The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

elaine241

Si_Clist said:

MrsCD said:

So global warming is all down to you, @Si_Clist

Guilty as charged, m'lady - says he sitting happily in the kitchen nice and warm thanks to the stove which is burning logs and thereby causing all manner of ills both to the planet and to those misguided souls who apparently can think of nothing of greater consequence to worry about

Nope! I am guilty of adding to the global warming! My woodturner has been flat out during this cold spell and I have turned into the heater police! If I find a heater on I turn it off!! The same for lights! The kids are awful about leaving things on, with the cost of electricity now, I am the ranting mum who shouts to turn things off, shut the door, put a jumper on etc etc Youngest said jokingly " I am off to school to get warm!"
We are lambing now so people are in and out at all times of the day and night, I can forgive them for zombie light leaving on as they are often very tired!

I have been adding to basic preps but I must confess I do not have a list of all my food preps!!! I do date everything and use in order although some are in plastic containers with no hint of a date! I think all of us are suffering from a bit of food anxiety due to our natures. Sometimes I wish I was part of the ignorant masses who do not worry or care about the things we discuss.

The cold snap has prevented me from sowing any seeds directly although there are some in modules and trays in the heath Robinson cold frame. I have one grow light looking after chilli and tomato plants in my dining room.

I have got some small beetroot and parsnips still in the ground from last year. I am hoping to use the beetroot in soup to see if my lot actually like it. Anyone know if the parsnips will be too old/woody? Can you can parsnips? I do not want to take up freezer space with loads of parsnips. I have loads of potatoes still in the ground from last year. I dug up some and they were fine, not starting to sprout and tasted lovely. 

RAS

Parsnip are OK until the flower stem starts to develop. I tend to chop finely and make soup. Parsnip and apple's good for using up the butt end of both.

Lambing is brutal; don't know how people cope.

MrsCD

Beetroot cake is nice, and could you 'can' parsnip puree? It could be used for soup, or mixed in with mashed potato for a topping on cottage pie etc.

Suffolksue

Curried parsnip soup is lovely 

CCW007

elaine241 said:

Si_Clist said:

MrsCD said:

So global warming is all down to you, @Si_Clist

Guilty as charged, m'lady - says he sitting happily in the kitchen nice and warm thanks to the stove which is burning logs and thereby causing all manner of ills both to the planet and to those misguided souls who apparently can think of nothing of greater consequence to worry about

I have got some small beetroot and parsnips still in the ground from last year. I am hoping to use the beetroot in soup to see if my lot actually like it. Anyone know if the parsnips will be too old/woody? Can you can parsnips? I do not want to take up freezer space with loads of parsnips. I have loads of potatoes still in the ground from last year. I dug up some and they were fine, not starting to sprout and tasted lovely. 

I have canned parsnips, they are quite soft so best for soup although I do roast them however they don't really crisp up like fresh roast parsnips.  500ml 30 minutes at 10lb.

I've also done "stew veg" jars with carrots, swede and parsnips but again they are very soft so may be best for mashing.

Si_Clist

elaine241 said:

... I have loads of potatoes still in the ground from last year. I dug up some and they were fine, not starting to sprout and tasted lovely. 

I don't get this.  Why aren't they all slugged?  What's your secret?  In 30-odd years of determined tatey-growing, we've only once had maincrop spuds without slug damage and that was when we made the big mistake of growing Golden Wonder.  (They cropped like mad but had the consistency of cannon balls, so we assume the slugs gave up and found something easier to eat.)
Nematodes help a lot and are worth the expense for us, but even then we still get some sluggery going on ...

Frugalfaffing

CCW007 said:

Si_Clist said:

CCW007 said:

... I've asked muvva if she can remember how much it cost

I'd be interested to know the make and model.

Will check at the weekend and report back - garage door currently broken so I can't get in there until it's fixed!

OH recently threatened to throw away my out of date oats so I figured I'd better use them up and replace them with in-date ones.  I do like overnight oats.  Not much of a sweet / dessert person but I could do crumble and hobnobs.  OH likes his porridge Scottish style but not keen on using these as they are OOD.  Any other suggestions?

I found 2kgs of oats that were 1 year out of date & been using them this last week. They were totally fine . 

weenancyinAmerica

Do you think the old Scots families worried about how out-of-date the oats were? And how really dumb it sounds to worry about the out of date labels on some foods. As long as the bugs haven't moved in, they should be okay. 

CCW007

I'm not worried about the dates but there's no point storing something and not using it so I was looking for ideas to use these up over time and then will replace them with fresh.

basketcase

weenancyinAmerica said:

Do you think the old Scots families worried about how out-of-date the oats were? And how really dumb it sounds to worry about the out of date labels on some foods. As long as the bugs haven't moved in, they should be okay. 

And, of course, if they haven't gone sour as some foods do.

Does anyone know of a list of foods that are OK to ignore when OOD (unless, as you say, the bugs have moved in!) and those you really shouldn't use?  Fish, obviously.  Do nut products go off - if so, how?

Maybe one for the Cost of Living thread?  Or the no food waste?