Please help me grocery shop a bit better

November 19, 2024 11:24 AM

Can you help me build a weekly shopping list of food that tastes good but is also good for me, i.e. not too high in carbs or sodium? I'm not looking for recipes, but for ingredients that I can combine OR that taste good on their own.

As part of my continued campaign to improve my life I would like to always have in the house food that is good for me but that I would also like to eat. I really need to turn my eating around, but I mostly gravitate towards buying foods that are very high in salt or carbs.

The problem is I have very strong food preferences and a strong emotional reaction to being 'forced' to eat food that I don't enjoy. (Why, yes, if you're sensing some residual trauma around being forced to diet as a child, you'd be spot on.)

I dislike the taste and texture of a lot of food that is recommended by dietitians: e.g. almost all fruits, oats, salads, grains like quinoa, pearl barley etc, most varieties of beans.

I like heavy, flavourful foods, which explains my current weight and health issues. I love crisps, chocolate, cheese, potatoes, things with a really strong flavour and satisfying mouth-feel.

What are some foods I can keep at home that will are nutritious and healthy, but that I'll actually want to eat? I'm looking in particular to lower my carbohydrate and sodium intake. But I'm also looking for inoffensive vehicles for flavour that aren't too carb-y or salty, like a substitute for Doritos to dip into hummus, salsa or other dips.

Please note: I already always keep on hand: eggs, spinach, cheese, tomatoes or tomato salsa, cucumbers, cooked fish and/or rotisserie chicken, nice white bread (I know, I know), real butter. I eat meat but rarely cook it at home.

posted by unicorn chaser to Food & Drink (24 answers total)

Cashews, popcorn, tortilla chips or cherry tomatoes to dip in hummus. If you can find pre-fried tofu it is a great sauce vehicle for a variety of recipes. Baba ganoush if you can get it easily.
posted by mai at 11:33 AM on November 19, 2024 [1 favorite]

I try to eat more vegetables so I keep frozen veg available. Pureed butternut squash comes in 'bricks' and is tasty with butter, salt, pepper. Baked (microwaved) sweet or white potato, same, and maybe add sour cream(I don't eat dairy). I love roasted veg. - Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower and butternut squash - to roast with olive oil and various seasonings, sometimes bacon or sausage. Cabbage is excellent in stir fry, fried rice, and can be roasted or sauteed.

Try rice cakes with hummus and arugula.

I like beans, they're really healthy and easy. There are lots of Indian meals in heat & eat packets - lots of flavor and so easy with rice or pasta.
posted by theora55 at 11:34 AM on November 19, 2024 [4 favorites]

What about vegetables to roast? Sweet potatoes (I like the orange Beauregard/garnet kinds, but I like the white Japanese yaki imo kind even better), cauliflower, broccoli, maybe brussels sprouts. I like these roasted with olive oil and salt - they satisfy that sweet/salty/carb craving but offer a bit more health than potato. I find if I make the time to cut them up, baking them in the oven takes a while but is mostly unattended and it's veggies I will eat. I also find that buying better quality vegetables makes a huge difference in how appetizing they are. I either roast them on a sheet pan with some parchment paper or in a cast iron pan.

I'm also on a huge saurkraut kick lately because I found a new "fancy" brand that is really good. This makes it easy for me to get a vegetable when I might otherwise not bother to prep one.
posted by vunder at 11:38 AM on November 19, 2024 [2 favorites]

I’m not vegetarian, but Beyond Burgers have a great mouth feel and take 4 minutes per side in a medium heat or slightly lower frying pan. They are lower carb than I was expecting. I haven’t looked at the sodium content, but if you’re carbs are very low, you’re going to need some sodium, potassium and magnesium.
posted by vitabellosi at 11:42 AM on November 19, 2024 [1 favorite]

Something that's helped me in general is not just avoiding all carbs, but avoiding the mixture of carbs with fat and no protein. That's the stuff that really makes me want to keep eating past the point where I should be full (hello chips, my nemesis).

A big bowl of air popped popcorn with very light butter and going crazy on the seasoning (black pepper, nutritional yeast, cayenne, garlic powder, etc) is a miracle food to me. It fills me up and has a surprising amount of protein with lots of fiber too.

