I am making my shopping list for late next week so I thought I'd toss it on this thread with comments. My choices are limited by what my local super walmart carries. So some is what I choose and some is just based on what they have, or what they have in a brand that isn't sugary.
Beef Roasts*
Pork Roasts
Chicken**
Bacon ***
Sausage
Salami
Pepperoni ***
Canned Tuna
Canned Chicken***
* I split a 1/2 side of beef from a butcher shop with my parents. It is ultra-lean, and it is double wrapped for good storage, and has a variety of meats, from some filet mignon to T-bones and Sirloins, round steaks and roasts, to hamburger (lots of that). Cost me vastly less than buying all this stuff individually fresh at the market. Now and then if I've used up most of my meat though, I'll buy a roast. I recommend looking into a bulk-purchase -- even in cities you can do this, just find a butcher shop. If you live in a rural area, it's easier. Go into any farm-related store and ask the first person you see... they'll probably know. :-)
** pref boneless/skinless breast. Sometimes thighs. Sometimes frozen breasts. Someday when I grow up I'll actually buy an entire chicken or turkey and do something with it. At this point, throwing something in a crockpot seems like work.
*** ok, enough nitrates to kill you slowly, but it tastes awesome, and the Pepp makes a great 'crust' to Donald's Deep Dish Pizza Quiche
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=44087 Is also a good snack, or cooked till really crispy, is also yummy to drop in a salad or cold-salad for tangy crunch. For using many meats (choose a combo), try some in Chris's snack:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=61500
*** for desperate moments when I haven't anything to eat and limited time, canned white meat chicken (it's in the aisle with the tuna) can be dropped into a saute pan (er... minus the can :-)) with almost any spices or sauce. Really good w/curry.
Cheddar *
Swiss
Mozzarella
Parmesan (real cheese) **
Blue (crumbled) ***
For a cool way to use a couple variety of cheeses, try Harley's idea (I couldn't figure out how to paste a link to their message in here, instead of to the whole thread and it's quite a ways down in the thread, so here's the quote instead:
<blockquote><i>Alternate layers of chicken/turkey/whatever slices/pastrami type meat and cheese. Fry them then cut into small squares. Majorly yummy, not naughty, and filling. Also good for entertaining as they look nice with the different coloured layers. Put them on toothpicks, can add olives etc. I also have this as a meal (not cut into squares though) with a fried egg on top or between the layers. Sometimes a dab of cream cheese too.</i></blockquote>
* I was surprised to find the USDA shows cheddar as being lower-carb than colby. I used to consider them interchangeable.
** Real parmesan is awesome and it lasts quite awhile if grated finely. They now have graters that are much better than the old towers we used to use, based on woodshaving tools, quick and easy to clean and can shred parmesan (or any cheese, but parm's hard so you can use an even finer grater) delightfully. "Microplane" is my favorite grater, amazon.com has it but other sources do too. Try Shark's Bacon Fajita Salad with Edible Parmesan Bowl -- the green can crap can't compare!
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=54354
*** Karen posted the recipe for blue cheese dressing
http://www.lowcarb.ca/karen/recipe015.html - WAY yummy. Thin it out with water and it mixes wonderfully into a super-big salad without having to use massive amounts. Much better than anything from a bottle IMO, it only takes a few minutes to make, and I'm guessing would store for at least several days in the fridge (maybe longer if you added in the SC or vinegar just before eating).
Whole Cream *
Half & Half
Cream Cheese **
* I only use this in recipes that call for it, which require the whipping-thicker nature of it. I don't drink coffee or tea now, as I figured a small fortune in supplements was kinda wasted drinking diuretics that would help me pee them out! Gee that wasn't a very ladylike way to put it, sorry...
** Of course, this can be used in 1001 awesome foods. But if you're not on induction or supersensitive to sweet, try Natrushka's to-die-for "Mock Danish" (add some s-f rasberry jam in the middle... oh. my. God!)
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...0435#post560435 that thread also has a TON of awesome variants, too, from chocolate to cinnamon to pecan to....
My store's plain yogurt has so many carbs, I can't figure out how people rave about plain yogurt. Same for the cottage cheese (and the dry-curd I once heart someone recommend has twice as many!). So I don't buy those. Maybe it's just the brands my store carries. I live in a 15K pop SuperWal-Mart city... they OWN this town. Not many other options, as refrigerated dairy stuff doesn't ship well for online buying.
Red Leaf Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
Spinach Leaves
Cabbage *
Cauliflower **
Broccoli
Bell Pepper
Jalapeno Peppers ***
I'm not a veggie fan really. Salads with multiple types of leaves taste much better to me.
Cabbage and cauliflower appear to be some of the lowest carb versatile-for-experiment veggies when you're feeling brave, and they seem to 'take on' the flavor of whatever you cook them with.
* a leaf of cabbage can go in my salad, small amounts elsewhere It's not my favorite food, but my bunny likes it a lot. :-)
** Try the chinese chicken fried 'rice' recipe in the kitchen section 'Cauli-Fried' Rice Karen's original:
http://www.lowcarb.ca/karen/recipe052.html I hate cauliflower but I LOVE it in this. It will inspire you to the many other ways it could probably be used as well.
*** Try Paul's stuffed, wrapped & roasted japanenos (here's a pic, too!) --
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&threadid=49553
Ginger Root
Garlic Bulbs
Sour Cream
If I'm out...
Helleman's Mayonnaise
Natural/lowest-carb Peanut Butter
Sugar-free or low-carb jam/jelly (rasberry)
Splenda in packages (not bulk)
I was searching desperately on the web for some low-carb-ish things my store didn't have, or didn't have in large bottles, and did find that netrition.com had some stuff (just one source of many I'm sure) like the davinci syrups for example.
I already have most the spices I need, but when I began LC I had to buy one or two spices every time I shopped.
PJ