Preparedness for when

vanoonoo

hello all finally getting back on track - batch cooking and meal planning and stock rotation is back as a goer, stocks slowly building again (including toilet roll) but still not sure quite WHERE to store everything, really struggling with that one! also, back at fat club - 6lb off in three weeks but about 20 times that to shift in total so it may take a while especially as I have a zonked out thyroid and pituitary gland and only have a metabolism thanks to the NHS!

I've been doing some glass fusion workshops - not much use come the apocalypse I know, but it's given me some great ammo to throw at the zedheads

next adventure is reintroducing myself to a sewing machine, I'm gonna start with an electric (getting a loan from a relative but then might get the one for ikea - thoughts on that welcome) but then try to master a manual at some point too - I think it's a useful skill to have and it might come in handy with the anticipated weight loss so I can alter a few things and maybe make a few things too. I've got a wedding invite for september and its themed to 40's and 50's styleee, so I am considering what I could cobble together. I had thought of going as a land girl but my husband says I'll get too hot in wellie boots and dungarees

how you all doing?

any tips on sewing stuff for me? and suggestions for 40's and 50's outfits for a fattie to wear to a wedding?



hope you're all safe and dry
Vx

thriftwizard

Vanoonoo, how about going as a Clippy? Not the daft paperclip "helper" that a certain big computer company use, but a bus conductress? I think it'd be quite an easy look to cobble together; you just need a bit of ingenuity for the badge & the ticket machine.

pineapple

thriftwizard wrote: »

Preps in place now for the next month - we have two batches of German students staying, starting tomorrow with 3 boys aged 13 & 14 for two weeks, then quick turnaround for 2 x 14 y.o. girls. There are boxes of plain crisps, muesli bars & healthy snacks for their lunchboxes, a couple of 8Kg sacks of flour to make rolls & bread daily,

I don't know if it's a German thing or if the family was just odd :eek: but way back sometime in the last century when I was an exchange student over there, we used to have that beautiful continental bread for breakfast with wafer thin rectangles of chocolate on top. It was delicious if not exactly healthy. Sounds strange maybe - there again we have Nutella spread and chocolate croissants ...

pineapple

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Why are people obsessed with dates on tins :huh:

Because some people think it makes sense to rotate stock so that they use the oldest first. (count me in that group). Btw this doesn't necessarily mean they will chuck any out of date stuff.
You may call this daft or paranoia, others might call it good housekeeping.
Comments like this (along with the puzzled smiley) do come across as a tad smug/superior I'm afraid. To each his or her own.

ginnyknit

Thank you for telling me what my weed is, I know it wont help but I can now swear at it by name :rotfl: One good thing when you pull it lots of it comes at once.

annie123

Lightening about to strike signs but these teenagers didn't know them.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2381677/How-know-youre-struck-lightning-Picture-brothers-hair-end-minutes-before.html

OK it's unlikely to happen but it does to some so make sure you and your family know what to do, especially if you are caught outside.

http://www.webmd.com/news/20130607/what-to-do-when-lightning-strikes?page=2

[Deleted User]

I'm not trying to be smug or superior.

I just don't understand why people get so hung up about BBE Dates.

Mankind managed for centuries without them.

thriftwizard

Bedsit Bob, I'm very laid back about dates etc. but mankind has also managed for centuries without the benefit of some of our more dubious attempts to keep things looking saleable for longer... I'd trust a properly made full-fat "peasant" cheese to last a lot longer than an attractive-looking supermarket reduced-fat variety any day. There's no knowing what that cocktail of chemicals could be mutating into. So although by & large I'm not at all fussed about dates, there are things I'd be wary of running too far past the BBE/BBF date.

Perplexed_Pineapple

thriftwizard wrote: »

Bedsit Bob, I'm very laid back about dates etc. but mankind has also managed for centuries without the benefit of some of our more dubious attempts to keep things looking saleable for longer... I'd trust a properly made full-fat "peasant" cheese to last a lot longer than an attractive-looking supermarket reduced-fat variety any day. There's no knowing what that cocktail of chemicals could be mutating into. So although by & large I'm not at all fussed about dates, there are things I'd be wary of running too far past the BBE/BBF date.

I don't think you need to worry too much about mutating chemicals. I'd say for fresh foods you are pretty safe, if it smells, looks and tastes ok it almost certainly is, and if it's bit off you'd be very unlucky to have worse than a gyppy tummy for a day or two. The one that scares me is botulism in canned/sealed goods. You can't taste or smell it, and in a SHTF situation without proper medical care you will probably die. On the other hand people have been canning goods for hundreds of years (I've heard that Napoleon's army invented the concept) so you'd be pretty unlucky to get that.

ALIBOBSY

The thing is that use by dates are more important to watch as they are on perishable items-mostly dairy that have a short life even if you make them yourself-hence why people used to turn milk into cheese/butter etc to preserve it for longer/use up milk on the turn.

However best before dates are meaningless from a health point of view and simply mean that after that date the product may not be quite as good tasting ie. may be softer/harder than it was when fresher. This is why companies like approved foods can legally sell products outside the best before dates, but not the use by dates.

TBH I rely on common sense-smell and look of something and have eaten and drunk milk/yoghurts etc just after the date.

Most of our meat comes from a local farm butchers shop so doesn't have dates on. Their beef is hung for far longer than the super market stuff-all dark red and tasty so I have no qualms keeping it for well over a week or more.

The reality is if a product is being cooked the heat should kill any bacteria, although you need to watch with rice. I also think it depends on the age and health of the people eating something, I am more aware of being careful for little ones or older folk.

I do try to put newer stuff to the back of the tin/packet cupboard, but don't obsess and tbh I don't recall checking a date on a tin ever lol.

This has reminded me of a Christmas many years ago. Sadly my Grandad (mums Dad) died in the second week of December so things were a bit downbeat. My other Gran (Dad's mum) invited us all for tea just before the big day. My Mum, her Mum, my aunty and uncle, My Dad, me and my sister.

My Gran (who was a bit daffy and I am told I am like her-never throw anything away, stocked up to the rafters, being generally a bit "odd") decided to make a trifle. She made up a jelly earlier in the fridge and the birds custard powder came out. When she went to check on things to add the whipped cream the custard had sunk into the jelly that had failed to set badly in places, but solid in others. Mum found the jelly packet in the bin to find the best before date was 13 years before ROFL. From a very sad atmosphere we all had a wonderful laugh and yes we all ate the mixed up trifle with cream on top. My dear old granddad would have loved it.

Sorry miles off topic, but made me smile anyway lol.

Ali x