Out of the blue, a deadly virus has overtaken our lives, giving way to a kind of fear that simply has no way out. We live in a time where an entire cooked meal reaches your doorstep from 3 miles away, within 30 minutes of clicking a button; you can converse face-to-face with your cousins sitting 8500 miles away. Yet an untouchable, invisible group of “crowns” can overtake the entire world within hours. This feeling of uncertainty is one that has rarely been felt collectively globally – and interestingly enough, it is this that has brought us closer, in agreement and support of protecting human lives.
However, business has been affected in every corner, right during an existing slow retail time. With a conflicting and heavy heart at Kitchen Therapy, we have halted production and packaging for safe measures and selling only existing stocks, taking meetings via video calls and hand sanitizers are kept everywhere. Although Gujarat has been safe so far, we feel responsible towards taking preventive measures. We are taking advantage of these slow days by focusing on strengthening our backend, putting together the creative ideas we’ve been brewing on but been too busy with the present-day stuff, and really, taking the slow sales period in our stride, with positivity and hope for a better, safer tomorrow.
So, for the time being, I’m busy developing the next round of recipes for Kitchen Therapy – and I’d also like to be there for you –
Have an ingredient at home and lost inspiration? Email me or write to us on social media and I’ll give you a recipe!
Here, I’ve put together a small tip list to brace the uncertainty with social distancing:
Social Distancing:
- Avoid gatherings
- Cook meals at home
- Avoid deliveries
- Avoid elevators and touching surfaces
- Don’t shake hands, use our traditional ‘namaste’ greeting
Protect yourself:
- Increase intake of Vitamin C and vitamins
- Cook more with ginger, turmeric, spices and other anti-inflammatory ingredients
- Eat healthy, wholesome foods
- Choose warm dishes over cold ones
- Sip on warm water throughout the day
- Drink plenty of fluids and infusions to strengthen immunity
Activities to do with kids at home:
- Colouring books + painting
- Group exercise activities – simple yoga, jumping jacks, dribbling
- Baking activities
- Teach them simple recipes such as hot chocolate, soup etc, and if old enough, let them chop the vegetables – see recipes to boost
- E-books – the best way of buying reading books without getting out of the house
- Hair oil massage
For you:
Take this wonderful opportunity to indulge in that homemade body scrubbing and face masking, hair oil massage and pampering your partner. Take out those recipe books, take the time to read through them in detail, read as many books as you can, listen to new music, time schedule your screen time, clean out your cupboards…
For your partner:
Candlelight dinner, couple massages, TALK to each other, watch a movie, catch up on your fave show
For your community:
Conservation is key for this period. Uncertainty means the economy will be slow, and may take longer to recover beyond the 14-day quarantines. Reach out to small businesses first for your purchases – they are the backbone of our economy. Order from a family-run restaurant if you must, buy those bars of chocolate from the corner mom-and-pop store, tip the delivery man, keep hand sanitizers by your doors for all to use, be a conscious human being. Take care of the elderly, protect your children.
Conscious purchase list:
While there has been a panic buy in stores, please be a conscious consumer – let there be enough for others, purchase only the necessities and be smart about it.
Drugstore List:
Medicines that are vital for any health conditions such as diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, migraine.
Basic medicines for family
Soap
Sanitary pads
Tissue
Detergent
Hand sanitizers
Match boxes
Here’s a recommended grocery list: Stock on items that don’t go bad, and could be easy to share with neighbours in case of total lockdown.
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic
Ginger
Oil
Flour
Rice
Noodles
Pasta
Coconut milk
Tomato puree
Sweet potato
Hot cocoa
Tea
Coffee
Tetra pack of milk (200ML to avoid wastage and minimal usage)
Cereal
Sugar
Chocolate
Wine and other liquor
Salt
Masalas and seasonings
Cheese
Dried fruits
Condiments and sauces: jam, mustard, soya sauce, chili sauce etc.
Here’s a link to the most insightful article I’ve read so far on the corona virus:
https://medium.com/@tomaspueyo/coronavirus-act-today-or-people-will-die-f4d3d9cd99ca
This link is a webpage by the Indian government to officially share the virus information: http://covidout.in/
Hoping we get through this difficult time with calmness, patience and kindness ♥
With warm love + positive thoughts,
Kamini Patel
