Reviewed by Dietitian Victoria Seaver, M.S., RD
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I’m a Costco girlie. From clothes and electronics to food and supplements, I spend enough at Costco annually that my upgraded executive membership pays for itself. (While a regular Gold Star Costco membership is $65 a year, an Executive membership is $130. But you earn 2% cash back in the form of a rebate each year—and my rebate check is always more than the upgraded membership fee.)
Even though we’re a family of three, I still go to Costco almost every week. Yes, I do have an extra freezer and space in my basement to store bulk buys (I often hear lack of storage space cited as the main reason people aren’t Costco members). But my weekly shopping list is mostly perishable products. Here’s what’s on my weekly Costco shopping list.
Blueberries
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While I always have frozen blueberries on hand, we go through a lot of fresh ones year-round. My husband sprinkles them over his morning bowl of oatmeal, and our family can plow through a package of those antioxidant-packed orbs while we watch an after-dinner TV show. I don’t know how they do it, but Costco consistently has the best-quality organic blueberries for the best price. I buy at least two packages every week, and they never go to waste at our house.
Baby Spinach
For the past several months, I’ve been making a veggie-packed frittata each week. I usually leave for work before I’m ready to eat breakfast, so I bring a slice of frittata to reheat. Not only is it a great grab-and-go breakfast, but it’s an easy way to clean out my fridge—all those little bits and bobs of veggies, meats and cheese find their way into my weekly frittata. But one ingredient in my frittata is constant (other than eggs, of course)—tons of chopped fresh spinach. There’s a lot in that 1-pound package, so I’ll use what’s left in my lunchtime salads or stir it into soups and pasta.
Cherry Tomatoes
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Cherry tomatoes made my weekly Costco list last spring after trying Hiiros for the first time. They are the sweetest, most delicious cherry tomatoes ever, rivaling ones I’ve grown in my own garden in flavor. Our daughter likes to make a Caprese-like snack with a sliced-up mozzarella cheese stick, a handful of Hiiros and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. I toss them into my lunchtime salads or sauté them until they burst, then spoon them over ravioli.
Cucumbers
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Whether I buy a bag of mini cucumbers or a three-pack of English cucumbers, these crunchy veggies are usually in my cart. Our daughter will reliably eat cucumbers in her lunchbox. I add them to salads or snack on them with hummus or ranch dip. And I’ll grate them into tzatziki for our fairly regular falafel night. Needless to say, we go through them fast. But even if we didn’t, the individually wrapped English cucumbers have superpowers that help them last beyond a week.
Salmon
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Packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, salmon is not only delicious but good for you too. And since it’s so good for you, we aim to eat it weekly. While I do love the convenience of having frozen salmon portions in my freezer, lately I’ve been buying a side of fresh salmon each week. I can usually find a wild salmon fillet that’s 1 pound or so, which is perfect for my family of three (along with a Salmon Snax for our two dogs). I love making miso-maple salmon with some rice and a green vegetable, or salmon tacos with pineapple salsa to transport us to the beach in the middle of winter.
Cheese
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There are four cheeses I always have in my fridge from Costco—feta, Cheddar, Parmesan and mozzarella—and one of them is usually part of my weekly haul. We’re not big cow’s-milk drinkers, so eating cheese is one of the easiest ways to make sure we get enough calcium in our diet. We go through the Cheddar and feta the quickest—both are common in the aforementioned frittata; we slice up Cheddar for sandwiches, and our daughter requests my feta, egg and spinach breakfast taco frequently.
A Big Box of Snacks
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I have so many boxes of Costco snacks in my basement I could operate a vending machine company. I like to have a variety around since our daughter usually has two snacks at school every day (one mid-morning and one before sports practice). But she doesn’t want to eat the same thing every week, so I usually buy a different box on each trip. That way the cost gets spread out over time, and we have a rotating variety in the basement. Currently in stock in my basement: Popcorners, SkinnyPop, protein bars, Dot’s pretzels, granola bars, Welch’s fruit snacks—and my new favorite, Hippeas.
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