Quarantine Food Shopping List: Nutritious Alternatives to Instant Noodles

Hello Y'all: If you are wondering WTF am I gonna cook I have no idea what to get during this time of shortages...this might be the post for you. XD

Some people call this 'Quarantine Food'.

If this is you then we need to have a chat about what you can cook for cheap. These ghetto meals are okay for when you got the munchies, but I promise you it will get old quick and it's pretty expensive.

Spoiler: A quick background

I'm Puerto Rican and my people have been poor for like forever. My parents grew up during the 40's *cough**cough* when meat was something they only had once a week if they were lucky. Yeah, those days were tough BUT the upside is that I have learned how to be thrifty but eat well. I used to think....ew yuck I don't want to eat traditional foods, until Hurricane Hugo hit the island and we had no electricity for two months... Thankfully, we have a community kept water reserve or it would have been dire. We also help each other in the community.

In times of crisis, it's out choice on how we meet challenges. I'm fortunate that times of uncertainty bring out the best in Puerto Ricans....It's what is keeping my family healthy and together at the moment as the island, even before this current pandemic, has experienced no electricity for about two years now due to 2 powerful hurricanes (Maria being one of them) and earthquakes. I won't go into details, but our infrastructure is shit and we have to help each other, lift each other where we can, because at the end of the day it's all we have.

So....I thought I'd post a few simple recipes that you can try at home with some basic ingredients.

The goal of the series of posts is to:

Have fun and maybe try something new - Who says Quarantine Food has to be boring?

Eat as healthy as possible - W.H.O suggests that we stay healthy by eating well and following health guidelines. If you eat rubbish all the time, you will feel like rubbish and get sick. If you have special dietary requirements....that might be a bigger challenge, but I'm keen to have a think....I have to meet strict dietary needs for some members of my family so I am pretty okay at thinking about alternatives.

Be Thrifty - Save your money where possible by using relatively cheap ingredients. This means buying in bulk where possible.

Use Non-Perishable Ingredients - This may not be necessary, but I've lived without electricity...meat goes bad fast. Ice and cold drinks become a luxury item. It's better to buy basics you can use over and over again in different ways...and supplement with whatever you can find in the supermarkets when it's available. Shops may look miserably empty, but if you are vigilant, you may find foods that will taste okay if prepared certain ways....or just be nutritious. >_>​

However before we talk recipes let's talk shopping list
This is what I would call a basic shopping list, you will need to use your judgement on amounts. The good news is that you can use this food after the current health crisis is over, so you will not be wasting money...just investing in useful food items. ^.^

Rice - Miracle food and lifesaver.

• It stores well and lasts for ages.
• It's cheap and you can do so many dishes with it.
• It's filling, nourishing, versatile and tasty.
• In NZ a pound (1/2 KG) of rice is approximately $1.33.
• 1 cup of raw rice will triple in size when cooked normally. If you are thrifty, you can expand that further.

Salt - it's a preservative and makes just about anything tasty. Here is some further info and some history.

Sugar - it gets such a bad rep, but it also is as important as salt. More info and history.

Spices and Condiments - select what you like or use often. Why? Cause they usually last and can change the flavour of a meal with just a pinch of this or that. This Includes:

• chicken, beef or other cubes/stock
• Pepper,
• Garlic Salt,
• Bay leaves,
• Garlic and Onion Fresh or in granules (for if I run out of the real stuff),
• Sage,
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Ketchup
• Worcester Sauce
• BBQ Sauce
• Mint Sauce
• Soy Sauce!
• variety of vinegars (which you can also use for cleaning)

Beans - And yes, in my survival kit there is are trays of this stuff. A proper Puerto Rican meal includes rice, bean stew/soup, and fried meat. ^.^ I will post a recipe that you can use for all types of beans listed below:

• Kidney Beans
• Pinto Beans
• Black Eyed Beans
• Chickpeas
• Black Beans

They come in tins (I use these for convenience), but they also come as dried bulk buys. Beans are a really good source of protein, which we need lots of, to stay healthy.​

Tomato Sauce/Puree/ Etc - about a third of a cup can be used to create a stew. More tomato, more tomato flavour and thicker...but this is where having spices and condiments come into play. You can enhance the flavour of a thin stew with spices, which is cheaper and easier to find than tomato sauces at times. If you only find Italian pasta sauce, that will do too! So long as it has tomato in it....^.^

Powdered/tinned Milk - relatively cheap. I have it in case milk runs out due to supply logistics. Can be used to bake (though My hubby is the baker so I treasure my ignorance).

