Is there anywhere less appealing than a large supermarket in the midst of a global pandemic? To reduce your shopping trips to the bare minimum, forget buying huge quantities and focus on buying the right things. Here is a list of foods that keep for a long time and contribute to a healthy, balanced diet.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Yeast
Without yeast, your bread will fall pretty flat. Think you have some in the back of a cupboard? Double-check that it’s still in date! Yeast is a living organism that dies over time, so make sure you’re storing it correctly.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Rice
Next stop is the grains aisle. These staples keep for a long time and can be the foundation for a lot of different meals.
Let’s start with rice. As with flour, don’t just reach for plain white rice. Brown rice is higher in fibre. Arborio rice can be used for risottos, and wild rice will add more flavour to any dish.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Pearl barley
Though less popular than couscous, rice, and quinoa, pearl barley has a very interesting texture, always retaining a bit of crunch. Add it to soups or stews.
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Oatmeal
Perfect for keeping hunger locked up until lunch, a breakfast of oatmeal will also provide you with a good dose of soluble fibre, which is particularly good for your health.
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Popcorn
Forget microwave popcorn – it’s too salty, fatty, and expensive. Opt instead for dry popcorn kernels. Three cups of popcorn contains a good amount of fibre and very few calories. Pop your own corn, ideally in a hot-air popper, then season with mixed herbs, nutritional yeast, or chili flakes. The perfect snack!
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Oils
Let’s move on now to more essential items, starting with oil. Every good kitchen should have a bottle of a neutral oil (peanut, canola, corn, etc.) and a bottle of olive oil. If you’re buying olive oil in large quantities, make sure you store it in a cool, dark cupboard to prevent it from turning rancid too quickly.
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Dried herbs and spices
You can cook a meal without many ingredients, but it has to taste good. Make sure your spice rack contains the following essentials:
Basil
Cilantro
Cumin
Oregano
Smoked paprika
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Curry powder
Garlic powder
Thyme
Still got the same old spices from when you first left home 15 years ago? They’ve probably lost all of their flavour. Refresh your supplies, or you’re in for a very bland lockdown.
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Fresh herbs
Fresh herbs, which only last for a few days, may seem like a luxury when your trips to the supermarket are infrequent. However, if correctly stored in the refrigerator, bunches of mint, parsley, and basil will stay fresh for at least three weeks. Use them to liven up your cooking.
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Stock
Ideally, you should put all of your vegetable scraps (onion skin, celery ends, carrot trimmings) into a freezer bag and use them to make a delicious stock. If you lack the time or energy, stock cubes or powder will do.
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Jarred minced garlic
Fresh garlic is great, but it’s not always easy to use up a whole clove once it’s peeled. Minced garlic in a jar is less expensive, keeps for a long time, and can replace fresh garlic in almost all recipes.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Instant ramen noodles
Fried ramen noodles, with their highly salted flavouring, aren’t the healthiest of meals. They can be made slightly better, however, by leaving off the powdered flavouring and using just the noodles as the basis for your meal. Feel free to add soy sauce, sesame oil, shallots, vegetables, an egg, hot sauce, etc.
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Potatoes
Let’s talk about vegetables, especially those that keep for a long time and are very versatile. Number one is the humble, yet ideal, potato. Stored correctly (never in the refrigerator!), they will keep for up to three months, giving you ample time to try a few of these 73 recipes.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Turnips
The much-maligned turnip is in fact a vegetable superstar that can keep for over three months in the refrigerator. That’s enough time to learn how to cook and enjoy them! Turnip fries, anyone?
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Broccoli
While broccoli florets should be eaten quickly before they lose their dark green colour and turn a much less appetizing yellow, broccoli stalks are much less delicate and just as or even more delicious.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Onions
Stored correctly in a cool, dry, unrefrigerated location, onions will stay good for at least a month before going off. That’s a whole month during which they can help liven up practically everything you cook.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Edamame
The frozen food aisle is a rich resource for obvious reasons.
High in protein, iron, and phosphorous, edamame is a good vegetable to have on hand.
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Frozen spinach
Green vegetables, especially leafy ones, are hard to store. Frozen spinach is a simple way to add a bit of green to your cooking.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Frozen corn
Just like peas, corn is just as good frozen as fresh.
