Covid Shopping List

I don’t know about you, but if I get one more “resource” or activity for my children, I’m going to scream! I feel SO incredibly lucky that this global pandemic is happening during a time of such social-connectedness. I am able to text my friends memes and gifs and funny faces when my kids are driving me insane. I can google and print various worksheets and pinterest an infinite amount of activities for my children. I’m sure that parents during the flu pandemic of 1918 had it a lot worse than we do. BUT both of my children’s schools are sending me a curriculum plus any place we’ve ever been is sending us activities. And every family member is tagging me in activities on facebook.

What I don’t think parents have enough of during this time, is resources for THEMSELVES. I thought I’d share some things that are working for me for now and hopefully we can collaborate and help each other.

Before this pandemic, I would meal plan and grocery shop for the week, and usually have to stop at the grocery store 1-2 more times (!) which was clearly not very efficient but worked fine for us. Obviously, now, things are different. We have been getting groceries delivered and our stores have been out of a lot of items. I’ve been trying to put together a big order every couple weeks and being thankful for what our shopper can find for us. I created a list for myself of things to order each time and I’ve been surprising myself with the amount of meals I can come up with using the following items. I will include a free printable for you to screenshot or print as well as some recipe / meal ideas. These foods are not things we typically buy — but we are going for life-sustaining and somewhat delicious here; “healthy” is more on the backburner but still in play as much as possible.

Refrigerator

  • Yogurt — I go for a big tub of whole milk, unsweetened yogurt since it’s so versatile (tzatziki, avocado crema, sour cream substitute). I sweeten it myself when the boys eat it with honey or maple syrup.

  • Perfect Bars — these are great to have on hand. They are super filling, delicious, and last awhile in the fridge.

  • Cheese

    • Goat cheese, feta (sheeps milk), parmesan (the block), cheddar (block)

  • Bacon

  • Cream cheese — in celery and mini peppers with everything but the bagel seasoning, cucumber dill tea sandwiches, on cinnamon raisin bread

  • Eggs

  • Butter — lasts a long time and you can freeze extras

  • Ground beef

  • Ground turkey

  • Chicken breasts

  • Chicken thighs

  • Italian sausage

Shelf-Stable

  • Larabars — our favorite are the pecan pie ones!

  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil

  • Applesauce — I get plain and unsweetened. Can be used in baking as an oil sub or as a side dish. Extras can be frozen if you don’t finish.

  • Epic Bars — my husband loves these meat bars.

  • Triscuits

  • Rice

  • Love Grown Power O cereal

  • Almond milk (unsweetened)— I love getting the shelf-stable almond milk to have on hand for lattes and baking.

  • Almonds

  • Pecans

  • Black beans

  • Pinto beans

  • Garbanzo beans

  • Pasta sauce

  • Pasta

  • “soy” sauce or equivalent

  • Taco shells — hard and soft

  • Salad dressing

  • Peanut butter — we buy one that’s just peanuts

  • Pretzels — I love the spelt ones for the kids

  • Simple Mills almond crackers

  • Chocolate chips

  • Tortillas — freeze until ready to use

  • Almond flour

  • Whole wheat pitas

  • Granola

  • Canned tuna

  • Canned salmon

  • Canned sweet potato — for muffins or salmon cakes (recipe below)

  • Rice cakes — unlike bread doesn’t get stale. We top these with hummus or peanut butter and berries

  • Popcorn

Bakery

  • Bread — I always try to grab a loaf or two of whole wheat bread to put in the freezer

Produce

  • Lemons — I go through sooo many lemons!

  • Garlic

  • Onions

  • Peppers

  • Cucumbers

  • Avocados

  • Broccoli

  • Cauliflower

  • Potatoes — these last forever and we have potatoes at almost every breakfast

  • Sweet potatoes

  • Lettuce (I try to not buy the bags since that doesn’t last as long. It’s more work to have to cut and wash it yourself but it will last so much longer)

  • Kale— super hearty and will last forever in the fridge. Can be frozen for smoothies if you don’t use it all

  • Spinach — love chopping spinach finely and topping all of our meals (haha). Can be frozen if you don’t use it all

  • Butternut squash — buy whole and it will last for a long time

  • Spaghetti squash — buy whole and it will last a long time (favorite SS recipe is spaghetti squash pizza pie from paleomg)

  • Bananas — my kids fly through bananas but extras can be frozen for smoothies or banana bread

  • Apples — my kids fly through apples too. If you need to use them up, you can make my easy microwave applesauce recipe to freeze or sauté and top on oatmeal or pancakes.

  • Berries — blueberries tend to last a bit longer before going bad. Also can freeze — single layer first then in baggie.

  • Celery

  • Carrots

Frozen

  • Vegetables (stir fry, broccoli, kale, spinach)

  • Fruit for smoothies

  • Perogies

  • Salmon

  • Cod

  • Shrimp

  • Meatballs

Check

  • Spices

  • Baking supplies

    • flour

    • yeast

    • baking soda / powder

  • Honey

  • Maple syrup

Other

  • Dog food / cat food / litter

Recipe / Meal Ideas

  • Stir fry

  • Black bean and sweet potato tacos

  • Salmon or cod tacos

  • Souvlaki

  • Roasted butternut squash with chicken thighs

  • Greek shrimp with tomatoes and feta

  • Crusty no-knead bread

  • Sheet pan harissa chicken — when I made this I didn’t have harissa, so I did some paprika, cayenne, and garam masala. I also added carrots and regular potatoes to beef it up. Next time I will add cauliflower if I have it. So yummy!

  • Pizza night (on bread, pitas, make your own dough, etc)

  • Good old spaghetti and meatballs

  • Any kind of pasta or ravioli or tortellini with evoo or butter, garlic, lemon zest/juice. Yum!

  • Risotto (with or without sausage)

  • Salmon cakes

  • Cinnamon raisin quick bread

  • Chickpea curry