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

@flouncyfanny , I sort of did but then I got bored.
I recently did an audit of what's in the freezer and have a colour coded spreadsheet. I anticipate getting bored with that too and, as with the non-freezer stash, relying on my shitty memory. I occasionally go in and reorder or move stuff about. It helps my memory.
I'm not a very good prepper in that regard, if I am honest.

Take a photo of your list?

I think I would set out my list in a different way.
Name of item, Eg raisins then write the date in m/yy form with a tick for each pack:

Raisins 5/20.✓✓✓ 6/20✓✓

Then as I buy more I can add a new date at the end. As I use up I can cross out the relevant tick.

Mainly though, I have stashes of longish dated things in inaccessible areas and other more accessible places that I use and restock without recording dates or quantities.

I did a hilarious (to me) voice memo on my phone as I went through each drawer in my freezer and wrote it up bit by bit.
Again, I predict I will get bored and not keep it up to date.

@flouncyfanny I've got two paper lists on the go at the moment - one is for the store cupboard that I've been creating since January, the other one is for what's already in the cupboard.

I fear if I upgrade to a spreadsheet my DP will think I've totally gone loopy (but I'm terribly tempted).

Also, I've always stored recipes etc on my computer but in case of power outages (however unlikely they may be) I've started writing them down, so perhaps consider that too?

There's something quite nostalgic in writing them down for me, too - when I was a child I found my great grandmother's recipe book, all handwritten, and found it enormously moving/exciting. I like the idea my own kids might find them one day.

We've got a chest freezer and I've no bloody clue what's hiding in there! Even when we reorganise I seemingly fail to remember. I do know we've LOADS of frozen runner and green beans though! And 6 tubs of Swedish Glacé ice cream.

And what's in our room (I can't say under the bed anymore as my desk is covered. Good job I don't work from home at the moment!) is staggering!

I need to bulk buy seeds for the multi seed bread we've started to make in the bread maker as well as more flour / yeast. I'll do that soon, I think.

It's finding storage places for all of this stuff! 😂 That's my maim challenge right now.

That’s what I’m worried about Bellini. It’ll start fine but then I’ll get bored and I might as well have not wasted the time in the first place. I’ve managed fairly well without so far although I’ve just found a pack of microwave rice that seems to have escaped the expiry date stock rotation. I also have more plasters than one person is likely to need.

I'm very organised by my standards. I have crammed my larder full of long date things. Longest date at back. By eye, looks like I can make a fair few balanced meals. Likewise freezer though that mostly contains batch cooked soup, stews and bread. Box in loft with biccies and tinned fruit. Occasional random rice and pasta purchases are stuffed in a drawer upstairs. Toothpastes and whatnot in what was once an airing cupboard but no longer has a boiler in it.

@flouncyfanny I don't necessarily think there'll be power cuts, I just always like to have a paper copy of things. I'm an academic, alas! 😂

@flouncyfanny yes I have spread sheet a-z then dates and also location e.g. under bed or under stairs

Dry wipe board so if anything taken out of stock cupboard is then wrote down so can replaces

@flouncyfanny, from Premier Seeds via eBay. They should be kept somewhere cool with silica gel in the box to keep them dry. The shed may be OK if they're in a waterproof box with a shit ton of silica gel.

Get someone else to put rarely used stuff in the loft and use the space cleared for your stash.

My stash is on bookshelves in a spare room. Each shelf level is a different category of food (carbs, protein, breakfast, oils, treats, etc...) I've a separate bookshelf just for cleaning products and toiletries. I've then got a Google docs spreadsheet with a tab for each category, each tab lists the food type, quantity and the soonest BB date for each thing. Because it's a Google Doc I can do quick updates on my phone when a BB date needs to change. As the stash is quite spread out, but all in one place I'm not too worried about not being able to access the spreadsheet intermittently as it's quite easy to see what's there.

Currently anything going into the stash can't be touched before November now, but as we're semi rural I've been thinking for a while that we should extend our pantry system (which involves having roughly 2-3 weeks of mostly tinned food that's replaced when it moves into the main food cupboard). So once Brexit issues have stabilised we'll replace the stash as and when it gets used.

My next job is to sort out the freezers. Our chest freezer is on about the 5th organisational system and its not working, stuff still gets buried. I know mostly what's in there as we have whiteboards on the wall (in categories) listing the contents, but currently to find anything you have to cross your fingers and delve down. Anyone got any tips for organising a chest freezer?

I've stocked up on baking supplies today, and won a bread maker on ebay yesterday. I have attempted to make bread by hand before and my dodgy wrists are just not up to the job, so I am hoping to get some nice bread out of the bread maker. I've ordered a book of bread maker recipes on ebay to try too.

I'm pretty well stuffed if there are power cuts. We live in a flat, with no outside space, so nowhere to cook on a barbecue or camping stove and a fair bit of our food is frozen. We are all electric too, heating, hot water, cooking, the lot.

Spreadsheets?? Lists?!? What sorcery is this!!

I have yet to document my stash but I should have time to do that in mid September when DP is on an extended trip. I prefer a handwritten list, I think something like: Item - number - expiry date but perhaps in pencil for the number so I can alter it easily.

Fridge freezer should be fine in a short power cut if you don't open the door.

Have blankets and duvets to keep you warm, and a woolly hat/ scarf. Wrist warmers are good too. Old pair of socks, hole in heel for thumb, toe cut off for fingers.

Have torches, lanterns, head torch, wind up radio and power bank for phones.

The million home powercut in August is an example of why one might need a back up non Brexit related.

I have just ordered three big airtight flour containers. I will not let the bastard weevils win again (of course actually baking with it in a timely fashion would help too but it’s been a shitty 18 months and it got away from me).