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.

[bellinisurge]

Fab @Weedsnseeds1 . Absolutely brilliant.

[Weedsnseeds1]

We're ploughing into them now. They taste amazing, if I do say so myself!

[AlohaMolly]

I fell off the other thread because I felt like I wasn’t doing anything really, but I’ve missed it!

I made labneh this week thanks to someone on this thread and it has brought me such great joy over the last few days. I’ve been eating it on toast with mushrooms, red onions and poached/scrambled egg for breakfast and then I had it on toast with sliced cucumber and mint as well. I’m planning on making it again today!

I overdid it last week food wise - 2 x veg and fruit boxes by accident and a £90 ASDA delivery, plus a botched milk delivery but now I’ve got an overstocked freezer and a Tesco click and collect order due today too.

I’m hoping that after today’s Tesco order I’m going to really be able to pare back my food spends as have (I hope) set up good local deliveries of fruit/veg and milk/eggs.

I’m also about to try and make cottage cheese because I need to use up milk!

We’ve been overhauling our tiny postage stamp backyard but our hope is to really think carefully about what we plant, so as to have a good mix of ‘pleasure’ like flowers and functional. I’ve planted some spring onions from offcuts and have carrots and parsnips ready to go. I’d like to grow lots of other fruit and veg, but does anyone have any tips?

[bellinisurge]

@AlohaMolly , perpetual spinach or, if that's too hard to find, rainbow chard. Use baby leaves in salads or whizzed into soups and sauces.
Fruit is more difficult to grow assuming you aren't a pedant and exclude tomatoes from the fruit category .
Try and spot brambles in your local area on your next walk - blackberry/bramble fruit in late summer. You could take a cutting for your own garden but once brambles take hold in a spot they are hard to keep on top of.

[Barbararara]

Chives are great- they don’t need much looking after apart from pinching off the heads now and then though they are pretty too if you want to grow a few for flowers. I can’t remember exactly but I think it’s recommended you plant them alongside other things as their smell repels some pests. They’re lovely in eggs, mash and with cheese or just to give a slight kick to a bland sandwich.

Strawberries are easy. I’m basically recommending things I haven’t killed through attention or neglect. They spread a lot after the fruit season so you can catch the shoots in pots or leave them room to take over.

[Oxyiz]

What project is that?

I don't think many people are likely to send pictures of their prepping. Either its essentially a food cupboard or it's something more hard-core that they wouldn't want to share widely.

[AlohaMolly]

YES spinach! I never buy it because I hate plastic, but then when I do i put it in everything. If I plant it, does it just grow back when I cut it?

We aren’t massive fruit eaters, but I really like the idea of growing things as much as possible from scraps/cuttings, so the bramble idea is very cool. Better in a pot, it sounds like!

[Weedsnseeds1]

Perpetual spinach does Aloha, standard spinach doesn't.
Raspberries, gooseberries and blackcurrants are also easy fruit.
Herbs - a selection adds some interest to cooking. Rosemary is partuculary easy.

[Weedsnseeds1]

Labneh is lovely, isn't it, and so easy!

[Sprayitall]

@DoraExplorer96 I get that you are trying to collect and create a visual database of things during this pandemic. But I don’t think you will get much of pics here sorry because as @Oxyiz said some might not be comfortable in showing their food cupboard or prefer sharing their preps.

[Sprayitall]

@Weedsnseeds1 That’s an amazing batch of croissants.
@AlohaMolly I’m just thinking if I have to cancel next weeks slot which I got to book .. I had a sleepless night day before and accidentally opened the window where it refreshed with a slot to book. This paring back and allowing the stash to be used is causing me anxiety so I’m replacing them whenever I can lol

[Sprayitall]

Meanwhile the latest news back home is the rapid test kit from South Korea will be available for Rs 380 in India which is approximately £4.00. How much are they charging here and from where it’s being imported? does anyone know how much is it sold and why is it expensive here?

[lexloofah]

sprayitall thank you for the ideas, I managed to edit it and add some useful stuff in, on reflection I guess it is good that I couldn't think of much and wasn't desperate for anything, I am telling myself it means we are well prepared!

Graphista I do love a list

weeds you are a very talented baker, the croissants look amazing

aloha could you grow broad beans? They don't take up much space as mostly vertical. I have about 12 in that I germinated in loo roll tubes on the windowsill.

Onwards to do the freezer penny thing and look at making labneh, I love it on fruity bread for brekkie

[Sprayitall]

@lexloofah True. Sorry my messages had too many “ oftens” yesterday I was so tired and was putting dd to bed and the bed time story reading is becoming endless.. so I couldn’t concentrate much on typing.

I am trying to make a rich fruit cake this week without the brandy or egg. Could someone point to a tried and tested recipe if possible please. I haven’t made them before but I would like to do it once I have all the ingredients sorted. Thank you

[Weedsnseeds1]

You could leave the brandy out, or substitute for another spirit if you have one.
Egg you could replace with yoghurt, chia sees, flax seed, or even silken tofu if you have it. In that type of cakes, the egg is really only to bind rather than help in raising the cake.

[Sprayitall]

@Weedsnseeds1 if we need it only for binding them together will plain natural yoghurt help?How much should we add? May be 1/4 cup for 5 eggs? the recipe calls for 5 eggs.. Mary berry’s one.

[Weedsnseeds1]

4 large eggs equals 1 cup, so 1.25 of yoghurt if recipe calls for 5 large, maybe 1 cup if medium?

[Sprayitall]

@Weedsnseeds1 thank you .. will report how it comes out once I finish making them 😀

[Oxyiz]

I've just read a thread from someone who's mum went into hospital and they did a scan and found lung damage, she hadn't noticed any symptoms.

Google shows other people showing the same thing - massive lung damage and they didn't know it was happening, or how permanent it is.

I'm very tired and a bit out of it after not sleeping much last night, but does that worry anybody else too?

[Weedsnseeds1]

I think normal pneumonia can cause lung damage occasionally, but this virus does seem to be scarring lungs even if not too badly affected. Although "mild" is defined as everything up to the point you can't breathe.
Very worrying if you can be symptom free and get this, but if you live in a city might be due to pollution and you wouldn't normally be checked, maybe?

[TiddleTaddleTat]

I lost you all ! Back

[Sprayitall]

@Oxyiz I read that too and was very worried. I’m also worried for my dd whose cough won’t go away that’s keeping me awake and slightly worried all night (we have never left the house for more than a month now so not sure if it’s allergy/undiagnosed asthma or anything else for that matter) I was also reading into how the nhs is managing and the issues regarding ppe’s masks etc. I am scared I will be refused any oxygen or ventilators just because of belonging to ethnic minority as I know I have never been treated right from the start.

[Coughsyrupsucks]

@Sprayitall I have seasonal hay fever induced asthma and that is a semi permanent dry cough and it started about a month ago. Try her on some kids anti histamine and see if that helps?

[Weedsnseeds1]

Caraway and raisin spelt loaf using my raisin yeast