The world has gone mad and the people in the supermarket have gone even crazier. There is no toilet paper, no flour, no canned goods – nothing (except a lot of Easter eggs, which I’m fine with!) If you’re someone who has no idea where to start with a Corona Virus 14 day pantry plan, and doesn’t want to be the woman I saw today buying 20 boxes of Sultana Bran, then I’ve put together a plan and a shopping list for you, as well as some good online shops you can order from.

Coronavirus 14 day pantry plan

Preparing your pantry

If you’re going to have at least 14 days worth of food available for your family if you’re on Coronavirus lockdown then chances are your pantry needs a sort out. Mine is chaos normally so these are the steps I’m taking to get sorted.

Step 1 – pull everything out. I mean EVERYTHING!

You’re going to find that you have a lot of stuff you didn’t realise you had. You may find extra flour, extra canned food and more.

Step 2 – sort it all and make a list

Grab a pen and paper and make a list of what you have and a list of what you need. You might find you have 10 cans of tomatoes but no pasta, or a bag of rice with pantry moths in it and 7 cans of tuna.

Step 3 – Cleanse

Throw out everything past it’s used by date, pour anything in packets into containers, order your cans and packets in order of used by dates (longest at the back) so you don’t end up with expired food.

Preparing your Fridge

Step 1 – pull everything out. I mean EVERYTHING!

Same as your pantry – dig out those half used, mouldy jars at the back, those bits of hard cheese and soggy veggies.

Step 2 – sort it all and make a list

Once you have everything out on the bench, sort what you have and don’t have. Add them to the lists you did for your pantry.

Step 3 – Cleanse

Clean out the fridge and put everything back in. Store your vegetables properly – in containers if necessary.

Do the same for your freezer, throwing out anything with freezer burn, anything you cant identify and get it ready for more food.

Meal Planning

Once your pantry is ready for more food, it’s time to meal plan! Meal planning for 14 days is going to be your key to not overspending, not hoarding, and not feeling worried that you’ll run out of food for your family.

How to meal plan

If you’re not a natural meal planner the best way to do it is to start with the ingredients you already have. Start by listing 14 dinners and working out what ingredients you have and what else you will need.

If you are struggling to think of 14 dinners, take a look at Woolworths meal planning site to get some ideas. TIP: Aim for meals with not too many ingredients. It will cut your shopping costs down a lot.

Once you have 14 dinners, start thinking about breakfast and lunch. Leftovers from the night before makes a great lunch and you can also do things like bread rolls, mini pizzas, quesadillas, wraps – all things that don’t take a lot of prep or ingredients.

When you have planned your meals and snacks, go through the list of things you already have and then make a list of what you need.

We have a free meal planner you can download here if you need it.

Key ingredients you will need

You will need to make sure you have several key ingredients. Having these in stock will help you create healthy meals and they will last for ages.

Rice (5kg will last a family of four for at least 14 days)

Flour

Oil

Olive oil

Garlic

Pasta (3 bags for a family of four for 14 days)

Tinned tomatoes (great for pasta sauce, curries, casseroles and meat based dishes)

Tinned tuna x 10 (great for pasta, sandwiches, salads and more)

Tinned chickpeas (make hommous, salads, curry and more)

Frozen veggies

Potatoes (5kg will last a family of four for at least 14 days)

Tomato paste x 3 (use for pizza bases and tomato dishes)

Cheddar Cheese block x 2 (Cheese is a staple here – use it for pizzas, pasta dishes, veggies or just on toast)

Plain Yoghurt x 2 (great for topping, breakfast, lunch and more)

Vegemite

Peanut butter

Butter

Milk (could get long life milk too)

Food Prepping

To keep your fridge and pantry organised, prep your food once you have bought it. Turn your mince into burger patties or sauce, separate your sausages and chicken breasts and freeze everything. If you freeze it all separately it’s much easier to just get what you need from the freezer per meal.

If you want to really prep, you can cut of your fruit and veggies and store them in containers in the fridge, ready to use. This makes cooking and food prep a whole lot faster.

Where to shop

If you’re finding that Coles and Woolworths are out of stock with a lot of the staples, then you may need to look further afield. Some places that you can try are:

Bulk whole-foods shops

Harris Farm

Online fruit and vegetable delivery services

Local grocery shops

Local butcher

I hope this helps you all prepare for the worst with panic or stress you might be feeling around the Coronavirus. We need to be sensible with what to buy and realise that there is enough for everyone. It’s a tough time but it’s important to remember to be kind, to take only what you need, and to remember that there are always other people that are worse off that ourselves.