Cooking/Vegetable/Corn Oil - I always have a few litres of the stuff. Just get cheap stuff. ^.^ You can substitute butter/margarine with oil in most recipes and oil is more versatile and stores well.

Eggs - another good source of protein and goodness. Oddly enough, I have never had problems finding eggs in times of emergencies. But if you think you will have problems, you can purchase powdered eggs...I've had them and they are fine as scrambled eggs. Those herbs make lots of things palatable. ^.^

Coffee/Tea/Cordials - I will only say that you should choose what you like. For health, calories and vitamins C, I do have lemon barley cordial and Blackcurrant Cordial....they are tasty cold and warm. Fruit may be scarce, so vitamin C is important to have.

Oats/Porridge - breakfast of champions and so cheap! Gets fibre into your diet (cause last thing you want is constipation) and you can add all sorts of yummy things to make it good. You can use it in baking bread and desserts too. This will also make you feel less guilty about all the yummy food with sugar and salt that you might have to eat during quarantine. >_>​

OPTIONAL: Self Raising Flour. We have lots of it. Hubby does most of the baking but I am willing to share a thing or two if asked.

NOTE: I do have other things like tinned tuna, salmon, corned beef, dried pasta, cheese, etc but to me those are extras that I get into if I can't find fresh meat and produce in the shops. I try to keep out of the yummy section of my emergency food stores at home until I can't find anything I want in stores.

On a side note, visit your local grocery or vegetable stand people. They will seriously be feeling the pinch in this crisis and can use your dollars more than the big chain stores. Always support your community where you can.


Okay Femme, I got all this stuff or some of it in my cupboards, what now?

My challenge will be to post yummy, simple recipes that you can use with the above grocery list.

I will create separate posts with recipes and hopefully you will try them and share your experience making it with us. XD Post photos! Tell us is you made changes to it. Did it work? I'm always interested in what you can bring to the conversation.... I also love learning a thing or two.

Posts will be cross-referenced where possible.

Phew. Thank you for reading up to here. I really hope this is helpful. If one person finds this useful, then I will feel like this post is a success.

Please leave comments below if you haven't fallen asleep. I'll try my best to answer in a timely manner.

Stay Healthy; Eat Well; Enjoy Life

 

When I read quarantine food, I imagined something like not mixing your rice with the side dishes...

 

*LOLS* I didn't know what else to call them...any suggestions? XD

 

Live the instant noodle lifestyle.

 

How about "nutritious alternatives to instant noodles"?

 

Corned beef is your friend.

Potatoes and bacon can be made into roast pork.

 

Soup dishes.

 

Add more sidedish!!
Only instant noodle is not healthy.

 

What I cook is pasta.

pasta
tomato sauce
garlic/onion and meat/fish/etc
salt

place salt in a boiling water
let it boil
place the pasta into the water
boil it for 10 to 15 minutes
drain

place chopped onions/meat/garlic into the pot with some water.
cook it.
place the tomato sauce when the water is nearly gone.
then combine with the pasta.

 

I usually eat the same thing until I run out of it - then switch to another one and eat it until I run of it. Rinse and repeat. I may eat rice for weeks, chicken with cucumbers for ages etc. etc - no fun in cooking, just the utility.

 

Being a thrifty college student living in dorms has prepared me to live onquarantine food already. Here's a recipe that I used as the base for most of my meals:

1. cook the cheapest noodles
2. mix up a sauce made of chunky peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, sriracha, pepper, water(less of this, only to desired consistency) and vinegar.
3. combine

I usually topped this with whatever I had available or could find the budget for. I also regularly added/removed ingredients for the sauce depending on availability of ingredients or my budget. These are all ingredients that last forever which was my main reason in making things this way and the sauce doesn't require any cooking to make. I don't guarantee if you'll find it as edible as I did though.

 

I have a month's worth of MREs.

 

I like your suggestions. I have a small cabin without electricity, and your list is exactly what I need to hide for some time...

 

I am having my usual meals. Why are people acting as they'll die if they step out of their house?

 

I've done that....in Uni when ramen noodles were 25 cents a package.... I found they weren't as satisfying as a full meal, even if I added stuff to it, a bit like pasta. Then there is the health issues with having a bad diet to deal with...for us females it's iron deficiency that's the killer. My doctor was like....BE a Puerto Rican, if you can't afford meat, eat Red Kidney beans! (Pfft that sorta rhymed).

