BC (before Coronavirus) I did 95% of my shopping online, including the weekly food shop. At the point we learnt that schools were closing I was unable to get a delivery slot with my usual supermarket. I have since been trying all the supermarkets who deliver in our area and still haven’t managed to get a delivery slot, so it’s been easier for one of us to head to the shops in the evening every 10 days or so.

There are a few other places we have been ordering from however during this time. Here are the best ones.

Muscle Food

We’ve been using Muscle Food for a few years now. We’ve ordered their Christmas hampers for a few years, and had several other orders during the year to stock up on good quality lean meat.

If you haven’t tried them they really are worth a go. There is so much choice on the website and the prices and offers are great.

They are still delivering during the pandemic. Whilst delivery times have been affected, you can go online, place your order and choose the first available date for delivery.

As a guide, we had a delivery yesterday which I ordered three weeks ago, but, if you order today you can get your delivery by 27th April, so the delivery wait is clearly reducing.

Great for: Meat; fish; vegan; healthy snacks; high protein; supplements.

Approved Food

I discovered Approved Food a few years ago and I’ve had 2-3 orders a year from them since. They are normally great for snacks, so before the school holidays I normally place an order to keep us going for a while.

At the start of lock down I tried to place an order with Approved Food and although I could get a delivery, there was very little available on the site. I’ve since placed an order and there were tons more items in stock, so again, the situation has hugely improved since the start of lock down.

Great for: snacks; sweets; world food; tins and jars

Amazon

I’ve had an Amazon Prime account for some time now. We use Amazon a great deal in normal circumstances and we have continued to during the global pandemic.

The delivery times are quite a bit longer than usual, which is to be expected, but most things have been delivered in around five days from the time we ordered. We’ve managed to order things like toilet roll, hand wash, beer and pink gin!

Great for: alcohol, loo roll, toiletries

Cut Price Barry’s

I came across Cut Price Barry’s during a random search online, when I was struggling to order anything at all online at the start of lock down, and getting frustrated with all the supermarket websites.

This is an online food and drink company based in Halifax. The products are different each time I look on the website. It’s one of those places where the products are constantly changing, so you can’t plan to get certain things from there, it’s more what’s available at the time.

I was really impressed with out first order. I just stocked up on things like snacks for the children, kitchen roll and so on. I’ve since placed another order. These are delivered via courier, and the order took five days to arrive.

Great for: snacks, drinks, tinned food and sauces

Sweetpea Pantry

All our children love being in the kitchen cooking and baking, but baking items like flour etc are some of the items I’ve really struggled to get hold of during my food shop.

As a back up I’ve been ordering baking mixes from Sweetpea Pantry. I love these as they are gluten free, dairy free, vegan and have no added sugar. We have just received our second order and these are a massive hit. They are a great activity for the children, combined with providing a nutritious snack, so a double win as far as I am concerned!

You can by 6 mixes for just £12.99 – that’s SIX baking activities and tons of snacks, superb value for money! These arrived within a few days of me placing the order. From a home schooling point of view things like this are fantastic. Getting children to read instructions and follow them, weigh ingredients and learn about nutrition.

Great for: baking mixes that require minimal additional ingredients