Our Calling: Do The Best We Can!

As I have worked about my house this morning, my thoughts kept going back to the news about the virus.  I've stopped trying to follow any but the local news which has the best and most concise information without a political slant or inane headlines (How Cvd will affect the Fashion Industry Forever).  I am not slandering vloggers and bloggers who share posts of what to wear to work at home, or how to do makeup for same, or how to help children with schooling or even how to cope with being home with children full time, because they are doing their best to inform the public of what they know...but the news really should focus on passing along news and for once, if there's nothing new to say then just report what is known about current situations without trying to create sensational headlines.  Here's the deal: life at the moment is pretty sensational as far as I'm concerned and that's about all I need.



 I go to the CDC website (Also check  WHO, World Health Organization) for news each day.  I told John what I'd read on CDC last night.  "We don't know enough about this virus yet to give any more information..."   That's something when the government organization we most rely on in times of disease control says that they don't know!   So if you feel your officials are not informing you or purposely keeping you in the dark, all opinions I've seen expressed in too many formats,  think again.  They don't know because neither does the foremost organization for such information have knowledge to pass along.

I am well beyond thinking of the overall negative economic impact this thing is going to have in a nationwide and worldwide way and now looking at the smaller picture of my home and my families and my neighborhood needs.  All that said, I wasn't dwelling on the news per se this morning as I worked.  I was thinking of the trickling reports from personal accounts of what is and isn't in which store and the conversations our family has shared just this week.   

When I took Mama out on Tuesday, I was mindful of past reports of outages in stores and appraised that the parking lots of  grocery stores with the least cars most likely were the stores with massive outages at present.  I decided to think out of the box and went to the dollar store which carries a limited amount of foods, thinking perhaps they might have the bread Mama said she needed.   The moment she told me "But I only want..."  I stopped her and said firmly, "This is not that world right now Mama..."   She has always been a bit of a brand snob... I found three loaves of bread on the shelf.  I bought one of them for her.   (Sam reported this morning of finding 8 loaves on the shelf at the dollar store in town.  I got two for our family and I'm putting them in the freezer so we'll be sure to use them up."  This is just about what they typically would use in a week's time in their home. )

I shared with Katie that I have purposely NOT looked in any store to 'just see what I can see'.  I am still a bit ticky over a vlogger who went in to 'see' and came out with the last two bags of rice 'because they were all that was left' when she'd only the week before shared the buckets she had in her food storage.  It seemed to me a shoddy thing to grab what someone who had none might have used when her family was covered for weeks ahead.   I am not finding major fault with the woman, mind you.  Had I been in her shoes, I too might  have given in to 'panic buying' and grabbed up something, too, regardless of my needs at the moment.    That's a portion of my reason for not going into the stores or for not searching every department on the one day I did venture into a store.

My other reason is that I know if I am aware of outages, I will be anxious about what I might find when I am once more funded to go grocery shopping.   I can think on my feet and while I'll go with a list when that time comes (in about two weeks) I will not allow myself to worry about what I can't find.   I am a creative cook from way back...I know how to make do and how to do without and I mean to put that into practice.

So this morning I checked my fridge.  I'd not looked at it since last Friday and I went over it with an eye of what to use immediately, what to use soon, etc.  I knew I had broccoli in the veg drawer but had not used it.  It had yellowed a bit.  I told John,  "We'll eat it anyway!"  No it's not prime but it wasn't rotten either and I feel strongly that in the current atmosphere wasting food that might be used is just not right. 

I feel strongly that all my inner urgings of the past few months to rebuild my pantry best I could on a limited budget, to become that 'retro cook' by pulling out my oldest most faithful thrifty meal recipes and rediscovering them, as well as the urge to be ever more frugal has prepared me for the days ahead.  And honestly I think that prepares me to share with you all and with any others who might discover my work in the days ahead.  I expect prices are going to rise, not due to price gouging but due to the economy overall.  I am glad I've had the refreshed practice of the past few months to polish my skills once more.

Now here's what I think we ALL can do:
1.  When shopping, respect the limits placed on things.  They are there so that others can have some of limited stock, too.  Don't panic.  Follow the rules.

2.  If you're unsure of how your family will like an item and it's unrestricted, leave some on the shelf for another.  If you find your family does like it and it's available the next time you shop, buy more of it then. 

3.  Commit to checking the fridge daily to insure you don't let anything languish and go to waste.  Remember just last week I shared that quote I'd stumbled upon twice to "Use up the fragments"?   Do just that.    If the milk has 'turned' use it to make bread or yogurt or look online to see what other recipes you might prepare.  If there's not enough of something to go around to the whole family, then incorporate it into a casserole or soup pot. When my children were all at home and I was stretching a very limited food budget they ate many a vegetable they didn't like.  Yes, they did!  It went into soup or chili or spaghetti or lasagna or meatloaf.  I'd shred it, chop it so fine it was indiscernible from it's former self and they ate it all right up.   Use that food processor or blender to make it super fine.

