Grocery shopping is one of the few activities we have to look forward to during quarantine, but we shouldn’t be going frequently just because we can. Here are some grocery list suggestions to help you purchase items that last while keeping you healthy and feeling good.
- Frozen or Canned Fruits and Veggies
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As delicious as boxes of mac and cheese and ramen noodles are, they don’t contain many essential nutrients and living off of them for the next month or so will cause your health to decline. Fruits and veggies are nutrient dense foods that boost your immune system and provide you with essential vitamins and minerals. Fresh produce goes bad fast but frozen or canned will last through your quarantine.
- Non-Perishable Breakfast Foods
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Breakfast is the most important meal of the day—even during a pandemic. If your go-to breakfast is foods like bagels, eggs or yogurt you may want to consider changing it up for a while. Foods like oatmeal, granola and protein bars are great options for breakfast.
- Egg Substitute
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Eggs are an essential ingredient in cooking and baking. If you are going to be cheffing it up at home but want to avoid public places like the grocery store pick up a container of egg substitute before you hole up for the Spring. It lasts longer than fresh eggs but doesn’t make your food taste different.
- Evaporated Milk
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Similarly to eggs, milk is a staple ingredient for many recipes. Whether you are eating cereal or baking cookies you really can’t skip out on the creamy liquid. But with evaporated milk, you don’t have to! Evaporated milk comes canned and can be opened and used as needed.
- Frozen Bread
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The only thing scarier than the new coronavirus is living without access to bread. Once your final slice gets moldy, you may find yourself S.O.L. in the carb department. Put the “frozen” button on your toaster to work with some frozen bread. You can buy pre frozen bread at the store or freeze what you already have.
- Canned Meat
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Another product that goes bad fast is meat. Canned meat is a great way to keep protein in your diet. If you are one of many who doesn’t like heavier canned meats consider buying something lighter like canned tuna.
- Paper Products
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Does this mean you should buy out an entire aisle of toilet paper at the grocery store? No, but taking stock of the paper goods you’re low on before you head out is important so that you avoid shopping if not absolutely necessary.
- Cold Medicine
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Even if you don’t have the new coronavirus, you may still be victim to cold/flu symptoms. If you end up catching a bug you’ll want to avoid going out. Besides putting other people at risk, a cough in a public place is sure to score you plenty of dirty looks. Pick up some day and nighttime cold relief and anything else you might need if you get the sniffles.
- Sanitary Products
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Aunt Flow knows nothing about social distancing. When she wants to, she’ll be right at your door ready to camp out with you for a week. Grabbing an extra box of tampons or pads is a good idea. Even if you don’t need it now, chances are, this isn’t Flow’s last visit.