How has the pandemic changed your shopping and cooking habits?

[spinbaby]

I buy groceries only once a week instead several times a week.

I now keep a stockpile of food and basic supplies.

I shop farther from home in stores I consider to be “safe,” as in no unmasked fools.

I now shop first thing in the morning as soon as stores open.

I’m better at planning meals.

After a brief junk-food binge at the beginning of the pandemic, I’m eating better.

[Skittles]

1. except for the fact I cannot shop at 02:00AM

not at all

[irisblue]

2. Grocery delivery and 2 new cook books for vegetarian foods.

And I keep 2 chicken stock qts in the house

[spinbaby]

7. I didn't like delivery or curbside

Turns out I really prefer to pick my own groceries and especially to select my own substitutes if something is not available.

[irisblue]

12. fresh fruits and veggies, turns out I'm really picky. In compensation

I've discovered that frozen fruits, blueberries & mango, in yogurt are really good.

I need a powercart to get around in a store, waiting for one to charge, then sitting, sitting, sitting, and waiting for it, turns out to be too much.

[Polly Hennessey]

3. Less grocery shopping trips,

more grocery delivery, less junk food, more fruit. Seems to be working.

[PaulRevere08]

5. I am fortunate enough to live near a Whole Foods that delivers.

I've been to the supermarket once since March 13th. Had 3 college kids at home since March so food was coming almost every other day. We ate well with a lot more home baking. Small boutique corner store kept us in beer/wine/toilet paper with the occasional milk or butter.

Kids have left, one is back at school and doing a semester of co-op. The other two, daughter and boyfriend are also gone - moved into their own place. She started a job at the lab at the uni she graduated from in May and he started his PhD program there as well.

Needless to say, there is ALOT less shopping. Miss the kids but nice having food in the fridge. Still the occasional stress eating but overall doing better then at the beginning. Hope that by having delivery I am helping to keep people employed while not presenting any risks.

[Mme. Defarge]

6. Fred Meyer/Kroger pickup service.

Love it and may just keep it up after the pandemic. Much better dates on stuff. Nifty app.

Now I stock up on what I consider essentials. My freezer is crammed. It’s a peace of mind thing.

[LisaM]

8. I definitely do more meal planning.

We are also eating more leftovers. In general, I don't like leftovers, even though I hate wasting food, so I re-namrs.them "odds and ends" which somehow makes them more fun.

[liberalmuse]

9. I buy staples in bulk.

And avoid stores where dipshits who don't know how to properly wear a mask are known to frequent. No more quick "runs" to the store. I plan my trips now and usually hit 2 stores Saturday morning if I need anything for the week. One has bulk meat for dog jerky, as well as really good, inexpensive produce and the other has just about everything else. I'd order online and pick up groceries but am too particular about what I buy and how much it costs.

I'm cooking a lot more from scratch and meal prep on Sundays for the week and due to home cooking most of my meals, have been feeling a lot healthier than I have in years. I dread going to the stores now and am in and out in less than 20 minutes.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

10. I haven't set foot in any stores of any kind since mid-March.

Intacart delivers all my (mostly food) groceries now. The grocery bags left on the porch are sprayed with Lysol before we bring them inside. Then everything in them is washed with soap and water or wiped with Lysol wipes before being put away.

Most non-food items (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, TP, PT, light bulbs, etc.) are ordered from Amazon or Walmart. They are ordered way in advance so they can sit for a couple of weeks before being unboxed. I also subscribe to quite a few things on Amazon (both food and non-food grocery items) that I didn't used to.

Like you, I stockpile although not as much as I did initially. I even bought a small freezer from Amazon to supplement my fridge freezer.

I've actually lost weight since this started (which I needed to do). So much more planning goes into getting food now, and using Instacart is so much more expensive, that I sort of obsessively started cutting back on how much I ate. I have the awareness now that food may not always be available.

[luvs2sing]

11. Not much change.

I always planned meals and shopped weekly. I also have always kept as much of a stock as my little house will allow. I always liked to shop in the morning, but now a couple hours earlier. I tried pickup from Kroger a few times, and it was a mess.

