Kitchen Stock-Up Part 2: The Fridge


I’m going to be honest here and say that I find myself at the grocery store more times in a week than I probably should for fridge items (it helps when you actually look at your list right?). But there are some things that I ALWAYS try to keep stocked to make sure that my family has tons of healthy items to choose from.

1. Sliced fruit and vegetables: There have been so many times that I’ve looked at a melon sitting on my counter and wanted to eat it, but couldn’t be bothered to cut it and instead I watched it go bad. Or turned around wondering what to make for dinner with two kids hanging off my legs and slicing vegetables for a stir fry was really just too much. Prep work shouldn’t be the biggest deal but when every minute counts sometimes it really is.
This is especially true when feeding children. Things like grapes, and berries that are a definite choking hazard if given whole to younger children, and salad isn’t always a fan favourite for younger kids. I like to keep containers of fruit in child appropriate sizes in the fridge to have on hand whenever needed.

2. One prepared vegetable dish: Sometimes even when the veggies are washed and slices it’s still not “convenient enough” in the moment. So I like to prep either a big pot of vegetable soup, a pan of grilled vegetables or a big stir fry early on in the week to ensure I always have a veggie option for my kids.

3. Hard-boiled eggs: I know that this sounds like a random one! But eggs have 6 grams of protein for only 70 calories and are really so perfectly portable. My whole family uses them as part of a healthy breakfast, to make a sandwich or lunch or for a really quick snack on the go. I buy a couple of extra dozen eggs every week just to keep on hand as the hardboiled ones.

4. Lots and lots of dairy: Cheese strings, hard cheese (shredded or sliced), low fat plain greek yogurt, and cottage cheese are all great low fat sources of calcium and protein. They are all delicious on their own and are so easy to incorporate into a quick breakfast, lunch or dinner idea (check out my recipe for tortilla crusted quiche!). I like to keep both individual portions and larger tubs of all of these on hand because some people (not mentioning any names) don’t always remember to bring back yogurt containers they’ve taken and that’s really not something you want to be finding three weeks later. Try buying the plain versions of lower fat dairy and play around with your own flavourings at home. It’s often fun for younger children to try out different flavour combinations.

What are some things you ALWAYS keep in your fridge?