make do and mend for tougher times

katieowl_2

prepareathome wrote: »

http://www2.westfalia.net/shops/household/preserving_food/food_preservation/dehydrating_/193811-food_dehydrator.htm

I know its cheap and small but at moment I am not sure how I will get on with it and apart from my potatoes - I hope - and anything else I can harvest from garden I don't know how often I will use it. I do pick up YS fruit and vegetables when I can but only to use up quickly so that is an added possibility. If I find I do use it regularly and get on with it then I may save up and buy a better one, but £72 ( the two plus pp) is a far cry from £300 + for the really good ones so as long as this does as it says I know I will be happy enough with it for the moment....

Now this is what I am wrestling with...I could just about scrape together enough for a 9 tray excalibur...which seems to be the rolls royce and is the biggest, and also square which means fruit leathers could be cut easily into strips, and also comes in black, which I think is a bonus as white plastic looks mankey as it ages. I've wanted one for absolutely ages, but we won't have much out of the garden to dry in it this year, and I really 'should' be certain that I'd get the use out of it before committing those sort of sums to a new gadget, and I'm seeing £72 or even just one @£40 as being a sizeable chunk of 'the real thing' at £300, especially as all the reviews say excalibur is the better buy? I can't see the advantage of buying the smaller excalibur either, as if you have a glut, you want to deal with it quickly and not have to do loads of batches... decisions....Not my strong point. LOL

Kate

Evie74_2

I am still being tempted by the dehydrators - like you PAH I am not sure I have enough produce to justify a really expensive one, so I am drawn to the £33 version or the Lakeland £50 one. It's my birthday in a few weeks and my work colleagues usually club together for some vouchers (we are big on birthdays at work as we are a small branch office and like to have an excuse to celebrate and eat cake) so I may ask for Lakeland vouchers which will put a dent into the overall cost.

The garage have advised that DH's car has failed its MOT but "luckily" it's only the front section of the exhaust and will cost £124 to put right. Having had a bill for £900-odd last year when my car's suspension collapsed, I think we have to count our blessings and breathe a sigh of relief. It's booked in next week for the work to be done (silly garage had the car from 8.30am but "didn't have time" to order in the right part :mad:).

I am feeling very weary indeed this afternoon. A weaker person would give in to takeaway (especially a weaker person without a working oven!) but I have defrosted some mince and am determined to galvanise my energies into making a big vat of generic bolognaise-type sauce for spag bol/chilli/random mince based meals over the coming week.

DH is fishing again tomorrow - some lakes about 5 miles away with lots of open space around for kids to play. He will be setting off at silly o'clock as usual but has suggested that we meet him for a picnic lunch and let the girls have a run around for a couple of hours. I have lots to do at home, but I think it will do us all good to get some fresh air. Just keeping everything crossed for sunshine now.

Hope you've all had good days

Evie xx

SpikyHedgehog

Mrs_Chip wrote: »

Oh forgot to say, re wartime recipes, The Works have got 'We'll Eat Again' a book of wartime recipes selected by Margueritte Patten for £2.99 - not a big book but quite interesting.

I can put up some recipes from there too if anyone wants them.

Oh, I went past The Works earlier... hopefully they'll still have some in when we go to the optician's opposite next Saturday. I really covet mummy's Everyday CookBook, cannot believe it's till not been re-printed.

katieowl wrote: »

You asked.... http://everyday-carry.com/

They must be wearing substantial belts, cos' if you bunged this lot in your pockets your trousers would fall down!

Kate

Crumbs, yes! My work trousies need a belt to hold them up, recent stress at work has caused me to get down to 12* stone & my keys are enough to make them slip down. Belts and braces needed, I reckon.

* Except as I hadn't realised I'd got that much over 12 stone, weighing myself was rather depressing.

GreyQueen wrote: »

:hello: Hello and welcome, Shropshirelass, glad you have de-lurked. I shall be kind and not oblige you to put t'kettle on as I'm nicely sorted with a big mug of Sainsbugs Basics finest at my elbow. Actually, ought to move that to a more sensible place or I'll be sending it flying in a minute.

