As the days march on during these trying times, we, who have ventured out to the local food markets might have noticed the selections dwindling down. Our preferred cuts of meat are not available, nor are our choices in canned goods. Maybe you recently noticed even the basic produce staples are scarce or absent from the bins and shelves. These readily available products we once took for granted are changing and thus you might be hard pressed at the neverending question, “What’s for dinner?”
Don’t panic. I can tell you from experience that in the most trying times we prevail. What do you do when there is only a handful of pasta, 1 can of beans, a container of bullion cubes and maybe an onion you forgot about in the bin. You can at least put it together and make a soup or maybe you lucked out and found a can of tomatoes in the back of the cupboard. Then make pasta fagioli. Nevertheless, you might find it stressful to try and put together items that might not be your normal choice.
For instance, eye round steak. Something I would not typically throw in my shopping cart but when everything else is gone, what do you do? So I bought this package of never cooked before steaks and did my due diligent research. Do you know what I learned. I found it to be a wise decision. I discovered an alternate cut of meat that is lean and has less marbled fat. It is also a top choice among dieters, teens and children for that exact reason. However, this cut of beef would need braising. Which simply means it will need to be cooked low and slow. Hey, no worries. Why? Because I’m stuck indoors social distancing anyway. So who cares if it takes an hour or two to cook.
So as these trying days continue to add up and they will and it’s only been a week of self quarantine. So if you’ve gone to the grocery store for supplies you might have noticed the shelves are empty. The refrigerators stand alone. And what is on the shelves doesn’t last long.
I imagine the more time that passes, the more we might find ourselves trying to stretch our family dollars while doing our best to keep the family fed. Two things that might have you stressing on “What’s for dinner.”
Therefore I wanted to give you some great ways to destress. There are many cooking websites that allow you to search recipes by ingredients rather than by recipe names. These type of websites are most useful when you have very few staples in the kitchen or to help prepare that oddly purchased item you grabbed from the store. Here are some sites I recommend…
https://www.tasteofhome.com/ingredients/
http://dish.allrecipes.com/customer-service/faq-findrecipe/
https://www.myrecipes.com/ingredients This one is supper simple to use
https://www.supercook.com/#/recipes
https://recipeland.com/recipes/by_ingredient
https://www.yummly.com/ingredients
There are also apps that you can download right to your phone. Which can help you decide while you are right in the store.
Go to the play store or app store and search these fine apps:
Remember together we can get through anything. We are stronger in numbers. We might have to stay 6 feet apart but we can be united through social media. I pray that everyone stays well and healthy.
If you have any question or need any further assistance please email me at Cookingwithauthorkg@gmail.com
Cooking w/ Author, K.G. Petrone 
Thank you for sharing your experiences. People will benefit from your recommendations.
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Thank you for reading and taking out the time to comment. I do hope it helps.
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