The one thing I’ve learned about social distancing is that it is difficult to stay six feet away from the refrigerator. And I don’t know about you, but I haven’t figured out the algorithm yet for how much food to buy that last for two weeks without going bad. I’ve never been a stellar math student.
All I know is when we go food shopping, I carry a big list. And, for the amount of money we spend on groceries, one would think we’d have enough fruit, veggies, meat, dairy, and snacks to keep everyone happy.
But then, we run into a problem. It is only day five or six, and we have already run out of something. Something I desperately need in order to cook dinner. Or something one of the kids can’t live without. Last week, our daughter had an avocado emergency. That girl loves her avocado toast! I have gone without a banana in the morning for three days straight. Believe me, it is a sacrifice I have been willing to make to stay home and save lives.
Somehow, we’ve managed to survive and can wait it out until the main staples disappear – milk, bread, coffee, and chocolate chip cookies.
This is no one’s fault. It is a new normal, and our family needs to adjust. There are four people living here eating three meals a day at home all week long. So, you do the math.
Seriously, can you do the math? Because I can’t.
Even when we order out once a week. we still manage to deplete our inventory rapidly. Unless you are looking for canned green beans because we have about a month’s supply of that in stock.
So, what are your tricks to buying enough food for the week? Is it better meal planning? Is it closing down the kitchen at 8 pm every night? I’d love to figure this out.
Robert Krantweiss
April 20, 2020 at 9:00 am (5 years ago)YOUF FIRST SENTENCE IS A WINNER! TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN.
Doug
April 19, 2020 at 12:39 am (5 years ago)I used to blame the clothes washing machine and dryer for shrinking my clothes so that they do not fit any more but now I know it is the refrigerator.
Fresh fruits and vegetables and avocados are not fresh after two weeks. It may be necessary to work on perfecting a one week schedule. If each person took a turn, you would only need to go out once every four weeks.
The accounting math has to allow for depreciation or degradation in this case. There is also a term called shrinkage which accounts for “theft” by the midnight nomes that have access to the food stores.
There must be an equation for the more that is there, the more you will eat. It is probably tied to the principle that whatever you add to a container expands to fill the container. That seems to work for my clothes.
I could suggest purchasing either another freezer or a big combination lock and chain for the refrigerator you have now.
In the meantime, blog on !
Julie JordanScott
April 18, 2020 at 11:59 pm (5 years ago)If you find the secret answer to this question and can share it effectively you will have many more friends when this social distancing thing is over. By the way, I understand avocado emergencies!
Kat Sturtz
April 18, 2020 at 9:58 pm (5 years ago)Your post did make me chuckle a bit. I’m a big fan of buying in bulk, cooking so there are leftovers and ready-to-cook and eat. Did a lot of that when kids were growing up and working full time on family farm meant having a variety of fixed meals ready to thaw a necessity. Now I’m married to a retired chef so he likes to take charge of the kitchen. Even though just two of us here, we still buy and cook in “extras” mode. Some habits are hard to let go of.