It's been crazy these past few weeks. Watching the news as covid-19 explodes first in China then globally is indeed worrisome. It is all over news outlets as well as social media, it dominated our interest and stirred strong opinions. The most shocking event for me was the hoarding of toilet paper. Can we all agree to this?

Psychologically, there is an explanation for hoarding toilet paper. Panic buying is a natural human response to scarcity or perceived scarcity, sometimes rational or due to an emotional response (Sheu and Kuo, 2020). Additionally, the act of hoarding is people's strategic response to their emotions of panic, anxiety, and fear. Sheu and Kuo also mentioned that hoarding is people's way of minimizing risks, usually self-oriented and also a result of emotional contagion (2020). Meaning, seeing the actions of others can influence your actions. If you witness people panic buying or hear friends stockpiling, we start to question ourselves if we should do the same and act upon it.

As you may have already seen at your local grocery stores, there are a lot of empty shelves. People who use to make fun of the vegan or vegetarian community suddenly found themselves hoarding beans, even TVP (texturized vegetable protein). Water became a scarcity as well. Don't get me started with the bread, canned good, and flours. I get it though. I understand the fear, We need to watch out for our own family. While the government assured us that there will be no shortage of food, the grocery employees can not just simply stock their shelves fast enough too. We are all adjusting to this temporary norm.

I was also surprised by the full produce section. While I understand that people tend to stockpile on canned goods, that will not expire for a long time; there are other foods that we can freeze aside from meats and package frozen meals! We can still stay healthy and stay frugal.






Few reminders:

• Always wash your produce and fruits thoroughly. Use freezer Ziploc bags or BPA and freezer friendly containers like this. You can also use a food saver machine.
• Label your bags! Not just what's in it but also the date you made it and when to use it.

• Do not hoard items or products that are on sale or products that are now hard to find because of the circumstances that we are in now, please be considerate about others. 

1.Greens (Spinach, collard greens, kale, broccoli, zucchini)

You can freeze green veggies to add to your stews, soups, and smoothies. Shredded zucchini can be added to meatloaf, muffins, bread, and meatballs. You can also add frozen sliced zucchini and broccoli to stir-fry recipes.

2. Eggs

Remove the eggs from their shell and freeze each egg in an ice cube tray.

3. Milk

You can freeze milk for up to 3 months and just make sure that you leave room for expansion.

4. Buttermilk and half-half

Same with freezing milk, freeze them for up to 3 months and leave some room for expansion.

5. Avocado

 For guacamole and smoothies, cut in half or mash and place in freezer bags.

6. Homemade cookie dough balls

After making your dough, I suggest that you form the dough into balls and flash freeze before putting them all inside a freezer bag.

7. Flour

When your house is hot and humid during the summer, you can freeze your flour! Most well-packaged flours can last for up to 2 years

8.Nuts and seeds

To keep seeds and nuts from smelling bad, keep them in the freezer! This works for us since we buy our nuts and seeds in bulk.

9. Quinoa

I would cook a big batch of quinoa and separate them into freezer-friendly bags or containers. I would usually put 2 to 3 cups in each container.

10. Bananas

I'm sure most of you were doing this already! For those who don't, store peeled bananas into small freezer-friendly bags. Great for smoothies and baked goods.

11. Onions and celery

This is one of my favorite freezer staples especially when I do not have enough time and would like to use my Instant Pot or Crockpot.

12. Herbs

In an ice cube tray; place the herbs in each cube top and pour in some olive oil. Freeze and remove from trays, store in freezer-friendly bags.

13. Cheese

I used to buy a huge bag of shredded cheese from Sam's club. I would separate them into gallon-side bags, leave a bag inside our fridge, and freeze the rest of the bags. When I ran out of cheese, I would just take it out from the freezer the night before I want to use it. If you prefer to use block cheese, be sure to slice and shred before freezing it.

14. Ginger

Yes, you can freeze ginger. You can peel them or freeze with skin. When frozen, it grates perfectly for teriyaki sauce or any Asian recipes.

15. Tomatoes

When my tomatoes are very ripe, I just freeze them to use for stews and soups!.

16. Lemon

Sometimes a recipe will only need half a lemon. When I know that I will not be needing it, I will cut the lemons into small pieces and freeze them. I use the small cut-up lemons for my homemade cleaners (with vinegar and water ina spray bottle).

17. Premade sandwiches such as subs or peanut butter jelly sandwiches.


Batch cooking is your best friend for busy school days. Pick a day to fill your freezer with make-ahead sandwiches or even breakfast! Have kids who love Uncrustables? You can make these easily at home to save money.

18. Homemade pancakes and waffles

As I've mentioned above, batch cooking will save you time in the long run. Make a huge batch of pancakes and waffles, flash freeze before storing them into a freezer bag.

19.  Berries

I'm sure you all are aware of this because you see frozen berries at any grocery store. When berries go on sale, buy several when you can and freeze them for smoothies. Be sure to wash them first, remove the stems for strawberries.

20. Grapes

My girls love frozen grapes, especially during the summer. A healthy alternative for frozen treats that are high in artificial sugar.

21. Pears

I do not like wasting food. I had a bunch of very ripe Bartlett pears at one time and I do not want to throw them away just because they were soft and had skin bruises. I just simply peeled the pears and sliced them. Great for smoothies!

22. Beans

If you want to be more frugal, buy dried beans instead of the canned ones. Pick a day to batch cook different kinds of beans. You can use instant pot, it will save you a lot more time. I very seldom buy canned beans. I always have cooked beans in my freezers such as garbanzo, pinto, black beans, kidney beans, and white beans. Cooked lentils freeze well too! I will suggest labeling each bag as to how many cups of beans are inside. I often need 3 cups on most of my recipes so most of my bags are all filled with 3 cups of beans.

23. Refried beans.

Homemade refried beans are way better. SO MUCH better! One of these days, I will share my favorite refried beans recipes. Same with my suggestions above, my individual bags are filled with how much I usually use in a recipe.

24. Broths

By now, you probably know how much I love batch-cooking. I make broths in huge batches as well. I will also share broth recipes soon!

25. Pasta sauce

If you have leftover spaghetti sauce or a-hem if you decide to give batch cooking a try...Pasta sauces are freezer friendly too.


Reference:

Sheu, J-B. & Kuo, H-T. (2020). Dual speculative hoarding: A wholesaler-retailer channel behavioral phenomenon behind potential natural hazard threats. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 44.