Here in New York we started a quasi-lockdown last night: Everybody stays home except essential workers, though we’re allowed to go to the grocery store and pharmacy, and leave home for brief periods of exercise (as long as we maintain social distance). I almost made one last panic-shopping trip yesterday, but I realized that would be foolhardy right now. Over the last two weeks I’ve bought every shelf-stable product I can think of. We’re low-ish on fresh fruit (confession: I really wanted to go grab another crate of mangos), but I’ve got dried, some frozen (my kid keeps eating it!), and even a few cans. We’ve got a full gallon of milk, a dozen raw eggs, and another dozen hard-boiled. I can avoid shopping for a week, maybe more.
I know it’s unlikely that you’ve got everything you need for every meal in this week’s plan (reminder: I wrote a guide to substitutions for common items, available on Huffington Post). If you’d like to choose a different recipe completely, I’ve gathered up a few good sources. Each of these has dozens of pantry-based options:
We still have plenty of food. My biggest issue is my husband keeps wanting to us (me) to shop! We don't need bananas! We have apples and oranges and frozen peaches and frozen raspberries and frozen blueberries. There are fruit options!
I handle the meals - cooking, planning etc, but I laid in so many supplies that I haven't really had to get creative yet even (mostly right now I'm watching use by dates of fridge items like a hawk).
Our local farmer's market has an email list and you can specifically order and then pick up which I may do in another week, but I feel like things just aren't dire yet, so why go out when I don't have to?
We can't find any lentils anywhere! Did manage to snag a bag of sun dried tomatoes though. We have switched to online grocery delivery and the people are real sweet about the stuff that's missing. Tonight we made the soup with a couple cans of white beans. The kids gobbled the chicken up so I'm glad we're having it again later. My anxiety is high!
I had an uncle drop off some groceries today and I now have a ridiculous amount of regular / sweet potatoes hahaha
But I wanted to post on here since I I I chicken adobo may be good to have for one of the meals on the meal plans if were to keep doing pantry based meals till this blows over? Theres so many ways to make it and it's very versatile for what combination of soy sauce and vinegar you use!
We’re pretty laden, but because we move around and haven’t found a place to hunker down yet, access to groceries is always in the back of my mind- along with access to water and dump stations. I ordered a cache of dehydrated food, but my mailbox is in SD...and we’re in KS, heading to CO. Same issues as the rest of you, but with a few more moving parts.
Yes and no. As states shutter businesses (and it's all uneven, as you know), public campsites (state/national parks, BLM land) and private campsites will respond in a variety of ways, from being fully open and taking reservations weeks/months in advance, to closing amenities like bathroom and laundry while letting RVers remain on site, to closing completely. It depends on what the state does, and of course that can change at any given time. I told the husband that if we tore out the couch bed we never use, that would free up about 150 pounds and several cubic feet of space, but he's not too enthused.
Also, it's still winter in a lot of places, meaning that most RVers are stuck where there aren't hard freezes (so water lines are open). So going north means researching which sites will even bother to open once it's warm enough. There are online listing sites like Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts where camping spots are sometimes available, but we are new to that aspect of RVing and still figuring it out. We are self-contained, which means that once we have a site with full hookups, quarantine is (and has been) doable. I feel badly for RVers without bathrooms.
But food! We're loaded with shelf-stable stuff, it's the fresh food I think we'll miss, though I do have a ridiculous number of foraging guides in here....
Here in MD, I signed up for deliveries from a local creamery who will bring us produce, milk, eggs, and cheese. It's spendier than I'd normally do but it's a huge relief because my three kids are eating everything I haven't hidden and the 2yo doesn't understand the concept of "no, that's it on the strawberries. Seriously." (Side note, I hate that I have to hide food.) We lived in Africa for six years and some of those food hoarding skills have helped me out: I accidentally have far too much protein socked away in the freezer. The rice/beans/pasta/flour aisles were wiped clean by last Thursday and still haven't been restocked, so hopefully they'll get used to polenta and brown rice as sides because that's what we've got.
I hate trying to explain to my kids that we need to save packaged stuff and eat the apples and stuff first. Plus I’ve had to say please do not waste anything!
Hiding food: Check. We rent a small storage space in the basement of our building and I put all the extra munchies down there. My kid has no idea his mom laid in a stash, so I keep reminding him to ration (and he keeps eating anyway). He's 13, btw.
