2019 Brexit Preps

[OVAgroundWOMBlingfree]

I thought it would be useful to have a thread as we head into the new year where we can discuss our Brexit preps.

Today I picked up all gift wrap and cards I will need for next Christmas which I would normally do anyway but I added some neutral gift wrap which could be used for birthdays. I also stashed a few toys in the sale which can be used for birthdays. The thought of the DC going without birthday presents is too sad.

I’ve also just stashed some lightbulbs, candles, lights and matches.

Going into 2019 I’m focusing on:
Solar chargers
Camping gas
Protein
Medicines
Box hair dye
Skincare
Loo roll and tissues + hankies
Cleaning products
Home brew kits
Books on self reliance

I have a second chest freezer arriving on Thursday. Will be filling it with meat and veg. In the meantime my focus is on eating anything older out of the current freezer to free up space.

Aneira when I lived in a highly active earthquake area if anyone commented on my shopping trolly I always said it was for a party/friend who is unwell/ summer camping trip etc depending on the contents. I never told anyone I was stockpiling in case of a major quake.

@cloudtree you just need to be careful in case of a powercut😕 We had one at work for a day, when it came back on, nobody noticed the fuse board had tripped and we lost everything - about 4 freezers full of food 😱

Yes I'm conscious of that but the plan is to keep stuff in there which is cooked already to minimise damage if there were power problems. I'm going to make up lasagnes, chillis, currys etc which are already full of veg. That way, shortages of anything fresh should have less of an impact on our diets. Plus lots of frozen fruit and veg which, if they defrost, wouldn't actually be a food safety problem. They could be frozen again. Short power outages should be fine if we don't open the freezers. If we did have prolonged power cuts (which I think is fairly unlikely) then we would just take the loss but I think the risk of supply chain issues impacting on food availability is greater than the risk of prolonged power problems.

We're all just guessing of course . Hopefully we are all wrong and paranoid and the only impact of that will then be that I don't have to spend much time cooking over the next six months since I'll already have done it.

I do have a spare freezer but I've been holding off filling it in case of power cuts. Maybe I'll take a chance closer to the time.

On a selfish note, I've been buying up extra supplies for a hobby I love. Most of that is imported and has already seen price rises since Brexit. It will also never go off unless destroyed by pests. It will bring me a bit of joy if things really go bad, although maybe I'd be better off hitting the gym so I can fend off burglars.

I feel more and more pessimistic with every passing day, tbh. I hate Brexit with every fibre of my being.

*price rises since the vote to Leave.

Just a passing comment regarding UHT milk: I just discovered two cartons of Sainsbury's UHT whole milk at the back of the cupboard BBE June 2017. (I went off home made yoghurt and forgot about them) Opened the first one and I was fine, tasted normal, just had a thin layer of cream at the top. Also worked fine for the yoghurt I just made. So I'll be getting in a new supply shortly, but just wanted to reassure people regarding dates on long-life milk.

That's good Glow, I couldn't find any beyond June today.

Pros of taking a University student along to the shops with you: The cashier assumes it's a back to university shop and commiserates.

Cons of taking a University student along to the shops with you: You realise she's been whatsapping her university friends throughout the trip, gently mocking the expedition.

No pasta for her then

That is very interesting regarding the milk, well worth knowing. Thank you.

I’ve just bought 5 jars of salmon paste which has taken me straight back to school lunches when I was about 6 in the late eighties.

Today we moved our old, battered up garden table into our orangery (really just a collapsing lean to but the estate agent was creative, as they so often are) to create a potting shed/greenhouse area. It gets a lot of light, so we hope this will help with the amount of veg we want to grow. We don’t have a huge space outside but will make the most of it this year including trailing fruit and veg (we have bought some specific seeds with this in mind) from the top of our (very stable) garage roof. We will make sure to secure them for bad weather when they are ready to go outside.

We have lots of jars of passatta made from the product of two cherry tomato plants grown in pots last year.

