Prepping for Brexit thread

Primrose

I think perhaps the secret of using tinned veg is to mix it in with some fresh veg is something like soup where the flavour all tend to blend together.  If you have fresh veg with a strong flavour  like onion, garlic,  celery In a liquid mixture some of the other flavours are dissipated.  Not really soup making weather but perhaps worth a try when the weather gets colder.
Alternatively  try mixing some of them in a cottage or shepherds pie mixture where you have other strong meat flavours to distract. 

Greenglockenspiel

I think tinned peas are ok as long as you rinse them well, and are better in a sauce/gravy than alone. I tried tinned spinach and tinned onion in a curry but couldn’t stomach them either - so slimy. I think tinned green beans and tinned mushrooms worked ok in a curry/casserole though. Tinned carrots are also basically fine in all carrot situations albeit a bit softer than I would normally cook them. Tinned potatoes are ok in mash or potato salad and I’ve also made potato cakes from them.

I think tinned fruit can be a bit hit and miss as well. I find tinned pineapple such a disappointment but I love tinned apple and tinned berries in a crumble. I’ve never found blackcurrants fresh in a supermarket but you can get them in a tin. Imo it’s wise to buy a single tin of something and try it before stocking up on dozens. I am glad not to have lots of tins of onions knocking about after the first experience!

Primrose

The best way of using preserved mushrooms is to buy them dried.  You can buy large jars of them on the Internet, various mixed varieties.  The jars are expensive but you use very few at a time because their flavours intensify with drying and a little goes a long way. You just need to soak them for a few minutes first and the liquid you soak them in is full of flavour and can then be added to stews, sauces etc.  A jar of them is one of our permanent storecupboard items.

-taff

You can also get them when Lidls have an italian week. 1.50 for a pack of porcini mushrooms, which is good value I think considering you don't have to use many to get a good flavour. Add a few crushed into a spag bo and it makes it taste meatier.

DigForVictory

Not just the food larder - stock up on fabrics (the Christmas patterns are currently discounted) & get the sewing machine overhauled. Zips, hooks and eyes, buttons, knitting wools (needles & crochet hooks), at least one pair of really sharp scissors for fabric & Very Distinct Other for patterns. Need I say elastic & bias for mask ties?

Then the pharmacy - everything you usually need over winter, cough mixtures, pain killers, A Dental Kit (one minimum), essential oils if you use them, menthol crystals to get everything flowing when you're stuffed with cold, plus hot & cold pads, the doings to make lavender or wheat bags for specific aches and anything you keep in for pets (deserving their own section but I can barely afford sons).

Gardens do slow down over winter, but have the tackle ready to jump as soon as you begin to feel hopeful the ice has receded far enough to start seeds. Before then is prime jamming, bottling & canning season, so if you might be short of jars, lids, tongs now, let alone sugar, pectin and vinegar, act? 

I believe you can buy disks of books for those planning a holiday - may be worth sourcing a couple such so you do not run out of reading matter. Me, I spend a couple of days each year downloading from Project Gutenberg so I can research the past & share the dear-Gods-looks-at-This! stuff while folk have a few minutes to appreciate it. Staple reference books, bough at penny rates off Amazon (you do not need Brand New, just extreme caution can work out very expensive), are absolutely worth it - you may want to develop skills & not be able to get to teachers.

High summer should make it cheaper to get winter tyres. Keep an eye out for car survival kit stuff, repurpose the waterbottle noone loves for in the car, have a bag to swing things like a first aid kit, tow rope, jump leads, hi vis gilet, spare glasses (if you have them), spare fleece blanket, foil blankets, etc into. All that stuff they recommend each autumn & you'd "look a right burke carrying on the bus" to quote the old joke - now is a spolendid time to dust ioff, check & pack ready. Or set a reminder in the calendar to check & stock on. The winter survival Kendal Mint Cake does have a shelf life - remember to whip it out & enjoy it or donate it six months earlier...

[Deleted User]

I've dried mushrooms very successfully in the dehydrator but only the ones from the shop and they reconstitute with a different chewier texture which we don't like.  If I dry any more I'll bone dry them and then grind them very fine to use in soups.

Primrose

Yes, all varieties of dried mushrooms do have a chewier texture.  You get used to it but it does seem a little strange at first. 

nannygladys

I have been restocking my cupboards as I used quite a bit up over 'don't go out' lockdown. So its all the tins and dried stuff already mentioned and the cleaning, washing and toiletries oh and OTC medicines, but only stuff I like and will use, I have learnt the hard way and ended up with some toiletries I couldn't stand the smell off and some tinned carrots! mind you my daughter benefitted and thought it was great!!!

I have started doing my grocery shop once a fortnight, so I always buy an extra four things when I go, I have been concentrating on tea coffee and sugar the last couple of times, I think it may be tomato related the next couple of times! and I make sure I don't use them by keeping them separate I know its a slow way of building up stocks but as an oap its the sensible way for me. 
Nannyg

boultdj

As someone who is younger I agree with your sensible way nannygladys, I get 2 extra things a week, been topping up herbs and spices last month, cleaning stuff is this months aims.

missychrissy

I think it’s important to remember to rotate your stores and use the oldest first. It’s so easy for things to get pushed to the back or the bottom and get forgotten about. I know I’ve done it. Even dried foods, herbs and spices and tinned goods have a limited lifespan. I try to go through all my food cupboards once a year and make sure all things with shortest date life go to the front and anything that’s passed it’s bb date goes out on worktop to remind me to use it. 

I clearly hadn’t done every cupboard for a while. About 3 weeks into lockdown my youngest son asked me if I had any bread flour and yeast as he couldn’t get any. I went through the cupboards and found a full 1.5kg, unopened bag of strong white flour dated bbd 2016  and some dried yeast in the fridge bbd 2017. He gave them a go and they made perfectly good bread. Because the
flour was in a shallow wall cupboard I thought I knew everything in there and had missed it.