The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

houseinafield

Si_Clist said:

houseinafield said:

...  We don't eat a lot of meat but we eat fish a few times a week - mostly tinned - and quite a lot of milk and eggs. I've been buying Nido (more than usual thanks to you!) but it'll be interesting to see how it turns out in the drier.

Thanks for that   And this is exactly what I meant about alternative viewpoints. We don't eat much meat either apart from chicken, so we keep good stocks of tins of corned beef and Tesco's various tinned chicken meals (the £1.50) ones, all of which have very good shelf lives.  Like you, we don't eat much fish either apart from tinned, so that's what we keep stocks of.  We also use quite a lot of milk, so we too use Nido (now there's a surprise!).  And as for eggs, we fall back on powdered whole egg, which comes in with the best part of a year to BBE.

We therefore manage very well for the items you've mentioned by just buying them and putting them in the cupboard, so I guess either I'm missing the point (which is more than likely), or you're going to freeze dry other stuff which justifies the expense and the running cost. 

Sorry but I'm intrigued by this, so the next (and hopefully final) question has to be - are you reckoning on using it for fruit and veg?

For dietary reasons we can't eat tinned meat or chicken and like you, we eat more chicken than meat. When we do eat meat it tends to be cooked in bulk ie a couple of kilos of mince cooked with onions etc, rebagged and back in the freezer in smaller amounts. Same with stewing steak and the occasional joint of lamb - roasted and sliced and back in the freezer. With the FD I can bag it and it doesn't have to take up freezer space. Same with fish which we have fresh probably once a week (and tinned once a week too). My sister keeps chickens and in the summer has dozens of eggs every couple of days so we can dry and powder those at very little cost. I also want to freeze dry meals. And yes, fruit and veg. One of my primary reasons for this method of preserving food is to stop relying on the freezer but I have other reasons (some a bit morbid!!).

The expense and running cost is being shared but has been calculated and taken into account . From everything I've read and seen, I think inflation is going to hit even harder than it is now so I'd like to try and get ahead of it.  

Si_Clist

Ah, thanks for the explanation.  I think the main thing that had me scratching my head was the running cost, but if the sums work for you, it's all good.  If ever you find a magic method for storing 50-75Kg of home-grown spuds without having the benefit of suitable cool, dry, frost-free storage, do please let us know.  What with the bottling, the Mylar bags and the air-drying, spuds are the only real problem we still have.

Too damned right about inflation, btw ...

tboo

CCW007 said:

steri strips. 

Thanks for the tip.

Went to the nearest town that has a Wilkos and purchased 2.

Rather than £1.20 each it seems they were on offer @£1.80 for 2.

When passing I shall obtain a few more. At that price, it will be rude not to.

pollyanna_26

MingVase said:

Monday is my mother's birthday, she was born 106 years ago, in 1916.. She had me later in life but I'm 71. No wonder I feel like the world is changing far too much now   I'm a museum piece!

EDITED because I canny count.

I've been catching up on posts I missed after sending my laptop flying down the stairs a few weeks ago and waiting for a replacement.

Both mum and dad were born in 1912, my brother who must have been born towards the end of WW2 must have been about 4 when I was born in 1948 just a few days before the free NHS as mum mentioned

often through the years as though I could have saved the cost of Dr and midwife by staying put a few more days. i must have been about 3 when my brother died. I'm 73 now so if you're a museum piece what does that make me?

I do remember as a teenager in the 60s a number of the neighbours and some of my friends viewing me as being a bit strange because I'd chosen not to jump into marriage . Many married then as soon as they were old enough but when my late first husband and I married the day before my21st birthday I was considered old!  At least it stopped the being left on the shelf comments but looking back now it seems odd to be expected to go straight into marriage without having time to work out what you wanted from life.

After my lovely husband died I did the reverse and married some years later and lived to regret it. i must have been bonkers.

I've never felt old always forever young in my head but this has made me think.

No one treats me as old and even with Arthritis and Fibro I can still outpace someone if needed as I discovered a few years ago when I'd collected youngests meds and had a strange man trying to catch up with me who'd been in the pharmacy watching them checking all the meds. , Then 1st sudden lockdown day once more being followed by a total stranger and putting a spurt on to SBs to shake him off. Luckily they've known me for years so the cashier pressed the alarm under the counter as he followed me in and security came running then the police.

