I'm going to Costco for whole foods....what do you get/cook/make from Costco?

[mykdsmomy]

This is sort of a spin off of my other thread about special diets. I need some meal ideas/ingredient list of things to buy from Costco that would be free of dyes/preservatives.

 

What do you buy that you use for your meals?

 

Every time I go to Costco, I wind up coming home with a bunch of quick/easy frozen/fresh foods that are gone in a few days and are , I'm sure, filled with junk.

 

Any help/ideas/suggestions/recipes are WELCOME!!! :)

[wapiti]

I buy, among other things:

 

- fresh chicken tenders in 6 one-pound packages, for grilling (take them apart before you put them in the freezer for easier getting out later! The plastic has perforated lines on which to cut, in between the six packages - just be careful that you don't spring a leak)

 

- fresh skinless/boneless chicken thighs in 6 one-pound packages - into the freezer as well - in particular, these are what I use in my slow cooker, so I like to have them on hand for when I get an idea on a cold morning

 

- steak and any other meats

- berries

- red peppers

- frozen tilapia fillets and other frozen seafood (shrimp, scallops)

[Ali in OR]

Costco is my main source for meat (except for local grassfed hamburger I get at our Farmer's Market). I get chicken breasts in the packaging described above, flank steak (grilled in summer, use a half steak for fajitas or stir fry the rainy half of the year), and pork loin. We get cheese sticks and Chobani yogurt--I think those are pretty much whole foods. I love the uncooked tortillas in the refrigerator case. Quesadillas are a house staple here and those packages have so many in them that we always have tortillas on hand. I buy a large can of crushed tomatoes to make marinara and/or pizza sauce. I don't buy much in the way of produce there simply because we have trouble eating it all before it goes bad. There are some baking basics I get there--vanilla, brown sugar, yeast (lasts forever). Olive oil too.

[*Jen*]

Things I get monthly

 

Lots of fruit and veggies - Apples, oranges, strawberries, grapes, raspberries, spring mix, mini peppers, potatoes and onions

Cold foods - Talapia, cheese (lots of cheese), milk, butter, eggs, frozen fruits and frozen whole organic green beans

Meats - Chicken breasts and thighs, Pork loin,

Bakery - Bread/Tortillas

 

I get a few more things in the dry good section but I can't think of them now since I only stock up on stuff from there every 4 months or so.

[Belacqua]

If you eat lamb, Costco often has really good prices on New Zealand lamb.

 

And while I know it isn't food, I was amazed at the (low) price of Costco parchment paper. I didn't buy any, as I already have some wildly overpriced paper from Whole Foods, but I'm intrigued. Can anybody verify whether it's any good?

[TrixieB]

Regular purchases:

 

Six pack of romaine heads

Organic apples

Bricks of Tillamook cheese

Feta cheese

 

Occasional purchases:

 

Organic eggs (they often don't taste as good as organic eggs I buy from other stores)

Melons in season

Sliced turkey lunchmeat -- they used to have one that was nitrate free, but the branding has changed and I haven't bought it in a while

Salsa

Guacamole

Avocados

Plain whole milk yogurt when they have it (rarely)

Blueberries in season

Pure maple syrup

Brown sugar

Dried herbs -- basil, oregano, etc.

 

I don't buy their grapes. They always have a funky, stored-somewhere taste. Blech.

[tjneary99]

we buy meats, 'natural' chips, quinoa(very cheap there), rice, yogurt, butter, organic salad, veggies, eggs, cheese, bulk baking items--oils, spices etc(we make all of our own sauces due to allergies) ...

Then I choose 10-15 meals from my menu service and make two batches of each one and freeze them. I prep several extra for the week ahead. I complete one month of meals in a few hours and I'm done. we don't eat prepared foods and I am not a cook, so the menu service is great for us. My daughter is gluten free, so we had to elimante most processed and/or prepared foods from our diet. I like costco's prices and bulk items work well for us. My hubby typically shops for me and then brgins it home where I prep all of the meals. I am now no longer overwhelmed by cooking and meal planning and find Costco's basics to be pretty good. They have the cheapest meat prices on organic in our area as well. If anyone is interested in the meal service, it is 5 dollars a month, comes with the whole menu and shopping list for the month and has 3 menu options--we choose the gluten free option. So far, my kids have not complained about one meal, and we have been doing it for about 4 months. It works for us--5dinners1hour.com is the site. They have samples there and do have substitutions for some things.

