s/o Covid prepping

[Violet Crown]

2 hours ago, Lang Syne Boardie said:

Windex

I’m imagining watching the apocalypse unfold, a bowl of tortilla chips on the lap and salsa at hand, through very clean living room windows.

[Ali in OR]

High school girls are very into the scented hand sanitizer in tiny bottles. Nevermind that we have the preferred sink + soap right outside our classroom; they use the smelly stuff constantly (I work in a high school). I won't catch Covid-19 from them--for one thing, I can't be within a meter of them for long!

[Arcadia]

Costco

[Arcadia]

Mercury News put out a nice article https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/03/07/coronavirus-kitchen-what-to-stock-cook-during-a-potential-quarantine/

“As the novel coronavirus continues to spread in California and residents consider the possibility of self-quarantine, one can’t help but wonder: Am I really going to eat all the protein bars I hoarded at Costco?

Not if you’re stuck at home for two weeks, potentially unwell or taking care of someone who is unwell. You did the right thing by stocking up on toilet paper, hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes. But, remember: This isn’t an earthquake stash. Should there be a quarantine — government or self-issued — you will likely have refrigeration, electricity and a lot of time on your hands to nourish yourself and the ones you love.

In other words, you’ll want to cook.

“From my standpoint, there’s no reason to live on snack bars and meal replacement drinks,” says Los Gatos’ Marlene Koch, a registered dietitian nutritionist and New York Times best-selling cookbook author. “With a quick stock of your freezer and pantry, you can have the ingredients it takes to not only feed someone who is not feeling well but to feed the whole family

... Freezer fortune

Because “protein needs vary widely between men and women, or young kids and teenagers, it’s hard to say how much to buy,” Koch says. In general, she recommends 4 ounces of protein per person per day. The USDA recommends 5½ ounces of lean meat — the equivalent of 1¼ cups cooked beans —  for a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

“I would stock the freezer with a variety of 2- to 3-pound bags of lean ground beef or turkey, chicken tenders, or even shrimp,” she says. “Remember, your quarantine may be for weeks but your bounty will last for months. If they buy too much, these are ingredients that people can be grilling outside come summer.”

Also in that freezer: Tortillas, microwaveable rice or quinoa, frozen fruit for smoothies and frozen vegetables to stir into soups, grain bowls and easy pasta dishes. Not all frozen veggies are created equal — she prefers corn and peas over, say, frozen broccoli — but as long as you get some greens into your meals you’re eating well. “It may also be comforting to know that frozen veggies have the same beneficial nutrient qualities as fresh,” Koch adds.

Pandemic pantry

Canned and dry goods, too, are no-brainers when it comes to making healthful meals without access to a grocery store. Think outside the cupboard when it comes to this category. Sure, you should have on hand your favorite pasta or grain, nut butter, canned tuna or sardines, diced tomatoes, and, of course, beans. But using dried mushrooms instead of fresh mushrooms can yield a divine Instant Pot risotto.

And don’t even get Koch started on beans. Pinto, black, garbanzo, kidney or cannelli — you can make meals to last well beyond two weeks, from a hearty Black Bean Chili or this brilliant Seven-Can Chicken Taco Soup. Here’s an even easier one, courtesy of Koch: “Puree a can of black beans with salsa, chicken or vegetable broth and cumin,” she says.

Cumin is among her shaker staples because it is used in many cuisines. Other spices to pep up dishes, or in lieu of the fresh version: Smoked paprika, chile flakes, garlic powder, ground ginger and dried herbs, especially thyme and oregano, which can easily substitute for the real thing when making, say, a roast chicken with the former or spaghetti sauce with the latter.

Here are a few other Koch tricks: Combine canned tuna with a low-sodium cream soup, like cream of broccoli, mushroom or celery, and add jarred artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes for a new-age casserole. Leftover potato chips? Crumble on top to add a crunchy topping, she says. If a recipe calls for milk or cream, she uses oat milk. “Swirl it into coffee, oatmeal, soups,” she says. “Unlike almond milk it is actually creamy and mimics the texture of dairy milk.”

For a simple yet satisfying plant-based dish, Koch adds a can of chickpeas to fresh-cooked pasta and throws in a few handfuls of spinach or kale, garlic and broth. Craving spice and have some frozen sausage? Try spicy Chickpea and Chorizo Stew, substituting frozen diced red and yellow bell peppers if you don’t have the fresh in your fridge.”

