Stocking up the Food Store - Ever So Gradually

Slowly, very slowly I am starting to work on the Food Store taking advantage of seasonal goodies like Blackberries and Plums and trying to add slightly different things to expand my repertoire and good eating.

Earlier on, about a month after the pandemic  started we went to our favourite Butchers and ended up buying some choice bits and bobs.  There is still more buying to be done.  What I tend to do when stocking the freezer is buy a fair bit but we don't eat it all.  We do not eat meat everyday so I meter it out a bit at a time to get the maximum out of it we then shop again and do this several times until everything is well stocked.

I am doing the same with fish.  We have a couple of meals left a piece of smoked haddock for me, Turbot for OH, a couple of Lemon Sole and a couple of Dover Sole.  Need to top that up a little more yet. I do not like bought  already frozen fish. Perhaps the exceptions are Cod fish fingers, prawns and Scampi. The bought in stuff tends to dry out and can alter the taste.  I prefer to buy fresh and then freeze it myself where I can.

We love our vegetables here and always have a variety to choose from.  I normally buy them fresh, but equally if I am not going to get to them, I don't waste them and prepare them for the freezer.  It also helps when you are in a hurry to eat but do not want to spend time in preparation as you can just grab something out of the freezer, cook it and then do what you want to do.  It adds to your quality of life.  You have to expend a little time and effort in the bulk preparation, but it does pay dividends at the end of the day.  You only get something out of something if you have put the effort in. 

It is also good to take notice of reductions.  If you are in the right place at the right time you can make even more of a saving to your purse and turn Strawberries say into a useful resource for when you have a bit more time.  As they stand I can use them in milkshakes and turn them into ice cream or eat defrosted with meringue and cream even fruit fools.  They have lots of flavour too.

I have also been buying in dried ingredients.  One of the challenges at the moment is that many shops do not have their normal range of products, specifically with regard to tinned stuff, jams and marmalades, cereals etc.  There are also restrictions on tinned goods of two tins per item so that everyone gets a chance to put stuff up.  If I come across any item I have not been able to get hold of I have bought a couple popped them up on the shelf and then not used them, so that I am gradually building things up.  I am finding that each shop is very different as to what they have and do not have. The best choice and prices so far have been B & M.

I also take advantage where I can of reductions or offers on certain foods but I have to be convinced it is a genuine offer and that I am getting my money's worth.  For the past couple of weeks the local Co-Op to me has had an offer on with the cooking sauces of two jars for £2.50 instead of between £1.75 to £2.00 a jar.  They may not be the cheapest, but there is still a saving there and the bonus for me is that they are near my home which means I do not have to lug them far. There is quite a long long-stop date of September next year on a lot of the jars.  I then recycle the jars for jams, curds etc.  The replacement jam lids at Lakeland do fit the Sharman sauce jars, Dolmio, and standard bought jam jars.  Saves having to buy in jars that you already have at your disposal as it were.  Better to recycle where you can just with the addition of a new lid.  For jams, curds, pickles I will happily use jam jars but for bottling and canning you need the sturdier Kilner/Mason.Ball /Weck/Le Parfait type jars whether that be with a rubber seal or with a metal lid.

For the bought can store I tend to buy in those items that I like or the basis of sauces that I can make (especially if I have not managed to put a lot of canned items up.  So far have done very little tomatoes but I have put up quite a bit of fruit. I have done quite a bit of preserving and have quite a bit more planned but not as much as I had planned or hoped for.  Never mind, sometimes that's how the cookie crumbles!

OH is talking about fishing again one day next week. I may go on a forage for crafty bits like fir cones, larch cones and teasel heads when he goes to stock up my crafty bits, and to see what else I can locate.  I am also after some clay for moulding some Christmassy bits and bobs but I may well have to go into town sometime next week to see if I can locate that.

I am also still taking advantage of any reductions that I come across when I go shopping to pop them up for the cold winter months.  Generally speaking we eat a lot of soup, stews, casseroles. proper traditional English meals during the winter months.  However, we have one good cooked meal a day usually of an evening, (served with veggies) and then sometimes pudding.  Mid-day we tend to have soup either bought in or home made followed by some either hot or cold sandwiches.  Breakfast during the winter months is often porridge served with some  mixed fruit or Golden Syrup;  and often a pot of homemade yogurt for me however this does vary. I therefore try and balance the meals out a bit and there is nearly always some fresh fruit to eat inbetween meals if required (often the fruit is cooked up into puddings so as not to waste it if it is not eaten fresh).  We do not do too badly at the end of the day and I try and make the most of what does come our way.  That is all you can do at the end of the day and at least this way round I have the comfort of knowing I have some meals in hand (and for that I count myself very lucky).  There but for the grace of God go I! I also try and pop a few things into the charity basket where I can as well.

Things are going to be a little tougher I think for a while to come.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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