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?

For the DC on limited diets, could you add nutritional yeast to meals. It's a truly terrible name for savoury, tasty - but beige - flakes that either dissolve in the liquid of a meal or can be sprinkled on top and stirred in.

Huge nutritional content - often with added B3 or D. Most of us vegans know it as nooch, and use it in everything. Several makes on the market. My personal fave is Marigold Engevita and I buy it in bulk, and use it every day.

I'm not a vegan but use Marigold Engevita flakes as a reasonably shelf stable cheese flavouring. It makes lovely 'cheese' scones and bread. There's also a vegan flavouring called something like 'bacon bits', they both last ages if you vacuum seal them. The flavour and texture of both brands is also consistent, which is useful if thats an issue.

I know why it’s gone up in price, but cooking oil has more than tripled in price and is very low in stock near me.

Same here with cooking oil GreatBigExpectations

Thank you for the eating tips @StandUpPirates @EveLe @FlipFlops4Me and @Thelnebriati , I'll definitely look into all of those. DTS1 had a Happy Meal today and of course scoffed the lot!!

We're away for a few days next week but when we get back and the DTs are back at school (yippee!!) then I'll start prepping in earnest...

Sun flower oil has been affected by the war in Ukraine

Just posted this elsewhere but it's worth putting here too. If you're in a position to afford having a bath, take off the side panel and put loft insulation under and around the bath and it will keep the water warm for a lot longer.

Hello! Apologies if this has already been discussed but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a decent air fryer please? I'm prepping for winter and the crazy energy bills and I'm currently researching air fryers. What do you guys use, if any? I've seen some with shelves that I quite liked, and ones with two compartments which looks like a good idea if you want to cook more things at once, but I still can't work out what would be the best one in terms of energy consumption. I would prefer if it wasn't huge so I've been looking at roughly 5-litre ones. Any advice? Thanks!

I've also been getting hooded blankets to wear as DH works from home and I'm getting some heated throws and more and more candles. We are in an awkward situation in that we're supposed to be moving house in the next couple of weeks but haven't exchanged contracts yet. Knowing what the house selling/buying process is we can never be sure if it's all going to go ahead or not, so depending on the outcome we'll either live in a small coach house (easier to keep warm as small?) or a larger, older end of terrace (with a fireplace though!). Hard to plan anything at the moment!

I have the Daewoo halogen with a glass bowl and an extension ring, it will easily fit a 4lb chicken without using the ring. We've used it for air frying, roasting and baking.
www.ebay.co.uk/p/13024223042?iid=114518572024

@SpaceyCake , also looking for air fryer recommendations. I keep seeing suggestions for Ninja ones but we only have a small space and they sound big

They are big, they take up as much space as a microwave. We leave ours out and its a tiny kitchen.

I’m not sure an air fryer saves much more, than using an oven efficiently. Try and cook two or three days worth at once and can then just reheat

I had oven on for cakes earlier. Added tray of veg to roast for meal tomorrow and some baked potatoes for lunch.

Our new oven is definitely more efficient than old though. It doesn’t need preheating for starters, as is at temperature within a few minutes.

Thanks all. I'm still researching. I may get one anyway because I like the sound of it, and anything that makes cooking quicker is a bonus to me! I think we have quite an old oven and I have a feeling it's not very energy efficient, so I'm guessing an air fryer might do a better job. Our current kitchen is tiny too so I'm looking at slightly smaller models at the moment. (I guess I could buy one when we know if we're actually moving or not but the irrational side of me thinks that prices will go up massively in the next couple of weeks. 😅)

I've been gently moving towards being prepared for winter. I've started taking an inventory.

We've run out of storage for logs, but dh was a bit when I fretted that we might need more.

I'm also fretting about how my young adult dd will manage. Here we are probably quite well set up, but her shared flat has little space and no alternative source of heating. She hasn't much money, so I want to help her be as ready as possible, so I'll be looking for space saving things for her that are safe to use in a flat.

I'm also fretting about how my young adult dd will manage. Here we are probably quite well set up, but her shared flat has little space and no alternative source of heating.

I'd be making sure she has a decent lantern, batteries and charger, so no need to use candles. I'm in a flat and my biggest worry is someone else using candles for light/heat and setting the house on fire. Check her fire alarms work? Blanket and decent hot water bottle.

I’ve convinced DH to get a camping stove because we only have electricity. New build so no option for an open fire or a log stove. Insulation is very good but if there are power cuts we can’t cook or boil a kettle 🤦‍♀️

@StandUpPirates I agree, candles would be a terrible idea. She does have a rechargeable lantern and decent blankets. The blankets can go flat under her mattress. I'll make sure she has a really good battery pack.

@OhYouBadBadKitten Does she have a decent large thermos flask?

That's a good idea @StandUpPirates she only has a small one.

Good job Ive taken an inventory. It seems that each week I've been adding things like Tuna, chickpeas and sweet corn to the online shopping. Then dh has been putting it away when it arrives. I've not been doing my usual cooking for quite a while. The result: a zillion tins of each, very little of anything else.

I now have visions of us sitting in the dark with a tin of chickpeas each for dinner.

I love snacking on chickpeas. Great for the bowels too 😁

This made me laugh out loud. A much needed laugh.. thank you.

Are all hot water bottles the same? Are there any brands that people would recommend?

@bellinisurge and @SpaceyCake the Feed your Family for £20 a week website has air fryer week at the moment, loads of into on there - well worth a look at the website and Facebook. They also have 20% off Tower air fryers with code LORNA, if any of those would suit you!

@ClaraTheImpossibleGirl Thanks for the link! I was not aware of this website and it looks great. I'll have a little read now. :)