Social distancing has affected almost every aspect of our lives; family, friends, figuring out work, organizing school…but probably the most persistent issue in our household has been meal planning.
Now that the entire family is home all day every day, the burning “What’s for dinner?” question has now extended to breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
“I’m not used to fixing three squares a day!” lamented my editor while talking about restaurant closures.
I enthusiastically concur. While pre-corona we had plenty of home-cooked dinners and I packed my son’s lunch daily. Restaurant lunches were regular and quick microwave dinners or sandwiches routine.
In the first weeks of distancing, many of our usual grocery visits have found shelves stripped — and it’s not just toilet paper, but sandwich bread, meats, and my son’s favorite green-chili chicken burritos. My husband was shocked at the scarcity of canned beans.
Since we’ve been homebound, we’ve made large batches of pasta sauce and Japanese curry, dishes that stretch for several meals. And while we try to keep it to a minimum, we are still picking up takeout from time to time.
Here are some restaurants we know of that offer take-out, delivery and curbside services:
- Babbo
- Base Pizza
- Black Bear Diner is open for carry out and delivery in six Valley neighborhoods: Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Goodyear, Laveen and Tempe:
- Chula has takeout and curbside and will also deliver fish orders by the pound
- The Farm at South Mountain has CSA Food Boxes and takeout
- Harkins is offering curbside popcorn
- Pizzaria Bianco, Tratto and Pane Bianco
Phoenix New Times has created a list that includes some more.
So here’s a question…
Can you get COVID-19 by eating food prepared by someone who carries the virus? According to website Serious Eats, “multiple health and safety organizations worldwide, including the CDC, the USDA, and the European Food safety Authority [say] there is currently no evidence that COVID-19 has spread through food or food packaging. Previous coronavirus epidemics likewise showed no evidence of having been spread through food or packaging.”
