Eking out the food

I used up some stale Sourdough by making it into "eggy bread" last night! We went supermarket shopping today, and I managed to get some Baked beans (no stock in the supermarkets for several weeks now). Sadly, no Cauliflower or green beans - two of our favourite veg - so bought broccoli instead. There were no eggs and very little that could be used for baking. Hubby has been cutting down on red meat (I don't eat meat at all) so our "stock" of meat is pretty much limited to a few chicken breasts and some sausages. There was no sign of any tinned meat, or indeed, tinned anything. I might have to resort to sharing the tuna we normally buy for the cats! Our local farm shop has closed down too, so no help there!

Our local neighbourhood site reports the supermarkets are now getting back to normal and virtually fully stocked, bar loo roll and eggs. Praise be!

HI Found a recipe for Trench cake from WW1 - sounds bad but was snet to men in trenches have made it before light-ish fruit cake with cocoa but no eggs..google recipe not complicated at all but delish!
Have been adding lentils, beans to dishes for years love the density of flavour.. quite looking forward to trying to ek out what we have....

I made a large pie today with a small amount of beef mince, added some rice, swede, carrot,onion, couple of wilted mushrooms, then topped with a layer of baked beans, before pastry topper, should do us about 3 or 4 dinners, will cook tonight them cut up rest for freezer.

MamaCaz, I work on the principle that if it is fit to eat just use it. Taste perhaps a bit weird but who cares? If you cooked it and it was fit to eat it's not going to do you too much harm. Having been brought up after the war with rationing I am now very frugal with what I make to ensure minimum waste. I've cut down portions too to eke out as planning on staying away from shops for next fortnight.

Good idea georgia. Thanks.

I made banana bread with some over ripe bananas and am just eating a small slice each day. And we're making a pot of tea with one tea bag and getting a cup of tea for later out of it. I'm even drinking black tea sometimes and it's ok'ish. On the plus side my clothes are no longer tight on me; must have lost at least half a stone purely by only eating when I'm actually hungry.

Labaik you could store your potatoes as mash in the freezer.

I've been adding a handful of porridge oats to mince since my kids were little and funds were very limited. You can't see or taste the difference and no-one has ever noticed, even after I told them years later what I was doing. I've also boiled up a chicken carcass for a stew later on today, and am
using up some bread in a bread and butter pudding. We were brought up to be frugal because we weren't well off when we were children, and my sister's and I are very glad of the training.

Is there any way I can get my last bag of Maris Pipers to keep longer, though? I read once that they shouldn't be kept in a fridge but they do seem to keep longer that way.

Now is not a good time to store potatoes, it is planting time and the old ones are well past their best.

If shopping, I would advise against the hour set aside by the supermarkets for the old, vulnerable and NHS staff. Sounds like a bad combination.

What is it with men? I can't get mine to take things seriously. We are self isolating and online shopping is useless. He says airily "We've got plenty of stuff." I say "Not for long, so don't waste anything."

Does anyone know how I can keep potatoes for longer? I keep them in a special bag in a cool place but they still start to sprout after a while. If I put them in sand, would that work [or would they start to grow? I've frozen things like bananas and lemons so I can make smoothies, and bought several packs of frozen meat and casserole vegetables. I've been trying to live in a 'no waste/no plastic' way for a while now and it's coming in handy. DD has organised a milkman for people in our local villages so we will be able to get milk, cheese eggs and yoghurt as long as the supply chain isn't affected.

In the past I have always shopped in person as I like choosing what looks nice on the day but now have to self isolate for 12 weeks so signed up to do an online shop. Did it early last week but first delivery slot I can have is April 8th at 5.30-6.30am. My son brought me a selection of fruit with flowers for Mother's Day. I cooked a stew yesterday and will be having it again this evening to use it up. I always have a cupboard full of tins and freezer full of meat so not worried about food just getting fresh fruit and veg. Otherwise will be making do with frozen veg and tin fruit. In July I will have lots of raspberries in the garden. I will not be setting foot outside of house until told ok to do so. I just wish others would be as obedient. I too saw pictures of people swarming to NT gardens and am glad they are now closed. I am going to bake a Victoria Sandwich cake later, whilst I still have eggs.

I have got carrots, beetroot, rhubarb and sprouting broccoli all ready to harvest in my garden right now.

When I was out there picking some broccoli a few minutes ago, it suddenly occurred to me that the leaves are almost certainly perfectly edible too. Google has confirmed this, so I'm going to make use of those as well. ?
I was looking at recipes earlier, but a lot called for spinach - I wonder if i could substitute it with the broccoli leaves instead?

Surely filling up new freezers is why there’s nothing left for others? I’m not actually saying that anyone on here is deliberately stockpiling but there is a reason that the frozen food aisles at my local supermarkets are empty.

@Riverwalk
Exactly what I am doing. We bought an xtra freezer and filled that. Never had enough space even at Xmas.

Because my son and husband have various vulnerable health issues I started buying extra back in December when the news of this virus first came about. It was what wasn't being said that set off alarm bells in me.

I only buy a few potatoes at a time and have now run out. Rummaging in the freezer I found a bag of Aunt Bessie mashed potato that I bought ages ago though still in date.

It was an exciting moment!

So pleased I have a milkman, so if nothing else I’ll concoct various messes from eggs, cheese, butter and milk.

Anyone else dug out the old teapot to make one teabag for two people?

I put a small unused freezer back into service in order to stock up for Christmas and was still using up some of what was in there so I've topped it up with some cheap ready meals and done a bit of bulk cooking too. Like someone else said I have bought more of a few things like cans of soup but not panic hoarding. I find it unbelievable the crazy hoarding behaviour of some. I just hope they donate some to the food bank when this is all over! I'm in the vulnerable category - diabetic and over 65 - so have been self isolating but am now running out of fresh fruit and veg. I won't starve but wondering how to eat healthily when the remaining stuff is gone. I've never shopped on line so registered for it but then found no slots for weeks so will have to go out shopping soon. I just hope I can go when there are no crowds but some food available. I normally eat loads of veg so that is going to be my biggest problem.
In our locality they are starting to put things in place to support the vulnerable who can't go out but it's not there yet and I need to collect a prescription tomorrow! Hey ho!

A cheapo Roman dish with leftover spaghetti: toss some chopped or diced bacon in pan with just a little oil. Toss the cooked pasta in the hot oil. Pour over seasoned beaten eggs and mix together well. tip onto plate and eat. Delicious!

Rice pancakes MamaCaz! I remember a josceline Dimbleby recipe for those filled with sliced bananas and apricot jam. A great way to use up the last banana in the fruit bowl. Rice pancakes are quite substantial I recall and are great with odds and sods of fruit a little past their best.

I made teacake this morning for the first time. We had them for our lunch as a change from sandwiches and they were lovely. Any veg left over from a dinner is now kept for the following day, instead of being given to the dog. I'm now putting 2 teabags in my teapot instead of 3 and letting it "stew" more lol

Just a note to those discussing GF cooking. Fine - if you already have it in. But not if you snatch it off the shelves because other food is not available. Spare a thought for those with coeliac disease who are now struggling much more than those who can eat anything.

I took my beef mince , mixed in a bit of paprika ,salt ,pepper, home made bread crumbs, and rolled it in little 10 cm sausages ( cevapcici in Croatia) and froze them. Now I take 2/3/4 each out , fry up with onions , and add a bit of veg. Helps stretch the mince and cheer up a boring meal.