New habits that are likely permanent

[meleana]

I get depressed thinking about potential long term changes to what we used to do: eating out, concerts and plays, and vacations (including yearly cruise). I hope this will just be a long term aberration.

Me too.

 

[Pellice]

The whole neighborhood gathers in a cul-de-sac with lawn chairs (distancing). We bring wine beer, etc. and share what is going on. We often bring up concerns we have about the area we live in. I have walked the neighborhood for years picking up bits of trash and looking for signs of things that could be a problem. I have increased that effort and become more vigilant as the I have noted traffic that doesn't live in our area (there is only one way in and out). You would be amazed what you find thrown out of cars that travel in you neighborhood. I am much more aware of who belongs here and who doesn't.

That sounds really nice! Three friends and I took to corresponding (not Zoom, not text messaging, but long-form emails) at least once a day. That has proved gratifying and sanity-keeping (we are all single with no kids). We get together for outdoor activities maybe once a week but share emails daily. I hope we keep it up.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Changes for us - cutting my own hair and not getting it dyed, DH has been getting his hair cut shorter and less frequent, more hiking, more time for home cooking and new recipes, more outside activities like garden and lake day trips. I've had more time to declutter and house projects, like setting up an herb garden and prettying up the back yard with decorative solar lights.

I've lost some weight and saved money from being more active and eating less restaurant meals, so I hope that sticks.

 

[PointBreeze]

.... Plus, I just enjoy breaking taboos that are basically stupid.

+1

 

[tmm99]

Changes for us - cutting my own hair and not getting it dyed, .

Same here as for the haircuts. But! I may have to wait and see if I can go without coloring my hair... I didn't realize that I wasn't all grey yet until I stopped colouring my hair... My grey hairs seem to be clustered in various areas and my head is starting to look like a zebra! I could be like one of those half-balding men and move my hair around to make it look all uniform on the top layer.

 

[Sweepssue]

My husband had heart surgery this January so we have not been out except to pick up groceries (curbside only).
*We will continue to do online grocery. You don't buy all those impulse items and it saves an hour of time.
*We are cooking all of our own food so we have not had fast food in 4 months. We will continue to give up fast food.
*I always went in to the office every day but now enjoy working from home. Saving on gas and wear and tear on the car and no dry cleaning and have not been buying clothes. Saving a ton.
*I have not had my hair done since February. Not sure about the pure white color that is growing in but it is growing on me I Guess.
*I miss the yearly cruises and trips to Vegas but in the mean time I guess more money to save until FIRE. I have 4.5 more years. I am actually not retiring early since we sent one of our sons to a private college and still paying for that

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I remembered one more to add. I started ordering most of our pantry staples online, too, usually from Walmart. Their Great Value brand was a new find for me. Their prices are good and the online shopping has been a real time saver. I also realized that for fresh and frozen staples we have a restaurant supply store near us where I can make a list ahead of time from their web site, the prices are good and they have the aisle numbers online for each item. So I can do most of the in store shopping in 20 minutes or so if I make the list out at home. I think this combination of Walmart / restaurant store has been saving us money and I know it has saved me time on grocery shopping so I plan to keep this way of shopping post pandemic.

 

[timbervest]

Will likely not go back to the office.

Can't imagine ever shaking hands with strangers again.

I don't mind wearing a mask and probably will do so for the foreseeable future.

 

[FlaGator]

Only a few changes here, and it looks like most will be driven by availability-movie theaters and popcorn come first to mind. Do like gorging myself on a big bag of movie popcorn with extra grease .

Fortunate to not have any risks other than age, and am looking forward to getting back to life as it once was, which included a lot my kids' extra-curricular activities.

 

[mamadogmamacat]

I had discovered the GV brand a year or so before COVID, thanks to a change to frequent shopping at a smaller Walmart. I agree, they have quite a few very good products, even some excellent organic ground flaxseed, and organic coconut oil.

One change for me that I expect will be permanent will be buying more pantry items online that I never would have before. Both boredom, and the need to build up some charges on one of my rewards cc's led to this. For example, a recent Amazon find for some very tasty anchovy stuffed green olives. Zero carbs and a nice treat.

