Let's Go to Safeway - How to Shop

Let me show you how I shop. Bariatric post ops often make poor food choices at home because they don't know how to shop! How can folks who have lived a lifetime with morbid obesity be expected to suddenly KNOW what they need to buy in order to change!

I am sharing my Safeway Sale Sheet for this week. Its available online. Before I go to the store, I take a look and come up with some ideas as to what I could make for family suppers by combining what is on sale. This week there are great deals if you buy fresh food. Fresh food doesn't HAVE ingredients, it IS an ingredient. Think about that.

Shrimp, pork chops, ground beef, salmon, ground turkey... plus tomatoes peppers summer squash and Spring mix. Wow... FROZEN VEGETABLES are 4 bags for $5.

NOTE: People say they STEAM vegetables but no one really does. Put 1/2 inch of water in bottom of covered pot, bring to a boil, dump in the still frozen vegetables, put top on pot, LOWER HEAT, and let them cook for 3 minutes. THEN DRAIN THEM, add a tablespoon of butter, SALT AND PEPPER, and toss them to coat. Done.

Even if I just made plain broiled meats or fish and a side dish vegetable, I have four solid meals, plus I can use the ground turkey to make either meatballs for some homemade red sauce (with a $3 can of tomatoes and basil from my yard) OR I can make a Chicken Crust Pizza (buy mozzarella and Parm, they are both on sale!).

Look at the items I have circled and see if YOU know why I am buying them. The X foods are things I know some of you buy... some are bad choices and some have an X because they are some of the more expensive things on the sheet even when on sale because they are PRECOOKED or PREMADE. Buy fresh. You can do it.

Please ask questions! Fresh food is NOT more expensive than processed, ready to eat fast food, or take out. Let's go to Safeway!

1. Cottage cheese is HIGH PROTEIN, HIGH calcium and tastes great with diced tomatoes salt and pepper, OR fork mashed blackberries.
2. Two Good is 4 for $5... make a great breakfast.
3. PROGRESSO SOUP - buy the kind without noodles, with a deli roll up this is a great meal you can serve to your family. Soup and a *sandwich* is underrated! My husband gets his on bread.
4. Jerky - no explanation needed
5. Shrimp are good but lets see if there are raw shrimp on sale. Cooked shrimp aren't as tasty. I bet there are some peeled frozen shrimp on sale too! I do keep a bag of cooked in the freezer for a fast shrimp salad.

1. Italian Coffee for $6 a bag, yes please.
2. I always buy CUCUMBERS (salad or snacking with seasoned salt) GREEN ONIONS (add to stir fry or to add a punch of last second flavor) and I always have a FRESH LEMON (with olive oil for salad, rind and juice to season chicken)
3. Olive oil... I only cook with olive oil and only make my own salad dressing. Olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice. I put the greens tomatoes and cukes in my wooden salad bowl, DRIZZLE with olive oil and squeeze half a lemon over the top. SPRINKLE with pinch of dried oregano, dried basil. TOSS. Better than any bottled dressing will ever be.

SKIP things like spam, frozen onion rings, and breaded shrimp, they are more expensive than chicken and salad.

1. Salad mix - a handful on a plate provides a bed for chicken, burgers, shrimp. Top with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice and some herb blend. Instant salad plate.
2. Herdez Salsa. Good brand. Goes on top of roasted then thinly sliced meats to moisten them for easier bariatric eating. TOSS WITH COOKED SHRIMP FOR A CEVICHE!
3. Mustard is better for you than mayo.
4. Fresh peppers and grape tomatoes!!! Stuff peppers with the ground beef on sale. Grape tomatoes with cucumbers and salad mix for your side dish every night!

SKIP the cookies and french fries!

1. Roma tomatoes are fantastic to cut in half, season and BROIL until they are soft and juicy. Perfect to serve with pork chops.
2. Pict Sweet and Flav R Pict frozen vegetables are 4 for $5 - STOCK UP. Cook a bag with a protein and you are done.
3. WATERMELON - no one got fat on watermelon. Make an excuse to get one.
4. BLUEBERRIES
5. Zucchini - slice and cook with a 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce from a jar. Yellow squash - slice and cook with a couple tablespoons of water, salt and pepper.
6. Canned Beans - great for CHILI, homemade pinto bean puree, or some sort of enchilada in a frying pan meal.

DONT BUY THOSE STUPID GREEN GIANT SPIRAL VEGETABLES!!! They are $4 a bagggggg.

Look at these fantastic prices...

1. Boneless chicken at $1.67 a pound. FOUR CHICK FILET SANDWICHES are $12.
2. Ground Beef is $3 a pound. Makes FOUR burgers, or 8 meatballs, or a meatloaf of stuffs some of those sweet peppers you bought for .99 cents a pound.
3. Even though that side of salmon is $10, it feeds four easily!
4. BURGERS are 10 for $10... slap them on the grill, serve with salad. SOON there will be ears of corn.
5. Shrimp. Either stir fry them with a bag of frozen vegetables, or cook them in non stick skillet for 2 minutes and make shrimp salad. DO NOT BUY COOKED SHRIMP, they are a lot more expensive and they aren't as tasty. Shrimp cook in 2 minutes.

DONT BUY THE BREADED CRAPOLA... its $3 and 4 dollars and its junk.

DONT BUY CORN DOGS OR COOKED SHRIMP OR FLAVORED FANCY PANTS FROZEN VEGETABLES. Same with Lunchables, not good for people who have had obesity surgery - high fat and you'll eat the crackers!

1. Ground turkey is fine to use to make Chicken Pizza (get the joke)
2. IF you buy hot dogs, buy good ones like Nathans or Hebrew National, NOT chicken dogs or turkey dogs as they are made with unknown parts you dont want to eat.
3. Smoked sausage makes a fast stir fry with kraut or peppers and onions.

Are you feeling this one? Keep it simple and if you remember ONE THING from this - BUY FRESH FOOD - fresh food doesn't HAVE ingredients, it IS the ingredient.