Prepping amidst Pandemic - Thread 17

[Sprayitall]

Hi all, starting this thread to continue from preppers thread 16. Because we are amidst a pandemic now, I have changed the title to prepping amidst pandemic than “for pandemic”. I hope all of you keep well amidst this and get all the help, support and hope needed to cope during this challenging times. Feel free to add your thoughts, preps and ideas here.

Another week, another online shop. The only problem will be finding places to store it. Some will be put in ex's store of food.

Another week, another online shop. The only problem will be finding places to store it. Some will be put in ex's store of food.

Oops how did that happen?

Jump starting this thread again because I feel the second wave is imminent and I don’t want anyone of us to feel lost without all the knowledge sharing from preppers and the amazing prepping advice in these threads that helped many of us sail through the first round. So what are you all prepping ? I’m pottering about more in my garden and the growing our own food and garden things we started as prepping in the spring are bringing in their little share of fruits and veggies for the home so that’s a slight relief. With prepping wise I think we should up a little more on things we depend on factories as the virus is doing its rounds there. What else would you prepare for the next season??

Thanks for kicking this thread awake @Sprayitall. I'm getting an extra freezer so that we can store more meat & veg, and updating our elderly fridge.

Our tinned and dried stocks are good, for us it's just maintaining what we've already got. I'd say we could probably do with more tinned fruit and desserts to break things up a bit.

Our back yard is much tidier, and we've got plants in there to pretty things up; I'm going to get some salad plants next, but no room really for anything more substantial.

I'm also trying to pay off some of my smaller debts and find more reliable work (I'm self-employed) before unemployment figures potentially rise.

Have already started buying DD's Christmas presents so that if worst comes to the worst there'll be something to look forward to. Will be making a Christmas cake and doing some pickling in August, the green bean chutney I made last year was a very welcome find back in March!

We are very fortunate that 2nd wave is unlikely here (Aus) but I've been prepping regardless..... everything is too uncertain.
We've been eating the chest freezer down so I can buy 1/4 side of beef (look away veggies - sorry). Will be buying a bread maker soon too. Also stocking up on some silicone baking moulds and tray liners (so no need for muffin papers/baking papers) also to freeze leftovers in nice sized portions.
Also thinking about getting a dehydrater to avoid food waste but its mostly to make my house bunny treats 😆
I've been buying seeds and garden supplies in anticipation of spring too ( shelves were wiped here in Aus of anything that could grow in March/April!)

Hello everyone, thanks for reactivating the thread, Sprayitall.
I'm planning to buy a new fridge freezer and a breadmaker. I've been buying hand sanitiser (My local co op had large bottles of Cuticura fresh scent for around £2.60 which was amazing!) while it's readily available as I don't trust that it will always be in the shops when I want it. I have small bottles which I can decant it in to for out and about when they run low. The big ones aren't very portable...

I've been continuing to buy little things here and there, a very common theme that seems to be emerging is treats. Important to have, but also impossible to keep in because then we just eat them all. I'm trying to consider things like packet brownie mixes so I can in theory make treats but can't eat them all at 11pm as that would involve cooking. I need some nice GF ones... Not very impressed with the M&S one, I think Tesco's is better.

@RhubarbTea I’m upping up my cake and brownie mixes too as I’ve been baking for the local charity every week. Ordered some from wrights cake mix directly as they are selling 5 packs of 500gm each for £8 if that helps x

Thanks! They have to be gluten free for me which makes it a bit trickier. I have a few of their bread and cake mixes for DC though.

Thanks for restarting the thread. I’m just starting to make sure we replace things as we use them and have ordered the children’s stocking fillers for Christmas. I’m also thinking of signing up to milk and more so we can get deliveries of fresh stuff if we can’t get delivery slots, as they weren’t taking on new customers in March /April. I’m currently using up the meals I batch cooked and froze earlier this year and will cook fresh stuff. I’ve just ordered some more medical masks and I am about to buy some washable ones too and have checked hand sanitiser stocks, we still have loads. I’m using the slight lull to get anything sorted that could do with doing before winter too. Car mot needs booking as well and I’m keeping a close eye on finances and trying to think ahead re clothes and coats for the little ones too. Need to restock craft supplies as well.

Missing being able to stock up at Aldi and Lidl prices though!

I usually shop in Lidl too and since just before lockdown I've been using ASDA, I was shocked at the difference in price. Went to Lidl yesterday and noticed my usual shop was a lot more expensive than it used to be though.