Greek yogurt has lots of protein as well, I like to add In fresh or frozen berries to plain nonfat greek yogurt and use no sweetener, but a (frankly unreasonable amount of) cinnamon. I know you mentioned you don't like fruit, so maybe just the cinnamon?

Peas have lots of protein. How about a baked potato with lots of peas as a topping? Butter is OK, just use the smallest amount you can be happy with and add as many healthy toppings you can think of (greek yogurt would be good for this too).

I like to make spinach salads without dressing but with very small amounts of a large variety of toppings (fresh or dried fruits, veggies, nuts (trail mix with chocolate is ok if you measure out a serving), cottage cheese, tofu, etc.)

Do you like carrots or peppers? Those are my go to veggies for dipping, but some people like fresh broccoli or cauliflower.
posted by Eyelash at 11:52 AM on November 19, 2024 [2 favorites]

Avoid ultra processed foods. Try to focus on protein and reducing snacking.

Something to try:

Work out your RDA of protein. It's something like 0.8g - 1g of protein per kg of bodyweight.

Divide your daily protein by three. This is how much protein you should try to eat at each meal.

When building a meal, prioritise that protein because it will keep you full throughout the day. Include some legumes and vegetables for fibre. I wouldn't restrict any particular macros as such, but reduce ultra processed foods.

Try to have a fasting window overnight of at least 12 hours. This is apparently good for our gut health.

You may find that you can eat these three solid meals a day and not snack.

I personally eat at around 9am, 1pm, 6pm (timings vary by up to 60 minutes).
posted by kinddieserzeit at 12:39 PM on November 19, 2024 [3 favorites]

Because of my own health issues, I've had to reduce salt and carbs in my diet. Here are some things that have worked for me: sliced yellow, orange or red bell peppers for serving hummus, cottage cheese or other spreadable things on; wasa rye crackers for eating spreadable things on (if the spread is good, it doesn't bother me as much that the cracker isn't awesome); apples that I can slice up and eat with a slice of cheese or a scoop of peanut butter (my dietician calls this nutrient matching -- pairing a carb like the apple with a protein like the cheese); low-fat cottage cheese mixed with salsa (don't knock it until you try it); unsalted nuts (hard to get used to, but eventually I did).

I started wearing a continuous glucose monitor, which has made these changes a lot easier to make. For example, I've discovered that roasted or homestyle potatoes don't have as large an impact on me as other carbs, and that bread eaten with breakfast has a huge impact, but is ok at other times. If that's an option for you, I recommend it.
posted by OrangeDisk at 12:43 PM on November 19, 2024 [3 favorites]

Spiced roasted sweet potatoes (I typically do cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder for savory, or pumpkin spice blend for sweet) are basically candy.
posted by moosetracks at 12:45 PM on November 19, 2024 [2 favorites]

I find can have a much smaller portion of "heavy" foods for a meal if I also have veggies and dip and still feel 100% satisfied. I use these dip mixes a lot. They have very little sodium in them (enough to make 1 cup of dip only has 31mg). If you're buying pre-made dips, they typically have a lot more salt.

These dips are also good as a spread for sandwiches & burgers and can add a lot a flavour! I usually use regular 3% MF yogurt, but they're also great mixed into greek yogurt if you want a protein boost.

Seconding Eyelash's suggestion of air-popped popcorn with a lot of seasoning for when you feel snacky. My fave popcorn topping is a little butter/ghee and this kimchi powder.

As for chocolate, go darker and good quality. The darker the chocolate, the more satisfying it is and the less sugar it has. Let it melt on your tongue and really savour it.
posted by burntflowers at 1:09 PM on November 19, 2024 [2 favorites]

A chocolate you can eat with your meal is a dish in Mexico called "mole". It's slightly the flavor of chocolate but not as sweet or sugary (I don't think). It can be a bit spicy, but it depends on the brand. You don't have to make it from scratch, you can usually buy a jar of it on the International Aisle in your grocery store and just add some water and meat (like your rotisserie chicken), like a thick soup or like chili sauce.
posted by The_Vegetables at 1:54 PM on November 19, 2024

I was in a similar spot some years ago - I had a serious Pasta Alfredo habit, and then started gaining weight easier than I'd done and decided to do something.

