Preparedness for when

daz378

ta very muchly for spices info.... powdered mustard and black peppercorn and loads and loads of dupiaza....:)

elaine241

Hello All

Just got back from "the big smoke", well Cardiff, where I was buying fabric and thermal bonded lining for roman blinds for the kitchen. We are doing the oldfashioned barter system with a friend of mine, she is making the blinds and we are renewing her soakaway in the garden.

Regarding herbs, spices etc for SHTF meals I suggest going into an asian or chinese supermarket. The area the fabric shops were in was one with several of this type of shop, with Halal fresh meat butchers, goat meat etc available. Wandering up and down the aisles was eye opening and a little confusing. Good value herbs, spices, spice mixes, every bean, rice, wheat, flour, seeds etc you could think of and several 100 you couldnt!!! If you stocked up on the dried ingredients alone you would never get bored!!
I ended up buying Gram flour, cardamons, coriander and cumin spice mix, tandoori masala dry mix, tins of chickpeas (30p) tins toms (22p), two kilos of fine bulghar wheat, and some great big flat breads, freshly baked sort of cross between a naan and wrap but twice the size. All were a fraction of the supermarket prices and will keep well if stored airtight in the dark.

The large sacks of rice, flours, beans, etc were exceptional value but we couldnt carry them as the car was miles away. I found the Halal butchers facinating but not for the squeamish! No vacuum packed chickens here , they could look you in the eye!! The butcher was a bit bemused when I was asking him about goat, mutton, sheeps head and other unidentified (:eek:) cuts until I explained I was a farmer and just interested. Had to tell him the last time I had mutton it was delivered as a skinned, thankfully headless, whole carcass that I had to "learn" how to cut up and joint on my kitchen table!!

I am quietly building up a collection of fully functioning parraffin lamps as a prep and they make nice ornaments. The candles seem to be breeding! I cant remember buying the 100's that I keep finding tucked in drawers.
I am another wood burner fan, although I had no choice for years as it was the only source of heat and hot water until we put in a back up LPG gas boiler. Even now wood is our primary source of heat as it is free; we get lots of quality wood from jobs and trees falling down on our and FIL ground. One prep sorely lacking this year, so far, is our wood pile! Usually the old cow shed attached to the house is stocked right up by Sept but this year we have all been so busy it is scarily empty. We will have to have a day or three splitting and stacking logs. It is often a family affair with OH splitting the seasoned large rounds/logs of wood on the log splitter attached to the back of the tractor ( great fun to use and saves so much time!), my boys barrowing the split logs into the shed and me stacking them and sorting them. A good few hours usually results in a few months supply stacked in, we will have to pull our finger out especially if we have a cold winter!

I have been picking up hand crochet blankets in CS when I have seen them. I have several around the house folded over the back of chairs, in the office, play room etc I like them as they are hand made and each is unique as well as being warm to wrap yourself in when sitting. They are reasonably cheap , I picked up one almost single bed sized for £1.99 the other day. I have my eye on an 100% heavy wool blaanket in a CS near work, its an unappealling brown colour and I'm not sure if it is good value at £6? keep waiting for them to reduce it as I am tight!

Just glanced at my dry ingredient preps, peas, flours, bean, grains etc hope the SHTF doesnt happen it will be a windy affair!! :rotfl:

Keep safe everyone! Elaine

FairyPrincessk

Just going to pop my head 'round for the seasoning conversation, as it is something I like to ruminate on.

In addition to those mentioned, I'd also suggest cumin and ginger. I keep an ample supply of dry stuff. Cumin would be one of my 'desert island' spices, and might help to mask the flavour of some of those, ahem, [STRIKE]rats[/STRIKE] alternative meats discussed.

