We went grocery shopping yesterday and while unpacking our bags at home, I realized that juice, milk, and other beverages account for a huge chunk of our food expenses. However, all these beverages are nutritious (or at least not filled with empty calories) so I really don’t mind spending that much on them.

Among the staples in our beverage supply are the fruit juices and yogurt drinks for the toddlers. Fruit juice is a great way to get fruit into the kids’ systems. I have corporate fruit delivery at work so it’s not difficult for me to have my 5 a day, but they’re not so keen at home. For this week’s consumption we bought 3 TIPCO 1L boxes: Mixed Vegetables & Fruits (P 99.50), Cranberry and Mixed Fruits (P 109.50), and Carrot & other Fruit Juices (P 104.50). The todders love the carrot and mixed vegetables variant. It’ll be their first time to taste TIPCO cranberry juice but I’m betting that they’ll love it as well. Since we still had enough supply of their yogurt drinks, we didn’t get any on this grocery trip. We were out of Yakult (P40/5 bottles) though, so we had to replenish our stock. Both my husband and I grew up Yakult drinkers. Naturally, our kids would be growing up drinking the very same lactobaccili shiroto strain.

Since my husband was diagnosed with fatty liver and has had high cholesterol levels, we have avoided sugary drinks and have opted for juices and health drinks, and knowing when they may be needed. For instance, you may want to know when you should drink green juice to help your health. Among those that have become staples in our pantry is the Del Monte Pineapple Juice with Reducol(26.50 / 240ml can). Aside from being rich in fiber, this variant of pineapple juice contains 1g of Reducol which significantly lowers LDL or bad cholesterol. My husband is also a guzzler of sports drinks, so into the cart went 4 1.5L-bottles of Gatorade (P69.50/bottle). We also bought a box of SwissMiss Fat Free Cocoa(P 114.50/box) which he drinks a couple of times a week for breakfast.

All these together with my staple Milo and Powdered Milk drinks account for at least 25% of our grocery bill. There may be a little less money left for knickknacks and other “wants” but we are assured that our kids (and us too) are getting the nutrients that we need.