<p>Asourfoodsuppliesweredepleted,wetriedtobookanotherdeliveryslotwithJumbobutthesoonestdatewecouldgetourhandsonwasalmostamonthawayandalltheothersupermarketdeliveryplatformswerejustasfaroff.Stilldeterminedtostayawayfromanyplacethathadmorethat2people,Iscrambledtofindalternativesuppliersonline.Afterhoursuponhoursofsearchingontheinternet,mypartnerandIwereabletofindalternativefoodsuppliers.Wehadtoko4all.nl(mylittlephilippines)forasianingredients;mushroomxl.nlforproduce;beefensteak.nlformeats;boerthijsbezorgt.nlfordairyandafewproduceitems;andkaasmarktonline.nl(VandenHerik)forcheese.Itwasreallyinterestingtofindoutaboutthesesmallandmediumscalebusinessesaseachofthemseemedtohavetheirownstoryastradersandfarmers.Forthemostpart,theirservicesfeltverypersonalbecausewegottotalktothemonthephoneforonereasonoranotherevenifweorderedeverythingonline.Strangelyenoughthepackagingthattheirproductsweredeliveredinseemedtomatchourimpressionoftheir"personalities".Wealmostalwaysgetsweetlittlefreebiesfromtoko4all.nl(mylittlephilippines),andthecouplethatownsitevenpersonallydeliveredourordertoourdooronetimewhentheystruggledtosendourorderviatheirnormaldeliveryprovider.They're clearly my favourite supplier discovery (I might be biased because I love getting free snacks) but generally all of our alternative suppliers really provide high-quality products and excellent customer service. My partner and I have decided to keep some of them as food suppliers post-pandemic, augmenting them with supermarket purchases only for a handful of products that are too expensive for us to continue purchasing regularly or household products we need but are not available from our alternative suppliers. I'mnotreallysurewhyweneverconsideredgettingourfoodfromsourcesotherthanthesupermarket,butthisexperiencehasdefinitelytaughtusadifferentwayofdoingthingsinourhousehold.</p>
<p>Butofcoursebecausetheyweren't supermarkets, the product options weren'tasextensive.Wejusthadtoworkwithwhateverproductstheyhadonhandandwhateverbulkquantitieswehadtobuythemin(eithertomeetminimumdeliveryrequirementsortooptimisedeliverycosts).Mydomesticskillslessonshadbecomeadomesticskillsmissionbootcamp.Itookoverthekitchenfull-timeandmypartnerwasdemotedfromcheftodishwasher.</p>
</p>
<p>Firststepwastoplanamenuschedulebasedonwhatouralternativesuppliershadonhand.ItfeltlikeIwasonthatcookingshowwheretheyhadthosemysteryingredientchallenges-challengeaccepted.Ilearnedaslewofnewrecipesfrommyownasianbackgroundplusalotofotherculinarycultures.Ialsosummonedmymemoriesofmypaternalgrandmother's food preservation techniques and dishes. This was largely guesswork because, while my huge paternal family is almost ALWAYS EATING when we'realltogether(mypartnercanattesttothisfromhisbeingpolitelyover-fedbyrandomfamilymembersofmine),Ineverpaidmuchattentiontothecookingandonlyprettymuchtookpartintheeatingofthefood.</p>
<p>
<p>Planningamonth's worth of meals may seem overly dramatic, but it was really more to ensure that the food we ordered would not go to waste and that we would have enough food until the next delivery. We did deviate from the menu schedule on occasion and moved around some of the dishes, such as when certain ingredients were about to go bad sooner than we anticipated. Although now we know better the approximate shelf life of our food and try to arrange our fridge and pantry according to expiration date. The desserts and sweets are not projected on the menu plan and are randomly rationed based on intensity-of-craving-in-relation-to-sanity-levels because my will power (won'tpower)isaserraticastheDutchweather.</p>
