Let’s Move Quad Cities’ Diet Blogger, Jeni Tackett, takes us inside her Hampton, IL fridge.

I’m a registered dietitian and a mother of 2. My life is busy with 2 jobs, sports and family life. Of course I also have to juggle the things we all share, including laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning!

While I’m a vegetarian, I have plenty of meat eaters in my family. To accommodate my family’s preferences and keep my sanity every week at the store, my goal is to KISS – yes, keep it simple, stupid!

I don’t have weird things in my refrigerator like sheep’s milk, and I don’t have time to prepare all homemade condiments. I shop at local stores like Aldi, Walmart, and HyVee. I shop the ads, and I strive for healthy foods most of the time.

Here’s what’s in my fridge:

Fruits and Vegetables: I stock my fridge with lots of fruits and veggies and plan meals with plant foods. I have a bowl full of grapes which are rinsed and taken off the vine so that my family can easily grab a healthy snack.

I also have mini sweet peppers, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, carrots, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, spinach, garlic, and chopped salad.

One of my crisper drawers is full of apples.

Protein: I strive for lean protein sources. We have 97% lean ground turkey, salmon, sliced turkey for sandwiches, tofu, eggs, and a variety of hummus. Red pepper and pine nut hummus are staples in our house for dipping carrots and sweet peppers.

Dairy foods: We love Laughing Cow and Babybel light cheese. They are portion-controlled and delicious.

I also buy grated 2% cheddar cheese to sprinkle on recipes or use with bean tacos. I keep skim milk for adding to oatmeal or recipes that call for milk.

We use light vanilla soymilk in smoothies.

Chobani Greek yogurt is a go-to for lunches. We also keep Reddi-wip whipped topping available to encourage the kids to eat berries for dessert.

Condiments:   In the door of my refrigerator you will find ketchup, mustard, olive-oil-based mayonnaise, Promise margarine, pesto, salsa, lite sour cream, whipped cream cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing.

Grains: Most grains are in the bread basket or pantry, but I keep 100% whole wheat tortillas in the refrigerator. They are delicious when paired with cream cheese and lots of vegetables for a wrap.

Beverages: We have filtered water, flavored water, and seltzer water for beverages, along with my favorite beer: Bent River’s Mississippi Blonde.

Leftovers: We have lots of leftovers in our refrigerator. They make great lunches and dinners on busy nights when there is no time to cook.

What’s in YOUR fridge?

Meet Jeni Tackett, Let’s Move Quad Cities Nutrition Blogger. Jeni is a registered and licensed dietitian for Rock Valley Health. Jeni counsels her clients on weight loss and nutrition. You can read Jeni’s bio and other blog posts by clicking here.