To ask if you have prepped for the second wave

[Oldbagface]

Have you been buying a few extras with each shop in anticipation?

I notice many items are already out of stock online.

What sort of things have you been putting away.

We have bought the odd extras with each shop e.g. tinned tomatoes, pasta, loo roll and baking powder.

We have loads of flour anyway as buy in bulk for our bread maker.

Oh, and chocolates for Christmas.

Prepping was definitely my response to anxiety about Brexit. I started when it became clear we were leaving the single market and customs union. I can't control what this incompetent and idiotic government does, but this is something I can control.

I did a tinned shop yesterday. 12 tins each of kidney beans, butter beans, chickpeas, soups, tomatoes, sweetcorn. I normally buy 6 of each a week anyway as I use them a lot. Plus 36 cans of tonic. 😀

@AuntieMarys yes, tonic was my priority too! We also get through a lot of tinned beans so have plenty in.

There are other posts on MN about fines for self isolation and posters are asking 'what if I have to go out for food?' Do people really not have the foresight and intelligence to work out that this is something you can plan for?

@MillieEpple absolutely! I am one of those 'savers' too. Completely selfish of me putting the money that I have earned into a bank account that is just for me and my family and not available for other people to have.

FoodAssasin , good point.

My parents were kids during ww2. Of course the 1930s were tough years for many families too.

To the poster who thinks even 4 to 5 days supply in cupboards is normal. Ime of my oldest kids starting to live independently it needs to be pointed out.
Quite a few times!

It is possible to go through modern life in an urban area picking up st to eat whenever you fancy.

We were unable to get some types of food not only during lockdown but for quite a long time afterwards - so yes, I've restocked the cupboards when the non perishable items became freely available again, not when they were in short supply. Means when the panic buying starts we dont need to join in.

I saw the crush in the supermarkets when the panic buying started. People fighting over toilet roll. Supermarkets increasing prices and buying in expensive brands.
Tins limited to 1/2 per customer. People crying because there’s no pasta or nappies.

There’s no harm in being ahead of yourself. We have enough food for a few weeks. I won’t join in the panic buying.

I genuinely don't understand the hostility directed at people who are making sure they have enough food in if they self isolate? We don't have months and months worth but we have enough for a fortnight. The main thing for us is making sure we have some meat in the freezer, frozen and tinned vegetables, pasta and rice, tomatoes and kidney beans, baking stuff and some nice stuff like jelly and chocolate fingers for the children. My children would happily live off tinned hotdog sausages, instant mash and frozen cauliflower so we makes sure we have those in!

Yes I'm fairly well prepped. I've been prepped since February 2019. That was for Brexit but now I've got having to shield to worry about as well.

Being food-prepped and bog-roll-prepped means I can focus on medicines. It's so hard getting hold of some things already.

I haven't deliberately prepped for a second wave, but I do normally have about 2 weeks worth of food in the house anyway. I buy stuff when it's cheaper and store it.

@Beetlejuicer

Fucks sake talk about overdoing it. Is survival all that matters to some?

Think about it. Yes, the survival of me and mine matter to me.

Look at the supermarkets right now. Does anything look in short supply? How has our prepping impacted on what’s available right now?
It hasn’t.

I would be interested in the meals that people have planned ahead. We always have a lot of stock in the house anyway, such as tomato tins and bottles, tuna, tinned soup, pasta, flour, some meat in the freezer, toiletries and toilet roll. But I still find myself going out to the supermarket at least once a week stocking up on fresh food like more meat, cheese, yoghurt, veg, eggs, salad, fruit, drinks, the odd jar, coffee/tea cereals if needed, oil etc.
We get a fruit and veg box every other week, but it's lacking salad and cucumber, which is one of the few vegetables my kids eat in tons.
We also get milk and bread from the milk man, so overall I am feeling organised but I think we would still struggle if we couldn't nip to the shops at least once every ten days or so. Our freezer is quite small too and always full to the brim.
I guess we would manage somehow with a slightly more boring menu after a while, and if we don't get a delivery slot at the supermarket there is always deliveroo..

The point is a quick shop at a small local shop is better than an hour in a large supermarket

Popping out for eggs and cheese is vastly different to needing loads of toiletries and washing powder.

Puff it's planned to be edible and moderately nutritious but there's no great culinary plan!

I've drifted back to shopping every couple of days for fresh salad veg as it's good right now. The tins and frozen stuff remain for another day.

Making yoghurt at home saves me trips out and lugging tubs home. I use the easiyo dried sachets that can sit in a cupboard for a while. A cheaper way would be to use uht and a bit of live starter.

@Puffthemagicdragongoestobed we continued going to the shops for fresh fruit and veg and bread once s fortnight (some stuff like butternut squash and apples can last up to 2 weeks). The point is we could have managed on our long life and frozen food if we had to as well as what we already had in the fridge. As a keyworker DH did have a covid scare which was fortunately negative but if we needed to self isolate for (potentially) a month we would have been fine. Which as two responsible adults with the means to prepare would have been the right thing to do.

