Q: What foods can you buy at the normal grocery stores (stop & shop) and which ones should you travel for (Trader Joe’s / Whole Foods)? Keep in mind the organic section at Stop & Shop is limited. Please include meat STAY AWAY FROMS and LOOK FORS. My closest TJ’s is 45 min away and my WF has an hour line just to get in these days so a complete turnoff at this point yet the food at S&S doesn’t taste the same as in Europe and I’m having a hard time finding food if that makes sense. A: The short eAZy answer: Shop for fresh produce at your local stores (and farmers markets if you have time) then stock your pantry and freezer with items from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, so you can stock up and do only 1-2 trips a month. If you have a big family, I do suggest buying a separate garage freezer (even if a previously owned one) to save yourself time in grocery store runs and to save money, since you can get more on-sale stuff. The long, but still eAZY answer on what to buy: TRADER JOE'S - Any and all organic frozen fruit, berries and veggies that you love. Don't buy any that are good for you but you can't stand. They will get freezer burn and end up in trash (speaking from personal experience here, haha!). I always stock up on TJ mushroom medley, spinach, root veggie "fries", frozen mango, acai packs and wild blueberries.
- Frozen cauliflower gnocchi are my favorite entree and I always have them in my freezer. (Kale gnocchi are not the best, imo) - Frozen organic brown rice (It comes in 3 baggies that you can warm up in a pan in 2 minutes and it's ready to eat) - Frozen appetizers and snacks. Their crabless crabcakes are pretty good and the kale bites, but they do have non-organic wheat, so have to be careful... - Organic tomato basil marinara (I always have a few jars as it goes great with the cauliflower gnocchi) - Lentil and rice pasta - Muscat champagne vinaigrette - Hummus - Organic sprouted savory tofu - Roasted beets and cooked lentils in their fresh produce department (they keep for a few weeks and are awesome to add to meals) - If you eat meat, look for their organic/no hormones frozen chicken breasts and wild fish. You can easily defrost overnight. - Organic blue corn chips - If you eat cheese, look for their imported European goat and sheep cheeses, they are better for humans than cheese from cow's milk. - Fresh roses for yourself - nothing says "I am a grocery shopping rockstar" like 12 beautiful roses for $6.99 that usually stay fresh for 2 weeks! WHOLE FOODS MARKET - Also any and all organic frozen fruits, berries and veggies. Look for what's on sale and stock up. You can save extra money if you have an Amazon Prime account. (Use the same approach as what I mentioned for Trader Joe's) - Gluten-free, dairy-free frozen pizzas (especially when they are on sale! Yum!) - Organic frozen bread - Imported Italian sparkling water in glass bottles. Raspberry Lemon is my favorite! - Beyond meat meatballs, ground beef and bratwurst. I keep mine in the freezer and always have eAZy dinner proteins on hand when I need them. - If you eat animal protein, check their fresh meat, poultry and seafood section to see what's organic that's on sale. Then stock up and freeze so you don't have to stop often. - Dairy free ice cream - Boxed organic beans - 365 brand organic salsa - Beanfield bean-based chips - Dry organic lentils, mung beans, etc - Organic pasta, especially ones made with mung beans (by 365 brand) and the lentils and rice from Italian brand BioNaturae. When you get bean-based pasta, you get lots of protein, so all you have to do is add some veggies and cheese to make an awesome comfort food. - Speaking of cheese - My two favorite dairy-free cheese brands are Violife and Daiya. I stock up on the bagged ones and freeze it so I don't have to stop for it often. Violife has a great parmesan block that you can shave with a peeler (I put mine on top of cauliflower gnocchi with kale and TJ marinara) - Boxed 365 Brand organic coconut water - so you can stay hydrated with all this shopping and cooking! YOUR LOCAL GROCERY STORE - Fresh organic produce, whatever is available that looks good to you. Check the DirtyDozen/Clean Fifteen to make sure you know what to buy organic and what is ok conventional. - Whatever organic items that are on sale that look good to you. Since you are at the store, you might as well! WHAT TO AVOID - All non-organic meat, fish, dairy, poultry and eggs sine they have hormones, antibiotics and steroids that can wreck your hormones. - All non-organic wheat - the use of pesticides and herbicides such as glyphosate can create chaos in the your body, creating indigestion and affecting your hormones. Let me know your feedback and if you have any additional questions! Love, Alina
6 Comments
Chris
1/5/2021 09:13:50 pm
Great post & recommendations! Thank you!!
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Alina
1/9/2021 09:12:06 am
Thank you! Glad you like it!
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1/6/2021 06:29:30 pm
Alina!! I am so glad you have resurfaced!! The last time I was in your presence was at the Boca Raton WF cooking class ages ago!! I am still making the kale chips you demonstrated that evening. I am Canadian from Toronto and have since sold my ocean-front condo in Boca. As a healthy and vigorous 81 yr. old I attribute my excellent health and well being to good food....thank you for pointing me in the right direction! God bless you and best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful, successful and - most of all - Healthy 2021. Liane.
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Alina
1/9/2021 09:12:59 am
So wonderful to hear from you! Glad you are doing well! Please stay in touch and let me know if you have any questions you want me to answer in my blog. Lots of love!
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Robin Loren
1/7/2021 12:13:58 am
Please change my email. No more catering.com, please . Hugs
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Alina Zhukovskaya
1/9/2021 09:13:10 am
Done!
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ASK ALINAWhy ask me?- After many challenges and different crazy life experiences I am living my dream life and since my friends say I am pretty wisdomous and I think I am a little bit funny too, I want to share my life approach with you so you can live the life you love as well. Here is a little bit about me: - I am a creator of #1 Best Diet as selected by Harpers Baazar Magazine - I started my career in the corporate world and didn't even know how to peel a shallot - I have been a chef for celebrities for over 10 years - I have a realistic approach to food and life - I have a great relationship with food and can even let chocolate go bad because I simply forget I have it at home (something I wasn't able to do 10 years ago) - I eat carbs whenever I feel like it without any guilt - I used to hate to cook and now absolutely love being a private chef and a food relationship coach - I wear whatever clothes I desire no matter what everyone is wearing or thinking - I am in good shape and my body’s biological age is 13 years younger than the one in my passport - I have experience being super poor, super wealthy and in between - I’ve worked in corporate world and am now an entrepreneur - I was married and divorced - I used to cry going to work because I was so miserable with my boss - I’ve had an emotional eating disorder - I moved from Russia to USA alone at the age of 15 - I’ve lived in Russia, Europe and on both coasts of USA - I have been super skinny and overweight - I have been insecure and unhappy with reasons and secure and happy for no reason - I used to wear glasses and healed my eyes with the power of thought and exercises - I created "Couture Nutrition®" so you can have tailor-made solutions for your body and soul - My brain usually comes up with jokes to soften stressful situations - I think color coordination, sparkles and rainbows are underused ![]() |