To Market, To Market

Yesterday as I was stocking our pantry, fresh from a trip to the co-op and the grocery store, I thought it would be fun to share the goods. I think it's fun to see what people eat. We all have those things that we buy weekly. The basics. The things we can't live without. It might change as our tastes change or as the kids grow, but for months at a time I buy the same things every week, sometimes twice a week. Here is what our little family considers the "basics" right now:

• We go through at least three gallons of milk a week. The girls and Steven drink soy, so we go through two cartons of soy milk a week.
• I'm a coffee drinker and my guilty morning pleasure is International Delights French Vanilla Coffee Creamer.
• We think Simply Orange orange juice is the best orange juice.
  
• We eat fresh as often as possible. We don't do a lot of canned goods. So our fridge has a lot of fresh produce. What we don't buy fresh we pull from the frozen and preserved produce of last summer's harvesting adventures.
• Sicily and I eat spinach and mushroom omelets for lunch almost every day and I love to bake, so we go through 1 to 1 1/2 cartons of eggs each week.
• I love Immaculate Baking Company's break and bake cookies. They're really good, they're local, and they majorly support the Folk Art Foundation. All good reasons to indulge in some chocolate chip cookies.
  
• My husband is a beer snob, as most of you know, but that's a post for another day. What you probably don't know is that he's also a cheese snob. He thinks Cabot Cheddar Cheese is the only cheddar worth buying in grocery stores. I happen to agree.
  
• I love Stoneyfield Organic Yogurt. It's so smooth and creamy. The kids love the YoKids Squeezers. We go through two or three boxes a week.
• My new love: Stoneyfield Oikos Greek Yogurt. Mmmmmm. Especially the one with honey. Immediately after I took this picture, I shoved those to the back to hide them from Steven and the kids. I have no shame. You know you have a secret stash too. All moms do. It's our sanity saver.
• We are on a serious pastrami kick. I know, a little weird.
  
• We go through a lot of fruit each week, especially apples and bananas.
• PB&J is the school lunch item of choice. If I try to switch it up I get serious complaints, so why switch it up. We use Jif Natural Peanut Butter, because as Chris say, "it tastes like peanuts". Go figure, a peanut butter that tastes like peanuts. Steven prefers Trader Joe's Almond Butter. All of those sandwiches have us going through two loaves of bread a week.
  
• I've told you before we aren't good at mornings so we do easy breakfast. You will always find frosted mini wheats, honey nut cheerios, and oatmeal in our pantry. The exception is Saturday when we always have pancakes and I can whip up some wonderfully creamy grits if cravings call for it. I am a good southern girl after all.
  
• I can't live without sweet tea. (Have you read the title of this blog?) My husband will only drink Luzianne Iced Tea (maybe he's just a general food snob). I'll drink any tea, as long as it's sweet.

So those are our basics. At least for right now. On reflection, I spend a lot of time in the dairy aisle. We should have very strong bones.

What's in your fridge or pantry that you just can't live without?