[cjzimmer1]

12 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Not all frozen veggies are created equal — she prefers corn and peas over, say, frozen broccoli — but as long as you get some greens into your meals you’re eating well.

Very curious what the thought process is behind this.  Corn which is essentially a grain is preferably to broccoli? and peas I thought were pretty high in starch too.  I realize in times of limited food selection that yes they would be perfectly fine but to say they are preferably to broccoli, I don't understand.  Anyone want to take a guess because it's completely at odds to what I thought I knew about nutrition.

[73349]

50 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said:

Very curious what the thought process is behind this.  Corn which is essentially a grain is preferably to broccoli? and peas I thought were pretty high in starch too.  I realize in times of limited food selection that yes they would be perfectly fine but to say they are preferably to broccoli, I don't understand.  Anyone want to take a guess because it's completely at odds to what I thought I knew about nutrition.

I thought she meant in terms of taste/texture rather than nutrition. Good fresh broccoli is easier to get year-round and very good steamed or roasted, while corn (at least in my area) is only available for a short time in summer, and peas are hard to come by fresh, so the choice is frozen vs. canned.

Edited March 8, 2020 by whitehawk

[cjzimmer1]

1 hour ago, whitehawk said:

I thought she meant in terms of taste/texture rather than nutrition. Good fresh broccoli is easier to get year-round and very good steamed or roasted, while corn (at least in my area) is only available for a short time in summer, and peas are hard to come by fresh, so the choice is frozen vs. canned.

Ok that makes sense, I thought she meant in terms of nutrition hence my confusion. As one who was only served canned vegetables in schools (and refused to eat them), even for emergency prep I won't stock them. But I grew up helping my mom can (tomatoes) and freeze everything else so pretty much anything frozen seems fine to me in terms of taste/texture which is probably why my mind didn't go there for that interpretation.

Edited March 8, 2020 by cjzimmer1

[Arcadia]

Target’s stationary aisle looks like back to school sale status right now, which is highly unusual.

[Terabith]

Why would people all be buying stationary/ pens/ markers for an epidemic?  I'm so confused.  

[Lang Syne Boardie]

12 minutes ago, Terabith said:

Why would people all be buying stationary/ pens/ markers for an epidemic?  I'm so confused.  

Oh, super sad thought, if the parents all think they're going to have to homeschool during quarantine now? Or maybe there are small business people concerned about supply from China, who panic-bought last week and made the store think they should order more.

Neither of these seem very plausible to me -- the tele-school option will probably involve iPads and Chromebooks that students already have. If they don't have those, I don't see how paper and pencils are going to help them, because they won't have access to teachers and lessons...

Third theory is that the store is concerned about employee absences should the virus strike their area, and back-to-school is probably one of the biggest moneymaking events of the year, so they're getting the stock out while they're sure they can. (This one actually makes sense to me.)

[prairiewindmomma]

I would think that this is likely tied to the lack of shipping containers coming in for the last six weeks.  We've been seeing some odd outages of product also. 

[Terabith]

1 minute ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I would think that this is likely tied to the lack of shipping containers coming in for the last six weeks.  We've been seeing some odd outages of product also. 

That makes a lot of sense.  

[Sk8ermaiden]

Vegetable and canola oil. The other day there was no oil to be had.

[prairiewindmomma]

3 minutes ago, Sk8ermaiden said:

Vegetable and canola oil. The other day there was no oil to be had.

This one was in shortage likely due to over-demand. There should be resupply as a lot of Canola oil is from rapeseed grown in the US and Canada.

Unfortunately, most pens are made in China. 

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, Terabith said:

Why would people all be buying stationary/ pens/ markers for an epidemic?  I'm so confused.  

 

37 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

I would think that this is likely tied to the lack of shipping containers coming in for the last six weeks.  We've been seeing some odd outages of product also. 

 

The Target staff were replenishing the shelves while I was there but some things were not replenished. So probably they didn’t get any delivery of those items.

[StaceyinLA]

Haven’t done anything too drastic here. Since my dd had a baby a few weeks ago, I had a freezer full of prepped food, and we still have a good bit of those meals left. I’ve got a decent amount of meat, and access to more from my sister who raises free-range beef cattle if we run out and don’t want to go to a store.

I bought some extra dry goods this past week, and I did buy a dozen or so bags of frozen veggies just in case we wind up not wanting to go to big stores for shopping (I’ll keep buying fresh and save the frozen until I need it, or know I won’t need it). I have a few bags of beans and some canned beans, and a couple bags of rice, but was also planning on picking up a couple more packages of beans and some nut butters, as well as a few loaves of bread to freeze for sandwiches for the kiddos. I got quite a lot of tortillas for the freezer since tacos are a staple around here, and I did buy a few extra jars of our favorite salsa. 

