COVID-19 Musings - Food - What is in your fridge or pantry today?

 #SLVMemoryBank
The State Library of Victoria has asked for contributions to a Memory Bank project tied in with the current COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria. The first prompt is What is in your fridge or pantry today?

As I was planning to write a series of posts on how the COVID-19 is affecting our life in Victoria I will use some of their prompts as well as my own topics.

Week 1 of the SLV Memory Bank project was to make a list of what food is currently stored at home and / or menus for the week.

This proved to be an interesting exercise. 

Quantities - Before COVID-19 when we had nearly finished a packet of food we would write it on the shopping list. Now we make a note on the list as soon as we open a packet to purchase an extra one  so we try to have a spare. Last month there was a rush on some basic items such as flour, pasta and rice. Even yoghurt disappeared for a while. However by the time we required replacements the items had returned to the shelves and limited quantities could be purchased.

We normally go shopping a couple of times a week when we buy meat or fish, fresh vegetables and any extra ingredients required for a meal. Consequently the foods in the lists below tend to be staple food used in basic cooking.

Pantry
Flour - self raising flour, plain flour and corn flour
Breadcrumbs
Cereal - oats, bran, coconut, nuts and other ingredients to make home made museli
Sugar - also icing sugar, castor sugar and brown sugar
Sauce - tomato sauce, soy sauce, tartare sauce
Pasta
Pasta sauce
Rice
Teabags
Canned soup
Canned tomatoes
Canned corn
Canned beetroot
Olive oil
Containers of fruit - apricots, peaches
Dried fruit - raisins, sultanas, dates
Honey
Herbs and spices though we often use fresh herbs from the garden.

Refrigerator
Eggs
Milk
Butter
Margarine
Cheese - block and shredded
Yoghurt
Jam
Lindt chocolate (special treats, especially when on special)

Freezer
Bread
Frozen peas
Frozen chips
Frozen packets of mince
Ice cream (from when the grandchildren were allowed to visit)

Fruit and Vegetables
Bananas
Pears
Apples
Potatoes
Sweet potato
Brussel sprouts
Carrots
Mushrooms

When the lockdown began we were eating salads and therfore had lettuce, tomatoes, avocado etc but now that it is cooler we tend to just have cooked vegetables. In other years we have relied on salad ingredients and some vegetables from our garden but the very hot weather at the beginning of this past summer followed by a cool spell when it is normally warmer was not really condusive for growing garden produce. We are therefore preparing the vegetable beds for next summer's crop.

Menus
Each week we have a pasta dish one night (normally Monday), salmon on a Wednesday, cordon bleu (or similar) on Thursday and sometimes steak on a Friday. There is often a roast on Sunday and Saturday is usually take-away either Asian food or fish and chips. Tuesday is more variable -could be sausages or turkey breasts or .... Some might say that we are in a rut! 

Homemade lasagna with garlic bread

However there has been variety in some of the meals served recently as I have had time to prepare meals that Mum used to make such as Cottage Pie or meals I cooked when I was at home looking after our children. Therefore homemade Lasagna, Toad in the Hole and, on Good Friday, Fish Pie are some of dishes cooked during the last month. The general consensus is that we should prepare such meals more often. Another dish from my childhood that I plan to make is Tuna Kedgeree and Macaroni Cheese is always a favourite..

Fish pie with eggs, mushrooms and peas

Left over dinner usually becomes lunch during the week or is sometimes converted into another meal - eg fritters - depending on the quantity left over. Some meals, such as stews, taste even better a day or two later.

Poached egg on salmon with tomatoes and muchrooms

Sometimes for lunch I have left over salmon on avocado toast or a roll topped with a poached egg - delicious and a great way to use leftovers.

SLV Memory Bank

See also all posts in this blog on COVID-19