Food stocks

Sounds perfectly normal to me. We're all different.

We do the shop the same way as you @annebo

But we do have a tin cupboard, a big bag of rice and pasta for "emergencies". We donate to a food bank regularly, so always have things we can give - or it's there if we really need it.

You do what suits you! I usually have some things in the freezer ( mostly when I’ve overcooked), but whatever’s right for you is right.

It seems sensible to have something to fall back on. There maybe times when you can’t get out, on your shopping day. Or a delivery doesn’t turn up.
We always have a supply of tins, packets, jars, and meat and fish in the freezer.
After Brexit there may well be shortages of certain items if they get held up in transit.

Worry not. I wait until the bitter end then I have a splurge with enough to keep me going for a month.
People in Asda must scratch their heads when they see this old bint pushing a trolley which is overflowing

I kid you not but there's an echo in my fridge until I replenish stocks then you won't get a pound note past anything-----and there's only myself !

Cupboards are stocked though, pastas, sauces, soups, fruits, evap etc. Fridge and freezer is emptied first.

My cupboards, fridge and freezer are always as full as they can be. Apart from fresh fruit and vegetables, bread and milk, we probably have enough in for at least a month.
Siege mentality? Yes. Too many experiences of redundancy over the years.

These are unprecedented times with both the Covid crisis and the now Brexit bringing a growing probability of large scale disruption at the Channel ports in January. Therefore we have stocked up on tinned produce such as soups meats and vegetables along with frozen vegetables and meats.

Better safe than sorry we feel so to stock up gradually on canned and frozen would seem to be the best way forward.

Annbo, the appropriate level of food stock in your house is the level that suits you and your husband. That's all that matters.

My fresh food stock is pretty low on a Sunday night because I shop on Monday morning. The freezer and cupboards are well stocked all the time but I'm careful to use the oldest items first.

i try to always have stocks of tinned fish, and quick noodles. which make a tasty meal together, but are meant to be iron rations, for when if i don't have anything else. but i frequently eat them even when i do have something else. but i never get down to my very last tin, or pot noodle. can recommend lidl's, and very cheap. you domestic goddesses will look askance at the very mention of pot noodles, but i wish i had discovered them sooner. i often chop a pepper or tomato into them. usually add something. a good easy basic for the culinary-challenged.
i have never used up everything in stock. that would make me feel a bit anxious. packet soups with stale crackers are a stand-by.
Op, you do what suits you. vive la difference.

This domestic goddess loves the taste of chicken ‘supa noodles*! There. My guilty secret ...
?

annebo keep freezer and cupboards pretty well stocked, don’t clear out and clean anywhere near once a month, fridge gets a quick wipe weekly.I get food delivered roughly weekly, top up milk, bread, veg from the village as needed and have been down to just enough milk for two cuppas plenty of times. We’re all different, there’s no right or wrong, it’s what suits the individual.

We could probably survive for a couple of months if we couldn’t get out. I keep intending to work my way through the freezer stock but always end up fighting to get more in.
I have a larder groaning with dried and tinned food, herbs and spices and another cupboard with home made jams and pickles. We are also well stocked with wine and beer.
I have always been like this and wouldn’t be able to cope with stocks running low.

Please, please, count yourselves lucky.

I have just spoken to someone who says they now have to make up 'kettle kits' at the food bank where she volunteers.

These 'kettle kits' are for families who are living in one room in a hotel and have no cooking facilities other than a kettle.
So pot noodles, powdered mash, tinned cold foods are what they and their children are existing on.

annebo - I was also raised in a no-waste house, and continue that practice. For me that means eating things from freezer (I have a big chest one) that might be 2 years old which I discover when it gets its annual defrost and clean out! We keep all leftovers in fridge and usually eat up on a Saturday. I also have big stocks of tinned food, dried beans etc. However, it’s not because I’m worried about food security- it’s just how my mother shopped.

I suppose we all tend to continue with the practices we grew up with.

