Who doesn't have a stock cupboard

GreyQueen

PAH, I don't think anyone could accuse you of wittering in a million years; you're talking great good sense, and I for one am very grateful for your posts and hope you continue.

Whilst I was gardening today, I was thinking about people who are a generation younger than me, who have spent most of their conscious life in an era of 24/7 grocery shopping, ATMs, the internet, constant everything on tap. The things I grew up with, such as nothing being open on a Sunday, and a half-day closing in mid-week, might as well be dispatches from another planet. And hey, I'm only middle-aged!

Some of the big supermarkets in our city are open 24/7 and plenty of others are shut only 10 hours in 24. We have become accustomed to seeing the bounty of the world spread out before us, at relatively-cheap prices, whenever we want it. I've known people who have come back from sojourns in the less developed parts of the world, where starvation is a constant menace, who have broken down in tears the first time they went back into a supermarket.

It really is such a shocking contrast to how most of the world live, and how our predecessors lived not so long ago. My parents were children in the 1940s and 1950s, out to work as teenagers in the mid-fifties. I'm a child of the 1960s and 1970s and have some memories of the oil crisis and the 3 day week. Mum still keeps the paraffin stove she used to cook on in the blackouts, back in the day.

I have heard and read interviews with experts from within the electricity industry about the terrible state of the National Grid and how were are on a critical edge a lot of the time in terms of ability to meet demands for electricity. If there is one big outage, such as a catastropic technical failure or even a terrorist attack, the Grid will go down. Even if there isn't such a critical event, we are in grave danger of facing the "rolling brownouts" which have been such a trouble in California in recent years.

These men sounded SCARED at how bad it was now and how vulnerable the whole system was and had been trying to get it through politicans' thick heads to no avail. If the people who keep the lights on are bricking it, to be vulgar, then I shall spare it a passing anxiety as well.

Given that electricity is only half-jokingly described as the difference between civilisation and anarchy, I think it sensible to consider alternative sources of light and ways of cooking, and hope that we won't need to deploy them in earnest.

I don't have the option of over-reliance on a freezer as my tiny home can only accomodate a counter-top model but it would be prudent to have shelf-stable food supplies as an adjunct even if you have freezers large enough to house a cow.

OK, that's my two'pennorth for the day. Laters, GQx

prepareathome

Totally relying on a freezer for your stores is a big no no - you never know when the power might be off - someone on mse but not sure if she is on this thread, GQ you know who I mean was away from home a few days and came back to find that the power had been on and off the whole time which meant everything in the freezer had to go as freezer might have started to defrost then refroze and that mean food is useless even dangerous you can only refreeze food if you change its state - so you can put fresh in to freeze, then take it out cook it and refreeze it but once it comes out, out it must stay, it cannot be reheated or made into something else and refrozen ( although I have heard of people doing this) its to dangerous. In the time of problems the last thing you want to happen is for you to become ill because your food was bad - so better to waste it in times of plenty than to chance it making you ill. The poor girl was so upset, who wouldn't be. but she was sensible and threw it all away. I think it was due to the weather it was on and off but might have been work.

So having a stock in tinned form is important just remember to rotote it - even if you loathe tinned vegetable shove them in a curry or cover with a nice sauce and I promise you will not know they are not fresh ( ok you might because you know they are tinned but if you can 'forget' where they came from you can and no need to tell the family.

If anyone has tins and usually cooks from fresh and would like ideas on how to use up their tins just ask either myself or others will soon give you smashing ideas on tasty meals from your store cupboard.

Right got to toddle out and see if there is any milk in the supermarket - yes I have some frozen and some ( only 2 cartons left after giving away most the other week ) of long life and one bag of dried, so not to much but hoping I find some to buy which I will then pop in freezer and take frozen out to use as been in there a month so time to rotate, also hopefully buy some more long life and dried......not lots I promise 2 of each at most so not going to cause a panic with my small amounts but had planned on doing so this weekend and then next week - I plan my buys a few weeks ahead for store cupboard unless I come across a special off of things I will and do use then if I can afford it buy a couple extra......

Have a nice evening everyone, hope its dry where you are, here we have actually had sun all day but not to hot

mcjordi

condensed milk and evapourated milk are they the same? i know my mam used to pour carnation over a fruit cocktail and it was nice.. now which would she of used (cant ask her sadly )

Butterfly_Brain

Evaporated is the thick one that you pour over tinned fruit or use in drinks or custards etc.
Condensed is the sweet sticky stuff

Evie74_2

Mcjordi - it would have been evaporated milk that you would have had poured on your pudding. Condensed milk is really thick and almost solid, evaporated is much runnier like ordinary milk (only sweet).

Evie xx

mcjordi

sweet cheers guys..need to add some to my next shopping list

quintwins

Condensed milk is what you use to make toffee and caramel

Evaporated milk is what you put on fruit.

I have to say i don't think buying lots of tins you won't use is a good idea, as they will go off if you don't like them, i know tons keep well after there best before but i've had a stockcupboard for 5 years ever since having kids and have never needed it for emergency reasons, i have no problem using tins past there best within a year or 2 but no more where the kids are concerned.

mcjordi

i have cup a soups with a bbd of feb and nov 2010 lol.. i will use em...

Evie74_2

Quintwins - you're right about tins; I think that just underlines the point made by PAH about only storing foods that you would normally choose to eat (or similar long-life type things). A store cupboard is only any use if you will use it! I don't view my store as something locked away for a catastrophe; it's an evolving thing and the contents change as I use and replace them with new things; that way the dates are less of an issue. I do have some tinned veg which I keep for real emergencies (I'm not much of a fan; prefer fresh or frozen) but I am conscious of the dates and will lob them in a curry as the dates get closer and replace them.

While I'm posting, I want also to thank PAH for the very comprehensive and sensible advice about storing things and surviving emergencies; I will add cat litter to the trolley when I'm next in the supermarket! I don't have pets (apart from fish in the pond) so don't know about these things but presumably the litter will keep OK in a dry garden shed? I don't have a garage, and space is at a premium in the house.

Evie xx

quintwins

cat liter keeps for ages aslong as it doesn't get wet so yeah a dry garage is fine.

I only every buy tinned carrots and peas as i know i can use them in a casarole or sheperds pie if i need to, i won't change that as theres really no point, i do keep some soups tho