Soba Noodle Stir Fry
We are minimizing the frequency of getting groceries, to avoid person-to-person interaction and touching things as much as possible, to slow the spread of coronavirus. Presumably, you are doing the same. If not, please start doing it, for the sake of humanity.
I used to shop for groceries in a variety of haphazard ways, multiple times a week - a FreshDirect delivery on a Tuesday, say, with a stop by Trader Joe's for my favorite peanut butter on my way home from a Wednesday appointment, followed by a Friday trip to Stop-and-Shop after I decided what I'd cook for the weekend. I almost never planned more than a few days ahead.
Now it's just FreshDirect, once a week. I think about groceries constantly, and update my order multiple times a day, as new things become available (lots of stuff is sold out) and as I work out what my family going to eat for an entire week. The whole process makes me very anxious, but it is working as planned.
Another way to minimize grocery procurement is by altering recipes to use whatever ingredients you have on hand. Yesterday, for lunch, I started with the recipe for "Soba Noodle Veggie Stir Fry" (Skinny Taste), and threw in all the random unspoken-for veggies in my fridge: a lonely scallion; one small head and a couple peeled/chopped stalks of broccoli; a handful of cooked Brussels sprouts left over from the previous night's dinner (I added these close to end, since they were already cooked); half a bell pepper left over from a backup dancer's snack; and some chopped leaves of spinach just on the verge of losing their pep (again, added at end, so they just wilted). And I substituted soy sauce for coconut aminos.
It was satisfying, and tasty.
A member of the South Orange Environmental Commission (part of my town's government) is using a grant to teach and encourage residents to avoid food waste, which is not only good for social distancing, but also good for the environment. If any of you are local and interested in participating, the Commission's web page has contact information for the Commission and they would love to hear from you.
And even though we are keeping our meat consumption to a minimum for environmental reasons, if you're going to make meat, you can make the most of the bits you might otherwise discard, per NY Times' Sam Sifton today: "you’re not still throwing out your bones when you’re done with dinner, are you? Or the fats that come off your meats when you braise? You ought to save these things now, for they will lead to delicious rewards. Make the bones into stock: chicken, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, duck, fish. Just add water, a stalk of celery if you have one, that onion that doesn’t look very good, and let it all bubble away. This liquid will improve your dishes down the line. And that fat you peeled off the top of the oxtails or pork shoulder or whatever you braised? Put that gelatinous stuff in a bowl and keep it covered in the fridge. Toss potatoes with a couple of tablespoons before roasting or use the stuff to sauté greens."
I used to shop for groceries in a variety of haphazard ways, multiple times a week - a FreshDirect delivery on a Tuesday, say, with a stop by Trader Joe's for my favorite peanut butter on my way home from a Wednesday appointment, followed by a Friday trip to Stop-and-Shop after I decided what I'd cook for the weekend. I almost never planned more than a few days ahead.
Now it's just FreshDirect, once a week. I think about groceries constantly, and update my order multiple times a day, as new things become available (lots of stuff is sold out) and as I work out what my family going to eat for an entire week. The whole process makes me very anxious, but it is working as planned.
Another way to minimize grocery procurement is by altering recipes to use whatever ingredients you have on hand. Yesterday, for lunch, I started with the recipe for "Soba Noodle Veggie Stir Fry" (Skinny Taste), and threw in all the random unspoken-for veggies in my fridge: a lonely scallion; one small head and a couple peeled/chopped stalks of broccoli; a handful of cooked Brussels sprouts left over from the previous night's dinner (I added these close to end, since they were already cooked); half a bell pepper left over from a backup dancer's snack; and some chopped leaves of spinach just on the verge of losing their pep (again, added at end, so they just wilted). And I substituted soy sauce for coconut aminos.
It was satisfying, and tasty.
A member of the South Orange Environmental Commission (part of my town's government) is using a grant to teach and encourage residents to avoid food waste, which is not only good for social distancing, but also good for the environment. If any of you are local and interested in participating, the Commission's web page has contact information for the Commission and they would love to hear from you.
And even though we are keeping our meat consumption to a minimum for environmental reasons, if you're going to make meat, you can make the most of the bits you might otherwise discard, per NY Times' Sam Sifton today: "you’re not still throwing out your bones when you’re done with dinner, are you? Or the fats that come off your meats when you braise? You ought to save these things now, for they will lead to delicious rewards. Make the bones into stock: chicken, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, duck, fish. Just add water, a stalk of celery if you have one, that onion that doesn’t look very good, and let it all bubble away. This liquid will improve your dishes down the line. And that fat you peeled off the top of the oxtails or pork shoulder or whatever you braised? Put that gelatinous stuff in a bowl and keep it covered in the fridge. Toss potatoes with a couple of tablespoons before roasting or use the stuff to sauté greens."
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| You can still be GREEN even when you're cut off from the world and turning to things like origami to amuse yourself. Be #GreenInQuarantine! (once again, I am a branding mastermind) |
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