I'd also suggest vinegars. I'm not talking the fancy ones, just a basic red, white, balsamic and possibly rice wine. They're usually around £1/bottle and will keep for ages (balsmic is a bit more, but Aldi do a bottle that I believe is under £2). They can help make great sauces, can add lots of flavour to simple soups and stews made with little or no meat, can help to flavour stir fries and can also liven up raw veggies as salad dressing. Of course, if you store plain white vinegar it is also useful for food preservation.

I'll just back out the door quietly now, back into lurkdom.

thriftwizard

Why haven't they built new power stations?

Could it be because our power supply isn't in the hands of the Grubbymint any longer, but those of private companies, who would have to spend - sorry, invest - rather a lot of money on building new plants? Money which would not then be available for their shareholders' dividends?

ALIBOBSY

Doveling wrote: »

Sad news over the weekend. A friend of ours has been kiled in an accident. Makes you think hard, keep prepping but don't forget to live a little as well.

Margaret - yes Future Learn looks good thank you. But just lost my headspace for anything new.
Mrs.LW - those snow boots sound fab!

We would like a woodburner which can run the central heating and which we could also cook on; any recommendations? Also, which pans?

Sorry Doveling, always a horrible part of life losing people around us but it kind of puts things into persective.

A woodburner is on our to get list as well.

Ali x

sorryImoved

I read about onions being given away as prizes during WWII because they were hard to get. I have a few cans of dehydrated onion in my stocks. Can't imagine doing without onions. Tomato powder is another dehydrated item I think people should stock. Can be made into ketchup, tomato paste, tomato sauce and used for flavoring in soups.

GreyQueen

Upsidedownbear - I wish! That girl is such a show-off!

sorryImoved, onions were scarce the first year of the war becauce we'd been in the habit of importing them. They do grow in the UK but they're never as good as the ones which grow in southern Europe. From reading American novels I think what you lot refer to as 'yellow onions' is what we'd call white onions - white flesh with yellow skins? I grow my own onions, both white and red, they're pretty idiot-proof to grow.

An onion is a prosaic and undervalued item until you don't have them, then you realise just how crucial they are to most recipes.

I'm now itching to get into some more seasonings. I have some errands after work today which will take me near a 99p shop so will aim to mosey on into that and see what they stock.

In fact, I think I shall now incorporate a tiddly red onion into my brekkie omlette. Lifted the red onions last weekend and brought some of them down to the flat, inc a few tiddlers which didn't get much bigger than the onion set I started with. Most of them are pretty good-sized, honest.

Actually, having produce like onions in a variety of calibers means that I can choose the one which is the best fit for the purpose and not have half-onions cluttering up the fridge in my diddy Pyrex dishes.

[Deleted User]

Someone was asking, a few days ago, about gas cannisters for the flat stove.

Well, for anyone who isn't close to a B&M Bargains, this might be a good option.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0057XHOKY/ref=pe_333451_53737621_em_1p_0_ti

Price is £28-80 (with free UK delivery), making it just 87p more expensive, than getting the same quantity from B&M.

ETA: In case anyone is wondering, how much cooking you will get for your £28-80, as some of you may remember, I did a test a while back, to determine how long one cannister will last.

Well, based on that test, those 28 cannisters will last around 42 hours (on full power) and boil around 308 litres of water.

thriftwizard

Doveling, adding my commiserations too; losing someone that close so suddenly is a big & very nasty shock.

Woodburner-wise, a lot depends on what size room you have, and what chimney arrangements; we have a tiny (12' x 12') living room, and most of our local suppliers weren't able to come up with a stove that small (5Kw) that we could use to cook on, because they are all "tied" to the big suppliers. I've found a stove that suits (the Glastonbury Typhon, in red) but now I'm struggling to find a supplier who will fit it, because it doesn't come pre-HETAS-approved! Must chase up one independent fitter for a quote today...

fuddle

elaine go for that blanket nooooooow :rotfl: 100% wool and thick and chunky. Heck £6 wouldn't buy you a good quality ball these days. Jealous much!

By the way... brown is a money saving colour I think. What the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve and the lady doesn't need to wash as much