My Emergency Pantry does have lots of noodles though, cause they are tasty, nice and warm, and my kids love them as snacks in between real meals.

Pfft, after reading some of the comments, it makes sense and is catchy.

For real? >_>

Joking aside, I have recipes for corned beef with the above ingredients listed, I'll add it to the list of recipes I post if you tell me how to make roast pork out of your ingredients....

I loooooooooooooove bacon. Such a tasty, useful product...problem is, it doesn't store well (or I don't know how to?) and everyone eats it so it's hard to keep for long in my house. ^.^

Oh yes!

You can put anything in a soup and it's very nutritional! Vegetables, bones (for flavour), meat, rice, noodles, beans...etc.

To make it last I like to add a bit of rice in the soup where possible (barley is also really tasty and stores well). Or I make some rice and you can have it as a side dish or pour the soup on the rice as a meal. Okay, my mouth is salivating now that I'm talking about this. >_>

 

That sounds yum! Have you ever tried sauteing the onions/meat/garlic etc in some oil instead of boiling ? It releases the aromas to engage the senses and it adds something to the flavours. I'd love to know if you try my suggestion and what you think. ^.^

OMG you sound like one of my step-sons. >_>

If you want, you can try some of the recipes and repeat until the end of the zombie apocalypse. ^.^

Bare, bare basics for your cupboard would be rice, beans, tomato sauce, some condiments, oats, milk, drinks.

You will be full and healthy.

You are indeed thrifty and it sounds like you eat well. From one master to another, I salute you!

I can only add to your culinary experience with new recipes and ingredients if you are interested. *waggles eyebrows*

I have someone in my family that cannot have peanuts (anaphylactic nut allergies)...which is a shame cause nuts store well, are nutritious, and adds that little bit extra to meals: pine nuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds, peanut butter....*sighs regretfully* Last thing I need in the middle of a health crisis is an emergency trip to A&E where they will be under the strain of this pandemic and where we can actually then get the virus to bring home. >_> So no nuts in my household. *pouts*

I've looked into those meals for this pandemic! They seem to be convenient (just add water), it has long shelf life and come in some interesting meals... drawback is that they are already scarce and they are expensive as frick if you have a family. And, I have the lingering feeling that food that can last fifty years on your shelf might have some health drawbacks. Maybe I'm being overly cautious about the processes that those meals go through to last so long.

Out of curiosity, I'd love to see what the meals look like when prepared. If you are willing to upload a photo sometime, that would be neat.

That sounds sublime. Especially if you can catch your own fish.... fresh trout, for example, is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice.

Take yourself a stack of books too! Cards! paper and writing tools! You could become the next Wordsworth or Emerson.

 

I've picked up pinto beans in a sale a while ago and honestly they've just been sitting a cupboard. It would great of you to share your own recipes for those.
I occasionally switched out peanut butter with butter or flour. You'd be surprised how many foods like fried mushrooms in butter still taste good with flour and water mixed in to make a thick sauce/roux/soup for the food you're cooking up. Flour and water will also fill you up more and for longer so it's a great addition to any meal cooked by a college student.

1. cook up some food with oil/butter
2. supplement with oil if it looks dry
   
3. add flour by covering all the food in the pan with one layer of flour and saute until it starts smelling nice, do not burn
4. add water to desired consistency to make a sauce
   
5. a roux requires fat but I've found that normal cooking oil and salt/pepper/sugar works fine
6. curry powder is a very nice addition to this dish
7. you can also add a little bit more water to make a soup but will need to add some more spices to add flavor

As for MREs, I received a box of them as a gift and used them up in a previous disaster. I had the absolute worst constipation so I recommend supplementing with foods that prevent such things.

 

There are NO foods superior to instant noodles.

 

These are all great tips. I'm well-stocked on herbs, spices, oils, garlic, etc. I eat a lot of fresh fish since I catch it regularly. What I don't need or save gets swapped with people I know up and down the coast: Primarily meat, eggs, honey and preserves. I eat a lot of vegetables and there's a couple of small producers about 45 minutes drive out of the city where I go to bulk buy so I can freeze and dry stuff.

My catch for the day:

Spoiler

Best friend caught more + a decent kingfish (he let the other three go):

Spoiler

 

Mashed potatoes wrapped in bacon. Tie it so it doesnt fall apart, add any seasoning you want and make the sauce out of wine or whatever floats your boat.