make do and mend for tougher times

fuddle

kittie wrote: »

I have dehydrated foods that are over two years old and as good as new eg I did porcini mushrooms about 3 years ago and kale, orange slices peppers and onions two years ago. Key is cooling and then packing quickly with spotless dry hands. I use lock and lock boxes all the time now, in fact I ordered (again) just last week from `spices of india` as they are cheapest with super brilliant fast delivery.

Dehydrated foods kept airtight and in the dark will last indefinitely. To rehydrate I just throw into casseroles or cover in water or poach gently or the children eat my fruit leathers as they are ie strawberry and banana, they turned out like crispy pieces and not leathers and they went down a bomb as did my thinly sliced sweet potatoes, salted like crisps. A whole litre box disappeared in one day

This really sounds right up my street and I thank you. It will be a long while till I can get one but it's a must for the future.

I have a day of blanching my veg from yesterday, ready to freeze. I detest frozen veg but I don't have any other way of preserving it. My other alternative is going to the Coop daily. I don't like having to rely on shops. If this doesn't work I may just have to do it though.

Also going to try making up our milk from dried powder. I got a month load of milk in bags from Sainsbury's and have frozen it but it's took so much room in the garage freezer.

My plan is to buy small cartons of full fat for the girls and still freeze them but have a jug of dried made up for DH and I for cooking and tea making.

Thanks Mar I did not know about dried veg http://www.whitworths.co.uk/our_products/whitworths/stuffing_and_dried_vegetables/ Will be looking into it.

Andrew James do a dehydrator for around £40. Does anyone use this? Any good? I'm also going to read about dehydrating in a halogen oven like pah wondered about the other day. In theory with the fan and a low heat then maybe. I may try it out with a bit of fruit and veg. It's just knowing when it's dehyrated.

jamanda

mardatha wrote: »

TY kittie it's getting worse eh? This house is great, big rooms & brick walls - never been too hot but is often too cold Plus we're high up so we often have a wind blowing, usually from the west but sometimes from the north which isn't funny.
I think the way forward is to grow (and learn to eat) things that the garden/area likes. I hate kale with a vengeance...but it always grows well. I cut it up with scissors and sprinkle some in soup - it would stop you getting vit C deficient. Tatties are always possible, and I will look into more tubs to defeat flooding and slugs. For me the way forward has always got to be looking at the past - they did what we're trying to do and they did it seriously because they didn't have Tesco & Asda ! It was life or death. I wish I could find some books that would be helpful but I not sure what to look under.
Fuddle, thing slike HM soup and bread, porridge, rice puds are great standbys and you dont need meat.

We had dreadful problems with spuds having lots of wibble holes in them. We now plant Kestrel which, although an acquired taste, actually give us a crop (although a very small one this year) without manky holes in. It might be worth a try for you.

mardatha

Eeeek -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-19288822

Popperwell

That Bread Maker has sold out:mad:at Amazon and John Lewis...that didn't take long...I don't really want to spend a lot on one so am debating whether to carry on with handmade loaves and then use the ovens or perhaps occasionally use one like this though the Panasonic models seem to offer 25 programmes this only has 12...

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4231174/Trail/searchtext%3EBREAD+MAKER.htm

mardatha

Sorry Jamanda I wasnt clear the tatties were fine, we got loads - but I was talking about stuff that slugs eat like lettuce and beans and herbs. We dont have a prob with flooding as we on a slope here, but this year there was so much rain it washed stuff away, and I wonder if tubs under the eaves of a shed would be better .

fuddle

mardatha wrote: »

Eeeek -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-19288822

:cool: well, another reason to pull up our britches. You'll be alright up there Mar

Ok, experiment dehydrating in the halogen is underway. I have slices of carrots, parnsip and few little broccoli florets on the top shelf and banana, strawberry, apple and a few blueberries on the bottom. it's on the wash cycle so 100oC

I feel iffy wasting electric but hopefully I'll see some positive results.

Off to blanch the rest of the veg.

[Deleted User]

fuddle I read my backpacking dehydrating book last night and you can dry in an oven with a fan. You need to set up a mesh tray ( I would use garden mesh) and have it on the very lowest setting, no higher than 140 farenheit. Place the mesh on the bottom rack and the door has to be left slightly ajar, using something like a thin skewer. I would start with something very easy and bananas are easy. To fit the mesh spaces you might need to cut thinly longways as everything shrinks. Courgettes are a doddle and dry quicker than bananas

Pops, a dehydrator could be too much faff for you as you have to do a fair bit of prep. There is someone on the dehydrating thread, called ken and he may be doing it for himself, I don`t know.

