5 handy food hacks to help during a disaster
Here are 5 handy food hacks to help in a disaster. We are all living a completely different world right now, Covid-19 is taking its toll on every part of normal life, whether you have the virus or not. Here in California, supermarkets are out of food, schools are closed for the foreseeable future, and there is no toilet paper left! It’s changing by the minute, economies are crashing, people losing their jobs or furloughed and everyone is worried.
Firstly, I’m going to say, listen to the experts and take direction from them. This is what they have trained for and they know what they are doing (well in most cases). I know everyone has already heard this but it’s true! As I saw in a recent social media post, “Previous generations of our families were sent off to war, far away. All we are being asked to do is sit on our backsides for a few weeks” – we got this!
So as I said earlier, food is scarce thanks to the hoarders’ but there are easy ways of saving food and extending what would normally be one meal into two. So here are some handy food-related tips for everyone.
5 handy food hacks
Saving Milk
So you’re looking at the gallon of milk in your fridge and realize its nearly past is best before date. Don’t panic, you can easily extend its life. Yes, you can freeze milk. So you could freeze it, if you are going to freeze a whole bottle you should consider taking some of it out as it will expand and all you will have is a mess in your freezer. You could also consider freezing into ice cube trays, it’s about the perfect size to drop into a cup of your “morning joe”, or use a few cubes for mash potato. This way you don’t have to defrost the whole thing in one go. You can also freeze cheese and butter in an airtight bag. Dairy products typically keep for around three months.
Spaghetti Bolognaise
A family favorite in our house! There’s a really simple way of extending this into two meals. Simply add an extra can of crushed tomatoes. Serve your first meal, then with the remainder add pulses and beans together with some of your favorite spices and turn it into chili for another meal. Serve that with rice.
Bread
Firstly you can freeze it! I would freeze a few slices in each bag, that way you can remove just what you want and not have to defrost the entire loaf. Secondly, if you cannot get bread you can consider making it yourself, you can easily make it in a crockpot, check out various recipes here
Leftovers
Got leftovers, consider how you might be able to use them to make another meal? Soups are great made from leftovers, keep the chicken carcass, boil it with some veggies and you have chicken stock, the base of many soups. Add leftover veggies, rice, pasta, and meat and make a hearty soup. Check out some of my soup recipe’s here
Casseroles
Again your crockpot is going to be your best friend here, leftover chicken or beef can make a great casserole just as well as a new cut of meat. Extend the size of it by adding additional vegetables which are typically easier to get hold of in a food crisis because they are not as easy to stockpile. Checkout my beef in beer recipe here
One last hint, struggling to find fresh food? Try signing up to one of meal delivery companies or fresh food delivery companies such as Imperfect foods or Freshly. You could even talk to your local restaurant, they typically have a different supply chain to the supermarkets and maybe able to sell your raw ingredients for home-cooked food.