I found that it was the bolder flavors I was craving - and actually found that recipes that used a lot of umami "flavor bomb" ingredients like olives, anchovies and capers scratched that itch. This little book, if you can find it, is a good starter on ideas for how to work them into your meals.

But just having olives, capers and anchovies on hand will let you punch up other dishes, or you can toss them into a salad, or throw them into a pasta dish....pasta tossed with canned tuna and capers is a classic combo. (yeah, I know there's pasta and that's carbs, but the umami is somehow viscerally satisfying.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:57 PM on November 19, 2024 [2 favorites]

Following on from my previous comment, I would suggest focusing on things which you can use to build your meals:

* Chicken breast
* Cans of legumes.
* Root vegetables.
* Frozen vegetables.
* Fresh vegetables (I find cucumber and capsicum very handy)
* Grains like rice and quinoa (start with packet versions if you need to)
* Hummus
* Salsa
* Eggs
* High protein lower fat dairy like Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, ricotta
* Fermented vegetables like kimchi or sauerkraut

Cut the chicken breast into cubes. Marinate with a teriyaki marinade. Bake the chicken.

Roast the root vegetables.

Hard-boil the eggs.

Keep these prepared foods in the fridge.

Serve your protein (can be chicken, or an egg and the chicken). Then add a mix of your different sides (legumes, grains, roast veg, fresh veg, frozen veg cooked). Mix in salsa/hummus/dairy to make your dressing. Add a little fermented veg.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 2:07 PM on November 19, 2024

Can you get Finnish or Swedish rye crispbread instead of the white bread? It's really delicious with peanutbutter and apple slices as a replacement for some of the things you (and I) crave.
Cold boiled potatoes are less unhealthy than most other potato formats. An open sandwich on crispbread with sliced cold potatoes, a bit of mayo and fried shallots and pickled red onions is a punchy, savory and carb-y treat, but much lighter on your system. You can mix or replace the mayo with yogurt for more health benefits. Or use salsa as a replacement for the mayo for more punch.

How do you feel about mushrooms? I understand we should all eat more mushrooms for all the reasons, and they are easy to eat with eggs, pasta or on toast. Mixed mushrooms are healthier, I think. Most often I cook them in olive oil with garlic and chili flakes, like shellfish. But there are so many recipes out there.
posted by mumimor at 2:10 PM on November 19, 2024 [1 favorite]

like a substitute for Doritos to dip into hummus, salsa or other dips.

Cucumbers can be dipped in any number of things, as can a sturdy leaf like an endive. In fact, endives dipped in hummus, or topped with kimchi, or wrapped around some tuna, are pretty divine.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 2:19 PM on November 19, 2024 [1 favorite]

I didn't see avocado mentioned yet.

You could consider honey as an alternative to sugar as a sweetener (e.g., to add to plain Greek yogurt).

You can also expand the condiments, hot sauces, mustards, dressings, and sauces that you keep around to add flavor to the healthy ingredients you keep in stock.
posted by bruinfan at 2:22 PM on November 19, 2024

You can get an awful lot of flavor out of roasted vegetables, roasted garlic, toasting your spices and pickling a few vegetables.

If you can buy pre-peeled garlic, you can roast it by the pound and it keeps in the fridge for ages, it is so good.
posted by mhoye at 2:34 PM on November 19, 2024

It might be worth mentioning that mixing low carb and low sodium may not be a good idea; in the extreme case, the notorious "keto flu" that many people experience when switching to a lower carb diet is believed to be almost entirely caused by a lack of electrolytes. Put another way, the fewer carbs you eat, the more electrolytes you need to eat; people on low carb diets are generally advised to eat roughly twice the "normal" amount of salt.

