein. Serve over brown rice.

  5. Baked seafood. Bake fish, and cook quinoa according to package directions. Steam veggies in the microwave.

  6. Large entree salads with chopped veggies, cooked protein, leftover potatoes, or grains.

  7. Sheet pan meals where you roast many items with similar cooking times on a pan.

  8. Soups featuring veggies, grains, and protein. Minestrone or chowder is one example. But bean soups are so delicious, too.

The key to simple, healthful meals is to have a variety of ingredients on hand. Choose an item from each food group, cook, serve, and enjoy!

Want more resources? Here are menu planning tools in the Nutrition Education Store:

Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Judy’s passion for cooking began with helping her grandmother make raisin oatmeal for breakfast. From there, she earned her first food service job at 15, was accepted to the world-famous Culinary Institute of America at 18 (where she graduated second in her class), and went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland, where she focused on pastry arts and baking. After a decade in food service for Hyatt Hotels, Judy launched Food and Health Communications to focus on flavor and health. She graduated with Summa Cum Laude distinction from Johnson and Wales University with a BS in Culinary Arts, holds a master’s degree in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and runs a food photography & motion studio where her love is creating fun recipes and content.

Judy received The Culinary Institute of America’s Pro Chef II certification, the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year. Her enthusiasm for eating nutritiously and deliciously leads her to constantly innovate and use the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to guide her creativity, from putting new twists on fajitas to adapting Italian brownies to include ingredients like toasted nuts and cooked honey. Judy’s publishing company, Food and Health Communications, is dedicated to her vision that everyone can make food that tastes as good as it is for you.

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