Asourfoodsuppliesweredepleted,wetriedtobookanotherdeliveryslotwithJumbobutthesoonestdatewecouldgetourhandsonwasalmostamonthawayandalltheothersupermarketdeliveryplatformswerejustasfaroff.Stilldeterminedtostayawayfromanyplacethathadmorethat2people,Iscrambledtofindalternativesuppliersonline.Afterhoursuponhoursofsearchingontheinternet,mypartnerandIwereabletofindalternativefoodsuppliers.Wehadtoko4all.nl(mylittlephilippines)forasianingredients;mushroomxl.nlforproduce;beefensteak.nlformeats;boerthijsbezorgt.nlfordairyandafewproduceitems;andkaasmarktonline.nl(VandenHerik)forcheese.Itwasreallyinterestingtofindoutaboutthesesmallandmediumscalebusinessesaseachofthemseemedtohavetheirownstoryastradersandfarmers.Forthemostpart,theirservicesfeltverypersonalbecausewegottotalktothemonthephoneforonereasonoranotherevenifweorderedeverythingonline.Strangelyenoughthepackagingthattheirproductsweredeliveredinseemedtomatchourimpressionoftheir"personalities".Wealmostalwaysgetsweetlittlefreebiesfromtoko4all.nl(mylittlephilippines),andthecouplethatownsitevenpersonallydeliveredourordertoourdooronetimewhentheystruggledtosendourorderviatheirnormaldeliveryprovider.They're clearly my favourite supplier discovery (I might be biased because I love getting free snacks) but generally all of our alternative suppliers really provide high-quality products and excellent customer service. My partner and I have decided to keep some of them as food suppliers post-pandemic, augmenting them with supermarketpurchases only for a handful of products that are too expensive for us to continue purchasing regularly or household products we need but are not available from our alternative suppliers. I'mnotreallysurewhyweneverconsideredgettingourfoodfromsourcesotherthanthesupermarket,butthisexperiencehasdefinitelytaughtusadifferentwayofdoingthingsinourhousehold.
<p>Thesocialdistancingguidelinesandthesemi-self-imposedhomequarantinehasdefinitelyacceleratedmydomesticskillsacquisition,althoughmypartnerstillmaintainsardentlythathe's the better cook despite his demotion to dishwasher. Oddly enough, I'vefoundjoyandcalminthisnewprocessasitbecomesournewnormalandwelearntocopetogether.
</p>
<p>
Butofcoursebecausetheyweren't supermarkets, the product options weren'tasextensive.Wejusthadtoworkwithwhateverproductstheyhadonhandandwhateverbulkquantitieswehadtobuythemin(eithertomeetminimumdeliveryrequirementsortooptimisedeliverycosts).Mydomesticskillslessonshadbecomeadomesticskillsmissionbootcamp.Itookoverthekitchenfull-timeandmypartnerwasdemotedfromcheftodishwasher.
</p>
<p>
Firststepwastoplanamenuschedulebasedonwhatouralternativesuppliershadonhand.ItfeltlikeIwasonthatcookingshowwheretheyhadthosemysteryingredientchallenges-challengeaccepted.Ilearnedaslewofnewrecipesfrommyownasianbackgroundplusalotofotherculinarycultures.Ialsosummonedmymemoriesofmypaternalgrandmother's food preservation techniques and dishes. This was largely guesswork because, while my huge paternal family is almostALWAYS EATING when we'realltogether(mypartnercanattesttothisfromhisbeingpolitelyover-fedbyrandomfamilymembersofmine),Ineverpaidmuchattentiontothecookingandonlyprettymuchtookpartintheeatingofthefood.Planningamonth'sworthofmealsmayseemoverlydramatic,butitwasreallymoretoensurethatthefoodweorderedwouldnotgotowasteandthatwewouldhaveenoughfooduntilthenextdelivery.Wediddeviatefromthemenuscheduleonoccasionandmovedaroundsomeofthedishes,suchaswhencertainingredientswereabouttogobadsoonerthanweanticipated.Althoughnowweknowbettertheapproximateshelflifeofourfoodandtrytoarrangeourfridgeandpantryaccordingtoexpirationdate.Thedessertsandsweetsarenotprojectedonthemenuplanandarerandomlyrationedbasedonintensity-of-craving-in-
</p>
<p>
Thesocialdistancingguidelinesandthesemi-self-imposedhomequarantinehasdefinitelyacceleratedmydomesticskillsacquisition,althoughmypartnerstillmaintainsardentlythathe's the better cook despite his demotion to dishwasher. Oddly enough, I'vefoundjoyandcalminthisnewprocessasitbecomesournewnormalandwelearntocopetogether.
</p>
</p>
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@ -94,10 +113,10 @@ The social distancing guidelines and the semi-self-imposed home quarantine has d