Prepping: the new world...

Cherryfudge

That's a thought, @DigForVictory! Don't go for the washing machine - when there were floods locally many years ago, the water rose so fast that a lot of people were unable to save much from the ground floor. Someone I knew had laundry in the machine and the water shorted the door mechanism. By the time the floods went down, the clothes had been there so long that they went mouldy and had to be chucked.

It's good to know the flood risk for your area (its available online) and think about these things in advance if applicable.

weenancyinAmerica

The tag on my Thanksgiving turkey this year said to thaw out in sink with cold water or in the microwave if it couldn't be thawed in the refrigerator! Sink of water I had heard of - but not the microwave!

suzeesu2000

We keep our irreplaceable documents in a fireproof metal box upstairs. Fingers crossed we never have to see how effective it actually is!

DigForVictory

Met forecast for rain this Monday 1 Dec "The Met Office’s senior meteorologist Marco Petagna said: “Later today, we’ll start to see some wet and windy weather coming in from the west, and then for a very unsettled day for most parts of the UK going into tomorrow, particularly western parts of England, Wales and southwest Scotland as well. 

“We could see up to 120mm of rain, so almost five inches of rain in a few places, that’s on top of what’s been a pretty wet month already. We’re likely to see flooding issues, particularly across south Wales, through tomorrow.”

Mr Petagna said warnings could also be issued for later in the week, but it was too far ahead to be concerned about that, “given the high importance of the weather” on Monday."

Fruball

DryTheRain said:

Hi all again, it’s been a while but I hope you can help with some essential food prepping recommendations please 🙏

I remember the Jack Monroe list of basics but cannot seem to find it online anymore. The context is that I - and probably a couple of million others - are facing unduly early PIP reviews, with a horrific newly designed 88 question form. Cuts by any other name, it’s designed to be arduous and couched in inexplicable language and while I can huff and puff about it, the need for a backstop is very real.

There’s always Aldi and its indelible grain packs, plus my carer insisted on taking me out and kindly paid for a pub meal. Followed by a trip to the corner shop which was full of tuna tins and value packs of ready to eat wholefoods, like chickpeas. I will also be re-ordering Kewpie mayo from amazon, guaranteed to perk up almost every dish however basic.

Any further thoughts or tips would be really welcome though as I’m panicking not just a little but a lot x

Sorry things are tough for you.

I am cooking for one now and have noticed it is crazy, time consuming and expensive so I cook for 5, eat one and save 4.  I water bath can the rest in jars but you could freeze too.  It seems to be much cheaper to cook for 4/5 than one and I don't have to cook so often!  I also water bath can my soups in jars so they are shelf stable and I have a choice of what soup to take to work. There are some great canning groups on FB.  Stick to UK ones though! 

I stretch meals with any leftover veggies going soft in the fridge and add lentils to lots of things too.  Example, I had a jar of bolognese (home canned) in the cupboard but I also had some courgettes, leeks and carrots in the fridge that needed using up.  I cooked it all together and had a lovely pasta bolognese that would have served 2/3 on it's own, but with all the veg, it easily made 5 portions. 

Buying a whole chicken, cooking and stripping the meat off is cheaper than buying chicken breast etc.  I never buy ham anymore.  I buy a joint of gammon, cook, slice and vacuum seal for the freezer.  I also vacuum seal pate (never get through a whole pack before it goes off) and freeze that in portions too.

I rarely buy bread, but when I do it is really good sourdough.  I slice that and freeze.  

You can make a batch of jacket potatoes.  Microwave a whole bag of spuds until half done, chuck in the oven until done then once cooled, freeze.  They are great warmed up in the air fryer or even a microwave, they still have that oven cooked taste although not crispy.

I divide my cheese into smaller portions and vacuum seal.  It makes me more conscious of how much I am using. 

I hope this helps.  All the very best xx

DigForVictory

Aldi press release has declared its colours on the seasonal veg!

• Nature’s Pick White Potatoes (8p, 2kg)*
• Nature’s Pick Brussels Sprouts (8p, 500g)*
• Nature’s Pick Carrots (8p, 1kg)*
• Nature’s Pick Parsnips (16p, 2 packs, 8p each)*

*Aldi’s Super Six Christmas Veg offer will be available in stores from 18th-24th December.

Enjoy?

