Grocery Store Staples Series: Whole Foods

I’ve been planing to do this post FOREVER so I’m excited to finally kick it off! I always get questions about what items I pick up while I’m at a certain grocery stores so I thought it would be fun to show you exactly what I look for when I’m at the store! And I plan on doing an entire series of different grocery stores over time, so stay tuned for those! Whole Foods is the store I shop at the most. They are super close by and I can always find specific items that I can’t always find in other stores. And sometimes when I’m in a pinch, I’ll pick up some of their sushi, something from the hot bar (when it’s not cooked in canola oil) or make a taco bowl at their burrito lunch station!

And what’s exciting about Whole Foods nowadays is that they were just bought out by Amazon. We don’t know what that will mean long term, but I’ve definitely noticed in just the last few weeks that prices have begun to drop! When I was just there the other day, I swear probably 50% of the items I was looking at had markdown sale prices on them. And one of the butchers was telling me about a price on some high quality meat dropping by almost 50%! So hopefully this means more and more people will be able to afford items that make eating healthier more enjoyable!

So let’s get started! Don’t forget – every Whole Foods is different and carries different items. So what you see at one, you might not see at the other. But if your Whole Foods is missing something and you want it really really bad, just ask! Ask and you may receive! And I’m sure that company will be very happy to hear that a different Whole Foods picked them up!

Whenever I head into Whole Foods , I always start at the produce. Whole Foods has a ton of veggies that are pre-cut and I’ll often pick up pre-cut brussels sprouts and zucchini noodles just because it saves a ton of time in the kitchen, so it’s often worth the extra money to me. I also love having easy vegetables on hand, so I always pick up Love Beets which are cooked and peeled and then I grab Mann’s Culinary Cuts butternut squash fries. Both of the items don’t have any hidden ingredients added to them, they are just simply veggies. And when I’m not in the mood to cook or do much prep, I always have a veggie option on hand!

After grabbing those pre-sliced or pre-cooked veggies, I’ll grab my other favorites like carrots, kale, asparagus, baby potatoes and whatever else is in season! Then what I love about my Whole Foods is I can grab a BIG bag of arugula which is bigger yet cheaper than containers. I go through a couple bags a week so I always grab quite a few bags. Two other items I can almost always rely on my Whole Foods having is plantains and white sweet potatoes, two starches I love the most!

For me, I’m not a huge fruit person. I only really use frozen bananas in shakes, which I don’t make too often. And I’ll sometimes cook with fruit for a dessert, but I’d rather gets my vitamins and minerals in the form of veggies. Just what I prefer!

After the produce, I move onto the dairy, coffee, and eggs. In my dairy section, I always pick up Malk for my almond milk. I’m so glad to have found this product on the market because all the other almond milks I use to buy had a ton of added crap so I would have to make my own. Malk doesn’t have nasty sh*t, fillers or gums in it and it tastes absolutely amazing! Along with that almond milk, I grab the coffee that I blend with my almond milk in the mornings. My two favorites include Forest Cold Brew and Chameleon Cold Brew. They are both amazing cold brews that aren’t bitter! I sometimes like Forest Cold Brew more just because it has the water already added and then I don’t have to think at all in the mornings. I know, I’m the worst. The last drink I like to pick up recently at Whole Foods is their cold pressed juice. The Root Reboot is MY FAVORITE. I’m seriously so obsessed with it. Most of their other juices have sort of fruit in them, but this one doesn’t and only has 2 grams of sugar, which is pretty rad!

Something I always pick up for my husband while at Whole Foods is Vital Farms eggs. I recently found out that I have an allergy to eggs, so I try not to eat them very often. But Vital Farms eggs are by far some of the best quality eggs available. I even used their eggs in a recipe! When you start using Vital Farms, you can see the difference in their golden yolks. Seriously the best eggs around!

Next up, freezer section. I don’t buy a ton out of the freezer, especially since I try my best to stay away from the ice cream. But there are a couple items that are musts! Cappello’s is one of my favorite brands out there, especially being a Colorado business! They have pasta made from almond flour and grain-free chocolate chip cookies that are TO DIE FOR. I always keep a roll in my freezer in case it’s that time of the month and I’m about to lose my sh*t.

I also pick up some veggies in case I don’t have any fresh ones and I’m in a pinch. Cauliflower rice and chopped peppers make whipping up my Chicken Fried Rice super easy any night of the week. I’ll also grab asparagus, kale, collard greens, and green beans! That way I never miss a green in my diet!

Now for baked goods! Whole Foods always has any flour like tapioca, arrowroot, coconut, almond and even potato starch. And I was super happy to find cassava flour just the other day to start whipping up some recipes with it! I actually have a recipe coming your way soon with cassava flour in case you have any issues with nuts or coconut!