[briansmama]

Whole organic chickens for making stock/chicken soups and chilis

Grass-fed ground beef

Wild salmon

Organic apples

Cage free organic eggs

Jasmine Rice

Mara Natha almond butter

Organic bagged kale

Larabars

Organic jam

Organic diced tomatoes/tomorrow paste

Wild pole caught tuna that contains far less mercury than other canned tuna (can't think of the brand name)

All natural potato chips/seed chips

Chemical-free laundry and dish detergent

Grain free all natural dog food

 

[justamouse]

I shop there like I would the grocery store, and we shop there weekly. We've saved a lot of money by shopping there consistently. I *rarely* buy prepackaged foods there.

[ScoutTN]

Our Costco doesn't have tons of organic (and zero grassfed/pastured meat or dairy products! :thumbdown: ) and our family is small in a small house so I don't depend on it for regular weekly shopping. That said, I do find some good things there:

 

Dubliner cheese (DH loves it!)

Quinoa, brown rice, oats

wild salmon

organic ground beef (good price, but I prefer to buy local grassfed as much as possible)

organic canned tomatoes

spicy lentils (can't remember the brand, bright yellow box - one of the few processed foods we buy. no bad ingredients, just real food!)

EVOO, vinegar

chocolate chips, nuts

produce sometimes - depends on what they have.

 

I find that their prices are not always better than Walmart or Kroger and it helps to know the price/unit (which is not always marked) before I buy.

 

Costco is a life saver when entertaining or hosting a crowd!

[LizzyBee]

Meats

Produce

Olive Oil

Coconut Oil

Nuts

[three4me]

Nuts, produce, cheese, milk, sugar, frozen fruit, beef, rice, quinoa, vanilla, spices, EVOO, and whatever other random things we need :)

[Durriyyah]

Fruits and veggies to snack on, potatoes, cheese, hash browns, cottage cheese, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, nuts, dried mixed fruit to mix in oatmeal/cottage cheese/yogurt, rice, and I haven't gotten eggs there yet, but every time I'm out of eggs I wonder why I didn't buy them in bulk.

[dands]

toilet paper

olive oil

organic jam

organic Quinoa

organic pasta

organic cane sugar

Tillamook cheese( New Leaf has this double the price) so i stock up.

nuts

 

last three times i got watermelons, they were rotten.

[Farrar]

Costco is good for me cooking whole foods because if you shop out of the produce and meat aisles, then you come hme with a lot and you have to cook it or lose it.

[mykdsmomy]

Thank you all :) I guess different Costcos sell different products based on the region. Our Costco doesn't sell much in the way of organic food (that I saw).

 

I wound up getting pears, peppers, grapes, two rotisserie chickens, boneless/skinless frozen chicken, hamburger patties (frozen), milk, butter, horizon chocolate milk (ds picked it out as a treat), frozen pineapple (for smoothies), corn tortillas, Rosarita vegetarian refried beans, and a few other odds and ends. I didn't get as much as I wanted but at least I have some meat to start :)

[mykdsmomy]

double post

[kewb]

Whole foods I buy at costco:

Cheese, meats, quinoa, nuts, and olive oil. Fruit and veggies are hit or miss.

[Tullia]

If you eat lamb, Costco often has really good prices on New Zealand lamb.

 

And while I know it isn't food, I was amazed at the (low) price of Costco parchment paper. I didn't buy any, as I already have some wildly overpriced paper from Whole Foods, but I'm intrigued. Can anybody verify whether it's any good?

 

 

I like it, but have to confess I'd never used parchment paper until I saw a roll at Costco and bought it on a whim. I had to make a pie at the last minute for Thanksgiving and used it to roll out the crust (didn't have a pre-made one in the house), inverted it, and dropped the dough right onto the pie plate. It worked beautifully, and I know 1001 ways to ruin piecrusts. I've also baked veggies in parchment pouches.

[Hilltop]

If you eat lamb, Costco often has really good prices on New Zealand lamb.

And while I know it isn't food, I was amazed at the (low) price of Costco parchment paper. I didn't buy any, as I already have some wildly overpriced paper from Whole Foods, but I'm intrigued. Can anybody verify whether it's any good?

 

 

I just bought the parchment paper the last time I was there. I've used it twice and it is just as good as the Reynolds brand I used to buy. It is a fabulous price at Costco.