How are you "managing" your "stockpile"?

[MrsJonesAndMe]

With everything up in the air as it is, are you using it, leaving it well alone, adding to it or using but replacing so things are getting rotated?

I've got a bit of dried goods and toiletries which I'm using but replacing but leaving freezer food alone for now and just getting what I need in small amounts as I don't have much room in the freezer at all now.

Just wondered what everyone else is doing?

We have been eating our stash of lovely french butter from the freezer and happy to report that once defrosted you can't tell any difference from fresh so will be restocking nearer or October, likewise with cheese.

We've also been enjoying the lower food bills, and have used up a lot of stuff from the newly acquired Brexit prep chest freezer but just bits and pieces from the rest. Why are people starting to stock up again now? I was planning on leaving it until later in the summer.

Things I need to remember for the next stock up - don't buy chocolate for the stash until no-deal is really really imminent. I just eat it, and then restock, then eat it, then restock, etc, etc.

And when people say you can't freeze yoghurt and sour cream, they really mean it. We did a trial of both - I suppose you could cook with them, but yeah, won't bother with that again.

Blackeyed, can I ask what you use red lentils for? We occasionally use them for dahl, but that really hasn't justified the 5kg bag I bought so I could do with some other recipes that use them up.

Veggie chilli and veggie bolognaise. I do not have a big repertoire of meals so they come round fairly frequently. I am going to try to find more meals DC will both eat.

They cook quite quickly too, just Chuck them in. Would also work in lasagna

They bulk out a tomato sauce and add protein. Or help make a nice soup in autumn/winter. If we are likely to be in sticky situation it's an idea to consider having a bit more than usual.

I use red lentils in veggie soup - celery, carrots, leeks all chopped up and red lentils, with a couple of veggie stock cubes and mixed herbs. Cooks in 20 mins. I make a large batch and freeze portions.

Also used red lentils to bulk out school lesson curry.

was nice so will repeat.

As we were too busy to go shopping this weekend, we've been eating from our stash. I've cracked and ordered some fruit and veg though. It's too nice to eat too much frozen and tinned veg.

Defrosted frozen butter is indistinguishable from butter from the fridge.

I think I'll keep replacing tinned and other really long life stuff and stock up from the beginning of September.

Our shopping bill has gone right down , and I've stopped doing a proper weekly shop - just occasional little top-ups for fresh produce, also our veg plot has started producing its early harvests like salad leaves and radishes. Back in April, I organised our stash in expiry date order and so we're prioritising (but not very strictly) the order of consumption. Also, we're eating the freezer contents; we had loads of batch-cooked meals prepared so I've hardly had to cook "properly" for ages! TBH it's been great

There is a plan though, we're not just frittering our stocks away willy-nilly: the whole point of eating the short-expiry-date and freezer food, is to re-stock with new supplies. Probably from late summer onwards.

Thank you all for the lentil recipe ideas :)

Last night tried the Jack Monroe chilli recipe using tinned corned beef and other tinned stuff. Gotta say, it was delicious. DH the sceptic chose it. Leftovers going into the freezer.

Oh yeah, everything apart from the tinned corned beef was already in the stash. Will be replaced in the stash.

I'm thinking about going through the new Jack book and buying a load of tinned ingredients to make say 10-20 of the meals, to add to the stash.
I think we are looking at unplanned no deal, I don't see how a new leader will have time to negotiate anything sensible since they seem to be going to take two months off over the summer...

I'm not a Jack fan but I got it because it looked like a useful framework. My dh, keen cook and previously a stash sceptic, said "I wish I'd had I'd when I was at University ".
I think there's quite a few of the recipes on her website so you might want to try there before splashing out.

I’ve been using things from my stash. I haven’t even been keeping a note of what ! So fed up with the whole mess I think I’m in a place where a stash seems irrelevant. Actually I find it depressing to have stuff lying around.
Deep down I think I’ll be starting from scratch building it up again late August or sept.

I have already got Jacks book, as I'm a big fan, I don't like it as much as her earlier ones to be honest but that's mainly because of some of the weird meat combos.

@HeronLanyon , if you can afford to, give some stuff to a food bank then , again, if you want to, approach it again with renewed vigour. And from the stash.

Good idea Bellini. Forgot that was what I had meant to do if stash became unneeded.

I think I am going to keep looking out for offers on long date products. The gradual building up chopped tomatoes has started. The using the beans will occur gradually.

I need to bake bread to use up the flour and practise skills.

Still fiddling about with gardening. Learning how much time I have and what will work.

I generally need to sort out the flat so will get on with that over the summer.

Need to get ds some Sainsbury's curry too. That was really tasty and worked well with tinned peas.

I have been baking with my youngest and using up the short dated goods. We have also discovered a taste for tinned peaches!

The cupboards are emptying and I will refill when I see offers or after the summer.

Actually that reminds me I have tons of bread flour probably getting close to its date so need to use it up and replace. And suss our space in my shed for more tins.
I'm utterly convinced we are headed for Boris and no deal.

I think whoever gets in to the Tory leadership the EU will have had enough and say bye. Tusk essentially said go away and work out what you are doing / don't waste time, but we are no further on that I can see..

Anyway I've stopped following the detail and try to focus on what I can control.

And I have actually got the hang of yeast baking after many false (and heavy!) starts over the years.

Well, I need to get on with decorating ds's room so things from his room can be removed from everywhere else in the flat.