Whole Foods also has my favorite sweeteners: Coconut sugar, maple sugar, liquid stevia (which I use in my coffee), maple syrup, and I just found some coconut syrup that I like to use in place of agave in margaritas! I also always grab any almond butter, other nut butter or just plain peanut butter along with some jam which I’ll put on top of rice cakes. Not paleo whatsoever but it works for me!

Another item I love that they have at Whole Foods is Vital Proteins collagen. I go through mine pretty fast so if I’m out and need some before Prime can get it to me, I just grab it there!

Now let’s head into the middle isles. Well, kind of. If you didn’t read labels before, hopefully paleo has changed that for you and you’ve noticed that many brands on the shelf have unneeded added ingredients such as sugar or cornstarch. I always look at labels or pasta sauce and pizza sauce because most of those have added sugar. But not these brands! Michaels of Brooklyn and Cucina Antica are to go-to brands that I can always rely on for clean ingredients. And if I’m feeling a pasta night but I’m not feeling like almond flour pasta, I’ll pick up jovial brown rice pasta and add in some kite hill ricotta. If you haven’t tried kite hill, they also have amazing cream cheese that I’ll grab and sometimes their yogurts!

If I’m in need for some snacks, they have plenty of those. I grabbed all of these for our trip to Lake Powell. Steve’s Paleo Good dried strawberries are literally THE BEST. The only dried fruit I really love. Then Thrive Tribe paleo bites – I think the cacao nib is the best. I just recently found these Foodie Fuel butter toffee snacks, and then I’m OBSESSED with Purely Elizabeth gluten free granola. She also makes a paleo one, but I prefer the GF kind! The chocolate sea salt is ridic!

And with the snack section, you’ll find all sort of chips and crackers that are using better ingredients and cooking with better oils. Jackson’s Honest is another Colorado brand that cooks their potato chips in coconut oil. Terra Chips started doing the same thing with their plantain chips. And Siete Foods makes the grain-free tortilla chips that will blow your mind, and they cook theirs in avocado oil. And don’t forget to grab some Simple Mills crackers! They use almond flour or a seed mixture to make their awesome crackers and they are damn good!

And chips need salsa. Frontera is MY FAVORITE salsa. It’s so good. I also will pick up 505 green chile tomatillo salsa because it’s amazing. So many salsas out there have all sorts of weird ingredients and these salsas are clean and delicious!!

For condiments, I always pick up Primal Kitchen Avocado Mayo and Ranch, Sir Kensington’s ketchup, mustard, and chipotle mayo. And I love Tessemae’s salad dressing. I also always grab coconut milk and coconut cream, and I love this Sky Valley sriracha. Yes, it has sugar in it but I’m too lazy to make my own and this brand has pretty clean ingredients! Coconut Secret coconut aminos is also something I stock up on every time I’m there. You can whip up an awesome sauce by simply reducing coconut aminos and put it on top of chicken, pork, or even just veggies!

And I love to pick up canned and jarred items like sliced olives, roasted red peppers, pickled jalapeños, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sardines and smoked oysters. All these things make food just taste way better! I also love grabbing coconut oil, Primal Kitchen avocado oil, EPIC lard, pork fat and beef fat, and Fourth and Heart ghee!

Now let’s talk about some fun snacks! I ALWAYS grab larabars. Larabars are the best. No weird sh*t, just clean ingredients. And I never have to worry about their ingredients, which I love. So I’ll grab a handful every time I’m there to have in my purse in case of emergency. I also love Wilde bars that are meat bars that actually taste good. I’ve found that other bars like this are totally dry and slightly disgusting, but these ones are awesome! And when I’m in the mood, I’ll pick up Perfect Bars, as well. They aren’t strict paleo, but I love their bars for a little treat!

And if you want to have THE BEST treat ever, you need to grab a few of these Honey Bunchies. It reminds me of a Pay Day candy bar but 10x better. It is my hands down favorite treat to eat. And it doesn’t make me feel like crap! It’s the most magical bar ever.

And you can’t leave Whole Foods without grabbing some chocolatey treats! And they have a whole section for tons of treats! Heavenly Organics honey patties are always clean ingredients and taste perfect! Then I love getting Alter Eco chocolate truffles. They are INSANE. They just melt in your mouth.  I also love Taza Chocolate Dark Bark and Eating Evolved dark chocolate coconut butter cups. All the brands are not only great companies, but they care about the products they are putting out into this world.

As I continue to shop at Whole Foods and paleo gets bigger and bigger, more items are coming onto the market and making it easier than ever to eat healthy! Every time I’m there, I always find new clean products. I don’t get a ton of meat at Whole Foods because I get mine through ButcherBox, but I do love getting wild caught salmon, if I don’t have any on hand.

If you have any items you always find at Whole Foods , share them below!! I’d love to hear what you look for and what you’re loving! And stay tuned because I’ll be sharing my Natural Grocers favorites next time around!