Our shrinking larders. Are they??

[Deleted User]

Well my larder should be shrinking at 60 so I am going to make a determined effort to shrink it over the next few months. It took me ages to get used to buying less bread so having a full larder is pretty understandable seeing that I am one of the old-school make-it-from-scratch brigade.

Whatever spice or herb is needed, even if only a sprinkle, then I have it. I have too many flours and too much rice, pasta, buckwheat, dried beans and on and on. We have been wholefood eaters for a long time so dried foods abound in my larder, under the stairs. Why??? I tell myself and particularly since I read about the 70 year old who was giving up cooking after a lifetime of being a slave to the kitchen. I used to `love` cooking but it is a CHORE now

I won`t waste anything if I can help it so have started today by soaking and cooking all the dried chickpeas and red beans, now neatly packaged and tucked away in the freezer in neat `little` packages ie half a big can equivalent. When that is all finished then I will buy 1 can of each ie I will cut down on the `work` involved, after all I am no longer cooking for 5

What next? The sugars maybe, demarara, caster, granulated, muscovado, icing. Cake ingredients perhaps, raisins, currents, sultanas, peel, cherries. Muesli ingredients ie oats, dates, apricots, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds etc. Where do I start with my larder and where do I stop? Bearing in mind that the above represents a fraction of the variety in my larder

getting-sorted-sarah

Hi Kittie, come and join us on the Old Style board - you'll get lots of ideas and meet fellow hoarders - and you can share your experience too.

[Deleted User]

The opening post referred specifically to older people ie ones whose children have left home and who have perhaps downsized. I am a frequent poster on the OS board but this thread is specific to silver savers and their experiences. It isn`t about what to do with the ingredients etc, as we are of the era who know how to suck eggs but more about a change of lifestyle ie cooking less and making our lives easier by spending more on ourselves eg buying the prepared item and not cooking from scratch. I could suggest that this is also a version of ski-ing (ref the ski-ing thread)

furndire

I can really relate to what you are saying Kittie. When you have brought up a large family, it is really difficult to scale down ~ especially when you still have 3 adults in the house, and end up with a grandaughter spending a lot of time with you.
I enjoy cooking now for pleasure, rather than necessity.
Funnily enough, I was watching Delia the other night and had never thought about cooking and freezing the dried pulses ~ its that is time consuming with them, so hence they sit on my shelves ~ so that's another job to do ~ just thought, not a lot of room in freezer :rotfl: :eek:

[Deleted User]

Hello Margaret, I make soups too as it is a great way of getting the veg into us and I often put a few beans into it. I am also trying to avoid making rich cakes etc. I still make bread but it is usually from my home grown slowly fermented sourdough starter.

I could do with clearing stuff out of my cupboards though. It isn`t stuff that is out of date but things like sesame seeds and so on. Anyway I have processed 2 lots of beans and they take some doing ie soaking, quick boiling for 10 minutes, straining, rinsing then simmering for an hour or so. Straining and drying on tea towels then bagging in 5-6 oz bags for the freezer. I always appreciate having done it but I am starting to question myself `why bother`when I can buy a tin and store it easily on a shelf

I saw 2 packets of compressed dates sitting in my cupboard and lots of nuts so I`ll be making some date and walnut loaf in a day or so and the dates won`t be going on my supermarket list as before. I`ll still keep the nuts because I put some in muesli or toss a few in a salad or stir fry. That sort of cake goes down well because my dh is a lycra cyclist.

I have too many teas of all sorts. Red bush, camomile, kapha, pitta, ginger, special green teas in sealed metallic bags etc No more impulsive tea buying now until we have used every last leaf

I have strong white flour, strong wholemeal flour, SR flour, 5 grain flour, spelt flour, 00 flour, rye flour. I have to use it ALL up and can only use 1 kilo at a time and even then I am making and freezing my sourdough bread. If I get half an hour`s notice of visitors I can get scones made from my store but no more, just-in-case thinking for me

I suppose it is about using what I have got and not replacing it. Doh, I am going against the grain here as I was brought up frugally but I`ll have to change my way of thinking

Savvy_Sue

I don't know if this would help you, but I have a 'default' shopping list which I print out, 5 copies at a time, and attach to the fridge door with magnets.