I'll add here to have a plan for leftovers and write it down!  Or make your own frozen dinners and freeze the single portions of an entree and sides so that you have an easy freezer meal. I have a world of tips to share about how to use up odds and ends that might otherwise go to waste and will work on a post about just those things soon.

4.  Share what you have plenty of.  Yes, I know that in these days with food and paper products sold out that you might well have just enough for your family but I truly believe in the concept of sowing a seed towards future needs.   If you know of someone who has a lack and you've more than enough, share it.    Now this is just a family thing but last night Katie was here.  She'd been given some meat and wanted to make the most of it, so she asked if I had butter beans  left from when I made Brunswick stew a few weeks ago.  She mentioned when she was here that she had to check the dollar store on her way home to see if they had canned tomatoes.  I have canned tomatoes and told her to help herself.  I also happened to have on hand two other items she was out of She made a little joke about shopping at "Mama's Grocery" but today she sent me a picture of the huge pots (yes two pots) of stew she was making.  She'd planned one to be just chicken with no pork in it and was bringing it out to us...I'll put it in the freezer and we'll have an unexpected blessing of stew.

I don't think we should just share within a family, but it is a help to the economy over all if you do.  And by all means if you live in a neighborhood, then take note of who might be in need and offer to share with them.  We're only going to get through this thing if we are mindful of not only family needs but our immediate 'community' needs, as well.

5.  Determine to be creative and try new things or share what you know.   Who ever thought we'd hear of a shortage of toilet paper?  Or diapers?  Or feminine products, etc.  My lovely V has used 'family cloth' for years.  She cuts squares of flannel and they use them as wet or dry wipes in the bathroom.  We quickly have become full of the need for products that frankly weren't that well known in poorer households until just a few years ago.  There are all sorts of substitutes that can be made in an economic way and may be washed and dried and reused.   Now is not the time to get squeamish.  Now is the time to do what you can to lessen demand on overtaxed grocers and manufacturers.

6.  If you have the resources and you know of a family with a need (i.e. you find paper diapers and know of a family with infants and small children who really could use them) then consider buying a package or two.   While we used cloth diapers on my children, I did find it more convenient to have disposable ones for those occasions when we had to be outside our home, or even for keeping baby dry overnight.   A gift of diapers is always appreciated.  Just check to see what size is needed.

7.  Be mindful of products marked  WIC on the grocery shelves.  Unless state governments loosen guidelines, those products marked with WIC are part of the nutritionally rich foods that best meet the need of pregnant/nursing women, infants and children under five.  Leave those products alone if you are not on the program so that those with WIC vouchers may get those much needed items.  They are non-substitute items.  If that shelf is bare then someone who has WIC will have to go without.    Just read the shelf label and you'll soon  recognize the logo.  Typically these products are a limited brand or size or variety  of fruits and vegetables, canned dried beans, dried beans, brown rice, whole grain pasta, milk, eggs, cheese, yogurt certain loaves of bread, and cereals and infant formula, as well as juices.  I am sure I'm missing some item or other but suffice it to say unless state guidelines suddenly allow them to buy what is available those who are already low income and nutritionally challenged may well be among the first to succumb to poor health in our current environment.

8.  Let your attitude be one of mindful gratitude.   Things have changed.   Today is not the same as yesterday nor even of last year.   Make it a point to keep a record of daily gratitudes.  I find that writing down at least five things at the end of each day is so helpful.  It refreshes the focus from one of scarcity to the very real blessings that are inherent in our everyday lives.  There may well be days that one of that list of five may read "This day is over..." and that's okay.  It's a valid gratitude!  But look for other things, like cute and funny things the children have said,  a moment when you felt your family pulling together in a way it's not done, a flower blooming or a bird song, or the sunrise or sunset. If you had a particularly nice but thrifty meal then record that menu for future reference and mark it a gratitude that you'd done well and the family enjoyed it.

9. Stay informed.  CDC, WHO, local news and checking online maps for the virus outbreak in your state are good ways to stay informed of what's going on.  Share with a neighbor or other family member when you find a store that has stocks that have been unavailable that you know they need.  Do NOT however, get too deeply caught up in constantly checking online for any new information.  Don't be obsessive but do be informed.

10.  Stay in touch.   One of my friends is doing an interactive baking day with her nieces and nephews via facebook or skype.   They will meet up online and make a snack food together.  Keep in touch with others via phone, facetime, emails, snail mail.  A sense of community is not all about how often you can physically be with someone.  It's about how often you intentionally interact.