Food storage without a

calleyw

fridge or freezer.

I am going to be moving in a just over a weeks time and my fridge/freezer is going to be collected on thrusday by the council as it is nearly 7 years old and falling apart. So i thought rather than shift it buy a new one. Which we have budgeted for.

The only way I can think of storing milk is to buy smaller bottles of milk and put them in a cool box filled with cold water.

I was going to put fruit/veg just in the cupboards. As it stay cools in the kitchen as there is no heating in there.

Any ideas for meals as well. Apart from fresh veg steamed and rice and noodles. I really don't want to live out packets and tins for the next week and a bit. And of course don't want any left overs as I have no where to keep them cool.

Many thanks in advance.

Yours

Calley

tiff

You could buy long life milk? Just until you move, although I liked it and couldnt taste the difference.

Plan out your meals from Thurs until you move, make enough each night to not have leftovers. Eggs dont need to go in the fridge do they? (mine do but they sell them out of the chiller in the supermarket)

calleyw

Thanks Tiff, I do buy long life milk.

But once opened should be treated as fresh milk. I go for the cartons as they are cheapest but once opened can't re-seal them. Unless I buy the more expensive in a plastic bottle. So I can keep it in water to keep it cool.

Good point about eggs. I never use to keep them in fridge but do because they tell you to. Doh.

Looks like it will be peanut butter sandwiches then for lunch and tea. :rotfl: no left overs and easy to make. Shame I don't like peanut butter.

Yours

Calley

tiff

Make some soup, have it with toasted sandwiches.
Omelette with potato, onion and anything else lying around.
Jacket pots done in microwave, crisped up in oven, with any topping you like.

Cant think at the moment!

Nile

Hello Calleyw

You don't say if your cool box is a solid box or the floppy bag type.

We use one of those big solid box coolers and put frozen ice blocks on the bottom and around the sides, there's also a holder inside the lid of ours to hold another freezer block. Fresh milk should keep cool for a couple of days.

Another tip, store the cooler box in a cool place out of sunlight or drape a thick jacket over it.

On long car journeys (~7 hours), we drape a thick jacket over the box to keep the sun from warming the box. When we arrive at our destination, the contents are still nicely chilled and the ice blocks still frozen.

Hope this helps.

Glad

if your coolbox is well sealed you could keep it in the shed/garage or even outside the back door

Ticklemouse

Do you know any of your new neighbours? If they pop round to introduce themselves you could ask if they would pop any cool blocks in their freezer so you could keep more stuff in your cool box. Might be a way of "breaking the ice", or in your case "making the ice".

Sarahsaver

Did you get the fridge from the fridgesavers scheme at currys? £50 for a fridge, £75 for a fridge freezer if you are on qualifying benefits.
POwdered milk, would that be an option? I never put eggs in the fridge, or fruit. Do you have a cellar? That would be a good place to put things that need keeping cool.
My kids would love to have to live off tinned food for a week - what a treat! Whynot pretend you are on holiday and cook on a camping stove and eat out of tins?;)

calleyw

It is a cool box. Because a cool bag to me is the floppy ones. Should be ok left in the kitchen as no heating and it is out of the sun.

Not sure if I have any blocks to freeze. might have packed them away somewhere.

Don't like soup, Don't eat toasted sandwiches as I don't like cheese. Don't like omlettes but hubby does. Don't have a microwave.

I will be ok once we move as I will only be a couple of miles from my parents so access to fridge and freezer.

Not even sure that we will have a cooker once we move as seller has not been very forthcoming with what he is leaving.

I know, I am very hard work and fussy :rolleyes:

But I thought that you would all like a challenge

But thanks for the ideas.

Yours

Calley

tiff

You dont need freezer blocks, just fill a plastic bottle with water and freeze, before they take your freezer away of course. Then put it in the cool box.

You're right, peanut butter sandwiches it is!

jstyles

tiff wrote:

fill a plastic bottle with water and freeze,

erm - well just three-quarters fill it!!