Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Food, Nutrition and Agriculture
jennyjj01
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Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by jennyjj01 »

Ok. Some random musing as I cook tea.

Let's start with the premise that stock rotation is HARD and that I'm rubbish at it.. I confess. Some stash substitutes are off the wall and just don't fit the staple diet. I'm prepared to let some stock naturally expire. It's a wasteful trait.

A few examples:
Many of us have masses of Dried pulses and Pasta and Dried Milk and oats and dried eggs and Spam (equivalents) and soya and Corned Beef stashed away in case THSHTF. But who actually eats lots of pulses and spam and corned beef and uses dried milk and dried eggs.

If TSHTF tomorrow WE would be in a good place, and could switch in some substitute staples, but with a bit of a hurdle. So far, so good. WE might adapt, but family would be in shock. Me less so.

But here we are (well, here I am) with some of these crappy substitutes going out of date ( Not that we care about BBE )

I've tried sneaking in whole 'stash meals' to the family with the dual purpose of TRYING to get the OH to adapt his diet and to TRY to use up some of this expiring substitute scoff. Not a total success! Not totally on board with seiten or jackfruit or soya

And I think I have found a middle ground: Which I commend to you now.

Arfur Narf ! Now not later.

We ARE still in a time of plenty. In spite of our cases of spam, we CAN buy bacon. In spite of the kilos of soya mince, we CAN buy beef mince easily. In spite of the tubs of dehydrated onion, we can easily buy fresh onions. Even in WW2 there was meat.

Which brings me to the point:

It's not all or nothing. Not good food or sub food: Take the half way option. Take it now!

Do your own experiments, but I give you tonight's evening meal.

Minced Beef in a mushroom and onion and ale sauce served with carrots and onion mash. Not controversial.

Minced beef... A little bit from the freezer and a matching amount of soya mince made up with an oxo.
Onion... One Small fresh one mixed up with matching rehydrated dried one.
Mushroom... A handful fresh, mixed up with matching rehydrated.
Tomatoes: One fresh, matched with some dried ones.
A few glugs of soy sauce and puree from the stash.
carrots from a stash tin
Mash from a stash sachet.
Oxo. Stash!
Ale was home brew.

See what I did there. Got some weird stash stuff into the rotation without alienating my family. If I'd tried a total stash meal, there would have been 'issues'
It's all about managing some sort of stock rotation without alienating the family. If SHTF and none of the fresh stuff is available, then half the adaptation is dealt with and acclimated

Saves on stash waste because SOME rotation happens
Plus... and here's the thing... A MIX of soya and mince, dried veg and fresh, actually seems to go down VERY WELL.

Anyhow, on that thought, I bid you bon appetite.

Try it. Please share your observations. If I'm a nutter, tell me.


Footnote:-
In spite of the mass of soya mince and stash compromise ingredients, this went down a storm.
"Very nice: One of your best"
And for me a success in using up just enough soya and dried veg. Never mind the cost, which was negligible.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
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Medusa
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Location: UK

Re: Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by Medusa »

I agree that stock rotation isnt as easy as it sounds. I dont have enough shelves and so some things get pushed to the back ie fray bentos pies and smash. I dont use these on a day to day basis but would use them camping. Unfortunately there havent been enough camping holidays to use them up so they got wasted and I wont be buying more. Last year our son was due to get married and I am making the cake. As dried fruit was hard to come buy I bought it online and then we had another lockdown and the wedding got cancelled. Normally I would have a look and a small taste, see if there were any stomach problems and then use it anyway, but the cake is likely to be sampled by 100+ people I am not willing to risk it. Corned beef I use a fair bit of in hash and on work sandwiches, I use oats for flapjack even if its out of date and probably has a few weevils !! but only for the family. I bought some soya chunks and mince on a whim and decided to add some of the mince to a chilli last night just to bulk out the mince and it was actually ok . I did mention it to husband who declared it tasty so will definitely be doing this again and buying more. The soya chunks I am going to try and make a chicken supreme a la Vesta Chicken Supreme and Rice from the 70s which was a childhood favourite (dont judge me!).
Growing old disgracefully!
GillyBee
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Re: Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by GillyBee »

