How much food do you have stored?

Now that the shops are open again I’m not stocking up as before. I like to go food shopping once a week and choose fruit and veg etc. There’s very little in the freezer as I’m not happy eating anything that has been in there for more than 3 months or so. We didn’t go without during lockdown so I don’t worry about it any more. If we were unwell we have family or neighbours who would bring necessities. We are very fortunate in this respect. I also feel that it’s not good to stay at home too much. Needing some shopping is a good reason to leave the house and see a bit of life!

I would love to be your friend of grannyactivist, you are amazing, one of Earths Angels no doubt.

I do a modest food shop once every 7-10 days. The shops are only down the road, so I never really feel the need to store food. I tend to just eat fresh fruit/veggies and chicken and fish.

I bake occasionally but try to avoid bread, processed food/meals and junk food.

I only buy food when I need it. It's not a big thing in my life. I'm looking into the benefits of intermittent fasting. Different times, different mindset.

I remember a Posy Simmonds (I think) cartoon which had a family all uneasily sitting round the dining table eating the contents of a recently-deceased grandmother's chest freezer.

I have had to put up with much teasing about my freezer and my preparedness for a nuclear winter, but when delivery slots were hard to come by, my inner squirrel felt justified!

My dad, now deceased, saw my store cupboard and asked if I was expecting a siege?? Little did he know.!!
We have a fridge freezer plus an extra fridge and freezer in the garage. This is because we have an allotment and I need freezer space plus other half needs his beer/wine/ gin fridge. I always have enough to last a fortnight including frozen fruit, bread, veg. However, I do prefer fresh stuff. I did a freezer audit yesterday and realise I do not need to shop for a while. It was instilled into me, as a child brought up with rationing in the early 50s, that I should always have enough food for emergencies.

grannyactivist - we're all on our way round

Is that a bit of trumpet blowing that I can hear?

Gosh so many people to cook for! Who are they all I'm wondering! Just 3 of us here. I have a chest freezer in the garage not a big one but probably keep a few weeks meet and fish in there. Small store cupboard. As others have said, one I open something I buy a replacement so I always have one in. Buy fresh fruit and veg weekly. Sometimes a fruit and veg box delivery from local farm.

At the beginnning of the month when my pension is payed into my account, we go shopping for a month's supply of cat food, coffee beans, tobacco, detergent, toilet paper, tinned goods and anything else such as stamps that we will need.

In my pantry, I have usually three or four bottles of olive oil, six to ten tins of vegetables, some tinned tuna and cod's roe and tinned Vienna sausages, plus two or three 1 kg packets of flour.

Apart from this I make jam and jelly from the currants I grow in the garden and usually bottle other fruit and things like gherkins myself.

A stone or two of potatoes at a time are kept in a dark box in the cellar as well.

Dried goods such as rice and pasta are in a cupboard in the kitchen, usually about three to four month's supply.

We deliberately only have a small freezer, as we found we never really found it easy to get through all the food in a big freezer while it was still worth eating.

I prefer making jam etc. in August and September to freezing the fruit and make it when it is needed.

In the winter shopping can be difficult or at least unpleasantly wet or cold as we don't run a car, but use our bikes, so we tend to make sure we have a good supply of food that will keep.

Apart from foodstuffs, I also have a store of washing soap, body shampoo, tooth-paste etc. usually about six months to a year's supply.

Severnsider

A shelf in my larder is full of rice, pasta and tinned tomatoes. I noticed that they all have 'use by' dates on them. Some of them quite soon.

Do I take any notice of 'use by dates? I thought rice, pasta and tinned tomatoes would last indefinitely.

tins will blow if kept to long or in a warm place...and its messy. Rice and pasta need airtight storage but will keep years in my experience. Flour keeps best in the freezer!

Only buy what we need, as and when we need it. Don't buy flour very often, use it once then it's out of date by the time I have a whim to use it again. Just have a normal sized fridge freezer, only full at xmas and very rarely cook for more than two, just two extras (grandsons) once a week. Don't have extras at xmas, we're on our own as all 5 of our kids either go to their wifes families or want to be alone. We haven't a big enough house or bank balance for feeding the five thousand.

Any unexpected guests arriving, there's plenty of beans on
toast spaghetti on toast and every flavour of soup you want.
Lots of chicken in the freezer and I take some out everyday
to cook for the dogs.
No lots of hoarding going on here.

A shelf in my larder is full of rice, pasta and tinned tomatoes. I noticed that they all have 'use by' dates on them. Some of them quite soon.

Do I take any notice of 'use by dates? I thought rice, pasta and tinned tomatoes would last indefinitely.

I dont keep a big store as we eat mostly fresh things cooked daily. The freezer has a chicken, some mince and a couple of chops. The larder has all the usual condiments, pulses, pasta, rice, flour etc and a few tins of beans. Plenty of delivery slots to be had now from all the major supermarkets and a small Tesco at the end of the road.

Ps though my DH has a freezer in the garage but all pre packed quick meal stuff.
I don't like any of that! And avoid inspecting the contents.

actually I am another three freezer two fridge person....one is the kitchen combo, there is a chest freezer in the garage, a freezer for storing the dog food and a fridge for storing the tortoise food. This last is more needed autumn and spring before there is much in the garden.

Had a small Brexit stockpile of cans, pasta and rice, which became the Covid stockpile. Now munching away through this lot and just replacing items as they run out. Freezer is half full as I’m trying to lower it to defrost.

Crikey! You're superwoman!
Unexpected guests would be very disappointed round here. Egg on toast anyone ?

oh forgot the freefrom pasta

I have three freezers too! One is our normal fridge/freezer which is used for everyday food. The other two are smaller freezers - one is used mainly to freeze produce from the garden, which we then use all year round, and the other is kept solely for our dog's food (he is raw fed).

just the basics .bread /butter/jacket poatoes/oat milk/cereal/ some salad /fruit .not much else ...oh and jam and vegemite.

Nope, just enough for a couple of weeks x

Shandy57

Wow greenlady102, the thought of having to abandon ship must have been scary. You've reminded me to pack a hospital bag, several people have mentioned them recently. Sad to think the last time I had a hospital bag was when I was having my kids, now it'll probably be a fall!

it was an experience @Shandy57....We never actually had to abandon ship but twice we were told (as the wives) to get ready to do so and go to our station on the bridge. Both times my husband was fighting the fire which was worrying. We also had our lifeboat station allocated and married couples could decide whether to be in the same lifeboat or one in each. The latter was for people who had children to give a better chance of one parent surviving which definitely concentrates the mind. The last time it happened, a young engineer came up and knocked at the cabin door (DH was mate on the ship, next rank down from captain) and said "can you tell your husband I may have set fire to the trunking insulation please?" I grabbed his arm, pulled him in, said to DH "DH fire" he shot off and i went calmly to get changed and get our grab bag ready, expecting the alarm to go off. Luckily the fire was put out and it came to nothing. I can still remember those three occasions though!

I was brought up to be prepared for a rainy day. That’s what my granny used to say. So I’ve always had a full cupboard and freezer. That was well before covid. Because you never know what is around the corner. I’ve always told my two sons the same. But they don’t they even say to the wife’s my mum as always done it. Even after covid they still haven’t done it lol but I guess I will always do it.