Hell is ever closer - part 2

[SistemaAddict]

Following on from the previous thread.

Hell is ever closer-how's your stash looking? http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eureferendumm2016/3646002-hell-is-ever-closer-how-s-your-stash-looking

@Lex234 I have frozen blackberries and bluberries successfully by freezing them on a tray, not touching each other, then once they're frozen they can be bagged or boxed but remained free flow. I think you can do same with grapes. Apples, gooseberries, rhubarb etc I puree to freeze. Sorry I don't know the answer to your actual question!
Maybe best to buy tinned fruit salad, or bags of ready frozen?

Thank you Socks I hadn't even thought of grapes! I have bought frozen fruit before but it has always been a bit mushy. I will get a couple more tins as well. My household is banana mad, so I am hoping to find a way of freezing them? Apple puree is a good shout though thank you!

@Lex234 Just a suggestion but most fruit can be water-bath canned. The solution it should be canned in is 500mg of sugar + 1L of water, canned for 30min. It is 750mg of sugar for any sour fruit, like black currant, but otherwise the same. For fruit salad I'd go with 500mg, though.

I use the German version of "WECK Small-Batch Preserving: Year-Round Recipes for Canning, Fermenting, Pickling" for most things, which works quite well. The English version also has some boozy recipes, I might have to add it to the collection at some point. Normal pasta sauce jars etc. are fine to use, it doesn't have to be Weck.

Thank you all I will read up on that- How long will they store for? I can see it becoming quite addictive!

I'm baking flapjacks and stewing the apples from my memory tree. I'll freeze the stewed Apple for quick crumbles in the winter.

A year to two year. The official recommendation is to store home-canned goods for max. 1 year but all I have had ever happen is that fruit became a little mushy and peaches sometimes become a little darker in colour. Never stored anything over 1.5 years, though. Fruit tends to become a little softer after ~6 months but it is good to eat for quite a while. Jam is the only(!) thing that can just be filled hot into a jar and turned upside down, so I occasionally do that with left-over fruit.

I find money-wise it is usually only worth it if you buy on offer or have a garden. Otherwise, buying already canned fruit works out cheaper.

Not made flapjacks for ages Bercows you're giving me ideas :)

Thank you so much all I am definitely going to have a read and a try, I have learnt so many skills reading on here-my very first properly hand made loaf is resting right now :)

Thank you!

Flapacks freeze well too and are very tasty straight out of the freezer (just thawed enough not to break your teeth!)

I love the idea of seperate medicine boxes! Definitely going to do that! They need a sort through anyway

I'm embarrassed by how many medical boxes we have!
One for inhalers (dc2)
One for dc1 meds
Four (!!) for all my medical paraphernalia
One for 1st aid
One for pain killers
One for adult drugs
One for kids drugs

This is why I'm worried about medical supplies post Brexit...

My cupboard needs sorting. Meds everywhere. They need to be stacked neatly again.

Paracetamol was out of stock in Aldi last time I looked. I used up the end of a pack yesterday.

I've only seen one shop with no paracetamol, for one day. There's loads in most shops.

This weekend's dehydration escapade - frozen veg for a stew, oranges into orange fruit leather, mini plum tomatoes when we didn't realise we'd both bought them for a recipe (so organised ).
And I have a corner of doom that I need to sort out . So I have distracted myself enough with other projects and must do it. Now. After a cup of tea.

I need to sort the kitchen of doom. Just having a nap first.

@BlackeyedGruesome
I could have written that post, except I just want to have a nap first but can't have one.

@flouncyfanny , I survived. And am now having another cup of tea. Need more tea in the stash.

I also found my missing " bag of stuff for when it's really hot/cold". Which sounds fascinating but is actually about 4 hot water bottles, a chill pack that goes on/under the pillow and a towel that stays cool when wet. Hot flushes when it's fecking cold are no fun. Nor are they fun when it's fecking hot.

Omg, I think I would accept die if I ran out of tea. So glad I clicked on this thread as we're always well stocked foodwise but not teabags.

First thing tomorrow I'm going to the shops and will fill the boot with nothing but teabags.

The medical supplies can wait

• actually die

I need to stock up in Farmfoods as they do 2 x 240 PG Tips for £7.00. I'll do a £50 shop to get my fiver off! Cheese, tea bags and butter are on my list.

We tidied our stash yesterday. It's now under the bed and on top of the landing storage cupboard (which DH has considered converting to a pantry, but we've nowhere to put its contents!).

I've just jet washed the paving out the front and back. I now ache, but have a nice clean paved area!

Can someone recommend a dehydrator that's good but not too expensive, as I'm new to it, so I don't want to spend loads in case I find I can't get into it.