Amateur prepper here - could you critique my list please!

[ArabellaUmbrella]

Hi, I am new to prepping but like a lot of people, with Brexit looming I feel it is only sensible to have a small stash in case we have issues with supplies.
Please could you kind folk have a look at my list and add any ideas or suggestions? I realise it is basic. I'm just looking for glaring gaps. Thank you!

Tins:
Tomatoes
Baked beans
New potatoes
Sweetcorn
Apple slices
Peaches
Custard
Sardines
Tuna

Rice
Pasta
Noodles
Porridge oats
Cereal bars
Bread mix
Tea bags
Cake mix
Jam
Olive oil
Herbs
UHT milk

Cat food
Toothbrushes
Toothpaste
Deodorant
Kitchen spray
Washing up liquid
Paracetamol
Soap
Savlon
Loo roll
Washing powder
Batteries

That's it! Thanks

[onalongsabbatical]

Off the top of my head - my own list is on another computer so I can't check it against right now - but I can see that sugar and salt are missing, and I know I'd add stock cubes, pickles, kitchen sponges, lentils, tinned meats (corned beef etc) dried beans (like mung beans etc), chick peas (tinned), and I've also got dried onions peppers and carrots (all can be chucked into soups and stews). Also you haven't got shampoo, chocolate, coffee or alcohol of any kind on your list!

[headinhands]

All I've got is 10 bags of bread mix, some hit milk and 2 bags of rice. Can I freeze clover margarine?

[ArabellaUmbrella]

Thank you so much! Exactly the sort of ideas I need, I shall add to my next shopping list.
I struggle with tinned meat, is any of it not ghastly? Didn't know you could get dried onions, peppers carrots, where do I get those please? Excellent suggestions, told you I'm an amateur

[ArabellaUmbrella]

My family are fussy about lentil and chickpeas etc but if they're hungry its better than nothing!

[ArabellaUmbrella]

My cupboard is quite well stocked with alcohol

[onalongsabbatical]

headinhands I wouldn't freeze marge, but you can freeze butter. But I don't eat marge so I could be wrong on that one.
ArabellaUmbrella I bought some reduced salt corned beef and trial-runned it. IMHO the regular is too salty but the reduced is ok, I used it in a stir fry and plan to use it in shepherds pie type recipes. I think it's worth having a few tins of it.
All the dried veg can be got from Amazon in varying quantities and seem pretty good. You must go to the preppers boards! And there's a Facebook group - the 48% Preppers - crawling with mumsnetters masquerading under their real names!

[onalongsabbatical]

So glad you're on top of the alcohol supplies.
Chick peas - hummous and curries? Lentils - I love lentils, but you could use them to stretch other ingredients and add protein - sheps pies and pasta sauces etc.

[DoodleLab]

Cat litter
Flea treatment
First aid kit
Sanpro (or reusables)
Laundry powder
Disinfectant
Milton/bleach
Tinned meat - beef madras, corned beef etc
Tinned pulses - eg kidney beans to chuck in with a Stagg chilli or green lentils to chuck in beef bolognese to bulk it out
More variety of tinned veg - maybe peas or spinach
Condiments eg chilli sauce, herb/spice mixes, stock cubes
Jars/cans of fat eg ghee, coconut oil, duck/goose fat.

Have you got a freezer? Stock that up as you can. Decant things out of trays into freezer bags to maximise space. Freeze some butter and cheese.

[ArabellaUmbrella]

So many good ideas, thank you. I feel like my boxes under the bed are just the tip of the iceberg! I'm going to do a Tesco order with all your extra ideas, and have ordered some dried onions and carrots from Amazon (who knew?!)
I'm a bit scared to join the Facebook group, I might have to build an outside larder to store everything 😃

[onalongsabbatical]

Sorry, just realised we're ON the preppers board - been a bit glued to the Brexit threads, didn't know where I was...