I stocked up on vitamins a couple weeks ago, and we got a shipment in of our favorite elderberry syrup. 

We are good on laundry detergent, probably fair on TP - planning to order another big pack, and other basic toiletries. I typically keep spares of everything anyway.

One thing I have not purchased is hand sanitizer. I have a mental block against using that stuff. 

[KungFuPanda]

On 3/7/2020 at 7:44 PM, Arcadia said:

Costco

My costco had a limit on the giant bags of rice a week ago.  WHO would buy more than one of these at a time????

[Arcadia]

6 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

My costco had a limit on the giant bags of rice a week ago.  WHO would buy more than one of these at a time????

Guessing small family businesses and food trucks owners. 

[mathnerd]

On 3/7/2020 at 4:44 PM, Arcadia said:

Costco

I was at costco (santa clara) last night and I also saw this very same notice in the bottled water aisle. But what was funny to me was that there were at least 5 people in the costco return lines waiting to return bottled water packages. It seems that some people panicked about quarantines in our county and overbought water and toilet paper and then decided that things are not so bad as they believed and they did not have room to store those tons of water bottles and toilet papers and set out to costco to return them! Not a single bag of rice or any canned tomato product at my costco now.

[Shoeless]

No liquid hand soap at any of the stores around me, but plenty of bar soap. I can't help but shake my head when I see the empty liquid soap shelves but fully stocked bar soap. 

Also, there are suddenly a lot of wanna-be bakers near me, because big bags of flour were sold out.  The things you'd need to mix with the flour to make anything? Like oil, shortening, yeast, sugar? Fully stocked. 

For some odd reason, we already have a bottle of aloe vera gel in the cabinet (why do I own this product??).  I don't think I'll try making my own hand sanitizer, though. The aloe gel is kind of sticky. 😛 

I feel like I hit a mini jackpot because our Walmart clearanced out several bottles of Sambucol gummies.  I had coupons and got a few bottles for $2 each. 

[Arcadia]

1 hour ago, mathnerd said:

Not a single bag of rice or any canned tomato product at my costco now.

We bought our rice from 99Ranch. India Cash & Carry has plenty of basmati rice too. We usually buy canned tomato products at Safeway.

[Carrie12345]

53 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

No liquid hand soap at any of the stores around me, but plenty of bar soap. I can't help but shake my head when I see the empty liquid soap shelves but fully stocked bar soap.

I’ll admit, I had a moment yesterday. DD came to me, looking for body wash, which is almost always fully stocked at my house because my children have no sense of how much is needed to clean a body. I was way lower than I thought, and almost rushed to the internet to look for sales. THen I remembered that I have a big stock of bar soaps that are technically for making laundry detergent, but can also be used (duh) to wash bodies!

[Pen]

4 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

I’ll admit, I had a moment yesterday. DD came to me, looking for body wash, which is almost always fully stocked at my house because my children have no sense of how much is needed to clean a body. I was way lower than I thought, and almost rushed to the internet to look for sales. THen I remembered that I have a big stock of bar soaps that are technically for making laundry detergent, but can also be used (duh) to wash bodies!

 

I don’t really know how “body wash” works.  But I know soap and water work very well for cleaning away virus, so maybe it is good to change to soap anyway. 

[Carrie12345]

6 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

I don’t really know how “body wash” works.  But I know soap and water work very well for cleaning away virus, so maybe it is good to change to soap anyway. 

Eh, in terms of cleansing power, they’re basically equal.  In terms of 4-6 kids sharing a bathroom, bar soap will be my nightmare, lol.

The girls do sometimes go with fancy bar soaps, and we’ve yet to find a magically useful soap tray.

ETA, for the record: we use washcloths with all soapy stuff, which I never thought was unusual until the topic was brought up multiple times in the context of “black people things.” So maybe white people need to be clued in, lol. This white family definitely gets dry enough to look “white ashy”.

Edited March 9, 2020 by Carrie12345

[Pen]

6 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

Eh, in terms of cleansing power, they’re basically equal.  In terms of 4-6 kids sharing a bathroom, bar soap will be my nightmare, lol.

The girls do sometimes go with fancy bar soaps, and we’ve yet to find a magically useful soap tray.

