Make The Most Out of Your Food Supply with These Tips

Powering through!

Not everyone has the luxury nor the financial capacity to go out often for grocery runs or to keep a ton of food in their houses. If you’re one of these people or if you’re afraid that you’ll burn through your food supply faster than expected, we’ve come up with 4 tips on how to make the most of what you’ve got.

If you're more bored than hungry and you're looking for ideas to prevent yourself from eating out of boredom, check this out: 10 Hobbies You Can take Up With the Help of Youtube Tutorials

Pre-Grocery Trip

Make Lists

Making lists can be a tedious task especially if you have to keep editing them. However, lists are beneficial especially when it comes to helping you save money by giving you an idea of the only things you need to buy the next time you go on a grocery run. You won’t only prevent yourself from hoarding but you’re also giving others a chance to stock on emergency food themselves.

Here are two kinds of lists we think you should always have:

• Food inventory
• Shopping list

Tip:

Some things you should have on your shopping list because they're either good for your health, they make the food flavorful, or they have long shelf lives: rice, grains, garlic, onions, veggies, condiments, herbs, spices, cooking oil, canned goods, eggs, crackers, healhty snacks, and fruits. 

Post Grocery Trip

Take Note of Dates

Whether or not you’re stocking food because of the quarantine, it’s important to take note of the expiration dates. Why?

1. To help in organizing. Those with a shorter shelf life/an earlier expiry date should always be in front or on top so you can instinctively consume those first.
2. To avoid spoilage. Making the most out of your food supply means not letting a single one go to waste due to spoilage/expiration.

Learn to Extend a Food’s Shelf Life

Unlike canned goods, dried food, and instant noodles which have long shelf lives, fresh vegetables and fruits can only last up to 2-3 weeks max. And although consuming the fresh food immediately is the logical way to go, when you’re a few weeks into quarantine, you should still have some at hand so your body can get a taste of healthy food every once in a while.

Don’t know what to do? Here are a few tips!

• Make sure that they’re dry and placed in bags before you sort whether to put what you bought in the refrigerator or on your counter. Don’t know where to put yours? Check the photos below for a guide:

Note: Some staple Filipino ingredients like onions, garlic, and bread are also best kept on the counter.

• Know your way around your refrigerator so you know where to store certain ingredients in order to prevent molds or spoilage. Here’s a guide on how to take care and organize your refrigerator:

Note: Double-check your stock after a few days to throw away those that wilted or got moldy and feel free to transfer them to a different bag if the first bag accumulated moisture.

• Take advantage of your freezer. Place your leftover broth, herbs in oil, and tomato sauce in ice cube trays to be used for future soups and pastas. You may also freeze ripe fruits that are peeled in the freezer (And you can make delicious smoothies with them too!).

Note: For more tips on how to store more specific ingredients, check out this video from Goodful.

Cook “Proper” Meals or Take Advantage of Food Deliveries

It doesn’t matter how you get a healthy meal as long as you get one every once in awhile, you’re good to go. Not convinced why you should take a break from the canned goods and instant food?

Here are some reasons why you should learn to cook or order from restaurants with ready to cook food:

1. Veggies and meat – which are healthier than canned goods/instant noodles – can’t usually be eaten raw or straight out of the refrigerator.
2. You can freeze and reheat cooked/ready to cook meals when you’re not in the mood, when you need a pick-me-up, or when you don’t have the time.
3. You can control the taste as well as the portion size better.

Bonus!

Have a Treat Every Once in a While

Although taking care of our physical wellbeing is essential, we think that taking care of our mental state is just as important.

So if you think you’re mood/mental state would improve by eating a little of your favorite food, then go ahead and eat it! As long as you don’t go overboard and save some for future bad days, there’s nothing wrong with having a treat every so often.

Well, that’s all there is to it! In light of the COVID-19 crisis, we hope these tips helped. Try it out for yourself and let us know if you liked it through our Instagram, @bookyapp. Take care always! – The Booky Team