Re dehydrators, well I can`t keep my thoughts to myself. My first one was the round one stacked high in layers and I gave it away as it was frustrating, my second one was a more expensive l`equipe but I eventually found that one frustrating and imperfect. I was and still am, into eating part of our food as raw food and a dehydrator was always part of the necessary equipment as was my green life juicer, I am talking 2-3 decades ago. I now have the rolls royce of a 9 tray excalibur and tbh knowing what I know now, I would have worked something out with my oven while saving

SDG31000

Morning Everyone

Just a quick hello as I'm waiting for friends to pick me up. we are going to another friend's Mom's funeral, the one that died of cancer a while ago. I'm not feeling fantastic, but feel it's something I have to do. DS1 and DS2 aren't going but there is tons of food in the house and it won't hurt them to fend for themselves for lunch.

fuddle Have you tried those green bags that you put your fruit and veg in to keep it longer? I got some from Poundland, but keep forgetting to use them. Here's the link to them at Lakeland, but I know you can pick them up cheaper. http://www.lakeland.co.uk/1094/20-Stayfresh-Longer-Bags-25-x-38cm

Popperwell Personally I would concentrate on buying what you know you are going to use and need. You seem to be focusing on what if's and an end of the world senario. All that is going to happen is that you are going to end up with things sitting in boxes taking up valuable space and resourses. Spend the money making your life more comfortable, but please don't waste money on things that aren't going to be used.

VJsmum My DS1 gets his results next week and is showing no worry what so ever. I'm a nervous wreak already and will be a gibbering mess walking the floors on Wednesday night. Good luck xxx

Possession I'm another person with black thumbs. I know that my trying to grow anything would be a disaster.

I'd better go and finish getting ready.

Take care xxxxxxxx

D&DD

Well done on the exam results peeps some great ones there Good luck too for the GCSE's next week.

Kittie I ordered some L&L's from Spices of India following your recommendation on the dehydrator thread and I was really pleased not only with the price but the speedy service too so thanks for that..I'm still trying to justify moving up to a 'posh' dehydrator tho lol

I'm one who probably does have the two year *and beyond* storecupboard but I've been building it for years now,I don't think I could actually live any other way

As many have mentioned its looking dire for a lot of crops and being a grow your owner I've suffered some real failures here too along with the lack of anything worth foraging too

BUT on a cheerful note I'm just keeping a canny eye on items that will be affected by price hikes and planning to stock up on those when (and if) I see a good sale..

We're all OStylers and made of tougher stuff than most so I'm sure we'll manage just fine
XXXXX

Popperwell

SDG31000 wrote: »

Popperwell Personally I would concentrate on buying what you know you are going to use and need. You seem to be focusing on what if's and an end of the world senario. All that is going to happen is that you are going to end up with things sitting in boxes taking up valuable space and resourses. Spend the money making your life more comfortable, but please don't waste money on things that aren't going to be used.

I hope the funeral goes as well as those events can and you hold up well

As for what you say it makes an awful lot of sense but the only things that I have not used yet are a food processor(I will)and my spare electric kettles and toaster. I now use my microwaves and slow cooker and I know the halogen oven will come into it's own.

I do find buying bread easy but I do seem to throw quite a lot away and do not have the room to freeze so perhaps making a couple of loaves weekly might work better? I can and don't mind making them by hand nor cooking in the oven so I just have to decide whether to carry on as before with the main oven...try Fuddle's way in the halogen oven or perhaps the microwave combi oven may work for me...

I think I could use a bread maker...it would mean I can save on the preperation...

fuddle wrote: »

Ok, experiment dehydrating in the halogen is underway. I have slices of carrots, parnsip and few little broccoli florets on the top shelf and banana, strawberry, apple and a few blueberries on the bottom. it's on the wash cycle so 100oC

I feel iffy wasting electric but hopefully I'll see some positive results.

Off to blanch the rest of the veg.

I'll be interested in how your experiment goes...

kittie wrote: »

Pops, a dehydrator could be too much faff for you as you have to do a fair bit of prep. There is someone on the dehydrating thread, called ken and he may be doing it for himself, I don`t know.

Remarkably Argos don't sell them...yet!

It seems Tesco's were selling the Bread makers at the low price too and they've run out of them too...