 

[ckelly78z]

I really miss going to concerts, festivals, fairs, and sporting events, there just doesn't seem to be much to look forward to. I'm just waiting on the 90*s and 100*s heat to scale back so I can do more yard projects.

I have bought a few items from private sellers, and it is weird not shaking their hand like I used to, and sanitizing afterwards like the new item has the virus.

 

[Dtail]

We also miss going to concerts and festivals in particular. Hopefully down the road again.

 

[TechLead]

This may be end of era of globalization and beginning of era of Automation and Artificial Intelligence.

Hmm I wonder how that influences our habits.

 

[ivinsfan]

This may be end of era of globalization and beginning of era of Automation and Artificial Intelligence.

Hmm I wonder how that influences our habits.

Well it might be an improvement on human intelligence which seems to be in very short supply lately.

 

[Pellice]

Freezer use

One habit I've picked up that I hope I can keep to is making more creatuve and varied use of my freezers. It was something I had always intended to do. I had always of course frozen the usual - loaves of bread, Costco-sized meat packages, divided for a single person household (something Costco often sensibly provides anyway), and bags of flour and rice prone to moth infestations or deterioration in the pantry.

But, why didn't I think before of freezing lemons cut into wedges, not so much for garnishes, but to have fresh lemon juice to squeeze into recipes? I found out you could freeze egg whites or yolks separately, I now have some egg whites left over from another recipe ready to make into a white cake or cupcakes. I have frozen garlic ready to go -pretty easy to pop out of the skins, hard to mince, but it turns mushy and easy to crush into a recipe. My latest was turning a Costco package of mushrooms into duxelles, ready to throw into dishes requiring mushrooms. The sky seems to be the limit. I need a better way of working this stuff into my menus, but that is coming.

 

[ElizabethT]

No more full body hugs when greeting friends. And what a relief! Seriously, so many unwanted full body hugs from men over the years . . .

And as already mentioned, no more shaking of hands.

 

[audreyh1]

One habit I've picked up that I hope I can keep to is making more creatuve and varied use of my freezers. It was something I had always intended to do. I had always of course frozen the usual - loaves of bread, Costco-sized meat packages, divided for a single person household (something Costco often sensibly provides anyway), and bags of flour and rice prone to moth infestations or deterioration in the pantry.

But, why didn't I think before of freezing lemons cut into wedges, not so much for garnishes, but to have fresh lemon juice to squeeze into recipes? I found out you could freeze egg whites or yolks separately, I now have some egg whites left over from another recipe ready to make into a white cake or cupcakes. I have frozen garlic ready to go -pretty easy to pop out of the skins, hard to mince, but it turns mushy and easy to crush into a recipe. My latest was turning a Costco package of mushrooms into duxelles, ready to throw into dishes requiring mushrooms. The sky seems to be the limit. I need a better way of working this stuff into my menus, but that is coming.

Cool!

 

[tmm99]

But, why didn't I think before of freezing lemons cut into wedges, not so much for garnishes, but to have fresh lemon juice to squeeze into recipes? I found out you could freeze egg whites or yolks separately, I now have some egg whites left over from another recipe ready to make into a white cake or cupcakes. I have frozen garlic ready to go -pretty easy to pop out of the skins, hard to mince, but it turns mushy and easy to crush into a recipe. My latest was turning a Costco package of mushrooms into duxelles, ready to throw into dishes requiring mushrooms. The sky seems to be the limit. I need a better way of working this stuff into my menus, but that is coming.

Wonderful! I'm picking up some new ideas here!

I do freeze Meyer lemons in 1/8 sizes too as I don't see Meyer lemons often here. I also freeze Satsuma Mandarin oranges whole as those are very hard to find and only in a certain season. I nuke a frozen one in the microwave for about 15 seconds and eat it semi-frozen and it's like eating a healthy popsicle. I also peel and slice fresh ginger and freeze it as it always goes bad in the fridge at the end. (Never done garlic but that's a great idea!) One last thing is dried shitake mushrooms. They take forever to rehydrate, so I rehydrate a whole bag of shiitake mushrooms and freeze them along with the broth, so I can just take a few out whenever I need.

