If you're prepping for Brexit..

[PenguinBlizzard]

In the event of empty shelves due to panic buying or no deal chaos how many days food are you aiming for?

General advice is to start with a few days (3-5) and then build up to a couple of weeks if you can. Usually you will be told not to do it all at once and instead to pick up a few bits each week. This is to make it easier on the purse and to ensure that all of your BBE dates don't fall at the same time. However we are getting very close now and so if you can afford it, its probably a good idea to do a stockpile shop now. Word on the street is that the government are about to put out an announcement telling households to stock up just in case. At that point, lots of people who haven't yet thought about this are likely to be panicking a bit. Prices are also already going up..

If you can do longer then great but many won't be able to afford to or won't have the space.

We are gathering up approximately a 6 month supply of things we think might be effected most that we eat a lot of. So pastas, rice, cous cous, dried beans of various types, tinned tomatoes etc etc. I'm also intending to freeze some peppers & courgettes & the likes. If it turns out not to be necessary, great, they won't go to waste.

We started out aiming for 3 days, then moved up to a week, a fortnight, a month etc.
Now we have approx. 6 months for my large family. It has taken a considerable amount of time to achieve this.

Think about meals that you enjoy that can be made from tinned goods, then when you have a list of 4/5 store cupboard meals purchase several extra each week you shop. 3 extra meals each week for the next 10 weeks will give you a good 30 days supply of food.

Then a small amount of washing powder, washing up liquid, toothpaste, soap & shampoo

Flour and yeast

Stock up your freezer

Dry goods for hot drinks

Tea bags are made in uk and eggs will be fine

Lots of common sense on here already. I'm a prepper so for me Brexit is just another thing.
I also grow a bit of my own - not because I have a realistic expectation of self sufficiency but because I find it both useful and calming. I live in a little house in a northern suburb.
Our dinner table looks out on the little garden. Being able to say my spuds, tomatoes, young spinach leaves or whatever came from [points] there makes me feel good. I reckon I'll need more of that feeling.
Focus always on what you actually eat when buying extras and don't forget your pets.

Bellini This came up on another thread earlier and I’m still wondering. Are their varieties of potatoes (to buy not plant) that will keep longer than a week without sprouting? They’re my family’s biggest staple and I remember as a child having a sackful that stayed fresh if dark/cold’for a month or more?

If you buy a sack of spuds direct from the farm they should keep for a couple of months in a shed/garage at this time of year. We do this anyway as it is much cheaper than buying plastic bags of/loose potatoes from the supermarket.

Two to three months.

But really we should have that much in at all times anyway to deal with any crises and smooth over the bumps in life.

Big blue - I really wish we could do that, but no one round us seems to sell big sacks direct to ordinary consumers anymore!

Thanks bigbluebus.

@Somerville - check out HomeGrownVeg on YouTube. He does lots of experiments with supermarket bought spuds. And is generally a really good laugh. HuwsNursery and Liz Zorab are other lovely UK channels.

Thanks for the rec Bellini my dear.

If, like me, you are a bacon lover here's a tip you might want to try. It's not healthy but adds a bit of flavour to anything dull.
My 30s born Irish mum used to do this and I forgot all about it until reminded of it on a US prepper/homesteading YouTube channel recently.
If you ever fry bacon/lardons/pancetta cubes, pour the fat into a jar when you are finished and store it in the fridge. Add as and when.
When you need to add some bacon-y flavour loveliness to something a bit boring but have no bacon, use a little of this.
I regularly fry up onions garlic celery carrots in this - and some greens, whatever is around- then add red lentils. Then add water to cook the lentils. Delicious lentil/veg soup.

I live hand to mouth for a variety of reasons.
Finance, apathy, live in a city so loads of shops v close, small flat, but I’m starting to prep.
I remember my parents always had a stocked larder when I was growing up (1980’s) & still do. None of my friends or colleagues do though. Some are also prepping, but it’s nothing that’s ever really occurred to any of us until recently.
I’ve followed a lot of the Brexit threads & some of the posters there have been hugely helpful & insightful. Off to Costco this week to do a bit of a bigger shop as I think I need to push it along a bit!

My mam don’t that too with the bacon fat in a jar.

I don’t because my teenagers are mostly tedious vegetarians or vegans.

I am not a prepper but to prepare for Brexit I have a week of food, two cans of petrol, some antibiotics and other drugs and a lot of anger with the government for putting me in this position.

@Somerville , if you are used to cooking vegan and vegetarian for your teenagers , you have some excellent knowledge about shelf stable ingredients like nutritional yeast etc.
Yes, bacon loveliness is lovely but you have some useful skills.

Well thanks for the silver lining.
Our meal times are a nightmare at the moment - DH has nut allergy so making sure my vegan teen gets enough protein is stressful. Especially as he feels guilty so tries to buy her nuts behind my back.
But yes we cook lots of hippy shite (not literally - not yet) and meal plan and all that stuff which might come in useful.

Seriously @Somerville I'm including vegan cooking and ingredients as part of my preps.

Somerville, we are in a similar household as pescatarians, vegetarians & allergies & health problems to cook around. I think that's why I'm worried enough to want to have us covered for 6 months. Luckily pulses, seeds & grains store well. I feel your pain getting protein into a teen too😩 using a nutribullet, I'm currently managing it by hiding sesame, linseeds, sunflower seeds & oats in her pancakes. I make a pile & they get warmed up for breakfast every morning & she actually eats them & comes back for more. So far it's the only one she's stuck with -phew

Thanks to those of you who mentioned stocking up on yeast & flour. I hadn't thought of bread shortages. I will be storing flour, but will add extra wholemeal & yeast to that store cupboard now 👍🏼

While I wouldn't underestimate the trials and stress of having complex dietary requirements under one roof you @RockinHippy and @Somerville already have a headstart on creative thinking for non meat meals. Which might be skills a lot of people could find handy.

I agree Bellin,

DH & I we're just discussing this recently & you're right. I'm not phased by winging it with cooking, or knocking a loaf of bread together if I need to. We've had to cook from scratch for a long time, & adapt as we go, which will give likely us a head start in someways, though the allergies etc gives us less choice of what might be available

Thanks everyone, been putting the odd things away for a little while now and think we have at least a months worth of 3 decent sized meals a day so could be stretched or made to last with other food that's available in shops. Will keep adding.

My main tips (as someone new to this!) would be to learn how to make some simple bread and have some flour and yeast stocked up. I keep everything in decent plastic storage boxes in their packaging. Also to try to buy extras of the things you use anyway and rotate them.

Thanks everyone, been putting the odd things away for a little while now and think we have at least a months worth of 3 decent sized meals a day so could be stretched or made to last with other food that's available in shops. Will keep adding.

My main tips (as someone new to this!) would be to learn how to make some simple bread and have some flour and yeast stocked up. I keep everything in decent plastic storage boxes in their packaging. Also to try to buy extras of the things you use anyway and rotate them.

I agree with all of those tips,but can I add...

Buy lots of bay leaves & scatter them around your dry food storage. It keeps weevils etc at bay