Raiding the refrigerator
Fortunate to be able to work at home, we were also fortunate to not be sick, neither did we urgently need any emergency items like prescription refills or cleaning supplies. Also being blessed with electricity and clean water made this crisis an easy but unique challenge. Our main concern hunkering down was using the food we had in an efficient manner. The fresh fruits and vegetables needed to be eaten first so I created meals that used up the last of those things. A solitary Granny Smith apple added zing to chicken salad. A little lettuce and an open bag of chips become a southwest plate. Finally the tomatoes and the last half of a cucumber blend with staple goods of pasta and canned ham. I can’t explain why I took photos of these things but here they are.
What’s hiding in the cupboard?
Trying to avoid running out to the grocery, it was fun to see what I could find in the back of the cabinets. One pleasant surprise was an assortment of morsels purchased in December for a cake decorating project but never used. These things are still going far to perk up some ordinary recipes. Stale marshmallows worked just fine in a crispy rice treat featuring three kinds of breakfast cereal. The stock of canned goods, pasta, rice, pancake mix, and instant oatmeal are holding out just fine.
Digging a little deeper
The longer this goes on, the more stubborn I am about going to the store. We have placed a very small shipment order from a restaurant supply; this was mostly about buying baby food for an ailing cat, although we added peanuts and iced tea bags as luxury items. Getting more creative, I discover still more items willing to help our at-home menu. A fancy wedge of wine-soaked cheese was a guilt purchase from a store sampler, and given that we are not fancy cheese people, this dry wedge was ripening further in our refrigerator. Turns out it is fabulous when shredded over pizza or pasta. Fresh wild chives add a spark to mashed potatoes and egg salad. Handfuls of take-out packets spike up canned tomato sauce for burritos. Even a shocking expiration date on a gelatin package did not stop me from making a nice dessert with some canned pears.
Shopping in Zombieland
Finally at 22 days in, today (April 3rd) we made a real trip to the grocery. We had placed an online order several days earlier for curbside pickup today. Of the 7 items on our list, we received only 5. No breakfast cereal and no coffee…but there was milk. Actually if there had been no milk, I would have accepted that but having milk and no cereal was just wrong. We broke down and entered the store armed with masks and gloves. Once inside we splurged a little and purchased chips, pop and frozen pizza. Arriving home we stripped some items of their outer “contaminated” packages and set others off to “time out” in 3 days. Then we promptly stripped our own packaging, threw our clothes in the washer and took showers. Feeling a little freaked out.