Staying at Home for 2 Weeks: The Italian Way

The prospect of staying at home for two weeks may be a little intimidating, but we assure you that we’ve already been there. Here in Italy, we’re already facing the worldwide coronavirus emergency with as much responsibility and patience as we can manage. Even during such a difficult global crisis, it’s important to take advantage of the proverbial Italian joy of ‘dolce far niente’ –so we can live this unusual situation to the fullest, even when we’re stuck at home for two weeks or more.

We can choose to look at this situation as an opportunity to enjoy the comforts of our own home and revel in those precious moments that daily life often steals from us – like having a good homemade cup of coffee or making a pizza from scratch. Cooking with the kids or your partner is one of those rare, sweet moments that we so often miss out on as we rush back and forth from home to the school or office. But traveling through the simple, yet delicious flavors of home-cooked food with your family or even your roommates? That is a gift that no one – not even coronavirus – can take from you.

Making a grocery list for two weeks with non-perishable products is useful not only for planning daily meals, but it can also help you avoid any last-minute confusion or added stress! Planning ahead for the next two weeks is also a great way to avoid wasting any groceries. Plus, you can be sure you’re getting the best daily nutritional intake with planned meals – to keep your body healthy when your immune system needs it most! On the bright side, this might just be the moment you start making grocery lists and meal planning into a bona fide habit!

Read on for a couple of tips and our recommended shopping list for basic necessities – so that you can stock up without overdoing it!

Two Tips

1. Don’t panic! Before heading to the grocery store (or shopping online), remember two things that you probably wouldn’t think of otherwise. First, do a check of what you already have at home. Second, prepare a list of what’s missing. Simple, right?

2. Think about a weekly menu and build your shopping from there – but be ready to improvise with healthy alternatives or substitutions.

Shopping list for two weeks (for 4 people)

The essentials

Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Sugar
Flour (for breads and normal recipes)
Pastry flour (for desserts and sweets)
Active dry yeast
Baking powder
Coffee
Cocoa powder

The basics

18 lbs of pasta
3 liters tomato sauce
Ready-made pasta sauces (including 4 jars of pesto)
Heavy cream
Olives
Capers
Biscuits (2 packages min.)
Eggs (1-2 dozen)
At least 1 gallon of milk
Bread (8-10 lbs if you can freeze it; otherwise, buy the normal amount of sandwich bread)
Dried legumes and beans (chickpeas, cannellini beans, lentils, etc.)
Canned tuna
Lemons
Potatoes (to be kept in a cool, dark place)
Dried fruit (apricots and plums)

Fresh ingredients

Cold cuts (2 lbs. of ham, prosciutto crudo, etc.)
Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Whole mozzarella cheese (at least 6 packages)
Other fresh cheese (i.e. ricotta or stracchino) or semi-aged cheese (at least two varieties)
2 packages pancetta or bacon
2 packages puff pastry
8 chicken breasts
1 whole chicken
1 roast
8 hamburgers

Fresh vegetables

Get whatever you’d like – but we suggest seasonal vegetables above all for the best flavor (i.e. cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli for this time of year). Make sure to use the more perishable items first (e.g. broccoli and salad).

Parsley (it perishes quickly, but you can freeze it)
5 lbs apples
2 1/2 lbs pears
5 lbs oranges
Bananas

Water

Drinking water does not transmit the virus, so you don’t need to stock up on more than usual.

Frozen food

1 package frozen peas
2 packages frozen minestrone
1 package frozen spinach
2 kg cod or other frozen fish

Other necessities

Toilet paper
Sanity napkins, tampons, diapers (for children and elderly people)
Liquid soap (and other necessities for personal hygiene)
Toothpaste
Household detergents (e.g. surface disinfectant, dishwashing detergent, laundry detergent)
Garbage bags

What about our four-legged friends?

Don't forget about them! Dry and wet food for dogs and cats; litter; food for the canary, hamster, goldfish. What about the turtle?

That's It?

Of course, feel free to add any kind of comfort food you feel you need most right now. Maybe a big jar of Nutella?

Oh, and you can't buy common sense, either.

Basic Recipes

From plain pasta with butter or carbonara to pizza margherita and chocolate cake, here are 10 Italian recipes that you can easily prepare with our shopping list!