Will you be stocking up on anything 'just in case', this winter?

MSE_Laura_F

Last year a Forumite asked:

What will you be stocking up on, 'just in case'?

Answers included baking ingredients, herbs & spices and canned foods, while some also gave the opinion that you shouldn't stock up at all because it's not always very community-spirited.

With the wintry weather giving us more inclination to stay indoors, are you planning on stocking the cupboards this winter? And if so, what are your staples?

maisie_cat

I've had a store cupboard for many years and currently have 6 months food, it's reduced from a high last year when food prices were rocketing. I must admit that I tend towards wholefoods, not much processed and no ready meals except those I make myself.
We don't eat a lot of meat so most of the protein is legumes, the carbs are grains like rice, pasta, quinoa, buckwheat, bulgur etc as well as bulk bread flour and fats mostly longer life coconut oil, ghee and olive oil.
Our veg is mostly either home grown and bought in season then preserved plus tinned tomatoes and frozen and canned veg.
I also can chicken and beef if I can get decent quality on special.
I have an enormous amount of vacuum packed spices and jarred garlic/ginger/chilli paste etc because you can make a beans and rice dish taste different everyday.

In terms of shopping, I use buy wholefoods online for most grains and legumes and Tesco/M&S else.

London_1

tinned stuff chick peas ,tomatoes potatoes, corned beef etc, rice, pasta, UHT milk, paracetamols, batteries, tissues mainly, but I keep a decent store cupboard anyway ,but specifically because  having reduced mobility it is daft going out in bad weather and falling over and ending up back in hospital.

JackieO xx 

Pixie_Cosmo

Yes, definitely. I have been adding extra tins and supplies to my pantry when they've been on offer. We had to rely on the super expensive local c00p and Sp@r during lockdown. 🤞never again, absolute rip off merchants. I normally shop at the cheaper, bigger supermarkets when I go to the office. 

My feeling is, if I have plenty of supplies then if the supermarkets run out, then I won't need to visit them. Leaving more for other people who for whatever reason don't have a lot. Or if the weather is bad, we're ill etc.

I don't have 6 months worth of food, not enough space! I do have plenty of baked beans, tinned tomatoes and chickpeas/beans, tinned fruit, pasta, rice, stock cubes, stirfry sauces and noodles, spice mixes, tinned soup, lentils and oats. Jam, marmite, peanut butter. Tonic water and sparkling water. Squash. Crackers, olives, nuts, dried fruit - also nice things that cost a bomb in the local shops. I've also got painkillers, period products, loo roll, cleaning stuff, soaps and shower gels. We don't use milk. Our freezer is fairly well stocked too. Just need to make sure of stock rotation :-) 

Wraithlady

The only things I stock up on 'just in case' are things I would have to make a special effort to get, so things like Maggi's chilli and garlic sauce, soba noodles and suchlike from the Chinese supermarkets in town, meat from online sources if they have a promotion on.

I usually make sure we have tinned pulses like chickpeas and beans in stock, as well as tinned tomatoes, lentils, tuna and bread flour (the last of which I buy in bulk from Costco) but this is an ongoing thing rather than something out of the ordinary.

Jam, I make myself as we have 2 fruit trees.

To be honest, we're working our way through the stash of bathroom and cleaning products from MIL's house, so don't see we'll be buying any in the next year or two!

Florenceem

Nothing at the moment as I just did a stock take on one of our freezers - I can make at least 49 dinners with whats in there. I need to stock take the tins stash - got boxes full in the garage. 

Pollycat

I have 2 tall shelves in my garage with tins, jars etc.
And bags of pasta, rice, oats kept in plastic boxes.
I buy herbs/spices from various places and decant into small jars.
I have always kept a stock of toilet rolls, freezer bags, wash powder, conditioner etc.

My tall freezer is full of raw meat and home cooked ready meals. 

I've been like this for over 20 years so nothing will change this winter.

Lockdowns didn't present any problems for us.

London_1

My daughters are always saying to me "Oh Mum there's not an imminent war about to happen' They are convinced I have cornered the market in sardines as I never seem to have less than at least a dozen tins in the cupboard 'just in case '  
There has been times when a good stock of tinned stuff has got me through lean times, probably the fault of being brought up in the 1940s-50s and rationing

Jackie O xxx

MrsStepford

We don't have a big stock of loo rolls and kitchen paper anymore as it was taking up too much space. I buy 5 litre containers of washing up liquid and fabric conditioner and 130 wash size boxes of laundry powder but I just buy them when getting low. 

 We do keep a stock of organic tinned tomatoes bought by the tray  and 1.5 litre bottles of organic olive oil, both from Costco online. 

We have some canned fish but it gets eaten quite quickly. 

I'm buying more cassoulet, ratatouille, légumes pour couscous, konjac rice and pasta, for winter so a small stock of those is being built up. 

Toonie

As I have reduced mobility I will stock up on certain things leading into cold weather. Having some basics in like tinned potatoes, tinned meat, veg in the freezer can be very helpful. But my pantry is a year round thing, not just for winter as my mobility can be poor at any time.

If the weather looks to be turning bad, I do tend to buy some part baked rolls or baguettes as they last a while when sealed, alongside some frozen pitta bread, that keeps me going quite well.

dreaming

I have always kept stores of staples in (tinned toms, beans, chick pea, some toiletries, etc.) - my son used to call it the "apocalypse cupboard" but would sometimes ask if he could raid it. The only problem is that my bungalow doesn't have much built-in storage so my "cupboard" is actually several boxes under the bed, in the wardrobe etc. This time last year I had some major surgery so I had increased the stocks but have been slowly working my way through them this year. The other week though, having some work done in the bedroom, I had to clear the room out and found a stash of about 20 packs of painkillers. I used to always pick up the 2 packs allowed every time I went shopping in readiness for the post-op time but fortunately everything went well and I didn't need them so put them away - and obviously forgot all about them. I will always keep certain things in store just in case (like others I have intermittent mobility problems and don't go out if it's icy) but have decided to cut down a bit this year. Living alone I don't need quite so much and I do have a fortnightly grocery delivery slot, plus a fruit and veg box delivery on the alternate weeks. I did get in quick with a Christmas delivery slot though as soon as I saw them open.