 

[tmm99]

I think this pandemic has made hairdressers/barbers lose some of their customers forever.

 

[Pointby2]

Two new "habits". We watch a lot less news since the riots and pandemic talk is too depressing. Might continue that.

The other good thing I've been doing is playing cards with distant family members using get61 (sheepshead website) and houseparty. It's been fun, but realistically, that's not going to last.

I like picking my own fruits and vegetables and even browsing for microbrews in person better than curbside.

Luckily we have been able to keep our lives pretty normal so far.

 

[audreyh1]

I think this pandemic has made hairdressers/barbers lose their customers forever.

I’ve been cutting my bangs and cutting DH’s hair, but I will be very happy to return to the hairdresser.

 

[tmm99]

I’ve been cutting my bangs and cutting DH’s hair, but I will be very happy to return to the hairdresser.

Sorry, I changed my statement to "I think this pandemic has made hairdressers/barbers lose some of their customers forever."

 

[kgtest]

Positive habits of exercise (run, bike, home workouts) I broke the rules and played a game of beach volleyball the other day.

Since I am still w*rking... I enjoy the freedom to putz on projects during downtime while I live at work these days...err work at home? My honey do list got shorter, than longer, than shorter again. Being home full time now makes the home annoyances a bit less bearable so I have been a little more pro-active but it seem more to do and fix with higher full time usage.

Bad habit, staying up later than I used to since I don't have to commute in. Life must go on.

Wash hands more, wear the mask a lot, a lot more conscious about if I have to cough or sneeze, if I do I have that sanitizer in the holster so bam, covered.

I find myself complaining more it seems, but I don't dwell on it.

No major changes or habit changes to investing. Still on auto-pilot as we accumulate.

 

[Winemaker]

One habit I've picked up that I hope I can keep to is making more creatuve and varied use of my freezers. It was something I had always intended to do. I had always of course frozen the usual - loaves of bread, Costco-sized meat packages, divided for a single person household (something Costco often sensibly provides anyway), and bags of flour and rice prone to moth infestations or deterioration in the pantry.

But, why didn't I think before of freezing lemons cut into wedges, not so much for garnishes, but to have fresh lemon juice to squeeze into recipes? I found out you could freeze egg whites or yolks separately, I now have some egg whites left over from another recipe ready to make into a white cake or cupcakes. I have frozen garlic ready to go -pretty easy to pop out of the skins, hard to mince, but it turns mushy and easy to crush into a recipe. My latest was turning a Costco package of mushrooms into duxelles, ready to throw into dishes requiring mushrooms. The sky seems to be the limit. I need a better way of working this stuff into my menus, but that is coming.

I make pesto from my poblano, and/or jalapeno peppers for later use in chiles, dips, salsas, scrambled eggs. Blend in food processor with EVOO and herbs, spoon into ice cube trays and freeze. Bag 'em later, rinse and repeat. May have to zap them in microwave if you need them quick.

Been doing the same with cherry tomatoes. They're not as full of water like normal size tomatoes, but I'll throw a bowl full into my cast iron skillet I use on grill. I roast them up, squish them to remove further moisture, throw in some oregano, basil, and garlic from garden with some EVOO to make a chunky paste then freeze those into IC trays. Quick and easy to throw a few in when sauteing with chicken, walleye or halibut.

 

[harllee]

I remembered one more to add. I started ordering most of our pantry staples online, too, usually from Walmart. Their Great Value brand was a new find for me. Their prices are good and the online shopping has been a real time saver. I also realized that for fresh and frozen staples we have a restaurant supply store near us where I can make a list ahead of time from their web site, the prices are good and they have the aisle numbers online for each item. So I can do most of the in store shopping in 20 minutes or so if I make the list out at home. I think this combination of Walmart / restaurant store has been saving us money and I know it has saved me time on grocery shopping so I plan to keep this way of shopping post pandemic.

I am interested in finding out more about restaurant supply stores. How do you find them?