Published on March 25, 2020
How to stock your kitchen during a pandemic
Mar 7, 2020 – Our regular Costco run was a bit bewildering. The store looked like burglars or a hurricane had been through it and while we were aware of what was happening with the Coronavirus situation in China, we still weren’t overly concerned about any disruptions to food supplies. But we could feel a sense of acute worry among fellow shoppers. Of course, things quickly spiraled out of control when Italy started dominating the news. COVID-19 cases started to rise in almost every corner of the world and it started hitting closer to home with cases on the rise in Washington State (in the US) and in BC (in Canada). Before I realised it, I was flooded with Whatsapp messages urging me to run to the nearest grocery stores as shelves were becoming empty – thanks to early hoarders. When everyone around you goes into that mode, you are forced to follow the herd for fear of running out of food. This mentality of hoarding was baffling to us – especially since it hurt people who needed supplies most, but we realize that’s what fear does to people. The silver lining for us specifically was that the lack of toilet paper didn’t bother us much – we’re bidet people, you see😀
Anyway, we knew this was going to be a phase we just had to deal with, and that, it too shall pass. As long as people behave rationally, it’s logical to assume that there would be more than enough for each household. But it’s also prudent to plan for a possible lock-down that could last 2-3 weeks. So with that in mind, I stopped worrying and got to planning for a 21 day stay-at-home scenario with the occasional visit for perishables like milk and produce. The one thing we did not compromise on was nutrition – so no hoarding instant noodles, processed dinners, or other junk foods.
We are a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 middle-school aged kids). I needed to measure how much food we consume each day. I started by taking stock of my pantry and used my phone and kitchen scale to measure and log what we had. Given that we are vegetarians with a predominant Indian diet, the following steps should hopefully give you a guideline to get started.
Step 1 – Grains
We used the following metrics for how much is needed per meal for the four of us. Adjust this per your family’s needs
- 100 gms of steel-cut oats for breakfast
- 225 gms of raw rice or 325 gms of wheat flour (to yield 12 phulkas / 8 chapathis)
- 200 gms of lentils / beans to make dal
- 800 ml of yogurt and 400 ml of milk
It’s safe to have the following to last you a 21-day lockdown (and a bit more):
- 1 bag of wheat flour 10 kgs or 20 lbs.
- 1 bag of rice 10 kgs or 20 lbs.
- 8 – 10 assorted packages (1 kg or 2lb bags) of lentils and beans of your choice. We stocked up on toor dal, split mung dal, whole mung dal, urad dal, chana dal, yellow and green split peas, chickpeas, black beans, black-eyed peas, and red kidney beans
Step 2 – Seasonings / Spices
I was running out of salt, sugar and a few other basic ingredients that are needed to make these grains useful. Here is a simple list that we went through to cover our family’s needs.
- 2 boxes of salt – 2 kg or 4 lbs. in total
- 2 packs of sugar – 2 kg or 4 lbs. in total
- 1 can of cooking oil – 2 liters
- Our favorite ‘essential’ seasonings (mustard seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, paprika, chili powder, turmeric). We got 1 pack of each (200 gms or 8-10 oz packs)
Step 3 – Produce
I usually shop for produce and milk every weekend and to plan for 3 weeks was a new challenge for me. But the vendors at my local farmer’s market were exceptionally helpful (yet another reason to go support your local businesses). With their advice on storing produce, here is the list of vegetables, fruits, and herbs I stocked up on, to last 3 weeks. A couple of items (notably frozen items were from my local supermarket).
Produce |
Storage Comments |
Best Used Within |
Snake gourd – 3 small pieces |
Counter top (70°F, 21°C) |
1 day |
Plantains – 2 large |
Counter top (70°F, 21°C) |
4 days |
Eggplants – 3 large |
Counter top (70°F, 21°C) |
1 week |
Mint – 2 bunches |
Make chutney the day you buy, and freeze / alternatively wrap in teacloth and refrigerate |
1 week |
Cilantro – 2 bunches |
Make chutney the day you buy, and freeze / alternatively wrap in teacloth, immerse roots in a container of water, and refrigerate |
1 week |
Spinach – 3 boxes |
Refrigerator |
2 weeks |
Broccoli heads – 3 |
Refrigerator |
2 weeks |
Bell peppers – 6 |
Refrigerator |
2 weeks |
Leeks – 2 |
Refrigerator |
2 weeks |
Tomatoes on the vine – 20 |
Counter top (70°F, 21°C) |
2 weeks |
Onions – 12 |
Counter top (70°F, 21°C) |
2 weeks |
Cabbage – 1 large |
Counter top for 1 days and then moved to the refrigerator after I consumed two boxes of spinach |
2 weeks |
Potatoes – 1 bag of 2 kgs or 4 lbs |
Counter top (70°F, 21°C) |
2 weeks |
Cucumber – 4 large |
Refrigerator |
2 weeks |
Zucchini – 8 |
Refrigerator |
2 weeks |
Celery 1 bunch |
Refrigerator |
3 weeks |
Bitter gourd – 1 kg |
Clean, cut, and freeze |
3 weeks |
French beans – 1 kg |
Clean, cut, and freeze |
3 weeks |
Drumsticks – 2 large |
Clean, cut, and freeze |
3 weeks |
Butternut squash – 2 small |
Counter top (70°F, 21°C) |
3 weeks |
Acorn Squash – 2 tiny |
Counter top (70°F, 21°C) |
3 weeks |
Beets – 8 |
Counter top for 3 days and move it to the refrigerator when a few vegetables were consumed |
3 weeks |
Sweet Potato – 6 |
In a cloth shopping bag (70°F, 21°C) |
3 weeks |
Green chilli – serrano chili – 20 |
Refrigerator |
3 weeks |
Garlic – 4 bulbs |
Counter top (70°F, 21°C) |
1 month |
Carrots – 10 lbs. |
Since I live in canada stored it in the balcony for 4 days before I moved it to the refrigerator |
1 month |
Ginger – 1 kg |
Refrigerator |
1 month |
Pani puri 2 packs |
Stored in pantry |
2 months |
Fresh Basil – 3 bunches |
Make Cashew Pesto and refrigerate |
2 months |
Frozen Yam – 1, 500 gms pack |
Freezer |
3 months |
Frozen shredded coconut – 3 packs, 500 gms each |
Freezer |
3 months |
Frozen little gourd (Tindora) 1 kg |
Freezer |
3 months |
Puffed rice 2 large packs |
Stored in pantry |
6 months |
Canned Tomatoes paste – pack of 12 |
Stored in pantry |
2 years |
Step 4 – Snacks that will last several months
- Whole almonds – 1 Kg
- Walnuts – 2 kg
- Cashews – 1kg
- Peanuts – 1 kg
- Pitted Dates – 1 kg
- Raisins – 2 kg
- Plantain chips – 1 kg
- Puffed rice – 1 large pack
My house looked like a grocery store last weekend, but with some planning, we managed to consume items in the order of their shelf-life. You can utilize the table above for help with your pantry management activity. I will keep this list updated based on my experience. Do keep an eagle’s eye on the produce every day to ensure they don’t spoil and either cook or refrigerate as needed. On a side note, when my husband and I walked in the house with supplies, our daughter asked us if other shoppers had enough left for them. Compared to some of the videos going viral, I guess we were nowhere close to those hoarders 😅
If this post helped you, I would love to know. Stay home and save lives!
wow your measurements and knowledge about food is commendable… it will help people like me… thanks for sharing