The Home Front meets Covid-19

Pyxis

Suz1949 said:

My husband has had the letter about shielding.  On Wednesday I contacted Te##o and was told I would be given a priority slot, it hasn't happened.  As#a contacted me, the only slot available was in three weeks time.  Morris##n have been superb.  They have an "essential" list that you can order from and they deliver within 24 hours, a nice touch is they usually include a little gift.  The number is 0345 611 6111 option 5.  Apologies if this info has been posted elsewhere.

I’ve only managed to get two h9me deliveries since lockdown......one was with Waitrose, which was sheer good luck by being online when one popped up, but haven’t been able to get another. 

The other one was with Morrisons, which was much easier. It arrived today, and I booked it three weeks ago, so my list has been growing! 
There are only three Morrison’s within a thirty mile radius of me, and I didn’t even know where there the nearest one was! I was really pleased to get a slot, and although the availability of fresh stuff was a bit limited, I have been able to replenish my dwindling stocks of other things by making substitutions and compromises.

I have also been able to book another one for two weeks time, despite nothing with Waitrose or Sainsbury’s!

And yes, I got a free gift too...two gingerbread men as  a thankyou for shopping with them! Most unexpected!

Am currently having a rest from quarantining most of the shopping. I will have to tackle washing the packs of fresh herbs and the few veg I was able to get next.
 Yummily, I got some liquorice toffees from them, which makes up for the lack of Caramac!
Have had three, and am about to have a fourth! 😁🍬🍬🍬

C_J

Suz, I think it helps if you set up an account with Tesco using the email address you gave when your husband registered on the government shielding site. They will have been given this email address, and their computer systems will recognise it if you are an existing customer (but can't link you to a priority slot if your existing Tesco account has a different email address).  You should find if the email addresses match, you will see one or two days a week from which you can choose a priority slot with immediate effect (though it may take a few days from changing your email for the system to find it). When you log in to book a delivery, there is a little button on the right hand side of the page which says Priority, and you have to click on that to see the slots which have been reserved for you. You can only specify a morning or afternoon delivery and not a time slot, and Tesco charge £2 for delivery. I hope that helps!

Suz1949

Thanks, I will try again.  The lady I spoke to said I had to click onto the priority button but it wasn't there.  Will look again.

Hobsons_Choice

I had an email yesterday from the Co-op to say they were doing a free delivery service. Might be worth a try?

We're OK because our son does the shopping for us, but I'm thinking it might give him a rest and he won't need to put himself at risk so much (it worries me)!

cuddlymarm

If you have someone that can collect a click and collect for you Asda seem to be ok for those. I think orders over £25 don’t charge a fee.

Suz1949

All sorted with a Morrison order being delivered Tuesday.  Thanks everyone!

MrsCD

Nice surprise today. Oldest daughter managed to buy both plain and self raising flour from our local post office/shop. They delivered it to her door as she's not going out unless she has to. She got 3kg of each for herself, her sister and me, all weighed and packaged in big plastic bags! I called around to collect them, she left the box on her doorstep for me to pick up, then I did the same for her sister. Nice not to have to think about it for a while. 😊

cuddlymarm

Good morning guys 
I finally had a meltdown just before the weekend about how much weight we were all putting on and how badly we have been eating. One of the things I can control is trying to keep us healthy so now we are on three healthy meals a day, No sweeties and only the occasional cake or pudding as part of the meals. Cereal for breakfast and a cooked lunch and dinner and no snacks now. The cost was creeping up too. I think in the beginning grazing was a way to cope with the boredom but as this way of living could be the new normal it’s time to take control.
Personally I think it’s time to start thinking ahead. Our income has dropped substantially because OH is self employed and his work has dried up ( and even when he goes back social distancing will be a problem so he’s started looking for something else) I’m lucky that I’ve been furloughed so we won’t starve. But life can’t be on hold forever and we will have to eventually venture out to a whole new scary world. All we can do is to try and keep safe and hope that those around us are thinking the same way.
Anyway sorry for my musings
Have the best day you can, virtual hug your friends and relatives and keep safe
Cuddles 

Pyxis

cuddlymarm said:

Good morning guys 
I finally had a meltdown just before the weekend about how much weight we were all putting on and how badly we have been eating. One of the things I can control is trying to keep us healthy so now we are on three healthy meals a day, No sweeties and only the occasional cake or pudding as part of the meals. Cereal for breakfast and a cooked lunch and dinner and no snacks now. The cost was creeping up too. I think in the beginning grazing was a way to cope with the boredom but as this way of living could be the new normal it’s time to take control.
Personally I think it’s time to start thinking ahead. Our income has dropped substantially because OH is self employed and his work has dried up ( and even when he goes back social distancing will be a problem so he’s started looking for something else) I’m lucky that I’ve been furloughed so we won’t starve. But life can’t be on hold forever and we will have to eventually venture out to a whole new scary world. All we can do is to try and keep safe and hope that those around us are thinking the same way.
Anyway sorry for my musings
Have the best day you can, virtual hug your friends and relatives and keep safe
Cuddles 

I totally agree. Muse away! 😊

I found that I started thinking of food as ‘medicine’, that is, to keep the body healthy in order to fight any lurgies that might be hovering, which means not only even more fruit and veg than normal, (if that’s possible!😁),  but in particular, far more fresh herbs than normal. 
Fresh root turmeric, root ginger, fresh rosemary, tarragon, parsley, thyme, sage, basil, garlic,  black garlic, and if I can’t get fresh, then I use dried, like coriander. I chop them all up and add them to every single meal, regardless of whether they ‘go’ or not, as they contain so many nutrients. 
If I’m having a ready meal, I add them to that as well, before microwaving.

That’s not to say I don’t have Treat Food either, 😁, but I make sure I have that mixture of herbs every day. 

greenbee

Pyxis said:

cuddlymarm said:

Good morning guys 
I finally had a meltdown just before the weekend about how much weight we were all putting on and how badly we have been eating. One of the things I can control is trying to keep us healthy so now we are on three healthy meals a day, No sweeties and only the occasional cake or pudding as part of the meals. Cereal for breakfast and a cooked lunch and dinner and no snacks now. The cost was creeping up too. I think in the beginning grazing was a way to cope with the boredom but as this way of living could be the new normal it’s time to take control.
Personally I think it’s time to start thinking ahead. Our income has dropped substantially because OH is self employed and his work has dried up ( and even when he goes back social distancing will be a problem so he’s started looking for something else) I’m lucky that I’ve been furloughed so we won’t starve. But life can’t be on hold forever and we will have to eventually venture out to a whole new scary world. All we can do is to try and keep safe and hope that those around us are thinking the same way.
Anyway sorry for my musings
Have the best day you can, virtual hug your friends and relatives and keep safe
Cuddles 

I totally agree. Muse away! 😊

I found that I started thinking of food as ‘medicine’, that is, to keep the body healthy in order to fight any lurgies that might be hovering, which means not only even more fruit and veg than normal, (if that’s possible!😁),  but in particular, far more fresh herbs than normal. 
Fresh root turmeric, root ginger, fresh rosemary, tarragon, parsley, thyme, sage, basil, garlic,  black garlic, and if I can’t get fresh, then I use dried, like coriander. I chop them all up and add them to every single meal, regardless of whether they ‘go’ or not, as they contain so many nutrients. 
If I’m having a ready meal, I add them to that as well, before microwaving.

That’s not to say I don’t have Treat Food either, 😁, but I make sure I have that mixture of herbs every day. 

I've found that the difficult of getting hold of food at the start of this (bearing in mind I went into isolation on 6th March) really focussed my mind. My meal planning has become really important, and is done each week when my veg box delivery arrives. It's designed to ration the contents of the freezer and cupboards (much of which is stuff I don't usually eat, but keep for visitors) and make the most of the fresh stuff. Like Pyxis I do have treats, but am focussing on maximising nutrition.

I've been using an app to help with meal planning, so it gives me a rough idea of the protein/carbs/fats/fibre in my plan. I was using this before to help me get my head round low carb eating, and it has really helped me manage my calorie intake, keep my meals nutritionally balanced from a macro perspective, and make the most of the food I have. I've also been given advice on recovering from the virus (and more importantly, the antibiotic treatment for the secondary infection) which involves lots of fermented foods and trying to eat 30+ different plants a week. This is where the herbs and spices that Pyxis mentions really help in terms of adding variety. For example, todays breakfast of chopped apple (I have a LOT of apples to get through thanks to the lack of editing allowed on the veg box at the moment) and yogurt also has turmeric, cinnamon and ginger added to it, along with ground linseed and a few flaked almonds. So that's 5 different plants. Savoury meals have garlic chives, basil, parsley and coriander sprinkled over them (sometimes just the one, sometimes a mixture - it adds variety in terms of taste as well as nutrition.

Today's lunch is green soup made from stalks and leaves, lots of garlic and lemon and a spoonful of creme fraiche. I'll follow it with coleslaw with coriander.