Bosworth wrote: ↑Sat Feb 23, 2019 11:26 pm
I’m probably going to make myself unpopular here but I hope all perspectives are welcomed...
My emergency food is not stuff we regularly eat. It’s crap. Tinned vegetables, dried pasta’n’sauce, plain rice etc etc. We normally eat fresh, organic, or go out many times a week.
For me, food preps are worst case. If starving, or bugging in, it will suffice, rather than part of our everyday consumption. Eating crap is better than eating nothing.
Don’t hate me
I don't hate you. I think we are pretty aligned in our approach and it's not universally agreed on.
I'm super impressed by the quantities that you have amassed and how long you've been doing this.
A few words about buying and storing 'crap'
I started out something like that, buying 20p pasta and crappy powdered soups ( how bad can it be ) and lots of everyday value ranges. And Milk was always going to be powdered, never to be used in normal times. But my thinking has changed. I don't know your financial situation, but for me, financially, there was no difference between spending £500 on 'crap' stock or £1500 on the same quantity of better stock. Come the day of the EMP and all cash machines are out and my Thousands in the bank are not available, I'd probably kick myself if all I had was crap, when it could have been decent.
So now I concentrate on value for money: Calories per £ and Calories per Kilo ... or per cubic Metre of storage space.
So my new mantra is very much
"Acceptable Quality at Appropriate Cost'. That means that I at least sample everything before splashing out and if it's disgusting, it's not bought. For disgusting, think Tesco everyday value meatballs which I'd flush even if I was starving. For acceptable, think most things Lidl or Aldi.
One thing I'm definitely doing, for fun, is actually trying to make meals out of my non-regular stuff. It's enlightening in the extreme. A glug of lea and perrins and a dash of spice can turn rice and beans into a really pleasant feast. 29p Dried Mashed spuds can be a pleasant belly filler with just a spoonful of decent gravy powder and some dried onions. Etc Etc. It's fact that some of the stuff I stock BELONGS in my staple diet. I'm certainly embracing pulses etc that would never have had a second glance. And this stuff is SERIOUSLY cheap as chips, with meals costing between 50p and 2 quid.
So.... Now, I'm going to set aside some time to analyse your stock list, and I'll let you see and analyse mine. I bet we both draw some inspiration.
And to Jansman.... I am doing SOME stock rotation. I already rotated 4 litres of JD and 6 bottles of merlot.