we are slowy rotating through the oil and ghee stash. I sneak dried milk into cooked milk dishes like cheese or white sauces and pancakes which burns through the stash steadily. Before we had to quit using dried egg I had a very useful stash buster in the form of just add water pancake mix - roughly equal volumes of dried milk and flour plus half that much dried egg. I think at that point the younger end of the household pretty much lived on pancakes.
The instant curry sauce powder mix rotates the tomato and onion powders as again it makes an easy meal for a lazy young adult.
Oats are also OK as we eat porridge here.
My nemesis is the beans, lentils and rice. I have been lazily using microwave rice instead of my stock and reason that a few packet of this is good to have in case of power outage meals. We do eat beans and lentils but I think I have ten years supply at our current use rate. It is less a problem of no recipes and more that the older male family members don't want to eat beans if there is meat in the freezer as an option.
I am also struggling with some of the dried vegetable stash. Does anyone have any ideas for using dried peppers, leeks carrots and spinach powder up?
I think the only things I actually have ever had to throw are some old pasta that got weavils and some foods that were too old to donate and made the household food allergy list when we tested.
jansman
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Re: Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by jansman »

Good topic this!

Being children of the sixties,we have tastes our own children think are awful. The mention above of the Vesta meals for instance.They were a proper treat! We use Smash ( well,the Tesco equivalent),on a regular basis,tinned peas and carrots too.In fact ,most things that preppers ‘feel’ they should stash,we eat.You cannot beat a knock -up dinner of Smash ( or tinned spuds),tinned stewing steak,tinned peas and carrots.Great for when you feel bone-idle. :lol:

My wife doesn’t drink milk,and I only have a splash in my tea,so I use UHT.I put half a 1 litre carton into a plastic bottle and freeze it while I use the other.Cheap too. Nothing I like more than a tinned bacon sandwich with brown sauce and fresh tomatoes ( especially now they are coming out of the greenhouse).Hot dog sausages,Smash,baked beans and grated cheese is another ‘ knock -up’. Lovely. Another is what we call a ‘ tinned stew’. Open ,according to your tastes, a tin of stewing steak,tin of minced beef and onions,tin of spuds,tin each of carrots and peas,tin of butter beans ( or whatever beans need to be used,and most importantly,a tin of oxtail soup.Heat it through,and stir in some curry powder to taste. Get some bread and butter and dig in.Banging!

We are currently on holiday ,so we are even lazier than usual. Yesterday afternoon,after a couple of pints at the pub next door,the subject of what to have for tea was raised.Now,Mrs J makes a dish she calls ‘tuna pasta’, which is macaroni,onions,cheese sauce,tinned tomatoes and tinned tuna.Bang into an ovenproof dish,top with extra cheese and bake in the oven. So,being in a strange kitchen,without The Bunker,sorry,pantry at home,what to do,when Mrs J says,”fancy tuna pasta?” I suggested that it was a bit of a faff,making cheese sauce etc. A walk down to the Spar convenience store in the village solved that one,as she had an idea: One onion,tin of chopped tomatoes,tin of tuna,bag of grated cheese,and the best yet….Two tins of Heinz macaroni cheese! We did have to fry the onion :oops: ,but we just banged it in the oven and opened the bottle of wine that also found itself in our shopping basket. It was declared the ‘official’ way of making it thereafter,and two tins of Heinz macaroni cheese are in the Virtual Shopping Basket for next week! :D
:lol:
We are avid curry- eaters,and living near Leicester,we are spoilt ,and even our village sports an award winning curry house.Mrs J doesn’t often make a curry,as our local is a hard act to follow. However,Monday,upon arrival Her Ladyship suggested a curry.Now the owners of the cottage have left takeaway menus etc. but flicking through,we just just couldn’t fancy it.I am sure that a Bangladeshi Chef in Kings Lynn is as equally talented as one in Leicestershire,but it wasn’t doing it for us.Sooo… on the Wine Run down to the Spar,Mrs J was overcome with yet more inspiration,and before you could say,”I fancy a Madras” :lol: we had two tins of Spar’s own chicken Jalfrezi,a pouch of microwave pilau rice and some garlic naan bread.I put some extra cherry tomatoes in it that I brought from my garden, and before you could say”Haute Cuisine “ ( love Basil Fawlty :D ) it was on the plate and it was alright. I noticed a couple of cans on the Tesco list!

