OMG! I must stay home for 14 days, lets buy a lot of pasta! But wait I am sensitive to gluten! Its OK I will buy a lot of loo roll as well!
Jokes apart, these times require a bit of planning and try to prepare for most eventualities.
The emergency food guide will help you in selecting the essential food items required to have a balanced diet even when self-isolating for 14 days. Making sure all groups are considered and you will nourish yourself during a lock-down.
The best strategy, in my opinion, is to list the amount of meals you are shopping for.
What are the essential food items during a lockdown?
Let’s say 14 days as it will be the recommended isolation time during the Coronavirus.
So, you will have to get ready for 42 meals per person.
At this point you can start listing the essential food groups needed:
- 1 serving of red meat
- 4 servings of white meat
- 6/8 servings of fish
- 6/8 eggs
- Milk, yogurts and cheeses
- 70 servings of fruit and vegetables
- Grains, bread, pasta, beans, lentils to cover the remaining meals
Check out our Mediterranean Diet article to find more information on essential food groups and the nutrients needed to have a healthy lifestyle.
As I am sure you already noticed, the number of fruit and vegetables is the most challenging to deal with. 70 portions, where I am going to store all that food? It will never fit in my fridge and half of it will go off before I will get to eat it! And then there is the upfront cost of all of this.
Let’s start from the reasoning that in times of restricted movement, with reduced sun light exposure and whiles we are trying to bust our immune system vitamins and minerals are essential. How can we achieve it then?
Emergency Food Buys Tips
Let’s look at a way to buy more for less:
BE SAVVY:
- Seasonal fruit and vegetables tend to be cheaper
- Buy in bulk, bigger packaging will work out cheaper per unit
- Think about a chain of use. A whole chicken is not more expensive than a prepacked chicken breast, so buy the whole bird, roast it all and use the leftovers for a chicken salad or even for a chicken soup.
- Love your leftovers. Not just cooked food reheated but use them to create new dishes. For example: leftover risotto can be used for arancini or suppli. Leftover cooked pasta can be turned in to a pasta omelette, even the raw pasta of different shapes left in the packets can be cooked and turned in to a fantastic pasta bake.
If you have some vegetables which need cooking, why not make a fantastic caponata out of aubergines or a peperonata out of peppers. You will enjoy the dishes as a snack or a side dish with any meal. Check out our selection of recipes for more inspiring ideas!
I hope you have found our emergency food guide useful, share it with your friend and family. We have come across so many people during the outbreak of coronavirus emptying supermarket shelf’s and stockpiling toilet paper…Leaving the vulnerable and key workers with very limited choice and most of the time exhausted and hungry after doing double shifts in the hospital. Let’s be considerate to other people in need.
Buy only what is necessary for 14 days of recommended self-isolation amid coronavirus and place an online order for food to be delivered in 2 weeks. Amazon is fantastic and can deliver anything right to your door, we also use Ocado who supply fresh food and have a fantastic service.
Stay safe and eat well!
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