Staying home is the safest thing we can do right now. With the Coronavirus outbreak being part of our lives for the last six weeks (and longer) it’s been important to us to minimise the amount of trips to the supermarket. Initially the first trip Dan took was stressful and I have found it hard not having the freedom to choose items. We’ve found shopping in Northamptonshire from local producers has been fantastic for maintaining safety, eating high quality and supporting local businesses.
Fruit and Veg Deliveries – Collins Fresh Produce
The first delivery we found that was covering Northamptonshire was a fruit/veg/salad and grocery box. These boxes are fantastic for supporting a family with enough fruit and veg to see through a week. As household of two, this lasted us well over two weeks and the best part was that the product lasted significantly longer than Tesco’s or a supermarket version. I have always liked farm shop veg as it is far superior in taste and quality. This box also came with eggs, bread and milk and they have since increased their offering with items like ham, cheese and more.
Collins Fresh produce is available across the county and there are numerous other farm shops and food delivery services for your fresh fruit and veg. I highly recommend searching through Facebook and neighbourhood groups to see the contactless deliveries available for you and your family.
Baked treats from The Little Bakery of Happiness
I can’t claim to have purchased these myself, my colleague Dave sent me these as an Easter treat/pick me up and since I can’t drink alcohol this was my present! To be honest, this beats drink! This bag of treats from The Little Bakery of Happiness in Wellingborough included the most delicious brownies, chocolate goodness but also a fabulous cookie mix to bake my own goodies at home. The lovely Northamptonshire bakery has changed up its offering to bring little bags of joy to the doorsteps.
These are a fabulous invention especially for anyone looking to spend some time cooking during their isolation! You only need a few ingredients to add to these to cook up some fantastic baked goods. The digestive biscuit mix also sounds delicious so I’m so excited to try my hand at cooking this biscuit mix when I have a sweet craving.
Lunchtime highlights from Friars Farm
After following the NN online food market and looking for some treats to jazz up our lunches (ham sandwiches were getting boring very quickly) I decided to make a little order from Friars Farm. Steve makes some fantastic jams, chutneys and preserves which are not only award-winning from Northamptonshire but fantastic for all types of meals. I went for a few items I hadn’t tried before including the infamous pickled onions. These are quite simply delicious and work perfectly in sandwiches, in burgers or just as a treat! They are in red wine vinegar which packs a punch and if I get any gherkin/pickle type cravings this pregnancy, I’m ready to go! We also got some of the lovely chilli jam and the mango chutney. Both of which are extremely good and a cut above anything from the supermarket.
Northamptonshire takeaways for a Friday night!
As a big foodie, I really am missing dining out, restaurants and date nights. I REALLY hope the restaurants can open again soon, especially before baby’s arrival. In the mean time we’ve been enjoying some of our favourite takeaways being delivered to the doorstep. We’ve had everything from Tap & Kitchen early on (which has now closed), our local chip shop has now started doing deliveries and we even got a Humpit hummus delivery this week. There’s so many pubs, restaurants and takeaways adapting to keep serving great food across Northamptonshire. It’s fantastic how people are coming together in this way. Whilst it’s not exactly the same as eating out, food definitely brings a little joy to a difficult time.
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How are you coping with food and cooking during isolation? I hope these little tips can provide you with some inspiration or help to encourage you to shop local, now and forever!