I stock up on things which I use regularly when I see them at a good price. I've had far too many experiences of not buying something, thinking I'll buy that tomorrow/ next week and then going in, sometimes the very next day, and finding it has gone up 50-100% in one fell swoop.:eek: So, given that I have to eat, and the pathetic so-called interest obtainable on banked money means it's losing it's purchasing power by the day, it seems reasonable to me to lay in supplies of things which I will use when the price is sweet.

As to preparedness, and the reasons why, who knows what might happen? There's pretty much no such thing as a secure job, none of us can know if we will suffer ill-health or a sudden catastrophic accident. We've grown accustomed in the last few decades to the idea the State will provide for us and it seems pretty clear that the will and the money to cover us all in any kind of disaster isn't there. It probably never was, but we were able to hang on to the illusion of security and the goverment was prepared to borrow to keep us quiet.

I work for an LA and I have seen how easily "the system" is overwhelmed by even a relatively-few people needing emergency accomodation at once, for example after a fire or flood. You could get offered accomodation but in a town 50+ miles away. There simply aren't the resources to pick up and care for everyone in an event of a disaster.

If one happens, they will have to prioritise the limited resources on the most vulnerable; young children, pregnant ladies, the elderly, the disabled. If you're basically able-bodied, you'll be fending for yourself and hoping you have family and friends who can assist you. There are plenty of times in Provincial City where there is NIL emergency accomodation and we have to send people 2-3 hours' travel away. They're not happy, and who can blame them, but it is as it is.

I also know the number of cells in Provincial City, police cells and court cells, and in a civil emergency, there wouldn't be enough places to put the crims. They can barely cope on a normal weekend. The thin blue line is pretty darned thin in a lot of places.........

Working in the LA's call centre, people ring us when there is anything going wrong. A heavy rainstorm causes problems over the whole city, trees can come down over major roads. It the LA couldn't respond to these calls in a timely manner, the citizenry would be left to cope unaided, at least for a time. An urban environment, with its power grids, drainage and built enviroment is an incredibly fragile organism and easily damaged.

On a personal note, I know an awful lot of people, inc people in what would be deemed professional jobs, who are a short slip from disaster even when they have health and work. A blip will see them losing their homes. It worries the heck out of me. At least with a store cupboard, I can feed a friend in crisis.

Gosh, those EDC kits, eh? Who knew what gentlemen were carrying in their pockets? It's a wonder they can walk. Perhaps a future tailor, instead of asking a gent whether he dresses to the left or the right, will be asking him which side he carries his EDC on..........:rotfl:

I have been having fun in the Army Surplus. They're a very blokey enviroment but I'm not easily-phased, nor am I a girly-woman. Once you have a chat and they realise you know your hexamine from your elbow, we can talk business. I now have something which I have coveted since my bushcraft course; the army waterbottle with the aluminium cup with the foldaway handles you fit over the bottle's base. Very handy indeed.

Right, off for a little browsing of the EDCs.......thanks for the linkie.

Another couple of thoughts about the need for some degree of being prepared...

If anyone has to go to a Women's refuge, they may not have money for a while - payments such as income support will take a while to get sorted, you may not be able to access your bank account for child benefit or any other money in it. This is not from personal experience, it's the advice of a refuge when I had to find out info for someone. Take whatever food you can there, kids clothes, id, washing stuff... Sometimes people are able to move away & take their stuff with them, sometimes you GO with your kids & whatever is already bagged up. If you know or suspect you may need to go, start to collate together all the details you'd want to have - I do know of a family with no birth certificates as that was something left behind when they needed to leave somewhere urgently.

More trivially, I try to make sure I get into the bank near work once a week to pick up cash for bus fare etc, having been caught out before I started doing this. Sometimes the cash point at the T3sco Express round the corner runs out of cash, & though they do nice change when you give them cash for the nice yet often actually unneeded item you're buying, they don't do cash back. Half 9 on a Sunday night is a bad time to find this out, especially if your then-DH is at work at 7 am the following morning so can't take DS1 to school instead of him getting the bus he can't get as he now has no bus fare... Luckily, I managed to scrape together enough small change from round the house for DS1's bus fare, & the childminder was ok to wait till the evening for her money.

Popperwell

I know its a blog but when we are on about things getting diffciult and why we are here origially, this is worrying...even if you work or use the net whilst not working or are ill...

