Today I am introducing my cooking habits, what I choose to eat and what I always keep in mind when grocery shopping. I am also introducing some eco-friendly products related to cooking! This series starts with this post about my grocery shopping habits, then continues to part 2: “Cooking at home” and then part 3: “After the meal”. I hope it is interesting!
Part 1: Grocery shopping
When out grocery shopping, I always buy some different vegetables, proteins (like yoghurt for dessert for my husband). Those are the staples of my weekly shopping list.
Reduce single-use plastic waste
When I’m going to a standard supermarket, I always try to choose from loose items then I don’t need to waste plastic wrappings or containers. So I pick something that we can put into the recycling bin. For example, I choose products in glass jars instead of plastic containers. That way, I can wash the container, throw it into the recycling bin or even reuse it!
Regular supermarkets are still full of plastic wraps written “not recyclable yet”, so whenever I have time, I go to an organic supermarket to get their produce from local farmers. This shop uses paper bags to put the loose vegetables, so I can use them even when I forget to bring mine. On the weekends, I go to a weekly farmers’ market whenever I can. Same for bread. We seldom eat bread at home, but whenever we do, we go to a local bakery. They also use paper bags, but I usually bring my cotton bag for bread.
Have you read our Cotton produce bag review? They are pretty useful!
Healthier eating habit
If I could cook everything myself, that would be amazing, but I don’t have enough time since I work in a restaurant. So whenever I buy ready-to-eat products such as biscuits, whole-grain bars, chocolates, etc. I always check the ingredients and the material of the packaging. First, I avoid products using palm oil as it’s not good for the environment or our health. Then, I choose something made from simple ingredients.
A great example is peanut butter. We buy the one that only contains peanuts and salt. It’s delicious!
When I prepare something at home, I am careful with the ingredients.
I don’t buy white sugar, instead, I use unrefined cane sugar. When possible, I use natural sweeteners like maple syrup or agave. Likewise, for oil, I try to buy healthier alternatives. It may be more expensive at times, but I don’t think it is when considering our health.
My go-to ingredients
When I think about the menu for our meal, I always try to eat more vegetables, so leafy vegetables are always visible on our plates. Then comes protein and finally, carbs. It’s because we can easily put on weight if we don’t think about the balance of nutrition.
I’ll show you what we usually eat in each category.
Vegetables
Lettuce, broccoli, spinach, mushroom, bean sprout, onion, spring onion, tomato, avocado, seaweed.
Proteins
Egg, chicken, pork, salmon, mackerel, tinned tuna, tofu, cheese. From time to time, we have beef.
Carbohydrates
We eat Japanese rice with a mix of grains most of the time to get some fibre and minerals by eating them. Less than once a week, we have some spaghetti too. And potatoes maybe every other week or once a month.
Riverford organic farmers
Of course, it depends on the season, but those are a common sight in our fridge. After all, it’s exciting to see seasonal produce in the farmer’s market.
Recently, I have registered for Riverford organic vegetable delivery and bought their vegetable box. They have a wide range of options, but their vegetable box contains various seasonal vegetables delivered weekly. It’s also fun to try something new, and their recipes can give you some ideas on how to prepare them.
Here's a quick recipe I made when I received the box just before lunchtime.
My unique referral link (we both get £15 when you sign-up): Sign-up here
Closing words
This is what I do and care about when out grocery shopping. I still have more to learn to be eco-friendly and healthy. I’ll do a follow-up post whenever I learn something new or if it turns out what I am doing is incorrect.
Please let us know on our Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook about your habits when grocery shopping! We’d love to see them and learn from them too. The next chapter of this series will be “My cooking habits”, I’ll talk about what I keep in mind when cooking to make healthier food. Don’t forget to subscribe to our email list so that you don’t miss any of our future updates.