Prep wise, I'm using up all the batch meals from the freezer and will replace them with fresh stuff in flat ziplocks instead of tupperware. I hate the thought of going back to plastic bags but I will reuse them as many times as possible, the difference in space when things are flat packed is amazing. I'm debating whether to get an extra freezer as I'm about to pick a whole load of fruit from the garden, there's only so much jam I can be bothered to make at one time, although I could bottle some.

I will be digging up the potatoes soon and those will be mostly pressure canned I think.

Wholesale delivery is on the way and I should have enough pasta, rice, couscous etc to last over the winter. I've bought powdered eggs and egg yolks too, I've never tried them before but eggs were like gold dust around here and there is still limited stock on the shelves. Bulk yeast will be portioned up and put in the freezer.

The best thing I've bought to date is dried whole milk, we use skimmed normally but having some whole milk for coffee, sauces, custard etc without having to throw half of it away when it turns is a game changer.

Anyone tried these Knorr soups? They come dried in a tub (supposedly makes 25 portions). I used to like Knorr packet soups back in the day, and this tub shape would be good for storage.

www.amazon.co.uk/Knorr-Classic-Minestrone-Soup-25-Count/dp/B00ZNHTKRE/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=knorr+soup&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1594227133&sr=8-5

@crunchycarrot we haven't had them in a while but they make a decent cup a soup style soup. I might stock up on a few now thank you for the reminder.

I stepped away from this thread and mn once we went I to lockdown due to having Covid. Which we are certain came from family member who works at airport. So for round 2 I will be stricter about family contact!

One of this weeks prep was a huge 16kg sack of gluten free flour for DC. How do you store big bulk buys?
We had to buy loads of containers for the flour because we don't have the space for barrels.

[quote Readyme]@crunchycarrot we haven't had them in a while but they make a decent cup a soup style soup. I might stock up on a few now thank you for the reminder.

I stepped away from this thread and mn once we went I to lockdown due to having Covid. Which we are certain came from family member who works at airport. So for round 2 I will be stricter about family contact!

One of this weeks prep was a huge 16kg sack of gluten free flour for DC. How do you store big bulk buys?
We had to buy loads of containers for the flour because we don't have the space for barrels.[/quote]
Thanks Readyme, I will get some and try it out!

I bought 5 kg flour and have divided it into 4 plastic containers. I think 16 kg would be quite a challenge! Might also depend where you are storing it, indoors or out in a shed/garage? Would definitely need to be pest-proof.

It has been a sizeable investment buying suitable containers, bags, etc for all this storage! However I have to say when panic buying set in at the onset of lockdown and getting deliveries was precarious, I was very, very glad of my prepping.

Thanks for the tip about those Knorr soups, I will try one and see!

I have stored flour under the stairs and in the garage, I'm lucky in that the garage is dry. I split it into kilo bags and then put the bags in a plastic bin that is meant for pet food.

@CrunchyCarrot
I've used those tubs of soup. I use the vegetable one but I usually use a few scoops to add flavour to homemade veg soups or sometimes adding extra thickness and flavour to a veggie stew. I've never needed to just make soup in itself but I think it would probably be nice enough and quick to do so.

@AngusThermopyle That's a good idea - to add some to a veggie stew. I will try that out, too!

I bought some flour from shipton mill 25kg and put it into freezer bags and freezed them, should last a while. Great for pizza based, naan bread and bread

@LazyDaisy10 I keep hearing about freezing flour I need to finally try it.

I'm compiling a list of ready meals to make for the freezer. I managed ok with caring for a 5 year old with Covid but it was very tough I don't want to be in that position again.

The one thing I need to track down is yeast, I still have some but it's going to need replenished soon.

One bit advice make sure you have a well stocked first aid kit that is easily accessible for everyone. We needed to brake ours out to use the butterfly stitches only for it to be a drama to access at the point of desperately needing it.

I'm going to try flat-packing my ready made meals for the freezer. Have been using plastic containers up till now but inevitably there's always space in them. If I can store more that way, then that would be a big benefit. I will still used containers for frozen fruit though as I don't want that getting crushed.

Those of you who store yeast - do you buy fresh yeast and freeze it? I have been using dried which works very well.

I freeze my batch cooked meals in containers and then pop them out and attempt to stack them neatly in one bag. Once upon a time I used to put them in indivdual bags but I got tired of trying to find multiple portions of the same thing. They take less space out of the containers because of the headspace.

I keep dried yeast in the freezer because it lasts longer, there's just a bit on the kitchen shelf.

Just moved the green house to a better location and re-glazed it. Made a new space for a herb/kitchen garden. Just need to get pots and plant now. Re-organised the larder, going to do the freezer when we get back from camping trip. Oh, and bathed the dogs 😂