Augmenting the stash: Pesto etc.

[jennyjj01]

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

[Quill]

Think you've hit the nail on the head Jenny. I was flicking through one of those cold war guides and it recommended just stockpiling what amounted to wheat, salt, powdered milk and beans to survive off for six months. After six weeks of that you'd be ready to face the fallout, never mind six months.

[jennyjj01]

Think you've hit the nail on the head Jenny. I was flicking through one of those cold war guides and it recommended just stockpiling what amounted to wheat, salt, powdered milk and beans to survive off for six months. After six weeks of that you'd be ready to face the fallout, never mind six months.

Unless we are already used to a third world diet of grain and rice, I honestly doubt if we'd survive the transition if that's all we had. Like I said, the rice and pasta and tinned tomatoes are an essential foundation. But if we have the resources, now, to build a full and pleasant diet stash, then now is the time. No point after tshtf, realising we could use some ketchup and it's fifty quid a jar.

[jansman]

Couldn't agree more!

When I trot out the line, "store what you eat,eat what you store", I truly mean ,what YOU eat.We use a fair bit of canned food; we WERE born in the 60's after all However,we store pesto,grilled peppers and olives,pickles and all sorts of lovely stuff like that too.

Last night Mrs. J.did a lovely pasta sauce with the obligatory tinned tomatoes,tinned olives ( they are alright) and store cupboard herbs etc.etc. with a salad grown in the polytunnel.That is important to me,being able to augment our diet from my own effort.Tonight we will do something with forced new potatoes and spinach from the tunnel,and whatever is in the freezer or stash.

Not a lame post at all Jenny,in fact ,thought - provoking.Now ,those spuds...

[Plymtom]

All good points, and after many years I had a major sort out noticing how poorly my rotation has been I'm having a reset because not only that but it turns out clearly we don't ( or wont) eat what we store and as it turns out if we did we could have made health issues worse, too much processed and high carb food, along with all those additives could have compounded health issues for my lot over decades, so I would advise anyone with long term health issues to examine how much vitamin deficiencies, additives, along with a poor and/or insufficiently varied diet may be adding to your issues, as such perhaps vitamin supplements should be a part of your preps? Diabetes and Arthritis are my main issues, Leukaemia may even be cured, so looking just at my own conditions the high carb preps and the lack of Diabetes and Arthritis friendly foods would mean that whilst I could eat, my health would most likely take a downturn simply on effects of an emergency diet basis, if you are in a similar position have a think

It's funny how we spend time thinking of how we will cope if TSHTF without realizing that in many ways it already has, has been going on for decades, and keeps getting worse, we still prep yes but really need to focus on finding ways to improve health issues and cope in the present in the hope we can claw our way back to having a better chance if the collective SHTF

[grenfell]

Think we're all in agreement with Jenny here. What's the old bible saying ? Man cannot liveth by bread alone or something like that. One can exsist on bland basic food without a doubt but adding something tasty is certainly very good for moral . Another food I'd add to the list is anchovies, perhaps not everyone's cup of tea but I do find they liven up a dish. I suppose therre's protein and fats too but on a pound for pound basis there's better products to buy if that's what one is after. They're currently 53p a tin in Lidl so not horrendously expensive.
Another aspect of stocking "treats" is that they become sort affter and tradable. I'm currently reading a book about the lives of prisoners of war . They had a pretty basic diet but did receive Red Cross parcels which contained chocolate, cakes and cigarettes all of which were traded often with their guards. It's probably a situation that we won't come near to and I would probably be loathed to trade my anchovies but the possibility exists .

[Deeps]

I'm another one in agreement with Jenny, why prep to survive when you can prep to live well.

[featherstick]

Preserved lemons!!

Oh my goodness they're delicious.

[jennyjj01]

I don't know whether that's sarcasm or sincere, but I'll go buy sum for my deydrated gin

Preserved lemons!!

Oh my goodness they're delicious.

[featherstick]

Absolutely sincere. Won't be very nice in gin though, but great in rice, chicken and as a condiment. New discovery for me. Belazu do a jar which is pricey, I noticed our local Asda does a cheaper version which I haven't tried yet.