So your family is stuck at home

My family and families around the country are preparing to stay home for an extended period of time. I have brainstormed what pantry items and food items we will be keeping on hand as well as keeping my kids entertained while we are stuck indoors. 

While you are waiting for movie theaters to reopen I have put together some Disney+ coloring pages that are free for you to download and print as you watch your favorite Disney plus movies

Ways to keep kids entertained at home:

• Play card games
• Play board games
• Make cookies
• Discover a new series on Netflix
• Color in coloring books
• Put together a 500 piece puzzle
• Blow bubbles in the bathroom
• Make homemade playdough
• Bake a cake
• Build a blanket fort
• Read books out loud
• Make paper snowflakes
• Plant herb seeds and watch them grow
• Make sugar crystals on a string
• Take a walk around the neighborhood
• Take a bubble bath
• Have a pillow fight
• Pull out the Legos and become a master builder
• Lay on the grass and see what you can see in the clouds.
• Write a letter or draw a picture to a family member who is far away.

Useful pantry items to keep on hand:

• Flour – great to use to make pasta, cookies, cakes, pie crust, homemade playdough, Pizza dough.
• Sugar – white sugar is essential for baking but brown sugar is also nice to have on hand. Make simple syrup for sweetening drinks. 
• Pasta – my kids HAVE to have pasta in the pantry at all times. I like to keep multiple shapes such as bow-tie pasta, linguine, lasagna as well a rigatoni in the pantry. I can have a meal on the table in 15 minutes with pasta and sauce from the pantry.
• Tomato sauce – my family usually have 4 jars of pasta sauce in the pantry. Nothing crazy but enough to know that we can make a few tomato sauce-based meals to keep everyone happy. 
• Canned beans, corn, tomatoes – These can be added to make soups, crockpot meals or just heat them up for a quick side dish.
• Rice – Rice is a staple for so many families. Rice is a great and nutritious foundation for so many meals. 
• Chicken Stock, Beef Stock, Vegetable Stock – Great to have to add to meals such as soups or stews.
  • Recipes that use chicken stock
    • Make your own homemade chicken stock
    • Crockpot Chicken Tortilla soup
    • Cilantro lime chicken (slow cooker recipe)
    • One-Pot Lasagna soup (use your tomato sauce and lasagna pasta you already have in your pantry)
    • Oven Roasted Tomato soup (a HUGE family favorite in my house)
  • Recipes that use beef stock
    • Stuffed Pepper soup
    • Cabbage Roll Soup
    • Beef Stroganoff
• Chocolate chips – also peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, dark chocolate chunk chips, white chocolate chips. Great for snacking on but also essential for making cookies when you need a pick me up.
• Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Salt and Pepper – these are pantry essentials and you will only miss them when you run out of them.
• Potatoes – Roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes. Sweet potatoes, red potatoes and white potatoes. Potatoes are filling and a bag can go a long way.
• Here is a list of tasty vegetarian and non-vegetarian lentil recipes!
• Peanutbutter  – or nut butter of your choice

Frozen items to keep on hand:

• Frozen vegetables – corn, peas, beans, tater tots, french fries, broccoli, cauliflower. Frozen vegetables are flash-frozen to lock in all the nutrients and often will come in a bag that can be popped in the microwave for easy preparation.
• Pizza – This is a no brainer for my family. Make pizza at home instead of having it delivered.
• Frozen fruit – great for adding to yogurt, eating frozen as a snack, topping on pancakes or adding to smoothies. Frozen fruit can be also used to make homemade jam. Use your sugar from your pantry, grab a box of pectin and you are all set!
  • Jam recipes that use frozen fruit
    • Strawberry Jam
    • Blueberry Jam
    • Peach Jam
    • Cherry Jam
• Chicken breast
  • Recipes that use chicken breast
    • Sous Vide chicken breast
    • Dorito chicken casserole
    • Sour Cream chicken enchiladas 
    • Cheesy chicken casserole
• Ground beef
  • Recipes that use ground beef
    • Tex Mex Egg rolls
    • Taco Stuffed Shells
    • Cabbage Roll Soup
    • Stuffed Pepper Soup
    • Beanless chili
    • Bolognese

More suggestions to keep busy while stuck at home:

• Pull out the Cricut you got for a gift and figure out how to use it.
  • Cricut tutorials to get you started
    • FAQs about Cricut EasyPress 2
    • Cricut Maker Blades – How to use them
    • What you need to get started with a Cricut
    • 5 things I LOVE about my Cricut Explore Air 2
• Organize your closet or the room you have been avoiding. Rewatch Marie Condo on Nextflix.
• Wash the windows.(seriously… they probably need it)
• Go through your pantry and toss out expired items
• Take a yoga class on YouTube
• Plan a vacation – yes… we will go on vacation again. Plan one for at least 6 months in the future so you have something to look forward to.
• Check on your elderly neighbors. – offer to take their dog for a walk or have groceries delivered.

Cocktails for when you are stuck at home:

We are going to be stuck at home for a bit so I will be mixing up a few cocktails because…. quarantine. Pick up your favorite beer or try a few local microbrews. But I will be sipping on wine and these adult beverages:

• Chocolate Martini
• Peach Moonshine
• Frose – and pretending I am on a tropical beach.
• Gimlet
• Snow Day margarita
• Strawberry margarita
• Blackberry Bourbon Lemonade

Free online educational resources for kids:

• Virtual tours of museums

  

  • Guggenheim Museum, New York
  • British Museum, London
  • National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  • Musée d’Orsay, Paris
  • National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
  • Pergamon Museum, Berlin
  • Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
  • Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
  • Uffizi Gallery, Florence
  • MASP, São Paulo
  • National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City
  • the Louvre
  • Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Netflix shows to binge-watch when you are bored

Netflix shows for elementary age kids:

• The Magic School Bus
• Minute To Win It
• The Who Was Show
• What’s New, Scooby-Doo?
• Carmen SanDiego
• Transformers: Rescue Bots
• Green Eggs and Ham
• Brainchild
• You vs. Wild
• Some Assembly Required 

Other articles for when you have kids at home:

• MOMS SURVIVAL GUIDE TO RIDING OUT THE CORONAVIRUS
• Activities for kids and families when you are stuck at home
• Survive Working From Home with Children