I got a bunch of terrible-for-you-but-somehow-comforting snacks from Boxed.com before they got overwhelmed, but the granola bars aren't going to last long.
Every time we use the last of something I wonder how long before we will see that again. I can make bread, but how long will the flour last? Are those clothes really dirty? Wear them again kids. :(
I'm struggling with having to feed everyone three meals a day x 7 plus snacks. We are trying to do online pick up grocery orders which means a six-day wait for a slot. I hope to be starting this week's plan on Wednesday night which is when last week's order was first available - who knows what from my order will make it.
With everyone home we go through so.much.food, so quickly. It's pretty eye-opening. When you get your order, let me know if you need help figuring out swaps!
Went to our local grocery store to discover mobs of people and signs all over stating that they are not honoring sale prices at this time. A can of Goya beans is $1. Seriously? It is a stressful time for all of us and to have your local grocery store doing this makes it more difficult. I spent much of the week trying to procure unemployment benefits as our income has disappeared as quickly as the virus spreads and then trying to get food that we can afford for our family. I appreciate your posts though, and will look up the bean recipes because I bought some very expensive beans.
Yes, it is higher than normal, but not by a huge amount. However, I usually pay .75 to .85 for a can of beans at other retailers if there is a sale. I usually leave the neighborhood to shop because I can get healthy food for much better prices, aka Trader Joes, Aldis, and Whole Foods. Unfortunately now there is no leaving the neighborhood and these grocery stores are taking advantage of the situation.
Ugh, I'm sorry, Lisa. What about dried beans? You can get 4 cans' worth from a single pound. They're not hard to cook, either. I'll talk you through it if you like!
Yes- great idea, and thanks for the suggestion. I think you posted a delicious recipe a while back that I made with large white beans and it was like a lasagna, but with beans. My kids gobbled it up. Hang in there too!
Thank you for all your help. We are in WI and very close to similar situation as your “lockdown”. I went to the store yesterday and overbought shelf stable as well. My challenge will be using what I have to be creative for meals past this weeks menu that my family will eat.
We still have plenty of food. My biggest issue is my husband keeps wanting to us (me) to shop! We don't need bananas! We have apples and oranges and frozen peaches and frozen raspberries and frozen blueberries. There are fruit options!
I handle the meals - cooking, planning etc, but I laid in so many supplies that I haven't really had to get creative yet even (mostly right now I'm watching use by dates of fridge items like a hawk).
Our local farmer's market has an email list and you can specifically order and then pick up which I may do in another week, but I feel like things just aren't dire yet, so why go out when I don't have to?
We can't find any lentils anywhere! Did manage to snag a bag of sun dried tomatoes though. We have switched to online grocery delivery and the people are real sweet about the stuff that's missing. Tonight we made the soup with a couple cans of white beans. The kids gobbled the chicken up so I'm glad we're having it again later. My anxiety is high!
We got lentils and now we don't need them!
Don't worry, they'll come in handy! We're all going to be eating a lot of beans and legumes for the next few weeks/months.
I had an uncle drop off some groceries today and I now have a ridiculous amount of regular / sweet potatoes hahaha
But I wanted to post on here since I I I chicken adobo may be good to have for one of the meals on the meal plans if were to keep doing pantry based meals till this blows over? Theres so many ways to make it and it's very versatile for what combination of soy sauce and vinegar you use!
..edit: I thought that chicken adobo.
Not quite sure what happened with part of my post there
Chicken adobo is a fantastic idea! It was in the very first Family Plan, but I can definitely use it again. Re: sweet potatoes https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/sunday-stash-1-batch-of-sweet-potatoes-9-family-meals-article
We’re pretty laden, but because we move around and haven’t found a place to hunker down yet, access to groceries is always in the back of my mind- along with access to water and dump stations. I ordered a cache of dehydrated food, but my mailbox is in SD...and we’re in KS, heading to CO. Same issues as the rest of you, but with a few more moving parts.
That sounds so tricky! Is it possible to just stay in one place for a while, ideally somewhere with well-stocked stores?
Yes and no. As states shutter businesses (and it's all uneven, as you know), public campsites (state/national parks, BLM land) and private campsites will respond in a variety of ways, from being fully open and taking reservations weeks/months in advance, to closing amenities like bathroom and laundry while letting RVers remain on site, to closing completely. It depends on what the state does, and of course that can change at any given time. I told the husband that if we tore out the couch bed we never use, that would free up about 150 pounds and several cubic feet of space, but he's not too enthused.
