If you’re filling your pantry, especially if you are on a tight budget, focus on cheap\u00a0and nutritious foods that have a long shelf life, like rice, apples and peanut butter. You’ll spend less at checkout, and you’ll waste considerably less food at the end of the\u00a0week. All price estimates mentioned were good as of March 2020.<\/p>\n A five-pound bag of potatoes is without question one of the biggest bargains in the produce department. For about $4, you’ll get enough potatoes to make a many meals. Bake them,\u00a0toss them into soups, add them to casseroles, or make potato salad or a big batch of oven fries. Potatoes are incredibly versatile, and if you store them properly<\/a>, they’ll easily keep for four to six months. Some potato varieties are\u00a0particularly good for storing. These include Yukon gold, russet, Kennebec, Katahdin, and red Pontiac.<\/p>\n Beans cost much less than meat and are a source of protein, fiber, and minerals. Load up on canned beans, or save even more by purchasing dried beans and cooking them yourself. One pound of dried beans costs about $1.50 and is enough to make 6 cups of cooked beans. That’s the equivalent of four cans of beans.<\/p>\n If you don’t want to fuss with soaking dried beans, use lentils. They don’t have to be soaked first and they cook quickly.<\/p>\n Dried beans are best used within a year but can be stored longer. Be sure to add extra cooking time when using older beans.<\/p>\n A half-cup serving of rice costs just five cents and is the perfect base for a filling meal. Rice is an important staple throughout most of the world, so you won’t have any trouble finding a large variety of recipes for it.<\/p>\n White rice has an incredible shelf life. It’ll keep for four to five years in the pantry. Brown rice has is more nutritious but has a shorter shelf life, lasting six to eight months in the pantry and eight to 12 months in the refrigerator. Since brown rice is more nutrient-dense, consider keeping it in the freezer, where it’ll stay usable forever.<\/p>\n Peanut butter is a cheap and versatile source of protein. A 16-ounce jar costs about three dollars. Beyond using it as a spread for sandwiches and bagels, you can add it to shakes, or whip up delectable desserts<\/a> like peanut butter bars, cookies and\u00a0fudge. Peanut butter<\/a> also appears in savory dishes, like Thai peanut chicken.<\/p>\n Unopened peanut butter is good for a year past the best-by date printed on the jar, so stock up when you find it on sale. Once you open the jar, it will last about three months. Natural peanut butter is an exception to this rule. It’s good for two to three\u00a0months past the printed best-buy date when stored in the pantry. It\u00a0stretches to three to six months when stored in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n Most fruits have a high water content, so they go bad quickly. If you’re tired of finding science experiments in your fruit bowl, make apples your go-to fruit. Under the\u00a0right storage conditions<\/a>, they’ll keep for up to five months, which means you can safely stock up when you find a deal on your favorite variety. When\u00a0your apples start to go soft, all is not lost. They can still be used to make applesauce<\/a> or apple butter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Baby carrots don’t have a very long shelf life, but whole carrots<\/a> do. Tuck a bag in the veggie bin in your refrigerator, and it’ll be good for at least four to five weeks past the best-buy date printed on the bag. As long as they don’t feel soft or slimy, carrots are perfectly fine to eat. Enjoy this versatile vegetable<\/a> as a snack, roast them for a side dish, or chop them up and add them to soups. You can even use them to make a carrot cake if you’re craving something sweet.<\/p>\n Tip:<\/strong>\u00a0If your carrots still have their long, leafy tops when you buy them, be sure to cut them off. They’ll pull moisture from\u00a0the carrots\u00a0and cause them to dry out faster.<\/p>\n A box of pasta is a great meal starter<\/a> on a busy day. Just whip up a quick sauce<\/a>\u00a0or pour one out of a jar (no judgment here), and you have a complete meal.<\/p>\n Dried pasta is always a good deal, but it’s an even better deal if you catch it on sale. Aim to pay $1 a box or less. Pasta is\u00a0good for one to two years past the date printed on the box, so you have plenty of time to use it up.<\/p>\n Oatmeal<\/a> is a steal at just 21 cents per half-cup serving, and it has an equally impressive shelf life. Quick oats (also known as one-minute oats) can be kept for two to three years past the best-buy date. Instant oats\u00a0and steel-cut oats have a shorter lifespan of one to two years past the best-buy date, but that’s still plenty of time to use them.