Anyhow,I am typing this as I lie in bed sipping tea.We are not total animals,and I can smell the excellent sausages we bought from the butcher,cooking in the oven.Lunchtime I fancy fish and chips,so it’ll be a ride to the coast to a good chippy we know.I also noticed the pub had rib - eye steak on the menu,so that’s tonight.The tin opener can stay in the drawer today!
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
jennyjj01
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Re: Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by jennyjj01 »

GillyBee wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 8:55 pmMy nemesis is the beans, lentils and rice. I have been lazily using microwave rice instead of my stock and reason that a few packet of this is good to have in case of power outage meals. We do eat beans and lentils but I think I have ten years supply at our current use rate. It is less a problem of no recipes and more that the older male family members don't want to eat beans if there is meat in the freezer as an option.
Exactly. A few lentils can get mixed in with mince, and maybe make your own special 'baked beans' mix once in a while and serve up instead of branston. We should sneak more rice and pulses in our diet. Get creative with risottos, paella and kedgeree. The rice meals we forgot.
I am also struggling with some of the dried vegetable stash. Does anyone have any ideas for using dried peppers, leeks carrots and spinach powder up?
Easy to dehydrate stuff in the wrong proportion: Tend to only buy veg that you normally use and dehydrate what would go to waste. That way, you end up with the right proportion in your stash: Don't buy many leeks, you don't dehydrate many :)
I add a few bits of dried peppers and dried carrots to Dolmio pasta sauce and to cheaper sweet and sour sauces to give a bit more body. Carrots, onions and celery* are the easiest to use, as they are a base to pasta sauce. Experiment with a few broths over winter, but it's truly difficult to use enough.
*Dehydrated celery is funny. 99% water, a whole head of celery becomes like a handful of toenail clippings :mrgreen: But good in spag bol.
Who eats spinach anyway? :)
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
jennyjj01
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Re: Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by jennyjj01 »

jansman wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 7:30 am We use Smash ( well,the Tesco equivalent),on a regular basis,tinned peas and carrots too.In fact ,most things that preppers ‘feel’ they should stash,we eat.You cannot beat a knock -up dinner of Smash ( or tinned spuds),tinned stewing steak,tinned peas and carrots.... Get some bread and butter and dig in.Banging!
...
Woooooo. Children of the 60s indeed! 'Knock up' meals! You remind me of fending for myself as a teenager, where a proper meal of sunday roast with real potatoes was really just once a week treat (Mum was no cook) The rest of the week was at best a fry up, but more likely some tinned stuff with bread.
I had to snip your recipe ideas because my head was spinning from the inspiration, especially for using my tinned fish stash.

You make me confess that we still have frequent 'junk' meal days. As simple as a tin of hot dog sausages an onion and some finger rolls, or my cheese and beans casserole of onion, bacon, tinned beans and some grated cheese slammed in the oven.

Footnote. OMG isn't food inflation ridiculous. Simple tins of soup that were 40p a few years back now as much as £1.05 in the mainstream supermarkets. Cooking sauces that were 80p for 650ml now £1.50 for 480ml Weetabix £5 a box.
Prices leaping by 20%, 50% at a time or more.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
jansman
Posts: 13623
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by jansman »

jennyjj01 wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 9:48 am
jansman wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 7:30 am We use Smash ( well,the Tesco equivalent),on a regular basis,tinned peas and carrots too.In fact ,most things that preppers ‘feel’ they should stash,we eat.You cannot beat a knock -up dinner of Smash ( or tinned spuds),tinned stewing steak,tinned peas and carrots.... Get some bread and butter and dig in.Banging!
...
Woooooo. Children of the 60s indeed! 'Knock up' meals! You remind me of fending for myself as a teenager, where a proper meal of sunday roast with real potatoes was really just once a week treat (Mum was no cook) The rest of the week was at best a fry up, but more likely some tinned stuff with bread.
I had to snip your recipe ideas because my head was spinning from the inspiration, especially for using my tinned fish stash.

You make me confess that we still have frequent 'junk' meal days. As simple as a tin of hot dog sausages an onion and some finger rolls, or my cheese and beans casserole of onion, bacon, tinned beans and some grated cheese slammed in the oven.

