I've now been self-quarantined longer than the longest month on the calendar.
I know every bit of food I have in my house. It reminds me of when I was walking on the Camino, and I could recite my possessions. I knew just what I was carrying. While walking across the countryside with my backpack on, I would review the items in my mind, down to the last safety pin and band-aid. Before I realized that I would be so aware of my food, I saved my big grocery receipts from my last trips to the store so that I could review them if I needed a reminder of what was stuffed in back of my freezer.
I'm not afraid of running out of food, not at all. I have plenty. I might have to resort to eating things that aren't my first choice, but I certainly won't go hungry. Cooking is such a pleasing way to pass the time that I am happy when I have ingredients that I can use to make actual recipes. But I can make do with rice and beans--or some equivalent--if I need to.
I feel a particular responsibility to use all of my fresh food, and it is incredible how much better I am about using what I have when I am home all the time. In regular life, it wasn't unusual for me to have a drawerful of produce go bad before I used it. That waste doesn't happen now. There was one small bit of cooked spaghetti that was too old to eat couple of weeks ago that I had forgotten about. That's it in over a month.
So I'm winning my war on produce. On day 32, I plucked the eyes out of some fingerling potatoes and cooked them up with fresh green beans. My milk expires today, and I have left just enough to make a smoothie. I have some hummus in the fridge right now that is nearing its deadline. And there's lettuce that needs a salad.
I know every bit of food I have in my house. It reminds me of when I was walking on the Camino, and I could recite my possessions. I knew just what I was carrying. While walking across the countryside with my backpack on, I would review the items in my mind, down to the last safety pin and band-aid. Before I realized that I would be so aware of my food, I saved my big grocery receipts from my last trips to the store so that I could review them if I needed a reminder of what was stuffed in back of my freezer.
I'm not afraid of running out of food, not at all. I have plenty. I might have to resort to eating things that aren't my first choice, but I certainly won't go hungry. Cooking is such a pleasing way to pass the time that I am happy when I have ingredients that I can use to make actual recipes. But I can make do with rice and beans--or some equivalent--if I need to.
I feel a particular responsibility to use all of my fresh food, and it is incredible how much better I am about using what I have when I am home all the time. In regular life, it wasn't unusual for me to have a drawerful of produce go bad before I used it. That waste doesn't happen now. There was one small bit of cooked spaghetti that was too old to eat couple of weeks ago that I had forgotten about. That's it in over a month.
So I'm winning my war on produce. On day 32, I plucked the eyes out of some fingerling potatoes and cooked them up with fresh green beans. My milk expires today, and I have left just enough to make a smoothie. I have some hummus in the fridge right now that is nearing its deadline. And there's lettuce that needs a salad.
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