Lock Down Menu: Creative Ways to Feed Your Family

Some of us bought in bulk, some us bought what we could find left on shelves, while others are taking donations from schools and neighbors. No matter what we all need to feed our families and I want to help.

"People who love to eat are always the best people." ~ Julia Child

Create Memories and Fantastic Meals During A Crisis

The CoViD19 has created mass hysteria for many and in turn they have shopped in bulk, first it was toilet paper and now every can or box of food on the shelf. Leaving the ones who work 48 hours straight in the healthcare industry/first responders and families who live paycheck to paycheck and try to buy what we can with what we have. We are one of those families and at first my stress level was so high it caused an anxiety attack. My kids simply said “Mom, if anyone can take random items and make a delicious meal its you!”. Then a friend said can you give me some recipes and why don’t you make a video blog on how to stretch food or create things no one would think of. I thought she may be onto something, because not everyone has the creativity to combine things in the kitchen and make and edible meal. Plus, I want to try some new recipes others have shared. This is what community coming together does. While I cannot go buy toilet paper for my neighbor or food for a family in need. I can at least share what I do know, how to take a can of baked beans, some chicken, corn and make a BBQ Chicken chili.

So, I have a few logistics to figure out with this, one I am not a very social media friendly person, I know the basics. Secondly, I need to figure out recipes with what I have and make sure they are written down to include in my video blog. Thankfully, I have a teenage daughter who is very video blogging friendly. Plus, maybe this way we won’t choke each other out before the quarantine is over. I want this to be a daily video blog that families can look forward too and use with their kids no matter the age to create fun family meals. I mean we are all stuck with each other might as well make it useful and beneficial. Not only will it reduce the stress from the parents on how to make a meal and stretch food, but it will create memories in the kitchen.

Food is a necessity to survive and it can also bring people together. Many of us waste food because we aren’t sure how to cook it or even how to maximize each product to its fullest. For example, I did score a package of chicken the other day and broke a $8 package of 8 chicken breasts down to 6 baggies for 6 meals. Most people would just make one breast per person, waste! I slice the breast in half and use the top portions for a thin cutlet and the bottom I cut into sections for tenderloins and diced chicken. Now with those 6 baggies I can get 6 meals but probably more depending on what is eaten. I also used the fat I cut off and pieces of chicken with the blood spots in them, I placed them in water with seasoning and boiled making my own version of chicken broth. Yes of course using bone is a much better method but in this case, I used the scraps boiled them and when they were cooked, I put them in food processor and pureed them up putting into the broth. That will be instrumental in many other recipes and have the fat content I would need for certain recipes. Now you can also use a whole chicken, one of my favorite purchases, by breaking a whole chicken down making breast, legs, and tenderloins and then boiling the carcass down separating out the pieces of chicken meat for a stew or soup and then creating a fantastic chicken bone broth. If I can find a whole chicken, I will demonstrate how to do that efficiently.

One of my other skills is I have been using Julia Childs bread recipe from her Master the Art of French Cooking, a gift from my daughter and the bread recipes are my biggest takeaway from that book. So now I have found some other quick bread recipes that I also want to try. Because if we can make bread in our kitchen, we won’t need to make an “essential” run during the lockdown for a basic staple that can create options for many recipes. Bread is not just for sandwiches. It can be a great filler for when you can only make a small amount of soup or stew, an addition to salads as croutons and create breakfast treats as well. So, look for these video blogs, in fact today I will start with a bread in the crock pot recipe I found. I plan on taking the recipe and seeing if I can minimize the ingredients to what most people would have in their pantry. Not all of us have Yeast sitting around waiting to make bread. But don’t worry I can show you how to make some at homemade yeast, which I have never done before so this is exciting.

So now that you see what my mind is processing today help me out! Send me a list of your odd pantry items, give me a challenge and see what I can recipe up! I will debut your lists on my video blog and hopefully bring some new ideas to your family plates during this quarantine. So, start emailing me your pantry lists!

Credit: Thank you Jodi for this amazing idea to share my knowledge and calm my nerves!!!