The Brexit Cupboard Part 2

[PerverseConverse]

Following on from the fantastic thread of the weekend, I thought we'd continue discussing our brexit cupboards and boxes here. Here's to all the preppers and their cupboards, no matter what they contain. (Keep quiet about your stash in real life).

My good news is I've got DH fully on board with the Brexit "cupboard". I'm going to Tesco tomorrow to buy a couple of big plastic boxes with lids for the garage to keep it all in. While I'm there I'll get some more bits. Any top buys from Tesco or Aldi I might not have thought of?

I was in Tesco yesterday but it was a quick dash. Scott's porridge was on offer and nescafe alta rica was only £2.44.
Stocked up on some wine in there too. Was hoping there would be lots of offers after folks doing dry January but unfortunately not.
Also DC always ask for the jelly sweets in there that are 3 for £1 so I think I'll go back for more of those. We have tinned fruit custard and lots of baking supplies and biscuits but sometimes they just want a jelly sugar hit!

A really nice addition to a pasta dish is the artichoke hearts in oil from Aldi and elsewhere. Not a thrifty choice though!

From the freezer spinach is a good vegetable addition to melt and stir into loads of dishes.

Oh yes - frozen spinach is space effective as it’s in little cubes. (Adds to list).

Another little word for growing perpetual spinach. A pot on the window sill if you don't have a garden. Baby leaves for salad. Bigger ones chopped up in a soup or stew.
And greens plus bacon is a match made in non-vegetarian heaven.
Worried about access to bacon? Be evil like me and fry some occasionally when tending to your bacon needs. Pour off the fat into a jar and store in the fridge. Next time you need a hit if bacon but don't have any, use some of the bacon fat to fry whatever it is.
I fry onion and chopped carrot (or whatever veg), then put red lentils on this. Then pour stock on it and simmer until lentils are cooked. Whizz up or don't as suits. Soup.

OYBBK Lidl had december dates on orange juice this week. I’ve bought loads. It’s all very well being able to make a weird conconction that is edible but I want to try to keep things as normal as possible. The dc and dh have orange juice every morning so we get through a fair cartons.

A tip for store cupboard meals is find a few ready made sauces you like. I can recommend Lloyd grossman bolognese having tried a few out. It’s easily the best. Even though it’s very un MN to use ready made sauces it really will help to expand the number of normal tasting meals you can create. Plus they last way past their bbe dates.

Ready made sauces in jars are excellent. Fry up some unappetising looking whatever, pour on a tasty sauce. Boil up some pasta or rice. Yum.

On cous cous I can also vouch for the ainsley harriot spice sensation flavoured cous cous. Mine love it with some chicken mixed through, some tinned sweetcorn and a handful of sunflower seeds.

Particularly popular if I let them carb overload and eat it by scooping it up with naan bread

Share your recipes here:
The Brexit Cupboard: Recipe Edition http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eureferendumm2016/3493380-the-brexit-cupboard-recipe-edition

For a treat if you have freezer space, Iceland have Greggs frozen pastries on special offer. Steak slices are a very popular treat here.

Honestly you’d think I was a full time internet shopper rather than trying to run a law firm fuck off DM

cloudtree one of my favourite things when pregnant with dc1 was Ainsleys Mediterranean veg couscous stuffed into toasted pita bread. Carbtastic! I was so sick that carbs were the only thing I could stomach for most of the pregnancy.

I still need: more oil for cooking.
Dried chick peas for falafel. Tinned fruit (peach, mandarins pineapple)
Loo roll.
Olives
Anchovies
Tinned chick peas.

The loo roll I am getting every time I go to Aldi.

I need to stock up on loo roll from Aldi. We get the 16 pack ones as they're cheaper per sheet than the 24 roll ones! I'll get two packs each time I'd normally buy one and that will see us through any blips, hopefully.

I bought 2 x 2 litre sunflower oil last time I was in Farmfoods, so we're OK for that.

My 'forward purchasing' has been temporarily halted by snow. We aren't taking the car anywhere today!
I'm going to see it as an opportunity to evaluate what we can create from our cupboards and freezer this week.

Thanks cloud I'll get to Lidl when the roads are ok then.

I will also try Lidl this week.

I have been thinking about some of the weird concoctions I made as a student and will trial those again to add the ingredients to the cupboard.

That Ainsleys cous cous was in the aisle of wonder in Aldi recently. 5.99 for a small bucket full

I have a long list of meals I will make with my supplies. These are all meals we eat and enjoy anyway. To name a few:

Dal and rice.
Fried potatoes and mushy peas.
Shepherd's pie.
Pasta and roast veg with caramelised onion flatbread.
Roast potato, stuffing balls and veg.
Chilli con carne and rice.
Chickpea curry and homemade naan bread.
Bean burrito and salsa (made from tinned tomatoes).
Vegan lasagne.
Vegan quiche (made with dried vegan egg).
Vegan pizza.
Sweet chilli veg noodles.
Vegi burgers in home-made bread buns.
Mushroom cous cous, flatbread and dips.

We will be happy to continue eating these meals anyway, even if Brexit gets cancelled, and even if Brexit is a success and it's sunshine and unicorns after March.

@NameChanger22 it would be great if you would share some of your recipes

I posted this on the other prep thread.

It's quite interesting psychologically for me. I live in an area that's been badly affected by snow with many local roads blocked.

I clearly have enough supplies in for this week (and next as we can't go shopping next weekend either) I can also walk to the shops and see what they have in but there is mild anxiety around my lack of being able to do a proper shop for two weeks.

I'm a bit anxious, because I don't like changing course in plans and I've got several heavy things on today's list to put aside for next month. I They will have to wait for two weeks now. This gives rise to a very stupid tiny little thought that says 'well what if they don't have them then!' Even though I absolutely know logically that washing powder and chickpeas are not going to vanish in two weeks time.

Im also very irrationally feeling a little anxious about whether the local shops will have things like bread and milk. Even though I don't actually need bread. Yesterday I was able to make my own with our supplies.

This isn't a confession, rather, it provides an interesting insight into a little of the psychology that happens into how panic buying, rather than forward planning happens.

I'm using it as an opportunity to practise being resourceful and to eat up the scary unlabelled things in the freezer.

Most of my recipes are 'make it up as you go along type' meals. Most of them start in a similar way. Fry an onion, add the other veg, add the herbs and spices or sauces. Add the cooked rice/pasta/noodles/lentils/cous cous/protein. Add things like fresh herbs/garlic/lemon last. I tweak the recipes each time I make them so they taste even better and I'm never scared to throw in other things. I don't follow recipes because I like meals to be slightly different every time, I get food boredom easily. When food runs low people will need to be more inventive and adaptable and not stick to set recipes.

Learn a basic bread recipe (half a bag of flour, packet of fast yeast, bit of sugar and salt, 300ml warm water), then you can make every kind of bread, sweet bread, buns, pizza, flat breads, naan etc.

Learn how quick and easy it is make pastry (flour, fat, salt, water) and use this for pasties, pies and quiches, pies.

Basic cake, cookie and brownie knowledge will also be useful. Basic white/cheese sauce recipe is also useful.

I appreciate most people know how to do this anyway. But for those that don't already know, the next month would be a good time to start practising.

I'm baking my first ever loaf of bread today! Bit worried about the proving bit as our house is freezing but we'll see how it goes.