07 Dec Inside the Fridge: Shannon Helfert

Inside the Fridge welcomes Shannon Helfert. Shannon is a registered and licensed dietitian and mom of three plus a dog. She is currently starting a private practice in Gaithersburg, MD.  Her specialties include adult weight management, family nutrition, wellness/disease prevention and long term care.  She enjoys spending time with her family, cooking and eating, running with friends and reading. She can be contacted through email at: [email protected]

Below we ask her questions about her grocery shopping and food habits – with actual pictures from her fridge!

Inside the Fridge: What is the single most important thing on your mind when you are shopping for food?
Shannon Helfert: What’s for dinner that night and maybe the next night, also food for school lunches.

ITF: How often do you shop?
SH: Every 2-3 days for replenishment of milk, bread, bagels etc… I like my foods to be very fresh and we never know what we feel like for meals.

ITF: How many do you shop for? Ages? 
SH: Family of five: myself, my husband, 11 yr old daughter and two boys, ages 9 and 7

ITF: How many times a week do you eat out? (based on 21 meals/week)
SH: Maybe 1-2 meals. We cook a lot at home even on busy weeknights.

ITF: How do you plan your weekly meals? Create a spreadsheet of fly by the seat of your pants? 
SH: Fly by the seat of my pants but I have a fairly good base of go-to meals that work for our schedule and family.

ITF: What is the most coveted food in the fridge right now for each member of the household? Why?
SH: The Honey Crisp apples. We all love fruit and the apples are amazing in this area this time of year.

ITF: Do you believe in leftovers?
SH: Yes, my husband is in New York on business tonight so we will be having leftover homemade pizza and/or turkey meatball subs with a raw veggie plate.

ITF: What convenience product can you not live without?
SH: Stonyfield yogurt 32 oz., bag of frozen fruit and ground Flaxseed–I can make a great smoothie (in less than 2 minutes) for the whole family on school mornings using these ingredients.

ITF: How have your cooking/shopping habits changed over the last 10 years?
SH: With our lifestyle as it now with after school activities and busy weeknights, I throw together quick meals in the evening (30 min or less). I grill a lot, veggie plates (raw vegetables cut up with Ranch or Italian dressing), salads, Trader Joe’s brown rice or just fresh bread from Whole Foods.

ITF: What are your go-to food/nutrition/culinary/cooking website/s, book or cookbook?
SH: My past family experience with meals; My family always cooked from scratch and we ate home cooked meals all the time growing up. I have a lot of knowledge and confidence in the kitchen because of that. I refer a lot to America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking.

ITF: What was the last meal you cooked from convenience products?
SH: Meatball subs made with frozen turkey meatballs from Trader Joe’s, jar of Trader Joe’s marinara and fresh rolls with a spinach salad and fresh fruit.

ITF: What words of wisdom or advice do you have for other folks who are doing their best every day to fill the fridge?
SH: Figure out what works best for you and your family in terms of food shopping, meal prep, planning ahead. Have a good healthy list of go-to meals that you know you can shop easily for and prepare for your family even when you have busy weeknights or work late. Keep putting fruits and vegetables in front of your kids and figure out how they will eat them (cooked, raw, salads). Eventually, even the picky eaters come around!

ITF: Anything else?
SH: I get most of my fruits and vegetables delivered from a local farm every Wednesday. I can pick what I am getting online on Sunday so can plan accordingly when food shopping. Some of their produce is organic but more importantly to me, it is local. It’s very fresh and grown by local farmers. It’s important for me to know where my food is coming from. I have done this service for about two years now and love it. Family owned and very good service with high quality products.

Thank you Shannon!

If you would like to be featured on Inside the Fridge, please email RobinsBite Intern Laura Bartee – Laura *at* robinplotkin *dot* com