Footnote. OMG isn't food inflation ridiculous. Simple tins of soup that were 40p a few years back now as much as £1.05 in the mainstream supermarkets. Cooking sauces that were 80p for 650ml now £1.50 for 480ml Weetabix £5 a box.
Prices leaping by 20%, 50% at a time or more.
Stuff is definitely dearer. All the more reason for being creative with the stash. :D Meant to say,I can recommend Jack Monroe’s book,The Tin Can Cook.Her website also has some good ideas too:

https://cookingonabootstrap.com/

Oh yes,your cheese and beans casserole - do you use ‘beans’ or baked beans in tomato sauce. That sounds just our thing!
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by jennyjj01 »

jansman wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 10:23 am
Stuff is definitely dearer. All the more reason for being creative with the stash. :D Meant to say,I can recommend Jack Monroe’s book,The Tin Can Cook.Her website also has some good ideas too:

https://cookingonabootstrap.com/

Oh yes,your cheese and beans casserole - do you use ‘beans’ or baked beans in tomato sauce. That sounds just our thing!
I have Jack Monroe's book. It has some silly bits like using baked beans by washing the sauce off and adding a different sauce back. Thanks for the link. Hadn't been there.

Cheese and beans casserole:- Dead basic. Almost embarrassing comfort food.
Dice some 4 or 5 rashers of bacon and and slice an onion. Fry together till just cooked and fill the base of a medium casserole dish. Cover with a tin of regular Branston baked beans in tomato sauce. Grate generous cheddar cheese on top. Lid on and bake in the oven till the cheese has cooked. Lid off for a few minutes till it browns. No need to stir it as it will mingle. The best bit is what I call 'the burndy bit' where it sticks to the casserole dish. Serves two.
You can sub the bacon with diced bacon grill or chopped up sausages.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
jansman
Posts: 13623
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by jansman »

jennyjj01 wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 5:08 pm
jansman wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 10:23 am
Stuff is definitely dearer. All the more reason for being creative with the stash. :D Meant to say,I can recommend Jack Monroe’s book,The Tin Can Cook.Her website also has some good ideas too:

https://cookingonabootstrap.com/

Oh yes,your cheese and beans casserole - do you use ‘beans’ or baked beans in tomato sauce. That sounds just our thing!
I have Jack Monroe's book. It has some silly bits like using baked beans by washing the sauce off and adding a different sauce back. Thanks for the link. Hadn't been there.

Cheese and beans casserole:- Dead basic. Almost embarrassing comfort food.
Dice some 4 or 5 rashers of bacon and and slice an onion. Fry together till just cooked and fill the base of a medium casserole dish. Cover with a tin of regular Branston baked beans in tomato sauce. Grate generous cheddar cheese on top. Lid on and bake in the oven till the cheese has cooked. Lid off for a few minutes till it browns. No need to stir it as it will mingle. The best bit is what I call 'the burndy bit' where it sticks to the casserole dish. Serves two.
You can sub the bacon with diced bacon grill or chopped up sausages.
Fantastic! That’s on the list, for sure. Just for the record, we just got back from the pub. Dinner was a whitebait starter, followed by rack of lamb, seasonal vegetables in a raspberry jus. And a very nice bottle of Merlot.

But that bacon and beans sounds good!
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
jennyjj01
Posts: 3429
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:09 pm

Re: Pragmatic Stock Rotation of Substitutes

Post by jennyjj01 »

jansman wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 6:36 pm Fantastic! That’s on the list, for sure. Just for the record, we just got back from the pub. Dinner was a whitebait starter, followed by rack of lamb, seasonal vegetables in a raspberry jus. And a very nice bottle of Merlot.

But that bacon and beans sounds good!
LOL. Do I sense a hint of sarcasm? :roll: I'm not offended either way.

Savouring what is available in times of plenty is, of itself, a sort of prep. Stashing happy memories.
Because we are able to survive on a shoestring does not mean we have to do so immediately. :)

ps. Whitebait. YUCK. You can keep 'em. I once ate ONE. The thought of eating all of a creature, especially eyes for some reason, grosses me out.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought

Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong