Before we even had any idea that something would changes our lives for ever, we were really enjoying putting together our little food blog together. It quickly became our go-to for remembering how we made those fluffy pancakes or the amazing ciabatta. It was fun and made meal planning easier. I have a sinking feeling that those days are forever behind us. Or at least will become more of the remembered life I once had. Because for all of us, life is different now as we shelter in place. And it seems clear as it does grim that life as we knew it will not ever return. We all will change because of this global crisis. And on an individual level we already all have. I thought about shutting down this blog, because cooking and meal prep has become both a taxing luxury that takes everything out of my already depleted chronic condition. But as time moves on, I realize I need my notes more than ever. I simply don’t have the stamina to stand and deliver and if it took a village before the plague hit, it certainly takes a community to survive these dark days. Anything we can write down and remember, any tips that helped us yesterday or mistakes we made that we want to try and not repeat. The food notes are as important now, if not more, than they were when we envisioned them to be. So with that. I present SOUP.
Pandemic Simple
Ingredients
Instructions
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Comfort food takes on a whole different dimension during times when food may be scarce. With 11 people in the family we need to have food in our pantry survival kit that included options for vegetarians and a variety of food allergies. Cause let's face it NOW is not the time to have a mast cell attack. So new foods are mostly OUT for most of us. Sometimes adding simply rice noodles to a can of vegetable alphabet soup helped to raise the level of cozy if not comfort. For some a touch of cayenne or sliced garlic helped boost the spirit if not also perhaps the immune system.
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Sometimes serving a fresh roll next to the soup de jour can helps to make it feel a little more like real food.
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We do A LOT of disposable food prep meal containers. For a variety of reasons. At times not all 11 of us were able to social distance and for those of us who have life limiting illnesses we needed to take extra precautions. Some times that meant two different refrigerators. Different shifts down in the kitchen. Of course lots of hand washing, disinfectant wipes and sanitation procedures for anything coming into the house.
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Even today when we have all been sheltered in place for longer than we can remember, we still tend to eat in our separate rooms even if we share the same meal. Some of it is sheer lack of energy to gather. Partly because the dining room table seems to also serve as pantry over flow. But I sense it's just that we are all still feeling distant even though we are together.
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We have been blessed to receive a farmer's market delivery once a week, it's expensive and certainly not sustainable but for now it helps us get fresh fruit and other products we may not be able to otherwise obtain safely. We try our best to take the time to make the fruit into a lovely medley and we serve it along side almost every meal.
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