For those at the tail end of the Boomer generation, you
envision those promo photos of Macaulay Culkin grasping his cheeks with his
eyes and mouth wide open. Though in this surreal drama in life also known as
COVID-19, staying at home and avoiding any crowd is the only way to “flatten
the curve” allowing the virus to fizzle out on its own after a couple of weeks
is the only way to avoid a pronounced, prolonged and devastating health and
economic crisis. But we do need to eat during the crisis to maintain our own
health, immune systems and mental health and restaurants have been shut down so
what are we to do?
Perform Double
Duty
For starters, many restaurants have turned to take-out
and delivery to survive this -hopefully – temporary sequestration of mankind. You
may be thinking that though you aren’t exposed to hordes of other diners, the
chef could pass the corona virus to you. True but chefs and cooks aren’t
exposed to diners like the waitstaff and I’d really like to think that since they’re
your handling food, they would stay home even with the common cold. And because
of the ban on indoor or group dining, paying for a simple take-out meal helps
the establishment with a little cash flow as COVID-19 doesn’t absolve any
restaurant of their lease rent payments or insurance payments. And any
restaurant that totally halts service now won’t purchase locally grown produce
locally raised poultry, pork or beef further stifling the local economy and
that snowball of economic decline continues to grow. But with that take-out,
the restaurant continues to operate, and you get a ready-made meal… especially
since supermarket shelves are a little more than bare…
The folks at Frolic Hawaii compiled a list of
establishments that are changing their business models and offer take-out, some
even with curbside deliver those who fear leaving the confines of their own
personal vehicle:
The windward area representatives – Representative Lisa
Kitagawa and Representative Scott Matayoshi - have also started a site listing
restaurants in the Kaneohe and Kailua regions that offer take-out or delivery
meal options:
What if There’s a
Mandatory Shut Down?
As I write this, the states of California, New York, Connecticut,
Illinois and New Jersey have already mandated statewide shutdowns for all
residents with exceptions just for medical care, food and essential work.
Though I’m not sure what’s left at your local supermarket as most dry goods
were wiped out several weeks ago – there are memes on social media stating that
decades from now, archaeologists will find buried cities during the COVID-19
pandemic with legions of citizens who starved to death but had really clean
butts. I expected basic kitchen necessities such as rice, dried ramen and
canned meats like Spam, Vienna sausage and corned beef to be decimated but didn’t
expect other starches like pasta and flour to be wiped clean from supermarket
shelves. In early March, the Kaneohe Safeway only had three bags of whole wheat
flour and four packages of orzo left on the shelves and the orzo probably was
left because it was on the highest shelf in the back so that only an NBA player
could reach those prized bags of pasta. Even when back to back hurricanes
approached the 50th, packaged foods were a lot easier to obtain!
But a total shutdown does means you have two prepare your
own meals so how about opening that pantry using canned items not really
targeted by the hoarding masses like my Chicken Tamale Casserole? It only
requires one fresh item, eggs and there doesn’t seem to be a shortage of local
eggs right now. You can use fresh chicken that’s poached since shoppers aren’t
hoarding fresh items due to their limited shelf life but canned chicken breast
(I always keep a six-pack of the Kirkland brand on hand) as well as fresh milk
though rehydrated powdered milk works just as well and dried diced onion bits. I
think you’ll find that most of the ingredients haven’t been raided by those
doomsday preppers that are hoarding every imaginable product “just in case”.
Chicken Tamale
Casserole
Two 14.5-ounce cans of diced tomatoes
One 16 ounce can cream of corn
1 medium onion diced
1 & ½ Tbsp chili powder
1 c skim milk
½ c cornmeal
2 whole eggs
2 egg whites
One 4.5 can chopped olives
2 c coarsely chopped cooked chicken breast
½ c low fat Monterey Jack cheese
½ low fat sharp cheddar cheese
One 4 ounce can chopped green chili
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine tomatoes, corn,
onion, chili powder, salt and pepper in a 5-quart Dutch oven and cook over
medium heat for 15 minutes. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together milk,
cornmeal and eggs. Add cornmeal mixture to tomato mixture and cook over medium
low heat while stirring constantly for 10 to 15 minutes until mixture is
thickened. Remove from heat and stir in olives, green chili and chicken. Pour
mixture into a 3-quart baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray. Top with
cheeses and bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Serve hot. Serves 8.
The Two-Week
Supply List
I hate to break the bad news to you but your emergency
two-week supply list is really needed until the end of November as hurricane
season starts in another 6 to 8 weeks and unlike viral pandemics, they can
destroy the very structures you’ll seek for your last minute dry good and food
hoarding. And hurricane season does occur every year so most of your emergency
supplies should already have been sequestered from the previous season.
So for COVID-19, I did stock extra bags of dried lentils
and peas but these will eventually make their way into my usual hurricane
supply of food along several extra cans of beans and tomatoes but didn’t make
any excessive purchases just for the pandemic. And remember that whether you’ve
stocked for a pandemic or simply for the annual hurricane season, you do have
to check your supplies annually and replace anything outdated. I know we’ll consume
foods less than ideal if we’re starving but consuming brown peas or beans from
a swollen can is probably more trouble than it solves. And remember to wash your
hands often and don’t touch your face!
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