Raw grocery list-HELP!

RawsikiRawsiki Raw Newbie

This whole time, my mom’s been doing all the grocery shopping. Now, I’m back in school and the big bad world, and forced to do all my own food searching. Well, I know what I want, I just don’t know how much! My first shopping trip was a disaster. Well, I mean it was good, up until the part where I ran out of food. And only in a few days.

I spent $60.00 at an organic health food store on Friday, and now it’s Tuesday and I am living on school bananas and (ugh) almond butter. I can’t go out till tomorrow afternoon. I’ve been so busy. And I really don’t want to run back and forth between school and stores. So, I need help. Is there anyone out there who can give me a good sample grocery list for one person that will last a whole week? If it helps, I’m 18, 5’4”, about 115 pounds of joy.

I’d like to focus more on fruits and veggies, and a little grains. I already bought too many nuts and nut butters (shame on me!). Oh, and if you can, include the cost. Any help is appreciated!~

Comments

  • I am in the same boat. I have been going to grocery store every two days and I would like that to stop. I hope someone can help both of us out!

  • Of course I cannot tell you what to buy at the store because I don’t know what you want to eat. The way I do it is I think about what I will probably want to eat for the week and I just multiply it by the number of days I plan on eating it. For example for lunch I really like a salad right now made with the summer veggies, tomatoes, cukes, peppers, and onions. I then make sure I have my dressing ingredients on hand and that’s done. I then go on to dinner thinking about the two or three things I enjoy and then I do the same type of multiplication. For breakfast I have green smoothies so I know what I will need for them and some of them are frozen so that is no problem, I just make sure the greens are covered. If I buy bananas I make sure I freeze when they start to get over-ripe and those go in the smoothies. I buy enough apples to make 7 smoothies so that is all there is too do. As far as the salads I know how many tomatoes and cukes etc I want everyday. I do use nuts and seeds but these are bought in larger amounts and sprouted then dried, as this saves time, to use in my recipes. If you do not have a dehydrator you can soak and use as is. This will all change with the seasons but it works very well for me and I hardly ever will lose produce this way. I don’t really think my diet costs any more than SAD as I don’t buy super foods because I consider all God’s creations super-foods. I make sure I write a list so that I don’t have to run to the store as that is wasted time and annoying. I hope that a little bit of this will help.

  • heyenglishheyenglish Raw Newbie

    My weekly list usually looks like this and costs around $50 – $60 (depending on how much conventional vs. organic produce I buy): 1 bunch of bananas (~6) 1 bag of lemons 1 bag of limes 1 lb container of mixed greens 1 lb container of spinach 2 – 3 mangoes 3 – 4 pieces of sale fruit 1 (peaches are especially cheap right now, yay!) 3 – 4 pieces/1 bag of sale fruit 2 (oranges are usually pretty cheap!) 1 butternut squash 2 cucumbers bean sprouts 1 bag of organic whole carrots (so much cheaper than buying baby carrots!) 1 bag of celery hearts A container of tomatoes (if my boyfriend is out of town, and doesn’t have any home grown ones for me) 1 – 2 sale veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, snap/sugar peas, mushrooms!!) 1 bulb of garlic 3 – 4 avocados

    Typically I live off salads and smoothies during the week, just snacking on plain (yummy) fruits or half of a cucumber. If you buy 6 different salad ingredients, but only use 3 ingredients per salad, you can vary your ingredients every day so you don’t get burned out on salad. I love a drizzle of oil and the juice of a lime as my dressing everyday. For dinner, I’ll either make a nut pesto and serve with julienned veggies (like the carrots) or I’ll make “cous cous” with the butternut squash, and just vary the dressing and toppings for it. I can eat squash every night for dinner, and still want more!

    Hope this helps!

  • Rawsiki- Boy do I feel you on this one!! For months and months I was going to the store every day. Maybe multiple times. I think it definitely helps in regards to groceries if you just eat simply and don’t worry too much about making gourmet meals. Like you, I am also a 20 year old student who also works full time and doesn’t have alot of time to do crazy shopping.I have definitely not mastered the art of the once-a-week grocery shopping, but here are some of my staples: 3-packs of organic romaine lettuce (I usually buy 2 or 3 at a time), 2-3 packs of SeaTangle kelp noodles (in the refrigerated section at my health food store, used to make soups or spaghetti), raw nori that you can easily roll your favorite veggies into, and I always buy at least 5 of loose produce items like apples, pears, bell peppers, avocados. I realize that this is expensive, but I have resigned myself to eating quality food instead of spending money on things like eating out, getting my hair dyed, having manicures, and other things that weren’t good for me anyway! I think the trick is to eat simply. Like others have said, if you can eat only fresh fruit until dinner and then just have salad, your grocery list won’t need to be too long. I hope this helps at least a little, have a wonderful and fulfilling school year!

  • I’ve been raw (80% and above, now about 99% and staying there) for almost 9 months now and I’m still looking for some sort of cheaper way, but I have a huge appetite. I can always work more, I guess. :p I am not stressing over it too much and hope to cut back after feeling more comfortable and settling in the lifestyle to write things out and think more about what I want to eat versus not.

    I would definitely get greens, such as spinach, salad spring mix, kale; sprouts; fruits.

