Bad Food Blog

Anyone else feel like 2020 is just kicking you when you’re down? I thought so. We started our social distancing about a week or two before guidelines started to come out here in Hawaii because we had a stomach bug (somehow our second stomach bug of the year), so we have been away from other people and our activities for a good while now. Having three kids five and under certainly has its challenges, but I am especially grateful that we have our small hoard of little kids right now because they do the best job of playing with each other and generally keeping everyone’s spirits up.

In some ways, things seem to be very much business-as-usual around here – we are still in a routine (thanks to the kids, who are home with me all the time anyway), and I am still menu planning and making a grocery list once a week. But now my husband has been doing the weekly shopping trip to minimize our exposure (he still has to go into work) and keep the kids out of the stores, and I’ve been trying to order more pantry staples online because some things are just out of stock around here and it minimizes the time he spends in the store. As with all other online shopping, finding places that will mail food to Hawaii was a challenge. In case you are looking too, this is what I have ordered so far:

• Real maple syrup from Carman Brook Farm – I received my order 4 days later, in perfect condition, shipping prices are reasonable, and if you order 6+ items you will automatically receive a 10% discount.
• Chicken and sausages from Perdue Farms – Not many places will ship meat to Hawaii, so I was pretty excited to see that Perdue would ship to me for FREE (I had to spend a certain amount to get free shipping, and it was worth it). Unfortunately they are experiencing delays, and while they are very upfront about this, I ordered on 16 March and my order hasn’t shipped yet. Mainlanders, you have a lot more options for meat and produce shipped to your doorstep!
• Flour, yeast, and other baking supplies from King Arthur Flour – I was lucky and found everything I needed in stock. I really like that you can see which items are in stock, and I appreciate the current 2-per-item limit they have in place. While flour and yeast are out of stock, they still have a lot of mixes available, including some soup mixes! It took less than 2 days to ship and then arrived another 3-4 days later. If you are looking for flour, a family member told me she was able to order some through Baker’s Authority. Shipping to Hawaii is EXPENSIVE but it might be worth it if you live in the Lower 48.
• Organic chicken and beef base from Better Than Bouillon – I haven’t seen the organic beef base around here and had been meaning to order some anyway. I started out at Thrive Market, because they have the best price on Better Than Bouillon that I’ve seen and I used to order from them. But after playing around on Thrive Market for probably an hour, I realized that they don’t ship to Hawaii. Womp womp. So I checked the BTB website every day until it was back in stock, and it was delivered to me 4 days later.
• Dry goods including teas, farro, quinoa, and applesauce pouches from Amazon Subscribe & Save – I added a couple of things to my subscriptions this month, but a lot of this I was already set up to receive. Checking it again now I am actually surprised that the applesauce is coming (because a few days ago it was out of stock), but as of right now it looks like only my regular toilet paper and baby wipes delivery are going to be disrupted. I love Subscribe & Save, even when there isn’t a global pandemic it is worth looking into.

Now onto the menu plan for the next two weeks!

S 4/5 Polenta, pesto, & roasted vegetable bowls
M 4/6 Maple mustard chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, green vegetable
T 4/7 Pasta and meatballs (from the freezer), green vegetable
W 4/8 Leftovers
R 4/9 Eggs, vegetables
F 4/10 Pizza, vegetables
S 4/11 White bean and garlic soup, bread, green vegetable

S 4/12 EASTER – Breakfast: Cinnamon rolls
                                       Dinner: Easter Dinner on 2 Sheet Pans
                                       Dessert: Lamb cake

M 4/13 BLAT sandwiches, oven fries or carrots, green vegetable
T 4/14 Beef tacos (homemade taco seasoning recipe)
W 4/15 Leftovers
R 4/16 Eggs, vegetables
F 4/17 Pizza, vegetables
S 4/18 French onion soup, bread, green vegetable