[onalongsabbatical]

God yes the FB group post pictures of their stores, it's like preppers porn there...

[ArabellaUmbrella]

onalongsabattical ha ha that made me laugh! I imagine one could get quite drawn in....

[onalongsabbatical]

You're not wrong! Very tempting to just stash away more and more stuff. I haven't posted any pix of mine because it's not very well organised so I'm not proud of how it looks.

[KennDodd]

I think I'd depend on canned and dried foods more than freezer incase we have power supply issues. I think this is a real worry in you're in NI less so in Britain.

[bellinisurge]

I'd put in a word for snacks and treats. I'm quite a big believer in the encouraging power of a treat, particularly with children and particularly if there's anything grim to deal with.

[bellinisurge]

Preppers' porn - you won't see mine in there I'm not in any prepper FB group.

[ArabellaUmbrella]

bellinisurge good idea re treats, I guess most biscuits and snacks have a fairly long shelf life. I ought to make a note of the expiry dates as well. Not much use having it if its gone out of date.
I was looking at tinned meatballs and tinned chicken curry and trying to imagine it might not be grim... guess it doesn't hurt to order a few tins.

[Snugglepumpkin]

Stop just buying whatever comes to mind & look at your list.
You seem to have rice but nothing to go with it, pasta but no sauces etc... to go with them, you are buying vegetables but have no potatoes (Idahoan instant mash is pretty nice if you add some butter to it) or anything to go with those either.
Buy things to make what you already have into meals FIRST.
Then think about other stuff.

[Snugglepumpkin]

ps tinned potatoes by themselves taste grim.
Not too awful in a stew or similar but I personally think they taste like they have been washed in soap.
Try some before you buy anymore, there is no point looking at a pile of food you only now realise is all disgusting (I.e. when it's too late to change) because you have purchased multiples of something without trying it first.

[VictoriaBun]

You can freeze grated cheese.

You mention toothpaste,deodorant etc. What about sanpro items ?

Also are people taking out cash from the bank incase they are not available for a few days.

[ArabellaUmbrella]

Snugglepumpkin I feel a little bit told off You make some very valid points. But I struggle with what to put with the carbs because its always meat or fish, and the tinned stuff doesn't really appeal. Only alternatives seem to be pulses, lentils etc which in reality we never eat, I'm pretty sure my kids would be miserable eating them anyway. However, point taken, I'll think again.

[BlackeyedGruesome]

bertolli freezes and defrosts ok. mum did this all the time.

[Snugglepumpkin]

@ArabellaUmbrella that was not my intention, so I apologise if I was a little blunt.
I'm not a big fan of tins either, but if you are just prepping for a few days/weeks around Brexit rather than for longer term prepping reasons, then you can always buy & freeze meat & fish.
I know fish in particular is never as nice frozen as it is fresh, but it is infinitely nicer than tinned.
Same goes for vegetables to be honest, frozen are better than tinned almost every time. (avoid frozen avocado as it is foul & does not freeze well)
A lot of frozen berries are okay too (again not quite so nice as fresh, but better than tinned)
That's all if you have the freezer space of course.

Some of the jars of pasta sauce etc.. are not bad either.

It is also worth (if you have the finances to do so) buying one new thing each time you shop to try. It could be that you could add e.g. lentils to a casserole you make & everyone would be happy with it - they are good for you as well as for bulking out a meal.
You may find a few new things you'd all be happy to eat in the future anyway.

[ArabellaUmbrella]

@Snugglepumpkin its fine, I was only being lighthearted, you make good points that I hadn't really thought about. I actually think it would be better to try and make my freezer space more efficient and have frozen fish, chicken, mince in there as standard, rather than storing tinned meat that no one will eat. Thanks for your helpful advice

[BlackeyedGruesome]

tinned meat seems stupidly expensive for a very small tin of processed stuff. well compared to a bag of lentils or a couple of tins of chickpeas and beans.