No wonder we are building store cupboards...

http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/the-end-of-the-deserving-poor/

Sunshine4

PAH Thank you for the link for the dehydrators, I will do as you did and get two. I received 100 pounds from my exemployer on Wednseday, I paid 50 of it into my electric so I have extra credit for winter. So I will keep the other 50 and save the rest over the next few weeks then order them.


I have been going through our things and putting items on ebay that we dont use or need and so far have bids on 6, so at least we have some extra money coming in. I will just save all that money and hopefully I can get an emergency fund up.

Did an online shop and used the voucher she also gave me it came to 82pounds , but only cost me 32 and I got so much stuff, I also got milk cheese and butter to put in the freezer. Lots of pulses,pasta, rice, tinned vegs, porridge, flour, bread flour, yeast.
As there is only the two of us it should last awhile, I will just do top ups over the next few months.

I am trying not to spend any money except to pay bills for awhile to see how we go. We both have enought clothes and shoes, and linen.
I have knitted a few dishclothes today so I wont need to buy any.
So hopefully that will help us.:)

fuddle

Shropshirelass wrote: »

Had to tell in case it helps anyone avoid mistakes and flops I have made - I started bread making 5 years ago when I retired, now use bread maker to knead/rise till first knock down. Most of my flops and 'concrete' bread have been because the kitchen was chilly, or 'someone' opened a door and let in a draught at a crucial moment. I now do second 'rise' with dough wrapped in greased cling film, tea towel and blanket and warmed by hot beanbag. Then at the end when it comes out of the oven, wrap it in clean tea towle to cool slowly if you want soft crust (hubby has dodgy teeth!).

Aha! Thanks for that tip... i'll use my rice bag

Mccollach, I have never been to Durham Miners Gala, and considering I'm from a mining village in North Durham that is nothing to be proud of It's just not my cup of tea though, and these days it does just seem to be all about getting drunk.

Off I go for a catch up then to tell you about my disaster day. :mad:

Popperwell

fuddle wrote: »

Aha! Thanks for that tip... i'll use my rice bag

Mccollach, I have never been to Durham Miners Gala, and considering I'm from a mining village in North Durham that is nothing to be proud of It's just not my cup of tea though, and these days it does just seem to be all about getting drunk.

Off I go for a catch up then to tell you about my disaster day. :mad:

I've never been either, thankfully it seems to have stayed fine...until now:mad:

I hope the disaster isn't too much Fuddle...bread perhaps?

I haven't eaten all day so I think I better do something...how about potatoes, baked beans and a couple of pork burgers? Followed by fruit and ice cream perhaps? Perhaps I'll change the potatoes to a jacket potato and put the beans over that(possibly melt some cheese in with the beans):)

SpikyHedgehog

Popperwell wrote: »

I know its a blog but when we are on about things getting diffciult and why we are here origially, this is worrying...even if you work or use the net whilst not working or are ill...

No wonder we are building store cupboards...

http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/the-end-of-the-deserving-poor/

It's just terrifying. If I'm off sick from work either for me or for DS2 (poor DS1 at 16 gets left home with a phone call to check how he is), I feel so guilty if I go on face book, in case anyone says 'Oh, you were well enough to be on there, why weren't you at preschool?' Probably because either I or my child were too infectious to be around children...

I'm a single parent becasue Errant Husband left us to live with the Girlfriend, & I still work term time only so I don't have to put DS2 in childcare over the holidays - I don't now ask WFTC for any help with childcare costs. But I do get HB, because the affordable rent for my housing association house is more than I can easily pay on my own. Sure, I could pay it all instead of the 2/3s I currently pay - but if I didn't get any help with HB & CT or anything else, I'd not be able to afford to go to work.

I've already told DS1 he can only go to uni if he goes to the one in our town (thus restricting his choices) because though he should be able to get a grant based on my income, I'll not be able to give him accommodation help, and he'll need the grant to pay his fees. I also now need him to stay at home, so we're still using all 3 bedrooms.

katieowl_2

Popperwell wrote: »

I know its a blog but when we are on about things getting diffciult and why we are here origially, this is worrying...even if you work or use the net whilst not working or are ill...

