Prepping: the new world...

fionaandphil

Typical tabloid newspapers!

I am looking.g at doing a grab bag again after a hospital visit with mum recently and also thinking about leaving quickly in emergency but most of the items on that list won't be in there!

We have been getting a few extra tins in while they are in offer and we have time over summer to have a look.

We are also prepping the house for winter , checking gutters, roof and drains. Wood is stocked up but still have to order oil

boultdj

If it came to having to run, I'm heading back to childhood farm village I grew up in, constant reliable water source and plenty of fruit if you know where to look. And still got family in the area who know my skill set and can't be arsed to learn it, as it will never happen.

DigForVictory

My parents sold the bolthole, but I could get to the area, TWOC a pony, saw my way through a cave gate & find a corner to adapt as a temporary home. Running water, but light on fruit trees & I'd have to learn to kill butcher & preserve sheep. If I hauled Youngest along, the basic calorie requirement would easily double but so would the hands to work (& the odds of being found). Think I'd stay where I am but uncover the old well & see just how narrow a bore it is.

littlemoney

I have tinned meat and vegetable that I got for covid stores in case I couldn't get out for while.

How long years beyond best before date are they likely to be eatable?

Same with pasta of similar age that I stored and forgot I had.

thriftwizard

BBC news item - stock up for extreme weather!

Well it has to be true if it's on the BBC… I will actually be checking through the store cupboards and spotting any obvious gaps in my preps. I was delighted to find DS1 & DDiL are also prepping now when I was with them last week, but DS2 and his family are still replying on daily supermarket visits, so I'm fretting for them. DS3's within easy reach of home & will just wander round if his own cupboards are running low, but his twin sister & her fiancé are just moving into a miniscule rental with a kitchen not much larger than my store cupboard, 80 miles away. However they are a canny & competent pair so they'll think of something. DD2 of course is still with us & is extremely capable of getting the maximum flavour & nutrition out of scraps many people would just chuck out or compost, bless her! Water might be our downfall, though… must look into alternatives.

Cherryfudge

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82125708#Comment_82125708

I'd say tinned stuff is safe indefinitely so long as the tin is undamaged (no dents, rust or expansion). It may eventually lose flavour but the only way to find that out is to try it. You could always add the tinned stuff to bulk out things like curries or casseroles if you feel the flavour or texture has decreased.

Pasta - it partly depends how it's been stored. If the packs are sealed and kept somewhere dry, it's probably perfectly edible. Dry food keeps longer so long as it remains dry. Introduce any moisture, even from the air, and the shelf life decreases. So give it a visual check for breaches of packaging, insects, mould, and if it seems okay, cook a portion and see how it tastes.

leftatthetrafficlights

I have very decent stores of grains and pulses - enough to keep my kids, their partners and their kids and us in food for at least 3 months. We have quite a lot of stuff in the freezers and plenty of herbs and spices to make everything interesting - like @thriftwizard, water is something we'd fall down on, but I'm going to be getting a few large bottles to store for the winter.

We have plenty of options for cooking should there be power cuts - pizza oven/bbq/open fire - and obviously heat from the open fire too. We are low on wood now though so I need to order that soon and we need to start buying a few more bags of coal too. We only use the fire occasionally during the winter but it's a real bonus if we need alternative heat sources - plus it looks really pretty! 🥰😁

littlemoney

I have some old 3litre plastic bottles that originally contained concentated fruit squash.

They were used when I had a caravan for fresh drinking water and refilled daily. Been stored empty in a loft for 14 years. Will they be OK to store tap water for drinking for lengthy period of time?

Where would be best place to store? Shed/garage or elsewhere? Will mice/rats chew the plastic?

Thanks

maryb

plastic degrades and leaches phthalates into the water. Fine to reuse in the short term but I would hesitate,to put it mildly, to use ones that are 14 years old especially as they may have been exposed to quite high temperatures in the loft

DigForVictory

I’d not mind for plumbing use, but I wouldn’t want my tea from that vintage of plastic. There are more modern BPA free plastic containers & I think I’d also look at glass & metal containers as well. (Caution glass is heavy anyway but water is heavy &, once moving, quite tricky to steer.)

I’ve heard of water stored in walls by Mormons but that’s a tweak in construction I don’t think I’m ready for yet - hiw do you replace the water, drain/refill/clean?!