Your Independent Grocery List

Author: Lauren Gray
Posted on May 11, 2021

So, you’re moving out on your own for the first time… Which is so exciting but can also be so scary. I’m coming up on a year of living on my own (with a pretty sweet roommate) and although I felt ready, it was still a huge adjustment. Coming from a family who had the best homemade food all nights of the week, I was not used to cooking anything extravagant for myself. I pride myself on my grilled cheese making abilities, but unfortunately my lactose intolerance definitely could not sustain that lifestyle. I knew I had to start coming up with meals that were not only healthy and delicious, but affordable too. With that, I had to build my grocery list.

Living in a small town without a car left me with few options, but luckily, we live a crosswalk away from The Independent grocery store. At first, it was intimidating walking around trying to decide what I wanted to buy. I knew I needed fruits and vegetables, but anything more complicated than that had me stumped. That first day I left with said fruits and vegetables, and nothing else. I remember thinking that if my parents saw this half-empty grocery bag, they would laugh. ‘Lauren, how are you supposed to make dinner with two apples, a cauliflower and some bell peppers?’ They would have been right.

I went back the next day to try again, this time with a list (I know, who would have thought?). When I got home the night before, I took to Pinterest for inspiration. “Easy meals for university students” is what I looked up. I decided on a few meals that I would make through the upcoming week and added the ingredients to my list. A stellar tip from the grocery shopping queen herself, my roommate, is to put your ingredients in the order that you would find them in the store. This helped a lot and saved me from wandering around aimlessly.

After a solid 9 months of practice, I have come up with a few staple items I rely on when cooking my three meals of the day. These include but are definitely not limited to:

• Avocados

• Strawberries

• Bananas

• Green onion

• Cucumber

• Carrots

• Sweet potato

• Broccoli

• Ground turkey

• Chicken breast

• Breakfast sausages

• Fresh garlic

These are just a few of the things I make sure I always have in stock at home. I have learned to experiment with lots of different proteins, incorporating many different vegetables and spices. I now spend a lot of my free time watching MasterChef videos and reading recipes I find online.  It has taken a lot of trial and error to ensure I am getting proper nutrition in my meals - but it has been so fun learning in the process.

Photo: Since school has ended, I've had some extra time to make fun meals, like these sweet potato nachos!