Thriftlady's wartime experiment

Primrose

Talking of teabags i,m reusing mine to make them last longer  as ai alway  have one beaker of tea.  Immediately after dunking it I put it into a clear beaker and cover it with a saucer to keep it free from germs for the next use.  Works fine.  By the way does anybody  know of any ground coffee bags which might work in the same way?  We have a one portion Bodium ground coffee Cartier but it's messy to empty to clean and it occurred to me that coffee bags might be easier especially if they could be used a second time (as I don't like strong coffee).

[Deleted User]

In wartime people used to save used tealeaves and dry them to use again, it's said that the tea was nicer second time around?

Coffee bags are a great idea, I would think if you didn't leave them to soak for too long the first time round they might make a second brew in the same way, you might have to let them 'steep' for longer second time round but we've none of us the need for hurry these days have we?

herlig

Gammon steaks freeze in very little space. I used to use one per pan of broth but these days I'm down to half a steak per pan. The way I do it concentrates on getting the protein from a table spoon of green lentil, tablespoon on red and a tablespoon of pearl or spelt barley. The veg is squishy potatoes, bendy carrots, softening leeks and onions. If I have them great, if not well whatever veg for a veg soup. Add either veg stock cubs or (especially if leeks are lacking) a bit of celery salt and pepper. I then blitz. Yes I blitz a broth. It makes a very thick, very filling greeny orange soup that family members enjoy, is nutritious, balanced, doesn't require a lot of any one ingredient and cm be tweaked. 

When I don't have any fresh vegetables left I am going to have to rely on dried vegetables, most of which is out of date in May. I have had those stocks a very long time and it looks like fate will see they will be useful just in time. 

Siebrie

I've just shared two oranges with my 2 daughters; a saving of 1 orange (2 oranges for 3 people).

MrsCD

Taylors of Harrogate make coffee bags. I don't drink coffee, but they have very good reviews.

tboo

MrsLurcherwalker said:

In wartime people used to save used tealeaves and dry them to use again, it's said that the tea was nicer second time around?

Coffee bags are a great idea, I would think if you didn't leave them to soak for too long the first time round they might make a second brew in the same way, you might have to let them 'steep' for longer second time round but we've none of us the need for hurry these days have we?

MrsCD said:

Taylors of Harrogate make coffee bags. I don't drink coffee, but they have very good reviews.

I get the coffee bags from Ringtons, they have been selling them for years. They suggest that you can use them twice and I do . Quite large bags - a bit bigger than a teabag

Siebrie

I have 2 mugs of coffee every morning. I make them one by one: the first one with the normal amount of ground coffee in the filter, then for the second one I add 2/3rds of a measuring spoon to the coffee grounds already in the filter. I don't taste the difference.

That being said: I am switching to 1 mug of coffee for the foreseeable future, and when all coffee is finished, I will switch to tea. My love of coffee is not so pressing that I'm willing to go into a supermarket, mingle, and touch a package that has been touched by uncountable hands.

My tea these days: I start the day with a mug of hot water and fresh thyme, in the afternoon I have boiling water with quinqueliba (dried, West-African herb with many healing properties), I may have a cup of boiling water with some fresh sage leaves, or some finely chopped ginger. Only occasionally do I drink proper black tea.

PipneyJane

Bumping up this thread again, because February is always a tight month moneywise and some people may find it useful.

- Pip

Primrose

Lockdown has meant that food items are being more carefully used to avoid having to visit the shops.
I often have a slice  of lemon  in a beaker of hot  water or a glass of G&T..  As I'm usually the only person in the house  to use them, when the container is drained I often put  them in a little dish in the fridge and reuse them.  Nobody is sharing my germs and they still add plenty of flavour second time round.

We recently made a batch of Seville orange marmalade .  I,d been reserving the skins of ordinary oranges for a couple of weeks and chopped them up and added them to the mixture as we like marmalade with extra peel in it.  The skins of grapefruit and lemons  can be added too if you like a marmalade with a slightly different zingy citrus flavour