Variety is the key

Uncle Doug - I was talking to my neighbor this morning and he said to go out and buy a bunch of rice and beans for pandemic preparations.  Should I go by a bunch of rice and beans?

Do you like rice and beans?  I like rice and beans but I would hate to have to eat rice and beans day after day.  As a matter of fact I made 16 bean soup (Goya 16 bean soup mix as the base) and added some rice to it just last week.  It was great especially since there was a pork loin chopped up in it.  But after 2 days that was enough.  Eating that without an end in sight would depress me even though it was one of the best things I had eaten this last year.

Variety in meals and life is a key to being happy.  Get more of the stuff you normally eat.  I am sure there is variety there.  I just looked in the pantry and there is a huge variety stuff:
Rice
Beans
Pasta
Ragu pasta sauce
Ramen
Tuna Fish
Hash
Canned chicken
Soups of different types

There will be power and water for the pandemic so in in my refrigerator and freezer and I see all sorts of stuff.  In there I have:
Banquet Pot Pies - $0.97/ea - The best deal going for quick food
Chicken breasts
TV dinners
Sandwich meat
Sausage

All of this stuff is normally at the house so even if the pandemic goes away I am good and have wasted nothing.  The key is just go buy what you normally buy and just buy just an extra week or two of stuff.   If you can't afford that then buy a few dollars more of your normal stuff.  Extra bag of rice (not a 50 lbs bag), couple cans of your normal soup, noodles,  package of hot dogs and you are ahead of the game and have not wasted a dime.

Key is variety, don't panic and think through the problem.