Cherryfudge

Am I imagining it, or is that really early to hear what the Christmas veg will be? Perhaps it's more a sign that we have an Ald1 opening next week and I'm all excited about it!

Favourite recipes for the above, anyone? I wish I could train my DH to love parsnips, but I will be making curried parsnip soup because I always do and it's handy for lunches. Sprouts - I'm sure my daughter does them in the oven and they are great, but I must remember to ask her if she puts anything with them. Carrots are easy and versatile, and so are potatoes, so I'm not too concerned about making good use of those. Where is the ubiquitous swede, though?

oceandreamer

@Cherryfudge We love sprouts in cheese sauce, sometimes add chorizo, ham or bacon and breadcrumbs on top.  My son airfries them,  
@Fruball thanks for the tip about batch cooking baked potatoes - I'm going to get a couple of bags of the cheap Xmas ones and do this!

Cherryfudge

oceandreamer said:

@Cherryfudge We love sprouts in cheese sauce, sometimes add chorizo, ham or bacon and breadcrumbs on top.  My son airfries them,  
@Fruball thanks for the tip about batch cooking baked potatoes - I'm going to get a couple of bags of the cheap Xmas ones and do this!

Thank you - I think I'd like the cheesy-chorizo mixture.

I've done batches of baked potatoes before and so long as they are potatoes that were good for baking in the first place, it seems to work well and retains an oven-baked flavour after freezing.

DigForVictory

This morning, in the dark, cold & lashing rain apparently called Storm Bran, I found myself stuck in a queue of traffic not quite parked on an Mway. I was recently fed, dressed for the rain & surprised by all the tail lights, so when the traffic had clearly stopped, grabbed my phone. Accident, flooding, delay 20+ minutes.

So I pinged that to the work groupchat, with revised ETA at the office. Behind me the car turned its headlights off & in the relief, I pondered doing likewise. Just parking. To find with no power, there was no wiper usage & I had all the ability to react as I would in a carwash. (That much water, sloshing across All windows.) I switched the engine back on sharpish, restoring vision, the option of heat & the radio. Which promptly told me I was sat here & that it could be over an hour, not a few minutes.

A bit over half an hour later, my workphone dinged & a manager had said "get off as soon as you can & work from home". It still took another 10 minutes to get to where the motorway was both closed & everyone was being forced off, but at least I now had permission to scrap trying.

Once home, in warm dry footwear & socks (odd how fast your feet get and stay cold) I checked what should I have done differently?

Check the route on my workphone before turning onto the motorway. (Seconds checking earlier would have saved me over an hour later.)

Once committed though, you are in the hands of the traffic police & other gods, so inform those who need to know, then "accept it's sort of like a crap street party with the neighbours you don't know. But you also need to be ready to GO at any moment, or else you become the new problem" (trust reddit for a ruthless phase.)

Of course have drinks & snacks in the car. And a blanket (ideally per person in the car). This was just rain, others will be stuck in snow.

If you have children aboard, even for the school run, pack as if you were going to drive for over 8 hours. Food, drink, toys, distractions, nappies - The Lot. You may have to tolerate their music, so it helps if there's a "here's one you prepared earlier" playlist you know you can tolerate, and so can the youngest. Teenagers may retreat behind headphones, or join in teaching baby sib "we will rock you". 

If you need a pee or more, try to find somewhere inconspicuous. If you're in a concrete canyon, look for ladders up to where control boxes are sited. Getting over the crash barrier while trying to keep your knees locked is not easy & for those who hate heights, it is not ideal, but at least you are right out of sight. Verges can have blinking steep drainage ditches - check your footing before changing your centre of gravity. You may be the trailblazer that lets others achieve relief likewise.

By all means nap, but ye gods be ready to wake up fast as the cars etc behind you will want to get moving too. There are rules in the highway code about blasting the horn, so if you have had to wait & aren't certain the car ahead of you is good to go, trot along & ask? As after a few hours, a sort of variant on the Blitz spirit kicks in & what would ordinarily be shocking impertinence (let alone criminal stupidity, walking on a motorway) is actually met in a far more cheerful spirit.

If you habitually drive a Landrover or Rangerover, just enjoy sailing past the expensive stuck cars in snow? Or towing them out of your way?

P.S. If you are, rightly, concerned about using your mobile, look for the orange emergency phone boxes - lovely people will take a one name, one number, one line message & forward it on, completely free.