Every few weeks we do a big restock of our healthy staples. These are the items I always make sure to have on hand so that I can easily whip up my favourite healthy meals!

It’s time for another grocery haul, and this week specifically I’m focusing on those healthy staples that we buy again and again. These are mostly fresh produce. We already had most of our freezer staples (such as frozen fruit and veg) and our pantry staples. We also get our meat ordered frozen (use discount code NIKOLE8341 at checkout!) which is super handy, but the fresh stuff is what we needed to stock up on. Take a look at what we bought, and I hope this gives you some meal inspo!

Vegetable Staples

• Organic baby spinach – This is what goes into all of my green smoothies (plus kale and swiss chard from my garden). I also love using baby spinach for soups, so now we’re officially into fall I definitely had to stock up!
• Onions – Onions are such a universal food and we run out of them ALL THE TIME! 
• Sweet potatoes – We eat these a lot. I love them roasted in the oven, and Sage eats them a lot too, either cut up in cubes or mashed. We tend to eat sweet potatoes more often than white potatoes.
• Cucumbers – We use these a lot in our smoothies, salads, and also for just chopping up and dipping in hummus. 
• Avocados – As much as I love avocados, we never used to eat them every single week. Now we do because it’s such an easy baby food! We also eat a lot of Mexican food, and guacamole is a must!
• Peppers – They’re a great staple to have on hand since they can be used in so many different recipes! I’m planning on making stuffed peppers with some ground beef and rice. 
• The immunity boosting trio – I refer to ginger, turmeric and garlic as my ‘immunity boosting trio’. They’re so good for you, anti-inflammatory, and can be used in all sorts of dishes. I use ginger all the time in my smoothies, and turmeric adds an amazing bold flavor to curries.
• Carrots and celery – Absolute essentials for soup and stew season! They’re your base. Chop them up and combine with whatever you want.
• Broccoli – Sage is obsessed with broccoli right now! I like to chop it up into little finger foods and steam it for her. Broccoli is also great for stir fries and, of course, a hearty broccoli soup. My mom makes the best broccoli soup!
• Squashes – I’m planning on making, you guessed it, more soups with these! This time I opted for both butternut squash and acorn squash, and I’ll probably make some for Sage too without the salt. I also got spaghetti squash, which you basically roast and then flake with a fork and it comes out like spaghetti! A super fun base for something like a meatball spaghetti sauce. 
• Mushrooms – I’ve been really enjoying making a one-pot chicken, rice and mushroom dish in my instant pot. It’s done in 30 minutes and is delicious!

Fruit Staples

• Plantain – This one is a bit random, but I got a yellow plantain with the idea to saute and caramelize it with a little butter for pancakes. If you’re planning to make something more savoury like chips, it’s best to opt for the greener plantains as they’re less sweet.
• Pomegranate – I love these in oatmeal or in a salad. They’re messy but delicious and so worth it!
• Vine tomatoes – The baby tomatoes on the vine are the sweetest ones in my opinion. Now that  we’re into fall, our garden is no longer producing tomatoes, so I stocked up on some. They’re great chopped up fresh in a salad or even on something like a tuna toast.
• Lemons and limes – These are so universal, we use them for a ton of different things. Lemon water, guacamole, even Sage’s food if I want to add some saltiness without the salt.
• Bananas – We got SO MANY bananas this week! Sage eats a lot of bananas, I add them to my smoothies, and bananas also work in a lot of recipes as a natural sweetener. They never go off either, because any leftovers you can freeze for nice cream, or you can use in banana bread!
• Apples – We didn’t get these this time because we went apple picking recently and so we have a ton leftover, but I always get apples when stocking up on staples. 

Pssst… curious to see what healthy staples I always have on hand in my pantry? Grab my free healthy pantry staples guide right here!

Other healthy staples

• Eggs – I’ve been using eggs so much recently. We’ve been making pancakes on the weekend, as well as scrambled and fried eggs, and I’ve been baking a ton. Be sure to check out my eggs 10 ways post for more ideas!
• Almond butter – I prefer the smooth almond butter. I make sure there’s nothing in it except for roasted almonds.
• Jam – I switch between a few different brands for jam, but I always look for jams that are just sweetened with fruit juices and are low or no sugar. I also have a great chia jam recipe which is much lower in sugar than a lot of store bought jams, but just as delicious!
• Tamari – I also use coconut aminos, which is a little bit sweeter, but Mr Matt likes tamari better. The one we get is low sodium.
• Lentils and beans – We got a couple of cans of organic cooked lentils, plus my new obsession… butter beans! 
• Coconut milk / cream – I was looking for coconut milk, but couldn’t find any so opted for cream instead and can just water it down with some filtered water. When buying coconut milk or cream I look for the least amount of ingredients possible. 
• Salted grass fed butter – I like to get unsalted butter for baking, and salted for things like buttering toast. It’s a healthier alternative to something like margarine. 
• Cream cheese – You can get a bunch of different flavours, but we just got the original cream cheese. One of my favourite 3 ingredient snacks is slices of cucumber with cream cheese spread on top and a little seasoning!
• Milk – I like to opt for unsweetened oat milk. We go through a lot of this because I love frothing it up and using it in my morning herbal coffee.
• Unsalted chicken bone broth – Bone broth is a great alternative to oil for sauteing veggies. It’s also nice to have some ready to go bone broth for soups.
• Gluten free pasta – My favourite brand for gluten free pasta is Jovial. They have so many different types of pasta and they’re all amazing.
• Black pepper flax crackers – Crackers are an easy middle-of-the-day snack, especially dipped in hummus or topped with cream cheese.
• Chips – Take a look at my recent healthy snack ideas post, where I list out all my favourite brands for healthier chips and snacks!
• Rolled oats – I tend to take a break from oatmeal over the summer time, but as soon as fall rolls around I’m back to it! I’ve been loving pumpkin oatmeal!
• Bread – I grabbed some sliced organic multi-grain bread, as well as some sprouted cinnamon raisin bagels. 

What are your go-to healthy staples? Let me know in the comments below! 

If you’re looking for more inspo on those basic staples, check out my go-to healthy meals and how to meal plan for the week.