Personally unless world war 3 breaks out, in which case I wouldn’t be alive any way I really can’t see the point of prepping.

All you are doing is giving your money to the supermarkets weeks/months/years before you need the stuff.

We have had people prepping for Brexit in 2016. That had been going on for 4 years (so far we haven’t had any people go hungry because there hasn’t been any food on the shelves of Supermarkets)
We had people panic buying for lockdown. I know lots of people had problems getting certain things but we didn’t have a problem. We just went when no one else did. (I know because I was the only one in the supermarket many times.
It was ridIculous the scenes of everyone crowding into supermarkets and physically fighting over toilet roll when there was a global pandemic that spread through close contact.
People stocking up in crowds of people so they wouldn’t have to go to the supermarket in crowds of people and catch a virus.

@Puffthemagicdragongoestobed when we were isolating we asked friends and neighbours to pick up a few fresh bits and pieces for us when they went shopping. Much more manageable to ask for "bread, milk, a piece of cheese and some apples please " than saying "please do a full shop for a family of 4 when you're out doing your full shop".

I'm starting to buy a bit extra op in case we need to self-isolate. I don't consider that stockpiling.

So @Oliversmumsarmy what would you do if nobody was allowed /able to leave the house for 4 weeks?

We can get tomatoes and eggs delivered by the milk man; onions, potatoes etc last through and we have some frozen veg (stir fry mixes, peas, mixed peppers, spinach, courgette etc) / berries and tinned veg (beans, sweetcorn). Lettuce is the main difficulty, both getting hold of and lasting, but we can also get that at the market.
We also get cheese by post because it's cheeses we really like with 2-3 months in date usually.

@Oliversmumsarmy I see your point in some ways however bulk buying saves many people money. I have had a very limited income in the past and found having well stocked cupboards not only saved me money but also meant my DC didn't go hungry when my bank card was cloned.

@Puffthemagicdragongoestobed

I have an autistic son so we tend to have the same meals on rota.

Home made pizza, home made sauce and mixed toppings and grated cheese. ( I keep a few bags of grated cheese in the freezer and other bits like bacon, frozen sweet corn, chicken breasts in case the fridge runs out).

Chicken and veg curry made from curry paste and rubbed coconut milk. Veg from the freezer like peppers, butternut squash and diced onions.

Beef Bolognaise. Mince beef, Tom paste, Passata, frozen peppers, tinned Toms with herbs and pasta from the pantry. Whatever pasta I have to hand .

Beef chilli- as above but with different spices and a tin of mixed beans. Served with rice and occasionally hot dogs in buns or baked potatoes.

Peas and ham soup- small gammon joint boiled for stock, frozen casserole pack spilt peas and lentils. Served with homer made bread.

Roast dinner. This is the only meal where I insist on fresh veg. At a push I use frozen parsnips and sweet corn.

Thai noodles. Pot of red Thai curry paste, tin of coconut milk, frozen sliced peppers, Chineses noodles or spaghetti.

Pasta bake with hot dogs.

Cheesy beans on toast.

Shepherds pie and Yorkshire pud

Cheese toasties and tomato soup.

Special fried rice.

Scouse

Tuna sweet corn pasta

Nuggets , chips and beans

Plenty of options and most are achievable from the larder or freezer.

@goteam I’ve kept butternut squash for months and they’ve been fine 😊 Cabbages and root veg store well for weeks too.

During lockdown my village FB page was rife with people asking others to do things for them. I'm not aware of many of them shielding but a lot of them had many of my neighbours running round like R2D2 for them. Everyday someone was asking people to pick up prescriptions, do a shop and get things for them. It was always the same 3 women picking up the stuff. I wouldn't mind but our doctors surgery was call ahead, drive up and stay in car, we'll place bag in front of car.

If we had no supplies, I'd have to inconvenience others like this. My nearest relative is 84 and lives 300 miles away. It's not doable. I'm going to stock up and don't really have to explain myself.

During lockdown my village FB page was rife with people asking others to do things for them. I'm not aware of many of them shielding but a lot of them had many of my neighbours running round like R2D2 for them. Everyday someone was asking people to pick up prescriptions, do a shop and get things for them. It was always the same 3 women picking up the stuff. I wouldn't mind but our doctors surgery was call ahead, drive up and stay in car, we'll place bag in front of car

I bet it was also rife with curtain twitchers complaining that those same 3 women kept going out

I certainly saw alot if that on my time line. There was never ever any thought that the people in question could be key workers or delivering shopping or whatever.

Honestly people won't be happy unless you not only stay home but you eat dry oats ir have to ration the frozen peas in order to survive.