Pandemic Pantry Prep
How to cook real food from home for a while.
The Corona virus situation has gotten a little more intense since I last wrote about how we should be doing more than just washing our hands.
Here in Northern Westchester County, we are well north of the “containment zone” in New Rochelle. Its not unreasonable to conclude that a 2 week quarantine might be in our future.
While everyone is stocking up on toilet paper and hand sanitizer, here’s a short and sweet list of a few things that can help keep your family fed with good meals made from scratch. Let’s call it Pandemic Pantry Prep.
I’ve spent many years feeding my kids and teaching healthy cooking classes. Lucky for you, I have more than 70 recipes on my blog/website. My family uses it as an online cookbook, and you can too. Go to www.DrSusanRubin.com and type into the search engine to find loads of recipes from the “Rubin Rodeo”.
If I were to fill my pantry for the pandemic, this is what I would go and get:
Onions, shallots, garlic. These members of the Allium family are the foundation of many delicious meals. Put them in a cool dark drawer and they will last a long time.
Stock up on stock. My freezer is loaded with chicken stock. Every time we roast a chicken, we use the bones along with veggies to build a bone broth. I get my chicken from Walden Local Meat along with extra chicken feet and other goodies. They have a CSA program that delivers in my region.
You can always find decent boxed stock at your local store. Look for organic whenever possible, and read the ingredients at the side of the box. You should be able to read those ingredients without a chemistry degree. In other words, real ingredients, not chemicals. If you’re a vegetarian, there are loads of good mushroom broths and veggie broths. And if you want to you can always make veg stock too. Here’s one of my fave recipes for magic mineral broth, from Rebecca Katz.
Winter squashes are great to have on hand. They don’t go bad very quickly and do not require refrigeration. Spaghetti squash, cooked up with some garlic and butter (or olive oil) is one of my favorite kid friendly “squashtober” recipes at Mount Kisco Childcare center. Butternut squash makes the best soup when you add some ginger, garlic, curry powder and coconut milk, here’s my recipe.
More to come in the weeks and days ahead. Stay well. And well fed!