ETA, for the record: we use washcloths with all soapy stuff, which I never thought was unusual until the topic was brought up multiple times in the context of “black people things.” So maybe white people need to be clued in, lol. This white family definitely gets dry enough to look “white ashy”.

 

We have lots of washcloths so they can be used and put for wash.  Helps all sorts of things. Little kid cleaning, teen acne, adult scrubbing.    Can even dry with them. 

For little kids sometimes a bar soap inside of washcloth mitt (or two washcloths sewn together) works well.  

Some bar soaps can also be made into a liquid if that’s better for you by dissolving in water. 

[mathnerd]

5 hours ago, Arcadia said:

We bought our rice from 99Ranch. India Cash & Carry has plenty of basmati rice too. We usually buy canned tomato products at Safeway.

Thanks. I picked up basmati from India cash and carry. Will check Safeway for canned tomatoes!

[Shoeless]

2 hours ago, Pen said:

 

I don’t really know how “body wash” works.  But I know soap and water work very well for cleaning away virus, so maybe it is good to change to soap anyway. 

 

It's just liquid soap, often with moisturizer in it. I prefer body wash over bar soap, because the ingredients in bar soap that make it stick together leave a weird residue on my skin. Bar soap makes my skin feel tight and itchy, but body wash doesn't. 

[BarbecueMom]

10 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

My costco had a limit on the giant bags of rice a week ago.  WHO would buy more than one of these at a time????

We go through one Costco-sized bag of jasmine rice every 6 weeks, plus about 1/3-1/2 of a Costco-sized bag of basmati.  I also keep arborio and wild rice blend on hand and cook those about once a month each.  I buy at least one bag every trip, sometimes two if I’m running low or completely out of one type.

Family of 5, every single meal made at home (no restaurants), wheat allergy/sensitive tummy (me), Celiac (DH), and a picky eater who doesn’t like potatoes or GF substitutes (DS10).  We use a LOT of rice.

[Katy]

11 minutes ago, Plum said:

Ugh. I thought I'd ship some supplies to my mom directly from Walmart or Sam's. Finding shelf stable items that won't send her into diabetic shock is hard. So far I have canned chicken and tuna, canned chili, beef jerky sausages that I know are keto friendly, I'm stumped. 

 

Walmart has some of the BEST southern-style canned greens.  It's one of the only canned foods I actually like.

[gardenmom5]

dh was at Costco this morning - and asked one women with lots of TP why she was stocking up.  She was afraid they'd close the store (we're in a hotspot, and the gov/health dept has already been asking people to avoid gatherings of more than 10 people.)

[Arcadia]

@mathnerd

TJ staff says ginger has been out of stock for a month and they don’t know when they would get stock. 
Trinethra supermarket Sunnyvale has no restrictions on rice. India Cash & Carry Sunnyvale has rice and flour restrictions.

[mathnerd]

Just now, Arcadia said:

@mathnerd

TJ staff says ginger has been out of stock for a month and they don’t know when they would get stock. 
Trinethra supermarket Sunnyvale has no restrictions on rice. India Cash & Carry Sunnyvale has rice and flour restrictions.

Thank you, I stocked up on rice for the rest of the year from India Cash and Carry! 

Costco had a couple of boxes of organic ginger in stock this weekend and they said that more is on the way, so that could be a good place to look if people are hoarding ginger for brewing concoctions for the flu. 

[Arcadia]

On 3/9/2020 at 2:37 PM, mathnerd said:

Costco had a couple of boxes of organic ginger in stock this weekend and they said that more is on the way, so that could be a good place to look if people are hoarding ginger for brewing concoctions for the flu. 

We were at Costco yesterday but I didn’t know Trader Joe’s ginger were out for so long. Chinese cooking is also heavy on sliced or grated ginger.  Ginger is also used extensively for Chinese postnatal diet. Ginger is a “warm” food.

This quote from DW is comical 😂 my family is definitely “guilty”.

“The Chinese have their own answer to healthy eating, with concepts strongly related to traditional Chinese medicine. They are probably the most hard-core supporters of the saying “You are what you eat,” regardless of whether they really follow that advice.” https://m.dw.com/en/healthy-eating-in-traditional-chinese-medicine/a-18619239

ETA:

I bought ginger from Safeway.

Edited March 12, 2020 by Arcadia

[Pen]

Growing ginger in indoor pot, https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/gardening/a20705827/how-to-grow-ginger/   if we have space and environment suitable: 

[73349]

Anybody else actually sick already? (No way to know if what DS and I have is C19 or some other crud at this point, but we're both sick.)