Also, it's still winter in a lot of places, meaning that most RVers are stuck where there aren't hard freezes (so water lines are open). So going north means researching which sites will even bother to open once it's warm enough. There are online listing sites like Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts where camping spots are sometimes available, but we are new to that aspect of RVing and still figuring it out. We are self-contained, which means that once we have a site with full hookups, quarantine is (and has been) doable. I feel badly for RVers without bathrooms.
But food! We're loaded with shelf-stable stuff, it's the fresh food I think we'll miss, though I do have a ridiculous number of foraging guides in here....
Here in MD, I signed up for deliveries from a local creamery who will bring us produce, milk, eggs, and cheese. It's spendier than I'd normally do but it's a huge relief because my three kids are eating everything I haven't hidden and the 2yo doesn't understand the concept of "no, that's it on the strawberries. Seriously." (Side note, I hate that I have to hide food.) We lived in Africa for six years and some of those food hoarding skills have helped me out: I accidentally have far too much protein socked away in the freezer. The rice/beans/pasta/flour aisles were wiped clean by last Thursday and still haven't been restocked, so hopefully they'll get used to polenta and brown rice as sides because that's what we've got.
I hate trying to explain to my kids that we need to save packaged stuff and eat the apples and stuff first. Plus I’ve had to say please do not waste anything!
Hiding food: Check. We rent a small storage space in the basement of our building and I put all the extra munchies down there. My kid has no idea his mom laid in a stash, so I keep reminding him to ration (and he keeps eating anyway). He's 13, btw.
I got a bunch of terrible-for-you-but-somehow-comforting snacks from Boxed.com before they got overwhelmed, but the granola bars aren't going to last long.
Every time we use the last of something I wonder how long before we will see that again. I can make bread, but how long will the flour last? Are those clothes really dirty? Wear them again kids. :(
YUP. A friend of mine was wondering if she should buy a 50-lb bag of flour. In my apartment the answer is no, but I guess if you've got room...
If I could find 50lbs I totally would, but we live in a ranch in the burbs.
I'm struggling with having to feed everyone three meals a day x 7 plus snacks. We are trying to do online pick up grocery orders which means a six-day wait for a slot. I hope to be starting this week's plan on Wednesday night which is when last week's order was first available - who knows what from my order will make it.
With everyone home we go through so.much.food, so quickly. It's pretty eye-opening. When you get your order, let me know if you need help figuring out swaps!
Went to our local grocery store to discover mobs of people and signs all over stating that they are not honoring sale prices at this time. A can of Goya beans is $1. Seriously? It is a stressful time for all of us and to have your local grocery store doing this makes it more difficult. I spent much of the week trying to procure unemployment benefits as our income has disappeared as quickly as the virus spreads and then trying to get food that we can afford for our family. I appreciate your posts though, and will look up the bean recipes because I bought some very expensive beans.
Lisa, that's terrible! What state are you in? Here in NY the attorney general is encouraging people to contact them about price gouging.
NYC- Upper Manhattan. Is not honoring sale prices price gouging?
Hmm I'm not sure! Is $1 each higher than normal? That's around what I pay in Queens, IIRC.
Yes, it is higher than normal, but not by a huge amount. However, I usually pay .75 to .85 for a can of beans at other retailers if there is a sale. I usually leave the neighborhood to shop because I can get healthy food for much better prices, aka Trader Joes, Aldis, and Whole Foods. Unfortunately now there is no leaving the neighborhood and these grocery stores are taking advantage of the situation.
Ugh, I'm sorry, Lisa. What about dried beans? You can get 4 cans' worth from a single pound. They're not hard to cook, either. I'll talk you through it if you like!
Yes- great idea, and thanks for the suggestion. I think you posted a delicious recipe a while back that I made with large white beans and it was like a lasagna, but with beans. My kids gobbled it up. Hang in there too!
Thank you for all your help. We are in WI and very close to similar situation as your “lockdown”. I went to the store yesterday and overbought shelf stable as well. My challenge will be using what I have to be creative for meals past this weeks menu that my family will eat.
This is all so hard, Pam. Hang in there.