This list has all my 'things to check I have' and how much of them I should have, which means that the boys can 'write' the shopping list - ie tick the boxes where we're short, adding notes of what we've actually got. So I know it says we should always have 2 x 2 litres things of milk - if we've still got one, they'll write '1' in the column.

Anyway, I periodically have to edit my list. DH wanted peanuts every week, so they've been added, and no-one eats Shreddies any more so they've come off.

If you simplified your shopping list, and didn't insist on having 6 tins of beans in the cupboards, would that help? I'll be facing this in the autumn, as it happens, when DS2 disappears, he who can eat his own weight in pasta! :rotfl:

chesky369

Well, having retired after working full-time I'm really looking forward to expanding my cookery range (hopefully not my waistline). I've got more time to shop and prepare things at last. I can take the time to go to proper food shops and markets instead of the local Tescburys.
I was actually very depressed to see Delia using TINNED MINCE of all things - ghastly muck I wouln't even have used at my most time-pressed.

sparrer

I too got fed up with cooking, particularly through the 2 DD's fads of veggie/diets etc. On my own now and have the utterly disgusting habit of shopping in Asda for their 6 for £4 frozen meals which are quite adequate with a salad. I have to pick and choose, one or two taste like 6 for 4p but since I retired my time seems even more at a premium so these are ideal. They're easy to store, reasonably tasty, filling, and best of all on a pension, cheap!

As for the stores in my larder, we have cook-ins when the thre GC come so it's gradually going down .

I might eat cheap frozen three or four days out of 7, but really, tinned mince? I wouldn't give it to my dog!

[Deleted User]

I wouldn`t buy tinned mince, stew or anything else like that. Corned beef yes, 1 tin as a standby staple.

I am very slowly running my larder down, one step at a time. I made date and walnut loaves today and rolls with poppy seeds on the top and a big pan of veg soup with a few continental lentils. So I have cleared another tiny space, previously occupied by dates. I looked up poppy seed cake on the net today and will make one next week and that will remove all the poppy seeds. Gosh it is a slow process but I am nibbling at it

Curry spices will be tackled soon as I have the complete range of whole spices to grind as needed and why, I ask myself, when I can buy this

http://www.curryslim.com/index.htm

curryslim is absolutely lovely so I will be offering my curry spices to my dd at the weekend. I`ll probably just keep the green cardamom

And Delia!!! well I think she has lost the plot

To be honest I do think that we all, at this age, need to be eating the most nutritious food possible, after all this is a time when our bodies start to be less able to heal etc but we can cut corners and still have an excellent diet. There is nothing wrong with a good hm smoothie or a hm vegetable juice

If cutting corners means spending a little extra on ourselves then so be it, we deserve it. Our generation came through the mill and (mostly) survived by scrimping and scraping. Time to stop the scrimping

chrissie55

I'm happy to have a larderful of non-perishables - might get snowed in, car off the road, WHY. But if u want rid of bulky stuff, u can make cakes, flapjacks, etc., to freeze or for church/charity stalls.:A

lilac_lady

I like(d) cooking but the older I get and living on my own I'm beginning to realise that it's not a sin to buy a ready made meal now and again. Most people seem to be buying bigger fridge freezers but I've gone the opposite way and downsized mine. It stops me overloading on "bargain" food offers. I buy tinned pulses (except for lentils)and beans, M & S tinned stew, frozen chopped onions and leeks and berry fruits. I'll always have the mindset to have spare food in to make a meal for unexpected visitors so I'm not cured of having too much in my cupboards yet. Kittie is right - different lifestyles mean change, even in the kitchen.