As most of my readers are aware, I recently made the decision to return to my home country of Canada to live. As you can imagine, this was not easy amidst a World Pandemic!! Only I would make a decision like that at a time like this! haha
Actually I am not alone. People all over the world are making this decision, and as daunting as it can appear to be, it doesn't have to actually be as difficult as it might seem on the surface.As soon as I realised what I was going to be doing I secured myself a place to stay during my quarantine. This is a necessary evil at this time.
Some of you may be able to quarantine in the comfort of your own home. I wish. That was not the case for myself. With a sister who has COPD and a father with heart issues, it was very necessary that I find another place to stay for the two weeks.0 2]
Thankfully I was able to get myself a fairly comfortable little apartment style accomodation at a fairly reasonable price. I have a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and lounge area, with WiFi. (This was a necessity!)
The bed is comfortable. The cooking facilities are reasonable, although I am definitely missing my cooking equipment/tools and dual fuel stove!! Once I get situated in a place of my own, it will take me a while to build my tools etc. back up again. I have had to leave everything behind and have NOTHING! My friend Marie from Sweden suggested I start up a wish list on Amazon. We will see. I have lost my vast collection of cookery books, all of my pots and pans,baking pans, etc. I literally do not even have a knife and a fork! That a different story however as today I want to talk to you about Cooking in Quarantine!
Should you find yourself in a similar situation I thought it might be helpful in sharing my experience with you.
One of the first things I did after I had secured my accomodation was to give my sister a grocery list. I am so fortunate that I am able to quarantine very close to where I have family. My sister was able to go out and buy me groceries, and stock the refrigerator reasonably, so that I would be able to cook for at least a week. My father very generously paid for them. I know that my sister will be topping things up until my quarantine is finished.
When you are down to the very basics you need to choose very carefully what you want and what you can reasonably cook and eat. I knew I would not be doing any baking so baking goods did not make the cut. You will not be cooking Gourmet meals from your hotel room with what is available for you to cook with, but it will still be possible for you to cook delicious and interesting food without having to resort to frozen ready meals.
Here is what was on my original list:
- 1 loaf of whole wheat bread
- some kind of butter spread (I am watching my cholesterol so Benecol with olive oil was my choice)
- 1 small jar of peanut butter (a great source of protein)
- A box of breakfast cereal (I like cheerios)
- Eggs
- Milk
- A carton of Orange juice
- A carton of Prune juice (don't ask, lol)
- A package of luncheon meat
- Dijon mustard
- Salad stuff (mixed greens, cucumber, tomatoes, spring onions)
- A packet of boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Fresh vegetables (not a huge amount, some broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
- Baby new potatoes
- A bottle of good salad dressing (my choice was blue cheese, but pick your favorite one)
- a small block of good cheddar
- dried figs
- a few apples
- a few pears
- Vanilla pudding pots, or yogurt
- Plain pretzels to snack on
- Plain sparkling water
My sister very kindly asked me ahead of time were there any treats that I missed from home that I might enjoy when I got here. Of course there were! She picked me up some of my favorite Coffee Crisp Bars, a package of Crunchy Doritos, a bag of Dill Pickle Chips (yumm!!), some Bran Muffins,Diet Coke and she threw in a few surprises, including some ordinary plain bottled water. Plus I had a lovely bouquet of flowers waiting my arrival. She even had the fire turned on.
One thing I did not think of, and you might want to consider is Salt and Pepper. DUH! Such a simple thing.
You won't be having any herbs in your room/flat and if you are going to cook anything at all a little bit of seasoning would go down well. Of course it is not practical to have a whole assortment of seasonings and spices.
Last night my sister brought me over some salt and pepper and a slice of leftover pizza for breakfast. BONUS!! (Isn't she sweet!)
So, don't forget some seasoning!
If you are really lucky you will be in an area that has good takeaway/delivery meals. I am not in one of those aareas, so I will very much have to rely on my own abilities to provide for myself.
My daughter did drop me off one of my favorite Sour Cream Doughnuts on her way back from Tim Hortons yesterday which was a real treat!
A few things you will want to bear in mind:
1. You will not have top cooking tools/knives/eating utensils/pots/pans. Prepare for bare bones cookery.
2. You will need to be somewhat inventive with what you cook and eat.
3. This is not forever. Its only for two weeks.
4. Keep it simple.
With all of that I managed to cook myself a fairly delectable main meal yesterday, which I will be sharing with you next time. In the meantime, here is a photograph of just what you can do with a minimum of ingredients and equipment.
Do take note that cooking in quarantine from a hotel room will be vastly different from cooking in quarantine from home. This is a completely different experience, but can be just as delicious!
See you tomorrow with the recipe from above!
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