Augmenting the stash: Pesto etc.
Posted: Mon May 13, 2019 10:17 pm
OK. Maybe a lame topic, Sorry. This post is about my stash building philosophy. Sorry for the war and peace
My food stockpiling strategy just took a major change of direction.
Some say: "Stash what you normally use: Use what you stash" and there's some logic to that. Rotation is part of that and I modified my approach a bit, in deference. It meant modifying my diet and was an early enjoyable change..
Some build their stockpile slowly by just buying a few extras each week.
And yet some others concentrate on an initial massive stash of calories first and foremost, skimping on quality maybe because of cost.
I was firmly in the third category: Bought a Massive stash of rice, pasta, dried mash in the first wave, supplemented by masses of tins of tomato and (cheap) pasta sauces. There were tea bags and some 'everyday value' peaches and cheap chocolate bars, but some of the 'treats' were, frankly pretty shite. I figured I'd be glad of it in a crisis. Now my thinking has changed.
Very soon, I had 'survival rations' in place. Always Maximum bang for my buck : Maximum filling meals of modest but acceptable quality And I think that was exactly the right strategy, for me, at the time.
But with that in place, I'm now fundamentally changing the stash. Now, it's about flavour and enjoyability and yes, quality. The existing stash is my foundation, but I'm now on the next stage.
So, latest additions are no longer focused on price per portion, but much more about value add. and life enhancement. Which brings me onto pesto.
Pesto is my latest next big thing (after chickpeas) Not fantastically cheap, but heck it enhances that boring pasta. It turns a bit of home made bread into a delightful supper. And nice wine. I'm now adding that. And dammit, Christmas puds and Brandy sauce. Why did nobody remind me about this.?
Pesto, wine etc may not be your thing, but what I'm trying to say is that a tonne of rice and pasta and pulses and tinned tomatoes is a foundation, but when TSHTF, we will NEED nice food. It will need to not just sustain our bodies, but also maintain our morale, even more than in normal times.
Whether it's pesto, or a big tub of 'Celebrations' or a couple of cans of caviar or whatever you take joy in, find a place for it in your stash. Prepare to survive first, but if you have time and money, prepare to LIVE and enjoy doing so. £20 on Stash treats could be the difference between wanting to survive or utter despair. It also encourages stock rotation and creative cooking.
Thanks for reading my brain dump.
JJ
My food stockpiling strategy just took a major change of direction.
Some say: "Stash what you normally use: Use what you stash" and there's some logic to that. Rotation is part of that and I modified my approach a bit, in deference. It meant modifying my diet and was an early enjoyable change..
Some build their stockpile slowly by just buying a few extras each week.
And yet some others concentrate on an initial massive stash of calories first and foremost, skimping on quality maybe because of cost.
I was firmly in the third category: Bought a Massive stash of rice, pasta, dried mash in the first wave, supplemented by masses of tins of tomato and (cheap) pasta sauces. There were tea bags and some 'everyday value' peaches and cheap chocolate bars, but some of the 'treats' were, frankly pretty shite. I figured I'd be glad of it in a crisis. Now my thinking has changed.
Very soon, I had 'survival rations' in place. Always Maximum bang for my buck : Maximum filling meals of modest but acceptable quality And I think that was exactly the right strategy, for me, at the time.
But with that in place, I'm now fundamentally changing the stash. Now, it's about flavour and enjoyability and yes, quality. The existing stash is my foundation, but I'm now on the next stage.
So, latest additions are no longer focused on price per portion, but much more about value add. and life enhancement. Which brings me onto pesto.
Pesto is my latest next big thing (after chickpeas) Not fantastically cheap, but heck it enhances that boring pasta. It turns a bit of home made bread into a delightful supper. And nice wine. I'm now adding that. And dammit, Christmas puds and Brandy sauce. Why did nobody remind me about this.?
Pesto, wine etc may not be your thing, but what I'm trying to say is that a tonne of rice and pasta and pulses and tinned tomatoes is a foundation, but when TSHTF, we will NEED nice food. It will need to not just sustain our bodies, but also maintain our morale, even more than in normal times.
Whether it's pesto, or a big tub of 'Celebrations' or a couple of cans of caviar or whatever you take joy in, find a place for it in your stash. Prepare to survive first, but if you have time and money, prepare to LIVE and enjoy doing so. £20 on Stash treats could be the difference between wanting to survive or utter despair. It also encourages stock rotation and creative cooking.
Thanks for reading my brain dump.
JJ