Meal Prep during Social Distancing

First off - I think it's important to note the difference between quarantine, self-isolation, and social distancing (or physical distancing, as I'd prefer to call it). We're not in quarantine or self-isolation yet, I thought. After more reflection, though, unrealized that we are totally self-isolating.

We don't randomly go out into public places. We keep close to home. We're working from home - which is likely harder for Brian than for me since I've taught entire terms using online delivery before. And we're eating at home way more frequently than usual. (Every meal since lunch last Thursday(?) has been cooked or pulled out of the fridge by me.)

Sidebar: A few years ago, when Brian and I started getting really serious about eliminating our consumer debt (we know we'll carry a mortgage for a long while), we took a hard look at where our money was going. For us - it was mostly to food that we consumed away from home. Eating out was our entertainment. We don't have cable, we don't subscribe to movie channels, we don't have season tickets to anything, we don't go to the movies, we don't buy more clothes than we can wear . . . but we LIKE eating out.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to cook. But when I started going to school (again!) and then was working, eating out was more convenient. Still is. Especially because we like such a wide variety of cuisines and I can't afford to keep all of those ingredients fresh in my kitchen all the time. Also, I don't yet know how to make sushi.

Anyway . . . I'm familiar with how to meal plan, but I got way better at it when we started reading about how to eliminate our debt. I decided to go to the grocery store once a week and only buy what we would actually eat that week. After I got good at that, I started stockpiling things that we would definitely eat, that were also on sale that week. In our old house, we had a deep freeze chest, so I could stock up on frozen veggies and meats that were a good deal.

Flash forward to March 2020. COVID-19 means that groceries are limited, restaurants are closed, and Blythe has to get back to serious meal planning and online grocery shopping for items that may not even be available. Deep breath, we can do this!

Mom and I spent some time when she was visiting taking inventory of what was in my cabinets, fridge, and freezer. Then, we figured out what I could make using those ingredients. That list was pretty comprehensive! Six cans of tuna, two pounds of ground beef, shelled frozen edamame, cayenne, and pasta noodles? I can work with that!

Four pages of 'ingredients'

I made a grocery list to round things out, and then I made a plan for dinners for a month. Lunches will be a variety of sandwiches and leftovers. I also like to have cheese and crackers or a spoon of peanut butter for lunch, so that's easy. We were already sending lunch to school with Bennett and Brian and I usually ate leftovers for lunch at work . . . it's just the planning has to be more deliberate what with the uncertainty of the stock in the grocery stores. And having to wait a full week before I can pick up said groceries!

Possible meals from. What we had in stock

A month of dinners

What's on your list of weekly meals? I'm always looking for inspiration. I prefer things that don't have hours of prep, since I'm a working mama, and meals that are easy to substitute certain ingredients (we have a couple of sensitivities over here . . .). Hit me with your favorites! I'm all ears (oooh - can't wait until corn is in season!)