The only positive about the toxic ex 2nd husband is I learned while married to him how to stay quiet while working with our local police and the courts towards the day he was ordered over 20 miles away from us, never to contact and an enduring power of arreest with the promise of a long prison term . That 3rd and final case saw him gone for good. he biggest bullies can be total cowards when faced with the threat of prison, no alcohol, mind bending drugs but bigger bullies than him scared him off.

it sounds odd but the secret, quiet getting rid of an abuser is a form of prepping. people judge the police a lot now but the local police were a strong supportive team who saw straight through him and worked hard on our behalf day or night.

pollyx

Floss

Si_Clist said:

... We don't eat much meat either apart from chicken, so we keep good stocks of tins of corned beef and Tesco's various tinned chicken meals (the £1.50) ones, all of which have very good shelf lives...

Could I be nosy & ask which Tesco tinned meals you buy?

Si_Clist

Floss said:

Si_Clist said:

... We don't eat much meat either apart from chicken, so we keep good stocks of tins of corned beef and Tesco's various tinned chicken meals (the £1.50) ones, all of which have very good shelf lives...

Could I be nosy & ask which Tesco tinned meals you buy?

Certainly! FWIW in decreasing order of quantity stockpiled it's the Chicken in White Sauce, Chicken Sweet & Sour, Chicken Curry and Chicken Tikka Masala.  We've also got a few Stewed Steak and some Chicken Casseroles just in case (of what, I'm not sure).  They all cost £1.50 (but not for much longer, I suspect) and one tin is the main ingredient for a meal for both of us.

The C in WS is actually quite yummy straight out the tin cold, and it certainly keeps lots longer than those plastic pot things of constipated Coronation Chicken.  Normally though we bung some pre-cooked home-grown dried beans in the pan along with a tinful of whichever one to make a bit more of a meal of it.

(YMMMV, but we reckon there's more meat in the Tesco tins than in the same things with the Prince's label on ...

tboo

Si_Clist said:

We don't eat much meat either apart from chicken, so we keep good stocks of tins of corned beef and Tesco's various tinned chicken meals (the £1.50) ones, all of which have very good shelf lives. 

Sorry, that'll teach me to speed read.

I read that as tinned chicken. Saw one in the US and it looked gross (and I bet it tasted gross as well).

GaleSF63

Floss said:

Si_Clist said:

... We don't eat much meat either apart from chicken, so we keep good stocks of tins of corned beef and Tesco's various tinned chicken meals (the £1.50) ones, all of which have very good shelf lives...

Could I be nosy & ask which Tesco tinned meals you buy?

I was off to the Tesco website to see what the tinned chicken at £1.50 was as I've only seen it at £1.65 (Tulip). Like tboo I missed the "meals" at first.

Searching tinned chicken only brings up cat and dog food!

Searching chicken brought up 771 items. The way to get to it was to use the categories  - and then more categories. 
I already have a few in my stash, but had more or less forgotten about them, and I think it's time to use some and replace them - or rather replace then use, in case they are out of them. 

The ones I have tried - Chicken in White Sauce and Sweet and Sour chicken have been very nice. 

Thanks for the reminder Si Clist. 

-taff

Si_Clist said:

The C in WS is actually quite yummy straight out the tin cold

The best thing for a vol au vent.. loved those...

GaleSF63

Si_Clist said:

Floss said:

Si_Clist said:

... We don't eat much meat either apart from chicken, so we keep good stocks of tins of corned beef and Tesco's various tinned chicken meals (the £1.50) ones, all of which have very good shelf lives...

Could I be nosy & ask which Tesco tinned meals you buy?

Certainly! FWIW in decreasing order of quantity stockpiled it's the Chicken in White Sauce, Chicken Sweet & Sour, Chicken Curry and Chicken Tikka Masala.  We've also got a few Stewed Steak and some Chicken Casseroles just in case (of what, I'm not sure).  They all cost £1.50 (but not for much longer, I suspect) and one tin is the main ingredient for a meal for both of us.

The C in WS is actually quite yummy straight out the tin cold, and it certainly keeps lots longer than those plastic pot things of constipated Coronation Chicken.  Normally though we bung some pre-cooked home-grown dried beans in the pan along with a tinful of whichever one to make a bit more of a meal of it.

(YMMMV, but we reckon there's more meat in the Tesco tins than in the same things with the Prince's label on ...

They've already had one sneaky price rise by reducing the amount in the tin - can't remember when exactly but sometime in the last year I think.