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Frozen fruit
Use it in a morning smoothie, to liven up your oatmeal, or as part of a dessert. You’ll never regret having a few bags of fruit in your freezer.
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Canned tomatoes
Tomatoes are the king of canned vegetables. Whether they’re pureed, in a sauce, chopped, or whole, you’ll ideally want a few of each.
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Canned fruit
If you’re feeling anxious in the supermarket, worried about the number of hands that have touched each apple on the shelf, why not go for canned fruit? Choose peaches, pears, pineapple, or all of them combined in a fruit salad. Extra cherries for us, please!
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Canned tuna
Just because you’re on lockdown doesn’t mean you don’t need your dose of omega-3, so make sure you have a few cans of versatile tuna in your cupboard.
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Canned salmon
Salmon is great for your skin, which is a shame because no one will be able to see it if you are stuck indoors, but still…
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Canned mussels
Are they just as good as fresh mussels served with fries and a beer on a restaurant terrace in Belgium? Of course not. Are they rich in iron? For sure!
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Jarred pasta sauce
Almost as good as homemade (or maybe better, depending on your skills in the kitchen), ready-made pasta sauce in a jar keeps for a long time in your cupboard.
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Canned chickpeas
As well as being a much less expensive protein than meat, canned pulses won’t take up all of your freezer space. Chickpeas can be used to whip up a quick humus or can be turned into a crunchy afternoon snack.
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Canned kidney beans
Use kidney beans as a base for a delicious chili, with or without meat.
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Dried pulses
Though cheaper than their canned version, dried pulses do require a bit more work. However, if you follow this simple method from the Bon Appétit website, cooking the pulses for a long time and then using the water as a stock, you’ll enjoy the best beans you’ve ever tasted.
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Tofu
We can’t talk about vegetable protein without mentioning tofu! Few people realize that you can actually freeze tofu. In fact, this technique is used in Asian restaurants to alter the texture and enable it to absorb more sauce.
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Chicken breasts
Chicken breasts are more versatile than chicken thighs, freeze well, and are low in fat. In fact, they can be used in literally hundreds of recipes.
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Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article.
Plant milk
Unlike cow’s milk, plant milks (almond, soy, and cashew, for example) can be stored in the pantry for several weeks.
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Greek yogourt
Greek yogourt is creamier than other yogourts because it’s strained. It also has more protein. This means you can eat less and make your pot of yogourt go further.
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Peanut butter
A classic topping for your morning toast (made from your own homemade bread!), peanut butter is a real pantry staple at the best of times, so is absolutely essential when things get tough. It can also be used as an ingredient in a surprising number of desserts.
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Peanuts
Peanuts can be enjoyed in more than just butter form. They can be added to all sorts of dishes to add texture, taste, or a little protein boost.
The same goes for most nuts. To keep them fresh for longer and stop them going off, keep nuts in the refrigerator in a sealed container.
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Sunflower seeds
Sunflower seeds are an excellent source of what is known as “good fat”. In fact, their unsaturated fatty acids reduce your risk of cardiovascular diseases, perfect now that we’re not allowed to go to the gym.
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Dried fruit
Long gone are the days when raisins were the only available dried fruit. Now you can get cranberries, apples, pineapple, cherries, figs, dates, and many others.
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Seeds for sprouting
This is entry-level home gardening. All you need is a jar, a permeable cover, and one or two spoonfuls of seeds, and in three or four days you’ll have sprouts (think alfalfa) to add to sandwiches and salads. There’s no easier or cheaper way to have a continuous supply of fresh vegetables in your diet.
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Tea and coffee
Are these essentials? Not really. Will you miss them if you forget to buy them while working from home? Certainly. Necessity isn’t the only thing to consider when making your essentials shopping list.
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Chocolate
If you’re starting to make your own desserts, you won’t get far without chocolate. Make sure you have milk chocolate chips for cookies, a bar of semi-sweet chocolate for cooking, and some cocoa powder.
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Pet food
Your cat, dog, or pet bird may be your main, or indeed only company for a rather long time. Don’t forget about them when shopping for food!
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