No wonder we are building store cupboards...

http://johnnyvoid.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/the-end-of-the-deserving-poor/

That is very VERY worrying indeed. I'd be one of those hounded out of my part time job. I think based on that one would seriously have to consider whether you would want to apply for universal credit at all...I presume you could opt out? It would apply to OH too... self employed but not earning loads. He's not capable of working for anyone else, and I'd be most surprised if anyone would have him at 63 anyway!

I guess what they really want us all to do is ditch the benefits and struggle on on our minimum wages, so we don't have to jump through the hoops.

Kate

SpikyHedgehog

Fuddle, I keep ticking the multi quote bubble for your posts on bread, but not having them when I actually post. Or I get logged out. So I'm going to just post.

I can make bread from scratch, mum taught me - back in the 70s, if you wanted vegetarian bread, you needed to make it yourself...

So I can put fresh yeast to work while measuring out the dry ingredients, knead it well, leave it to rise, knock it back, put it in the tins to rise some more, bake it & check it's done & leave to cool... But I don't very often anymore. (And I can't find fresh yeast at the moment...)

Errant Husband only likes soft bread, and I don't make soft bread, I make old fashioned solid loaves of bread that fill you up with a couple of slices. And I don't often make white bread either as I'm not keen on that, and again that's what he likes. So I rarely made bread till last year when he left us.

Then I was using Weezl's site & remembered how therapeutic kneading bread is... http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/recipe-breadandcarrotloaf.html?opt=p3m1
Weezl's bread is great, but it doesn't taste like the bread my mum used to make, so I've used different ways to make bread - and now my boys complain if I have to buy bread. It doesn't taste like shop bought bread (unless you buy expensive hand made artisanal loaves from a little bakery round the corner so it's till warm & the butter melts as soon as you put it on...) And Errant Husband begs for slices of bread when he comes round as he now only gets cheap shop bought bread

I'm currently using bags of bread mix from the supermarkets - I've had a very stressful year at work, including but not restricted to, having to work longer hours than I used to or I really want to. And I just haven't time at the moment to get back into a good bread routine. Or room in the freezer to store plenty of bread.

So I buy the bags of mixes & they come up cheaper than good bread from the supermarket, though not as cheap as making it all from scratch. At MrS, burgen soya & linseed bread is currently £1.39 per loaf, 500g of MrS multiseed bread mix which makes a loaf the same size is 77p. Ok, I have to add the cost of water, oil, flour for dusting the board when kneading, & running the oven. I do make 2 loaves at a time.

I get my big mixing bowl ready & the 2 tins I got last year from L1dl, cos they're nice & long & non stick, & tell a child to grease the tins while I mix the dough. Or do it myself if they're not to hand... I measure out warm water - & since finding Weezl's site, I use tap water instead of measuring out a bit from the kettle, a bit from till it's lukewarm - dump a bag of bread mix into the bowl, add the water & measure out some more water for the other bag of mix, add the oil. Mix (with one hand as it gets sticky & I like to keep 1 fairly clean for the flour) till it's all clinging together. Generously sprinkle flour onto the board & put the dough on the flour & knead it till its not sticky - add more flour as needed. Then I shape it into a sausage & put into a tin & squash it down. Repeat with other bag of mix. Leave tins to rise while cleaning up - put the bowl to soak or wash up straight away... A sprinkle of bicarb & a wet soapy cloth will clean up any dough that wasn't floured enough, though if there's a lot on the board I use a scraper to get the excess off first.

I come back about an hour later, and the dough's risen a bit. Put the oven on for 5 minutes to heat up - it's a fan oven, so I'd have to heat it for longer if it weren't a fan oven. Using the idea for artisan bread, I'm currently putting a pan of water at the bottom of the oven as the steam gives a crisper crust, but that's optional . In my fan electric oven, 2 loaves take 25 minutes at 200°C, then they go onto the cooling rack. Sometimes they come straight out of the tins, sometimes I have to wriggle the tins a bit so the bread falls out - knock it on the bottom for a hollow sound & it's done.

I wrap the loaves when cool in tea towels & they keep fresh for the 5 minutes it takes my gannets to devour them... Or up to 3 days, there's not been any around to see if they last longer than that. Or I could squish a loaf in the freezer, & then it would last longer. But that's how I do it at the moment. Here endeth my essay on bread. Now off to taste the bread from earlier...