Soups and Sauces During Social Distancing

We were planning to talk about some wonderfully green salads loaded with lots of fresh vegetables and amazing dressings this month. Alas, our lifestyles have changed and our thoughts rest not with leafy greens, but with fresh ways to prepare, store, freeze and reheat meals for the family while we practice social distancing. 

Comfort food and soups come to mind for us. They nourish the body and soul while maximizing variety in meals and ability to freeze. Lucky for us, it’s still a bit chilly and overcast lately in Minnesota so these categories aren’t a stretch! Here are some of our tips to prepare not panic, when it comes to meal planning, food storage and creativity over the next months.

Get The Entire Family Involved

Who does the grocery list creation? How about the shopping? What about meal-planning and prep? While many of these duties fall with one adult in the household, now is the time to enlist help. Truthfully, I toss out way too many leftovers when family members graze or feel like only making exactly what they want to eat. 

As we’re all huddled up spending more time together, we’re getting on a shared eating schedule. We can definitely be more efficient with meal prep for four versus one. Leftovers from one meal can creatively move into the next. Case in point, I just used last night’s leftover ravioli in today’s tomato soup (a favorite practice I learned from my time studying in Rome). If this eating of all meals together is a new concept for your family, bring them together and get them onboard with the benefits and the necessity of it.

Be Creative With Meal Prep

Now that you’ve stocked up, make that double batch of chili. We love this one from Pinch of Yum and this one from Emily’s Fresh Kitchen. Have a portion of it same day, freeze the rest in frego for later. 

Select foods that freeze well. Separate things in the best way possible for freezing. For example, select a few key sauces that you can make and use half for a meal now and freeze the other half in a two-cup frego container. Favorites we love can be found on Pinch of Yum’s (16) Sauces That Make Everything Better blog (especially note the Magic Green Sauce and The Very Best Peanut Sauce). When you’re ready for dinner, heat the sauce and and pull your protein (chicken, beef, etc) in its separate wrap from the freezer and prep.

Set Aside Stockpiled Items

For a family that likes to think week-to-week about their food planning, sometimes day-to-day, it’s a challenge to think a bit further out. I’m not fond of rationing or even using that term, but when you consider feeding your family for months out, these are the things we think about. 

I did buy more than usual during this past grocery store run. I stocked up on milk, cereal, boxed/ process foods, protein and snack bars. As the kids took inventory of all of this, eyes wide, I could tell I would have to intervene. I moved excess items to another out of sight location. I also doubled up on the coffee, but with two of us working from home, I’ll also have to keep a watchful eye on coffee consumption.  Every household will look different, but I’d encourage everyone to think about our new reality and what that might mean for our food system and access.

That’s a wrap for our current tips on navigating these new times. We wish you and our entire frego family a mindset of preparedness and focus on the positive outcome our diligence today will have for the future. Let’s get back to writing about salads and large social gatherings as soon as possible!