Yesterday my irrational panic brain took over my normally sensible brain and I decided to stock up on essentials in case the coronavirus struck our household or, more realistically, our local supermarkets and delivery services had to close or had supply problems as a result of the outbreak and/or measures taken to prevent an outbreak.
I didn’t want to be the super selfish person who needlessly buys up all the essentials other people need, so I sat down and figured out a meal plan for a fortnight based on store cupboard and freezer ingredients we already had in the house, using a combination of things I can just cook off the top of my head and recipes from trusted sources that used these ingredients. I’ve not seen reporting of any expectations of power outages as a result of the potential outbreak and we have a decent sized freezer so I decided to utilise that as well as store cupboard ingredients. When I posted to my social media channels that I had done this some of my friends asked if I would share what I had done with them.
I set to work finding online recipes that were equivalent to the things I was just going to throw together, added them to the links I had already compiled and put together a shopping list for everything on the assumption of empty cupboards. As a result, this is a much longer shopping list than my personal one!
This shopping list does not take into account using up any fresh ingredients you’re likely to already have in your fridge. It’s worth knowing you can grate and freeze hard cheeses if you think they’re likely to go off, as well as milk (but if you’re going to freeze whole bottles, poor some out of the top first because liquid will expand in the freezer.) Eggs can be frozen, but you need to beat them first.
I like to use this vegetable soup recipe from BBC Good Food to use up vegetables https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/versatile-veg-soup
If you have any leftover salad leaves in your fridge, Jack Monroe has this great recipe for Salad Bag Pesto https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2020/01/21/salad-bag-pesto-recipe/
So here are the chosen recipes. After each recipe I’ve stated the number of times it would be made over the fortnight and how many main course portions that would yield. In total the shopping list includes 60 main course portions, so enough for 2 people’s lunch and dinner for 15 days. I’ve not included breakfasts and you might want to add some extra tins of fruit or packs of frozen vegetables if you want to get your five a day. I’ve also not taken into account times you really don’t have the energy to cook, you might want to replace the odd recipe with a frozen pizza or something similar, just adjust the amounts in the shopping list- each item is followed by the exact amount needed so it would be easy to make adjustments. You will also notice that some recipes have fresh ingredients in them- I have simply left these off the shopping list with the intention of omitting them, but if you happened to already have them, you could always opt to make those recipes early on in the two week period.
Also, not everything is used up- while that’s something I usually avoid in meal plans, in the extremely unlikely event food supplies were compromised for longer than two weeks, or the quarantine period was made longer, the likelihood is you’d have enough food!
I’ve also not included things like loo roll, cleaning products, tea & coffee and painkillers, all of which are worth making sure you have enough for a two week period.
Store Cupboard Recipes
Tuna Pasta Bake
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tuna-sundried-tomato-pasta-bake (x1 = 6)
Tex-Mex Beans on Toast
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tex-mex-beans-toast (x2 = 2)
Chilli Prawn Noodles
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/cheats-chilli-prawn-noodles (x1 = 4)
Pesto Pasta (using jarred pesto instead of making the fresh pesto in the recipe)
https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/vegetarian/tagliatelle-with-peas-and-summer-green-pesto/ (x2 = 4)
Avgolemono (Greek Chicken Soup)
https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2018/11/14/avgolemono-soup-recipe/ (x2 = 4)
Bacon & Pea Risotto
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-risotto-bacon-peas%3famp (x1 = 4)
Paella
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-paella (x1 = 4)
Tarka Dhal
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/tarka-dhal (x2 = 4)
Tuna Fishcakes
https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/tuna-fishcakes/ (x1 = 4)
Tuna & Wasabi Pasta Salad
https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/zingy-tuna-and-wasabi-pasta-salad/ (x2 = 4)
Broccoli & Bacon Frittata
Prawn Curry
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a536962/zippy-prawn-curry/ (x1 = 4)
Peach & Chickpea Curry
https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2019/11/05/peach-chickpea-curry-recipe/ (x2 = 4)
Spaghetti Bolognese
https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/easy-midweek-spaghetti-bolognese/ (x1 = 8)
Shopping list
FREEZER
3x 500g bag frozen chopped onions (1020g) OR onions (see store cupboard)
2x 500g bag frozen soffrito
1x 725g frozen peas (400g)
1x 750g frozen broccoli (250g)
1x 750g frozen spinach (100g)
1x 400g bag seafood mix (400g)
4x 200g frozen prawns (700g)
1x 1kg frozen beef mince (900g)
1x loaf of bread
1x 700g frozen mashed potatoes (500g)
FRIDGE
1x 250g salted butter (25g)
1x 10 rasher pack streaky bacon (6 rashers)
1x pack back bacon (120g)
1x block parmesan (200g)
1x block cheddar (100g)
1x dozen eggs (12)
1x tomato purée (45ml)
1x 250ml jar mayonnaise (150ml)
1x jar tartare sauce (60ml)
1x tube wasabi paste (2tsp)
1x 600g tub tomato soup
STORE CUPBOARD
1x Olive Oil (120ml)
1x Vegetable Oil (90ml)
1x Sesame Oil (10ml)
1x 500g risotto rice (300g)
1x 500g paella rice (300g)
1x 500g basmati rice (200g)
1x 500g tagliatelle (300g)
1x 500g rigatoni/penne (500g)
1x 500g pasta shapes (300g)
1x 1kg spaghetti (800g)
1x 250g egg noodles (125g)
1x pack matzo crackers (2 individual)
1x 4 pack knorr veg stock pot (2)
1x 8 pack knorr chicken stock pot (8)
1x vegetable bouillon powder (1 tbsp)
1x 500g red lentils (400g)
2x garlic bulb (13 cloves)
2x large bag onions (8) OR frozen chopped onions (see freezer)
1x white wine or sherry. Optional. (45ml)
1x red wine. Optional. (200ml)
9x 400g tin chopped tomatoes (9)
2x 400g tin black beans (2)
1x 500g tin cannelini beans (1)
2x 400g tin chickpeas (2)
1x 198g tin sweetcorn (1)
2x 400g tin peaches (2)
9x tins tuna in spring water (9)
WAXED lemons (3) OR lemon juice (75ml)
WAXED limes (2) OR lime juice (30ml)
1x jar pesto (120g)
1x jar curry paste (1.5 tbsp)
1x Worcestershire sauce (2tbsp)
Brown sauce OR BBQ Sauce
HERBS AND SPICES
Turmeric (0.5 tsp)
Garam Masala (1 tsp)
Hot Smoked Paprika (1tsp)
Ground Cumin (5tsp)
Cumin seeds (1.5tsp)
Mild chilli powder (4tsp)
Thyme (1tsp)
Chilli flakes (2 pinches)
Coriander plant
Thames Foodie 