I actually had a good clear/sort out pre pandemic because I wanted to try harder to be zero waste so I really like having a well stocked larder and freezer. I like to keep my fridge quite full as I think it uses up less energy if it’s full.

I’m someone who always has enough in for an extra week or so, but since January I started slowly buying a little more each week, then when lockdown happened I had enough of everything, and was able to get by with fresh top ups without worrying if I couldn’t find something I’d normally buy.

We are all different though, so you do what’s best for your family

I tend to shop almost daily and do not have a stock cupboard.

My cupboard contains 2 tins of beans,tin toms, and 1 tin of soup.

I have 6 different herbs and spices, marmalade, pkt biscuits, bran flakes and half loaf of bread.

Fridge has butter, milk and cheese.

Small freezer has chips, half loaf of bread, casserole veg and 1 burger.

You can probably tell I live alone and do not enjoy cooking.

Having lived through a time when babies were small and we had strikes and power failures and threats to travel,(NI troubles') I always have plenty of tins and dried food. When I cook a soup or stew I make enough for 2 or 3 meals and freeze it.I think after Brexit we will see price rises and loss of many continental foods.

annebo, I do the same sort of thing. My friend has a fridge constantly jam packed with food - and never cleans it! She has anxiety about food shortages (won't happen) but not germs!

I do have a spare freezer in the garage so there's usually supplies in there - until I run it down to clean it.

There's a cupboard for tins and dried goods just in case I'm ill or get snowed in (very unlikely, though).

I do as you do.

We don't have any storage space for more than a couple of weeks worth of 'not fresh' food or household items. Found it difficult with lockdown on line orders as I could only get delivery dates once every three weeks.

Only extras I buy are when something we have regularly is on offer eg coffee recently. I bought 6 jars. It is normally £4 a jar but offer was £2.50. That's now on the floor in a shopping bag until there's room on the shelf.

Any left overs are lunch the next day.

I have a weekly food delivery topped up with bread and milk as required, and in normal times we also do a Costco run every 3 months or so. The fridge and freezer are full, and I have a large pantry with staples such as pasta, rice tins and herbs and spices.

We could go for months if necessary, although we'd be eating some unusual combinations of food. I have always been the same - I get anxious if I don't have plenty of supplies - but I topped up in anticipation of the pre-extension Brexit, and still have a lot of that stashed away, alongside a primus and bottled water in case of power cuts.

I bought a lot of 'camping food' that won't go off, such as soup mix and tinned fruit, in case Brexit causes shortages of fresh food. The plan was to see how things went and donate anything we didn't use to the foodbank, but things didn't work out that way, what with Brexit not happening, and Covid meaning that I can't get out to the food bank to donate.

Doodledog, be mindful of your bottled water. I know in America that they recommend changing it out every year or so I think

WOODMOUSE49 I buy things that I use when they are on offer too. I can have several boxes of soap powder, tins of beans or coffee under chairs in the kitchen. I usually have good stocks of flour, pasta, rice etc in my cupboards and am constantly providing family with what they don't have when they start cooking. In the last few weeks that has included corn flour, brown sugar, vanilla essence and frozen chicken breasts! They all live locally luckily for them!

I only do an online shop fortnightly now that I am on my own without grandchildren to pick up and feed on an almost daily basis. Has anybody noticed sliced bread is lasting a lot longer since Covid? I realised in the past that the sell buy dates seemed to be a lot longer around Christmas so I suspect they're adding something. My last loaf lasted 3 weeks without going stale or mouldy!

Always well stocked cupboards etc here and not just food. I hate the dark cold months, so I start around September and every week for a month I buy extra cleaning materials to last me through to March - large bottles of Fairy Liquid, dishwasher tablets, washing machine liquid etc.
Then with extra food in the freezer and overspill cupboards - I only need a quick top up with fresh stuff once a week and we work our way through our ‘stock’ ready for the lighter days.