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I know this time is scary and stressful for everyone, but one thing you shouldn’t have to worry about during a pandemic is whether you have enough food in your kitchen. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recommended that we social-distance, it’s important to utilize your own kitchen, and cook as many meals at home as you can. I don’t recommend panic-buying 16 boxes of pasta or 8 loaves of bread, but there is a way to shop smart during a time when we’re being told we shouldn’t be leaving our homes. Below you’ll find a list of recommended groceries to ensure you have in stock, that have longer shelf lives and will make for a variety of meals.
Related: 8 Tips for Navigating The Kitchen On Your Own
Grocery List:
Carbs:
- Bread, including sliced loaves and bagels. If you have room in your freezer, you can buy in bulk and prevent them from molding.
- Flour tortillas
- Frozen waffles, french toast or pancakes
- Pillsbury crescent rolls
- Cauliflower pizza crusts
- Pasta, like spaghetti, lasagna noodles, shells, penne and boxed mac ‘n cheese
- Rice
- Oats
Fruits and Veggies:
- Frozen fruit, which can be used for breakfast smoothies
- Canned fruit, like peaches or pineapples, which can be eaten straight or used in smoothies
- Avocados
- Bananas
- Apples
- Kiwis
- Frozen veggies, for a quick side dish
- Canned green beans or corn
- Broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, which can be roasted or steamed
- Potatoes and sweet potatoes, which can be roasted or fried
- Bell peppers, which can be sliced for a snack, used in a stir fry or stuffed
- Kale, which can be used for a side, salad or dried into kale chips or spinach, which can be used for a salad, on sandwhiches and added to smoothies
- Onions
- Garlic
Dairy:
- Oat, almond or soy milk, which don’t need to be refridgerated until opening
- Eggs
- Butter
- Sliced and shredded cheese
- Yogurt
- Sour cream
Meat:
- Chicken sausages
- Turkey bacon, chicken nuggets and meatballs, which can all be frozen
- Chicken breasts and burgers to freeze
- Salmon to freeze
- Steak to freeze
- Ground turkey or beef, which you can freeze
- Sliced ham or turkey from the deli
- Canned tuna
Sauces, Condiments and Dips:
- Alfredo sauce
- Red sauce
- Teriyaki sauce
- Soy sauce
- Your favorite salad dressing
- Your favorite marinade(s)
- Hummus
- Salsa
- Guac
- Peanut Butter
- Jelly
Snacks and Sweets:
- Crackers
- Rice cakes
- Tortilla or pita chips
- Pretzels
- Little Debbie, Keebler, Hostess or Entenmann’s snacks
- Chocolate or peanut butter chips, which you can bake with or melt, to dip your pretzels or fruit into
- Baking essentials like flour, sugar, and oils, so you can make your own waffles, pancakes, muffins and more
This list contains a variety of essentials, to give you plenty of options to work with when making every single meal for the indeterminate future at home, but make sure you’re stocking up on the foods that you know and love, too. Because you’re buying a lot in bulk, the freezer is your best friend during this time. When you’re grocery shopping, look out for the expiration dates on what you’re buying to make sure they’ll last. Items with longer shelf lives tend to be at the back of the stash, so keep that in mind when shopping (though know that store employees will hate you for digging to get to the gold). If you’re not feeling well, you’re ready to take social-distancing with the utmost seriousness, or you’re just looking for a little extra treat, you can take advantage of any one of the below delivery services, too. Many delivery services are offering no-contact delivery, so be sure to have that option checked off if it’s offered!
- Thrive Market – Thrive Market is an online marketplace that offers a variety of shelf stable products and household items. You can filter by dietary restrictions and diets such as gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, nut-free, etc.
- Amazon Fresh – Use Amazon Fresh to get groceries delivered to your door with free 2-hour delivery for Prime members, where available.
- Whole Foods Market @ Amazon – Get all of your favorite things from Whole Foods delivered via Amazon, also with free delivery for Prime members.
- Instacart – Similar to Amazon’s food delivery services, but right off the shelves from your favorite grocery stores near you. Just make sure to tip your delivery person well!
- GoPuff – Get grocery, pharmacy and household items delivered on demand from GoPuff’s own warehouses.
- GoTein Balls – Tasty, hand-made protein balls in a variety of flavors that ship right to your house, making for a great snack during this time. Pro-tip: Mint Chocolate Chip tastes exactly like it should.
- Baked by Melissa – Order yourself some cute mini cupcakes to get you through this stressful and tough time. No one’s judging!
- Milk Bar – Milk Bar delivers an assortment of treats from cakes to cake truffles and from pies to cookies. If you see me eating an entire cake to myself, don’t mind me.
- David’s Cookies – Get an entire tin of chocolate chip cookies for yourself. Who’s going to stop you?
- Sugarfina – Cute little packages with all different types of candies and gummies? I’m not going to say no to that!
Hopefully these recommendations help you figure out what you should be getting for your kitchen during the next few weeks of staying at home. Be sure that you’re listening to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and your local governments for the latest updates and recommendations about COVID-19!
Follow Flora Goodman on Instagram.