• We've committed to staying home through at least Sunday. DH, who is not sick, is at the grocery store now, but is working from home.
• Every night when DS goes to bed, I go around with Clorox wipes and clean high-touch surfaces.
• We're washing our hands. I'm wearing my rings on a necklace instead of my ring finger to improve my thoroughness.
• We're using some compostable or disposable items when we'd otherwise use reusables, partly to limit how much laundry we need to do.
• I made vegetable broth and it's in the freezer.
• I'm running the dishwasher (now ~twice a day with DH home for lunch) on its sanitizing cycle.
• We're eating healthy foods, generally, and taking vitamin D3.

Do you see anything I'm overlooking that I could do anything about at this point?

[Arcadia]

20 minutes ago, whitehawk said:

 

Do you see anything I'm overlooking that I could do anything about at this point?

Emergen C (or any Vit C supplement) and running the room air filter has been helpful for DS14 and me. We have running noses and usual allergies.

ETA: I have store bought boxed soups just in case

Edited March 12, 2020 by Arcadia

[Pen]

Vitamin C vitamin A vitamin K,  maybe NAC

maybe supportive herbs if you have any

hherb teas ?

bedding wash on hot—esp pillow cases, and maybe run pillows in hot dryer

hydration and electrolytes

toilet sanitation - reports if it is CV it can live several days in feces - and everywhere in bathroom subject to aerosol 

Hand brush for around nails and finger tips? 

Avoid sugar ? (Though maybe some honey is okay) .  

Use sunshine if possible. 

Rest.

 

[mommyoffive]

25 minutes ago, Pen said:

Vitamin C vitamin A vitamin K,  maybe NAC

maybe supportive herbs if you have any

hherb teas ?

bedding wash on hot—esp pillow cases, and maybe run pillows in hot dryer

hydration and electrolytes

toilet sanitation - reports if it is CV it can live several days in feces - and everywhere in bathroom subject to aerosol 

Hand brush for around nails and finger tips? 

Avoid sugar ? (Though maybe some honey is okay) .  

Use sunshine if possible. 

Rest.

 

 

What is NAC?

 

 

I am so glad I stocked up.  My state as of this morning only had 3 cases.  But the stores are sold out of tons of things. 

[mommyoffive]

Now my state has 6 cases.  This is going to explode.

[BlsdMama]

Ours has 14. 😕

Re: Liquid vs. solid soap- liquid is made with potassium hydroxide whereas solid is made with sodium hydroxide. Most these days are actually detergents and sodium lauryl sulfacetate (slsa) is what makes it bubble. That and a couple dollars will get you a cup of coffee. 😉

I used hand sanitizer today for what I earnestly believe was the first time in my life. 
 

I haven’t been to Costco in two weeks. Sigh. Headed tomorrow and we will see how bad. 

[Negin]

This infocomic may be helpful. I think that it's a great reminder. 

[slackermom]

I just looked up my state: 95 cases as of yesterday

My sense is I can count on one more quick trip for groceries today, and then need to be ready to stay put. 

I just got my monthly ssdi deposit yesterday, but was down to $100 in the bank before that, so I have had to be pretty cautious about what to get. Yesterday after taking the cat for a vet appt, I refilled some prescriptions, got 30 days worth of cat food and litter, and filled up the tank with gas. My car badly needs an oil change. Seems weird to go out for that today, but even worse not to. 

Two times in the last 10 days I bought emergency chocolate, and then stress-ate my way through it all. I need to restock but then hand it over to my kid to secure it. 😕

[Pippen]

Just passing these along in case they help anyone:

Paper towel rolls are in short supply in my area, and they're a problem at my house because my cat loves to unroll them. (Yes, as in he will get up on the counter and empty the entire roll.) I was at Sam's yesterday and picked up a box of these dispenser paper towels. They're not soft as advertised, but they absorb well and are compact. I'm cutting them in half because they're larger than I usually need.

 https://www.samsclub.com/p/marathon-multifold-paper-towels-4-000-count/156274?xid=plp_product_1_1

I've been reminded again how much I hate hand sanitizer!  I like these alcohol wipes I picked up at Walgreens much better, but they're pricey ($4.99 in my store) plus out of stock now. I'm going to try making some with some Handi-wipe type towels that I have. 

This touchless soap dispenser works well. I fill it with dishsoap because I prefer that over the antibacterial stuff.  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D2FMLX4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Edited March 24, 2020 by Pippen