<\/p>\n Enjoy oats for breakfast, but don’t overlook all of their other uses<\/a>. Oats are an excellent addition to cookies and bread, and can even be used to stretch ground beef<\/a>. Add up to a cup per pound of beef\u00a0to make your meat purchases go further.<\/p>\n Flour costs 50 cents a pound or less, and there’s no end to the things that you can make, sweet and savory. When stored properly, all-purpose flour<\/a> is good for six to eight months past the date that’s printed on the bag. Whole-wheat flour and specialty flours like self-rising flour have a shorter lifespan of four to six months past the printed date.<\/p>\n To stretch the shelf life even further, keep your flour in the freezer<\/a>. There’s no need to bring it back to room temperature before you use it.<\/p>\n Frozen vegetables are an amazing storage food. You can get more veggies into your diet and avoid having them go bad before you’re able to use them\u00a0by loading up on the frozen varieties at the store. Prices range widely depending on the vegetable. They usually cost considerably less than fresh produce, and since they’re frozen soon after being picked, they tend to pack a bigger nutritional punch.<\/a><\/p>\n Courtesy The New York Times<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n As much of the world adjusts to a new normal of restricted living, our readers share tips for finding everyday joys.<\/p>\n Many of us are now entering the second, third or fourth week of restrictions on our movements, and it is becoming ever clearer that overcoming this crisis will be a marathon, not a sprint. As we all collectively adjust to our unique situations, we asked New York Times readers to share their ideas for pursuing the traveler\u2019s spirit of discovery, curiosity and delight within their new limitations at home. Following are their responses, which have been edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n As a child, I was taught ink drawing and I rediscovered my love for it. It requires a lot of concentration and patience. It helped me through a difficult time in life where I felt very anxious about not understanding what\u2019s happening around me. This resonates so strongly today.<\/p>\n \u2014 Andre Williams, Montreal, Canada<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014 @ameliekurlander, via Instagram<\/span><\/p>\n My Spotify playlist can take me around the world and my personal favorite is definitely French music. The music opens a whole new feeling with a country, which is the perfect \u201cvacation\u201d while studying or being stuck in quarantine.<\/p>\n Some of my favorite French songs are:<\/p>\n These are all kind of basic, but they all remind me of great holidays and the language is, in my opinion, very beautiful.<\/p>\n \u2014 Hanneke Bezemer, Brummen, the Netherlands<\/span><\/p>\n Please remember that there are so many people for whom this isn\u2019t a staycation, but unemployment. My husband and I own a small craft chocolate company and we don\u2019t have work or wages for the seven people we\u2019ve had to tell to file for unemployment. We have no sense right now of whether our small business will make it through or not. For those of you who are able to be on staycation, please consider doing some online shopping at independent stores and ordering take out from independent restaurants.<\/p>\n \u2014 Elaine, Atlanta<\/span><\/p>\n \u2014@ce.l.l.in.e, via Instagram<\/span><\/p>\n Concert halls may have been closed to the public, but that doesn\u2019t stop me from \u201cattending\u201d one. The Berlin Philharmonic, for instance, kindly offers concerts on their Digital Concert Hall website free of charge<\/a>. This year is Beethoven\u2019s 250th birthday,<\/a> and listening to the composer\u2019s struggle hidden within his music really rejuvenates my mind and drives me forward. Music makes us happier and more optimistic, and staying at home with some music, especially by Beethoven, puts us in another world.<\/p>\n \u2014 Neo Hung, Hong Kong<\/span><\/p>\n![\"fingerling](\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Fingerling-Potatoes.jpg\")
Potatoes<\/h3>\n
Beans and Other Legumes<\/h3>\n
Rice<\/h3>\n
![\"peanut](\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Peanut-Butter.jpg\")
Peanut Butter<\/h3>\n
Apples<\/h3>\n
Carrots<\/h3>\n
Pasta<\/h3>\n
Oatmeal<\/h3>\n
Flour<\/h3>\n
Frozen Veggies<\/h3>\n
Readers\u2019 Ideas for Finding Community and Cheer at Home<\/h1>\n
![\"everyday](\"https:\/\/travelingboy.com\/travel\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Everyday-Joy-at-Home.jpg\")
An artistic exercise in patience<\/h5>\n
Painting landscapes of where I want to go once the virus is no longer a threat.<\/h5>\n
Journey through French music<\/h5>\n
Support small businesses where you can<\/h5>\n
Watching live-streamed operas and virtual museums. The arts have been brought to us!<\/h5>\n
Beethoven, via Berlin<\/h5>\n