Biggest change is I won’t set foot in Kroger anymore. Every Kroger I’ve shopped at has had horrible mask compliance. I shop at Giant Eagle now. Better selection and safer, but unfortunately more expensive on a lot of things I usually buy.

At the start of the pandemic, I had pretty much weaned myself off junk food. I’m in its clutches once again, not helped by hubster’s constant bringing home of chips and candy. Ugh..

[Frustratedlady]

13. I'm coming up with new recipes mainly because I've had to substitute when out of an ingredient.

That has been good, though.

I'm making more big batches of soup, spaghetti sauce, etc., and sharing it with family and neighbors. I'm buying much less in the area of convenience foods and cooking from scratch. Saves money and the taste is much better.

Snacking much less, although the urge for desserts hits me when the news is depressing. I'm eating more popcorn than before...imagine that!

[Binkie The Clown]

14. Not at all. I used to shop once per month. Still do.

I have always had at least a month's supply of basic staples in the pantry, still do. My rationale is that even though I shop once a month, if it were to become necessary I could easily wait a second month before needing to shop again. And I could go a third month if I was willing to survive on oatmeal, dry beans and rice.

[happybird]

15. I was getting curbside pickup groceries

until finding out the local Giant is virtually empty on Sunday nights when I get off work. Popped in for some milk and coffee about six weeks ago and it was a ghost town. So, now I shop on Sunday nights at about 8:30. I go in like a special forces operator on a mission: fully geared up, map-like list, moving quick and silent, in the door and back out in record time.

The curbside was nice, but there were always missing/out of stock items (which you don’t know about until you check over your order), and they were not great at choosing substitutions. I use the full-sized self checkout lane and transfer items directly from my cart, above the scanner, and into plastic bags.

Normally, I avoid self checkout like the plague and use my own cloth bags.
The only big change in my diet is no freshly sliced deli meats or delicious rotisserie chicken salad from the deli dept, which were pretty much staples of my pre-pandemic diet. Even though it is probably safe, the extra handling by strangers makes me twitchy. I now get the Hillshire Farm prepackaged deli meat. It ain’t Boar’s Head, but it’s decent- and the tupperware package container is handy.

[stevil]

17. I live in a Super Blue town

And we still wear masks. Lots of high risk folks in the area so the city is super cautious. I'm a caretaker for my Republican Dad but we agreed to never discuss politics and stick to it for the most part. He likes high end grocery stores and I like the run of the mill supermarket. So a visit to each once a week, sometimes on the same day but I've found it's better to break it the visits and do separate days for each store. We get food delivered once a week as a treat and I cook the rest of the time. We've had very limited restaurant sevice and dine in only started happening a few weeks ago. We just went through a very hot desert summer and a lot of places shut down and have yet to reopen. Luckily better weather is on the way and I live within walking distance of multiple hiking trails that never get old. Some of the other cities in the area are not so cautious so I avoid them as I have everything I need in town. Except really good Mexican food.

[brewens]

18. Similar to you but I was already on a diet. My big shopping trip is bi-weekly. I duck into a small

grocery store on my morning walk after about a week for produce that won't last two weeks.

I think I have about a four month food supply. I do a lot of cooking from scratch. I have a small chest freezer being delivered any day. I'm making a Costco run to hopefully jam it full. I'm afraid the meat supply may get scarce.

[Warpy]

19. I shop once a month

now that I can't drive. My diet does get a little strange by the end of th month. I'm eating more frozen veg than fresh.

This would all likely be true even without the pandemic. Cab fare costs.

[Shermann]

20. I no longer survive on the supermarket deli section nt

[Olafjoy]

21. My adult kids who now work from our home

and my husband are sitting at the kitchen table every night, their napkins tucked under their chins looking expectantly at me for dinner. This has truly been one of the most nightmare aspects of the pandemic and 2020. Grocery bills are absolutely unbelievable!!!!!💰💰💰💰💵💵💵💸💸💸💸