As long as you're eating healthy in other respects and don't have a heart condition for which a low sodium diet has been explicitly prescribed, there is no reason to limit your sodium intake. You can avoid the corn chips deep-fried in seed oils, but you don't need to hold back on salting your vegetables.
posted by etealuear_crushue at 2:53 PM on November 19, 2024 [3 favorites]

I love crisps, chocolate, cheese, potatoes, things with a really strong flavour and satisfying mouth-feel.
I think you love these things because they taste good! These are mostly heavily processed foods engineered to taste delicious with salt, sugar, or fat. I'm guessing the potatoes aren't plain but in chip form or with a fair amount of butter?

When I've been trying to eat a bit healthier, I have found it hard to keep eating stuff like this, especially early in the day, and then not crave it all day. But the absolute best thing I have done to get myself to eat healthier and not have food cravings has been (and this is the thing now, so bear with me) to focus on eating a lot more lower fat or no-fat protein. If I eat a lot of protein during the day, throughout the day, I generally have very few food cravings.

So my suggestion is to have things like chicken (as you do), and low or no fat dairy products like cottage cheese, milk, and plain Greek yogurt, sometimes supplemented with protein powder. Cottage cheese would make a great combo with some veggies like cucumbers or on top of toast.

If you were forced into diets as a child, then food tracking might be triggering, but tracking macros like protein has been great for me too. I am eating so many calories and yet am healthier than ever.
posted by bluedaisy at 3:41 PM on November 19, 2024 [3 favorites]

Flavor bombs mentioned above! Great idea. One I have right now is vinegar-pickled garlic with a bit of heat. Astonishing return on the cost/satisfaction ratio. Plus they keep in the fridge forever. Don't get the ones with oil; they're nowhere near as good and the calories are criminal.

Also, I love unsalted seeds like pumpkin (both the white with-shell kind and the green without-shell pepitas kind) and sunflower (with shell). I also do cashews, as suggested above (unsalted). If you want some more flavor, get one of those oil sprayers and spritz just once over them and then sprinkle in your favorite Penzey's mix and furiously shake it up. It doesn't take hardly anything to give the seeds a good flavor. (I use Penzey's at random on my fish, too — I see you have fish so remember a little spice can change the character of the same-old pretty easily.)

Also, sometimes my breakfast is a little of all my seeds, plus raisins, mixed up. Kind of like a gorp. It's a passive meal to eat while triaging email or reading the news. It's filling, fast, and easy. The raisins help keep it interesting, and raisins last forever. You can try dried cherries (although they tend to be expensive, they are very good).
posted by Mo Nickels at 4:12 PM on November 19, 2024

Stuff to dip into hummus and salsa can include carrots, peppers, cucumber. I know you say you’re not a fan but literally the only ways I’ll eat fresh carrots is as sticks for dipping or shredded in coleslaw. So give it a try. In addition, things like crisp breads and some crackers may also work. Clearly read the ingredient list. Also, vegetable crisps.
posted by koahiatamadl at 1:06 AM on November 20, 2024

I dip celery sticks in hummus or other dips. They've got that crunchy element that sometimes satisfies my desire for chips.

You can also top celery with things like peanut butter (I like the kind with just peanuts and a touch of salt), cream cheese, or other soft cheeses. Add raisins or sunflower seeds or a drizzle of hot sauce on top of that if you want even more flavor.
posted by belladonna at 4:33 AM on November 20, 2024

1. How about slathering cooked vegetables in cheese? You can slowly reduce the cheese over time. Adding additional flavor to the cheese, like via spices or condiments like mustard, can also help you need less while still enjoying it.

2. Do refried beans have the same problem for you as other beans? If the texture change helps, you can do a lot of reasonably healthy things with them, like nachos or burrito bowls with veggies, corn, salsa, olives, and cheese.
posted by metasarah at 4:38 AM on November 20, 2024

Dried seaweed snacks? Roasted chick peas? (Whole grain) crisp bread?
posted by oceano at 4:14 PM on November 20, 2024

Where are you located right now? What's cheap and easily available can be really regional.

Mentioned above, but I do want to emphasize my love of dried seaweed snacks-- it's a great 1-1 substitute for crisps and surprisingly healthy. They can be high in sodium, but it really depends on the brand and preparation.
posted by Pitachu at 3:34 PM on November 25, 2024