What's in my trolley: Part 5 with Megan Ahern

At the start of the new year, I shared a photo of my weekly shop to show what healthy food looks like in my family. One message that I am so passionate about sharing is that there is no one way to be healthy. Just because eating a certain way makes someone else feel great, doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Just as if it’s in my trolley, doesn’t mean it needs to be in yours.

So I asked 4 other Aussie mums (some nutritionist professionals, some not) to share their weekly shopping too, to make a 5 part serieson what a healthy trolley looks like. I want to show how different healthy can be for real-life Aussie families.

This week we meet our 5th and final contributor, Perth Instragram mum and blogger, Megan Ahern. I am going to hand you straight over to her so she can tell you all about her healthy trolley.

Hi there, I’m Megan – Mumma to two boys (13 months apart) and wife to Dan, a primary school teacher. I’m currently a stay at home mum documenting our life through Instagram and promoting hip dysplasia awareness due to both my boys being diagnosed, one on the very severe end of the scale and one on the mild end. Our food philosophy is all about JERF (Just Eat Real Food) the majority of the time, but we do believe in treating ourselves too! We went paleo before the kids came along (we were mad Crossfitters), but missed cheese and rice too much! Hope you enjoy checking out what is in my trolley and you can find me over on Instagram.

What’s in my trolley: Megan Ahern, Instragram mum

Plus a little extra from the vegetable garden

What’s in my trolley quiz

Each week as part of this series, I ask my guest blogger the same questions to get a little more insight into their healthy shopping. Here’s Megan’s Q+A.

1. Where do you normally shop?

Coles – to gain the fly buys points and we do click and collect for the convenience.

Mum & Dad’s garden – they have a THRIVING veggie garden which has capsicum, cucumber, tomatoes, lettuce and blueberries in season at the moment. They also have chickens so we haven’t had to buy eggs for over a year now!

2. Who is in your family?

My husband and I and our two boys, Hugo (he is 2 in March) and Hamish (9 months old).

3. Dietary requirements?

I am gluten and lactose intolerant, although hard cheese and chocolate in moderation does not cause me problems, but cream and ice cream even if it is lactose free does give me issues… go figure haha! Hamish is lactose intolerant and allergic to peanuts. Hugo has had quite a bit of problem with bowel movements because of time spent in a spica cast for hip dysplasia, which restricted his movement and his appetite, so we found a bit of pear juice diluted in his water each day has helped to keep him regular and make it easier to pass.

4. How long will this shop last you?

2-3 weeks usually. I buy in bulk for most items that can be stored and kept for long periods of time. For example; almond milk, there were 12 more cartons in this shop! Meat if it is on special and I can freeze it, I also split up the chicken thighs and the mince to make it last longer. Oh and chocolate, I don’t normally buy that much (and there is another 2 in the fridge) but it was on special!

5. What is not in this haul that you eat regularly?

Beef rump steak
Coconut oil
Eggs from my parents chickens
EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
Fresh veg from my parents garden
Frozen berries (raspberries, blueberries)
Gluten Free (GF) bread (I love Abbotts Bakery)
GF lasagne sheets
Lactose free yoghurt
Pumpkin, mushrooms and sweet potatoes were missing items in my Coles order this week. The one frustration with online food shopping is I more often than not will have missing items and I’ll have to call up to report it so they can refund me. But they asked my local Coles to re-pick them for me and I was able to pick them up later that afternoon.
Rice cakes or cruskits
Spreads (almond butter, vegemite, nuttelex, jam)
Stock (just realised I forgot to get this in my weekly shop arghhhh!)
So Good Choc Almond ice cream (this is made from almond milk and is a great choice for lactose/dairy intolerant sufferers, its also gluten free!)

Bonus Question! What is in this shop that isn’t normally?

The CC’s! They were half price and I thought we’d have a nacho night sometime this week.

That’s what’s in Megan’s healthy trolley.

And that concludes the 5 week series! Don’t forget to check out Part 1 with myself, a Registered Nutritionist, Part 2 with Dietitian Kate Wengier, Part 3 with blogger, Teagan, and Part 4 with Paediatric Dietian, Kyle Smith.

Sarah Moore is a mum, and university qualified Registered Nutritionist. She has 10 years’ experience working with families to improve their health and well-being. Sarah has a simplistic and practical approach to family nutrition and offer private consultations and group information sessions in Perth, Western Australia. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram for more healthy tips and tricks.

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