Preparing for winter 2022/23

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How is best to prepare for the next winter? I imagine energy prices will be huge, I can afford a bit of an increase but I'm worried it will reach my limit.

I'm trying to forward think and plan ahead. I've bought some hot water bottles (in the sales) to put away and I will try and get a good stock of cupboard type foods to ease the food shopping bills over the winter when the energy will be used more. Ideally I want to try and have less other outgoings in November, December and January to cover the increase in my energy bills for that time.

I may also start overpaying a little each month on my energy account, or into a savings account so I have a bit of a buffer.

Any other ideas please?

Chickpeas done in the air fryer are delicious, you can add different flavours depending on what mood you are in :)

I'm not sure about whether all HWBs are the same. But I am trying (since last winter) to get a long skinny one to put around my neck in daytime and along my back at night.

I definitely recommend the type with a cover though, as you can fill with boiling water and they stay warm all night. As opposed to only using hot water when your skin is directly touching it (to prevent burns) and it cooling down by about 3am.

That sounds great @JasmineIndigo , I'll try that!

Instead of a HWB @BiddyPop what about a microwaveable rice or wheat bag? Obviously it would need electricity, but they are really easy to make if you have an old pair of jeans. You just cut the leg off and sew up both ends.

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl thanks for the tip

Thanks OYBBK - I never thought of making a longer one myself. The one i bought a few years ago is a bit short to cover both shoulders.

Ok so it seems all the air fryers I was looking into are now sold out everywhere. I even placed an order on one I thought looked good and just got an email and a refund note from the retailer as they're out of stock. These things are the new toilet paper, aren't they? 😅

I remember that happening with freezers in early 2020, you couldn't get them for love nor money.

The 5.7l instant pot is on sale on amazon for £57 if anyone has been thinking about one.

I know this isn’t a weather the]read @OhYouBadBadKitten , but is the long range winter forecast currently a wet one or a freezing cold one? Or is it still too early>

I cook at the weekend and put some in the fridge and some in the freezer. But. On those weekdays, it takes about an hour for my oven to get to temp and heat through something like a lasagne. Meals that aren't so 'dense' are faster, but lasagne and shepherdess pie are two of our favourite meals for winter dinners. I know I could cook them all and then reheat in the microwave, but we all prefer a lasagne that has just been assembled in advance and put in the oven when we want to eat.

My hope is that my airfryer will mean that I can reheat something like that in about twenty mins, and unlike using the microwave, I won't have to preheat the grill to brown the top.

Yes, I definitely need one with a cover too.. the heat would be too much initially and then too cold too quickly a the night goes on.
Amazon had some long ones - they might help you?

@GreatBigExpectations It's still too early for winter. I think generally the signal is that as we go into autumn there will be a NW/SE split in terms of rainfall. Seas are warmer than usual, which should help prop up temperatures for a while. The Atlantic hurricane season has been extremely late to get going. It looks like it will be a La Niña year, which tends to favour a blocked end to Autumn. So I don't think at the moment it looks like a stormy season ahead.

Hi @BiddyPop

Dunelm do a good range of weird and wonderful hot water bottle shapes. I have a long thin one that is 5ft, and a u-shaped one - like a travel / airplane pillow - for round my neck. Both have teddy / fleecy covers.

I was in B&M the other day, they had the long hot water bottles with covers in stock at around £10

We have the Costco twin drawer air fryer £95 which is fab, yesterday I did Roast potatoes and breaded fillets in 20 mins. Roughly costed air fryer is 50% less in cost to run than my oven and takes half the time so a meal cooked in it is only 25% of the cost of using my oven

I have a little set of shelves that I can use in it that I got from Amazon for £10 which allows me to add layers

@Tomnooktoldmeto would you mind sharing the link to your air fryer shelves please? Thank you

@thelittlestbird

@Cynderella I batch cook lasagne and freeze in the individual portion foil dishes, then reheat in the air fryer. Works really well and takes 20 mins max. Only issue I had first time I did it, was I put it on the top shelf, and the top burned before the middle was hot - but switched to using the middle shelf and it was perfect!

I'm going to try next week when I'm back to work - I freeze dinners in pyrex dishes, so need to make sure I use the ones that will fit in the drawers. I have seen people (on FB group) say that they cook for half the time and then add topping (cheese and breadcrumbs for us), or they cook at lower temp and then turn up for last 10 mins which might be easier.

Our local Aldi is selling off solar garden lights - couple of quid knocked off here and there.
If the power goes out, I will set them up around the house to cheer us up. Not much good for illumination but good for keeping spirits up.

Can I ask a silly question? Do you put the foil containers in the air fryer?

Yes, an air fryer is just a mini convection oven. It isn’t frying anything at all.

Thank you @Dannexe

DH just bought a heated airer from John Lewis (saw it mentioned in a Guardian article ) It was £100. Used it last night for the first time. Noticed our energy usage was still on green unlike with our dryer which makes our indicator thing go orange.
Everything dry . So sick of either the dryer being permanently on or the radiators being clogged up with clothes.

Picked up an emergency single ring gas stove from Halfords today (and 4 gas canisters) and a whistle kettle (just under £40).
If we have power and gas interruptions i will still have hot water and hot one pot meals. If we don't need it it will go in my camping supplies.

Our stovetop is LPG gas so we bought 2 extra cannisters yesterday so that should give us at least 18 months worth of cooker gas now.
I am making rhubarb jam and rhubarb bbq sauce todayfrom our garden.