Aside from washing our hands frequently and wearing a mask when we have to leave the house, we try to reduce the amount of times we have to go to the store. Sounds easy enough but how do we do that without buying in bulk or turning to Amazon at every moment? Here are some very little and simple habits that go a long way:
- Switching to cloth napkins for everyday use
- Using absorbent shammys for kitchen and countertop spaces. We love this one. We bought a pack two years ago and still have half the pack left. I cut them into smaller sizes and change them out as needed. They don’t leave a smell and you can put them in the wash.
- Use soap and multi-purpose cleaner concentrates. For soap we swear by Dr. Bronner’s and for our dishes and multi-purpose cleaners we use Legacy of Clean. I love These products because they’re effective, all natural, safe for the environment, and safe for my baby and fur babies.
- Portion and freeze our meats and seafood
- Wash and dry berries, lay them flat on a baking sheet lined with a paper towel and freeze them before putting them in a container or bag for storing. This way they don’t clump up in the freezer.
- Peel and halve ripe bananas before freezing. You can also freeze the over ripened bananas in the peel. Great for any banana bread and cake recipes.
- Bread can also be frozen. When you take it out to bake, just spritz it with some water.
- Use recipes that make more use out of ingredients. For example, making porridge over rice helps extend that bag of Three Ladies Jasmine rice that you’ve been rationing. You can feed a family of four with just one cup of rice.
- Start an herb garden (is there a better time?)
- Freeze staples like ginger, lemongrass, kefir leaves, bird eye chillies
Because we only leave the house to pick to essentials from the grocery, we’ve been making it a habit to make the most out of our fruit trees. We have plums, lemons, apricot, and pears trees. Though I do feel very blessed to have them, the amount of fruit they bare may be somewhat overwhelming. So, I’ve learned to preserve, candy, or freeze them. This comes in handy when I’m feeding my toddler.
Most of these habits are actually our way of life before Covid-19. But I find them to be so helpful these days.
The Daily Spice of Five 