Many people are faced with eating in and staying home these days who are simply not use to this lifestyle.
The people who are constantly at the stores looking for supplies and buying up everything under the sun- you are the problem. Please, take a deep breath, everything will be ok. You will have food and toilet paper. Please stop going out every day- that is not social distancing.
I run a small pottery business out of my home. I have two small children, I’m busy! And my work is all at my home, so I typically don’t go out much because I don’t have the time to. Only going to the grocery store once every 7-10 days is my normal. Costco and Walmart- these stores are a once every 4-6 weeks trip. You want to have everything you need, but NOT more than you need, food waste is expensive.
The key is to plan and organize before you go to the store. Plan out what your meals will be. We typically eat the same few things for breakfast and lunch to help keep things simple. Look to see what ingredients you need and what do you already have as staples in your pantry.
Not only do you plan your meals, but you plan when! Cilantro, fresh green beans and lettuce are not going to keep very long- eat those meals first. Things like peppers, cabbages and celery are in the middle range- eat these meals next. Then comes your onions, potatoes, and frozen and canned items- they are eaten last before your next grocery store trip. I also recommend to take a look at your produce as the week goes by, if something looks like it’s on its way out, make that meal next.
When you first do this, you may have to sit down for a little while to figure it out, but these days where are you going anyway! After you do it once or twice it gets easier and much faster to do.
A few additional tips
At the end of the week make a soup with any vegetables you still have.
Freeze your leftovers! No one likes to eat the same dinner night after night. Most home cooked meals will freeze well. Put them in single size portion containers, with a piece of masking tape write on the lid what meal it is and the date. On leftover night everyone gets to pick their meal. It is a healthy way for homemade “TV Dinners”
Rotate your freezer! When buying new meat or putting your homemade “TV Dinners” away make sure they are all dated. Then put the new items on the bottom or the back of the freezer. This keeps the older food upfront and eaten next.
A big thing of TP from Costco can last an average family about a month. OK, so breathe and put the rest of the TP back!
A large bag of rice will last 1-3 months, depending on your family size.
And if you run out of something, you have other food to still eat. We are so very blessed to live in a place where we have so much abundance.
I know this is new for a lot of people, but like I said- it’s my normal. I hope that helps many of you organize your shopping and help reduce your number of trips to the store.
Please help support small businesses, like mine! You can view all of my handmade dinnerware and gifts here, thank you.
Until next time, keep the sunshine in your heart and pottery on your table.
XOXO
Lindsay Klix
Artist and Owner of Off Your Rocker Pottery
P.S. Please share this with friends and family on social media. If you have any tips please share them with everyone in the comments below. :)