    The items that really add up on my list are extra-virgin olive oil (cold-pressed, organic, unrefined), cacao if I get that, dried fruit, fresh fruit, nuts, hemp oil, hempseeds, flax oil. These things are obviously healthy. Oh, and sometimes I get raw caramel chocolate bars but I’m trying to stop that. :p

    So try to get greens, salads, and use the oils that you already have for dressing or maybe some lemons? I found that getting cut-up fruit, like two containers of mango, 6 cups or so, one meal for me or an appetizer, was cheaper than buying it non-sliced at the store, $6.00, as opposed to probably $10.00 at the store.

    I’m sorry it’s so hard to figure these thigns out, but it takes time, and worrying about pieces of paper is rough on one’s mind….I’ve found as I’ve gotten older that I don’t care too much about it (money). I mean, you obviously need it to live at this point based on what our society created for us (unfortunately), but just do your best and enjoy the things that matter!

  • Hey you guys – I didn’t ask the question but I sure will benefit from your answers. I am determined to get to 100% raw by my next birthday (Feb 27th). $50-60 per week on groceries sounds much better than the $100-120 that I’m spending now. I think I am just making it too complicated – fancy nuts, seasonings, raw bars, etc…. I can easily subtract $40 per week just by getting rid of those. Keep it simple, right? Plus, I think cutting back on the nuts will help with waistline – it’s been going up a bit lately. Good luck everyone. !! Peace, Karuna

  • I make a big salad at the beginning of the week…just greens and basic veggies. And I sprout some beans/grains, maybe make a batch of dressing. I keep the salad in a big tupperware bowl in the fridge and every day add toppings and dressings fresh. It’s easy and cost efficient for sure! http://doesabodygood.blogspot.com/2008/06/lazy-summer-full-fridge.html

  • A tad bit off topic but do you have a local farmer’s market near school???

  • Hi Rawsiki and others. I also have the same problem and was just getting frustrated about it recently, but kinda figured out a system that works for me. After underbuying (and not having time to go on more than one grocery trip per week) I decided last week to stock up and unfortunately ended up overbuying a bit so some of my food went bad. Anyways, I’m about 80% raw and make one shopping trip per week to the local food co-op and a non health food store. I buy one HUGE container full of organic greens (this lasts me all week for dinners) about 8 bananas (the only thing I buy nonorganic) and a quarter of a pound of cacoa powder for smoothies in the mornings (sometimes throw in some greens) and then some other random fruits and veggies (this week it was valencia oranges, avocado, lemons, red pepper) for lunch and snack. I also have a big bad of supposedly raw almonds from Trader Joes that lasts me awhile. Anyways, that’s how I eat raw for a week on a budget. I’m sure I’ll switch it up, but haven’t really wanted to yet. (Weird tangent, but I’m the exact same height and weight as you, but a year younger). Anyways, hope I helped in some way!

  • RawsikiRawsiki Raw Newbie

    Hey, I think I have a grocery list figured out! Well, by now, no one will even see this thread, but hopefully it will pop up somewhere. So…here’s what I have:

    Weekly Raw Grocery List for One Person About $50 a week ALL ORGANIC!!!

    25 bananas

    1 lemon

    8 very large apples (find the cheapest type)

    2 nectarines (or other fruit)

    2 packs of lettuce

    1 container spinach

    1 container strawberries (alternate with a new fruit (for variety) every week)

    1 container tomatoes

    12 oz dates

    12 oz cashew nuts

    12 oz sunflower seeds

    12 oz pumpkin seeds

    8 oz brazil nuts

    EVERY TWO WEEKS LIST:

    2 lbs buckwheat groats

    2 lbs wheat berries

    1 pack sundried tomatoes

    1 pack of Bob’s red mill raw flax meal

    SPECIALS ON INTERNET STORES ONCE IN A WHILE:

    Raw carob powder

    Raw cacao powder or nibs

    Raw rolled oats

    Raw crackers or bread

    EVERY MONTH:

    1 bag of shallot onions (has like 50)

    Vanilla beans

    1 garlic

  • troublesjustabubbletroublesjustabubble Raw Newbie

    rawsiki! great job!

    I eat on about $70 for two weeks. I know this is because I rarely buy anything like nut butters, nuts, seeds, etc. I almost entirely eat fresh food. So my grocery list for two weeks usually includes:

    lettuce(nine heads) cabbage(1 head) i bunch of whichever greens are cheapest(turnip right now), 20 or so bananas, a couple mangoes, a couple seasonal fruit(persimmons now!), carrots(1 bag), 3 or 4 tomatoes(vine ripened), 2 onions, and three or so bags of frozen berries.

    every couple weeks I get raw honey and a pound or so of sunflower seeds and a bottle of olive oil.

    It’s cheaper than when I ate cooked food.

  • ungratefulungrateful Raw Newbie

    ooh, i like that, rasiki. I am moving to the country and am not going to have instant access to my fave organic grocery anymore.

    Weekly shopping trips and a “list on the fridge” are going to become compulsory. I still can’t get over the fact that I am going to have my own refrigerator.

    I spent about $50 for the week I was up there, but it wasn’t all organic.

    tjab, you are right, it is cheaper now that i’m raw, but I don’t smoke cigs or drink beer everyday either!

    I will spend it all on pomegranates, bamboo cutting boards and lip balm :)

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