Prepping for a Pandemic - Thread 16

[Sprayitall]

I don’t know why another thread hasn’t been created yet , so here you go. Now as we prep ourselves to the peak of this pandemic, let’s all face it together and appreciate how fragile our lives are and how we need each other to survive and flourish.

@Bornfreebutincovidchains aww.. please don’t be so hard on yourself or your dh now. Everyone is fighting this in their minds their own way. Just wipe/wash the things you put in the fridge and freezer. Dry items can wait a day or two until your migraine settles. My dh was so skeptical when all this chaos started and I was prepping anyway (This was in feb). He thought I was mad to put large orders and even got into an argument when he couldn’t reach his usual stuff in the freezer saying the preps are driving him mad and we are not into apocalypse or anything like that. I just walked away but now he regrets saying that and is thanking me for planning it ahead. He was so proud when he was talking to my dad the other day and was happy that I prepared ahead. I’m now regretting because he is constantly dipping in the prep stash and not even bins the wraps. Dd and him put blames on each other and I end up tidying up after them. That’s driving me crazy because my living room looks like an obstacle course by itself because of dd’s stuff. I don’t know how some mums with more than few kids keep their house so tidy always whereas I am struggling to keep a tidy home with just one dd and him. I l’m missing my once a week cleaner now

He's already done it though!! It genuinely stressed him out, far more than the thought of going to a shop and catching covid?!

He's the same when packing the car for holidays, it stresses him out... I find it absurd..
My dh alai couldn't understand why it got so much compost for garden in one go, or why we brought one pack of chicken for the freezer along with our usual two packs!

Op delving into supplies is annoying..

Does anyone know where I can order flour from. Shops near me haven’t had any in for weeks.

Flour - the problem is most mills don't pack flour in retail size packs, they do 25Kg sacks and bulk tankers for manufacturing.
It's not possible to switch as the machinery is different.
Try Dunster Water Mill, Doves or Shipton Mill. Or Google water mils / traditional Mills, probably your best bet.

I don't know how you manage that @WhereDoWeGo it would cause a rift for me as I'd be so angry with my family for being so selfish.

I would be absolutely fuming if I was you. Where did you get your sensible genes from😉?

There's nothing you can do other than expressing your anger and reiterating the risks and rules.

My 86 year old mother can't keep away from Tesco, it's like a magnetic pull to her. Get the newspaper, pint of milk, see if they have bread. She spends more time there than she did before the lockdown.
Goes to see her friends, too.
I can't get through to her.

@BrieAndChilli
I have posted before but looks like Lakeland online still have some strong wholemeal and some other gluten free types if you scroll and look.

www.lakeland.co.uk/search/Flour

Lakeland not accepting new orders unfortunately. Really want some flour!

Good morning,
How are you all? And how is the prepping going on for today? The numbers are getting scary and many of my friends think the numbers shown are way off from the actual numbers which doesn’t help my anxiety.
@WhereDoWeGo I would be very cross with my mum if she does that. It’s not only about us or our loved ones, what if they are asymptomatic carriers? That’s what we need people to be careful about.
Today I am prepping myself by learning how to make yoghurt here. In India, we make curd just by adding some nice cues that has live cultures to a luke warm milk and leave it overnight to get natural set curd but my British friends here say that we can’t get good quality yoghurts from cultures from supermarket yoghurt. So I got the organic one from the milkman delivery and I am trying to do some. I’m still awaiting my first veg box delivery (it’s scheduled early next week.they are still taking new customers. So pm me if you are still looking to sign up for one in bucks/hertz/beds and surrounding areas and I’m happy to share the details - I have no affiliation to them nor do I guarantee anything just to be clear)
Dh and I have been discussing about this small business grants but the guidelines aren’t clear. Can anyone please advise? I run a small online business as a sole trader. I don’t have any premises for the same I do it from home. I hire couple of staffs by paying them hourly if needed and that’s it. I have a mail box service and lot of other things in expenses like running a website etc though. Am I eligible for any covid government grants? Can someone clarify?

Hmm maybe it's either regional or just a bit hit & miss Pegase, I've seen my neighbour and she has just ordered some of their gluten free stuff within the past ten mins after I mentioned it to her yesterday. She does generally need GF so she was rather pleased. They have however now sold out of the wholemeal and the Carrs breadmaker mix's.

pegase I was hunting for flour too as went through my 2 bags much quicker than I thought I would. Maybe try health food shop or farm shop? I managed to get some from local pub which is now a pop up shop and a local independent wholesaler who are now selling to public instead of caterers etc but it is a really really big bag so now have to find a way to safely store and make sure I use it. If it's for bread can use plain flour instead of strong in many recipes.

sprayitall funnily enough, I made yoghurt yesterday! Any plain yoghurt will work, as long as it says live in the tub.
This was made with Yeo Valley

And here are the masala dhosa I made for lunch.
I used leftover potato curry as a filling and made a sort of raita with coriander, cumin, chilli, lemon, juice, spring onion, yoghurt and a dollop of mint sauce as I didn't have fresh mint!
Not the best looking dhosa, but they were crispy, tasty and hit the spot
Any hints and tips, Sprayitall?

Wow that looks lovely Weeds we're having lamb curry later in the week. Had a BBQ today so had our fill of sunshine and Vit D without leaving the house.

marshmallow they should be a lovely golden brown, with a swirl pattern, but I couldn't get them to brown for some reason.
I'm going to BBQ some pork chops later, I think.

@weeds yoghurt looks yummy. I will be happy if mine turns out half good as yours. For dosa, how did you make the batter? Ready made one or did you make it at home? If you are making at home my top tip is 1:5 ratio of urad dal and idli rice. Also add a teaspoon of fenugreek. Soak for 6 hours and grind them separately. Then add salt and mix them. Cover and leave it overnight near the radiator or any warm place. Do not use tap water as it has chlorine and kills the bacteria and yeast that aids the fermentation. Use bottled water.
I use a table top wet grinder if that helps. I have attached the picture for the same. Traditionally we don’t eat dosa with raita . We have it stuffed with potato masala served with 3 types of chutneys (coconut chutney, mint and coriander chutney, tomato&onion chutney) and a hot bowl of sambaar. Dd loves chocolate dosa (tastes more like crepe) and masala dosa. Attached a pic for you to show the grinder I use ( I got it from India years ago for under £40)

For dosa not browning, don’t use the batter straight from fridge. Leave it out for sometime and also add half tsp of sugar. That will sort it out. Use ghee around the dosa. Dosa making is an art bu itself I should say and people become an expert only by practice. There are atleast 100 varieties of dosa. The place where i grew up had this shop that served them all. It’s very easy once you master it though. Just purée few ingredients and add them to the batter to make it special and different everytime. 😉

That looks amazing sprayitall I was using a rather elderly packet mix, but have all those ingredients, so will have a go from scratch.
What consistency should the batter be? I have a feeling mine was too wet.

Fenugreek seed, not the methi leaves?