@OVAgroundWOMBlingfree - I'd never even thought about salmon paste - it used to be a secret guilty pleasure. I was a child in the 70s. I upgraded to Gentleman's Relish but my dh dislikes it so I stopped buying it years ago.
What a brilliant idea.
Your veg gardening plans sound great.

bellinisurge
It is around 40p a jar for own brand in supermarkets. As you’ll remember it tastes strong so a little goes a long way.
I think it might come in really useful in cooking not just in sandwiches.

Well I have just started my new bujo and will be doing some Brexit prep spreads. Going to go back through threads here and in other places and note down lots of info and ideas. If it all passes off smoothly my grandchildren will be able to laugh at Nanna Halloumi and her crazy ways.

My non- foofy, non-product-y , reluctant dh suddenly realised there was a particular shampoo he relied on which is hard to get anyway. He's Just ordered a couple of extra bottles off Amazon even though it is more expensive than the ones he occasionally finds in Boots.
If you have anything you like (or some one in your household likes) in a low level, not life and death but just makes stuff go easier kind of way, think about getting extras in.
No body wants to face tricky circumstances with a nagging sensation of something being a bit off because you have run out.

I've just done an extra food shop that I'm going to stash away. It includes the following
Pasta
Rice
Tuna
Porridge oats
Tim tomatoes
Tin soups
Baked beans
Tin spaghetti
Pasta sauces
Curry sauce
Oil
Flours (self raising, plain and bread)
Yeast
Long life milk
Washing powder
Soap
Shampoo
Toothpastes
Dog food

This is my base and I plan to start adding to it at each weekly shop, just bits and bobs
What else should I be getting?

cookingonabootstrap.com/2018/11/15/stockpiling-for-brexit/

I found the Jack Monroe list a useful basis and we changed it for our dietary requirements and preferences .

Tinned veg? - the stuff people in your house would eat.

Tinned veg, good idea, thanks

And tinned fruit too. I'm old, it's what we used to have a lot of anyway. Nice on porridge.

Tahini, chickpeas, bottled lemon juice and garlic paste make nice home made hummus and all may go up a lot in price after brexit.

Remember to box flour in airtight containers as it can get infested with an annoying mite.

Flatbread is so easy to make - it’s worth trying a few different recipes. Serve hot with the hummus and some windowsill greens.

A wonderbag is a great way to save money on fuel if that goes up - I experimented with hay cooking at it does work better than my home made efforts. Very portable. Also good for camping, a day on the allotment and journeys where you don’t want to pay for an expensive hot meal at a service station.

www.amazon.co.uk/Wonderbag-Non-Electric-Portable-Cooker-Medium/dp/B07KFQTJKG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ref=plSrch&keywords=wonderbag&dpPl=1&dpID=41za6m5jYIL&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1546815653&sr=8-1

www.instructables.com/id/hay-box-cooker/

Or to do it cheaper, try this...

Stored this weekend:

HP Sauce
Marmite
Nutritional yeast
Lemon juice
Lime juice
Matches
Disinfectant
Washing powder
Plain flour
Jarred sauces for lasagne (usually make our own but figure this could be a treat after a rough day at work, rather than a takeaway)

Ordered:
Powdered egg
Dishwasher tablets in bulk
Skincare items from France

Also done:
Planted seeds for broad beans and cherry tomatoes.

I have bought moo from Asda too, that's where we first saw it. Best price is a pound there I think

It's 80p on roll back at the moment - have just ordered some off the back of this thread.

Nice to know @kaitlinktm

I got my extra freezer tonight, will be filling it over the next few weeks. will come in handy as we are pretty rural and last winter was a bit of a shock. Am planning on having 2 weeks worth of food in.

I don't know if this has been covered by someone else, but if you freeze flour for 48 hours it stops the flour weevils and if you then put it in an airtight container it will extend the shelf life by up to a year.

For those scoffing at any sort of prepping as scaremongering or paranoia, in the nearest town to us there were literal fist fights over bread in the snow last winter. Our local KFC also had a security guard as people were so upset when they ran out of chicken.