Author Topic: Pandemic hoarding  (Read 262154 times)

SunnyDays

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #650 on: December 13, 2020, 10:36:19 AM »
@Sun Hat, I understand your fear, but there are a lot easier ways to deal with it than buying a rural property!  With the money you would save from such a purchase alone (actual property cost, transaction fees, survey fees, maintenance costs etc.), you can buy LOTS of food.  Plus, if you buy through CSAs, you're helping already rural folks stay on the land and make an income.  Eating in-season produce goes a long way to saving money too.  Buy meat directly from farmers, same for eggs.  I live in the same area as you, and there are many options out there beyond grocery stores.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #651 on: December 13, 2020, 01:24:42 PM »
Sun Hat, maybe you could find room on your current property to put in a green house to grow things in the winter months.

My grandparents had a farm in KY and lived a very rustic life. Outhouse, no running water. They had to pull water out of the well in buckets. To me it was a horrid life but they managed to raise 6 children. One thing I was told by my Mom is that they had a root cellar and stored stuff in there. I have no idea how that works but here is an article I found on alternative root cellar ideas: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/10/root-cellar-alternatives.html

If you were to buy a large quantity from a farm, maybe you could use some of the above methods in the article to store the veggies.

There are some people I watch on Youtube that have farm and grow most of their food. They freeze, can foods, dehydrate foods and now they are into freeze drying foods. They bought a small freeze dryer. The shelf life of freeze dried foods is the longest of most methods. These people have a lot of video's and are very interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Z56JFObqI


Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #652 on: December 13, 2020, 01:53:23 PM »
We are at our “new house” now and will be here for a month, so of course we need a zillion things. I got to try two new Curbside pickups!

Target was very smooth and I will definitely use that again for household items.

HyVee has a great operation where they take the assembled orders to a sort of outbuilding and you drive up there to collect them. There was a steady stream of cars when we went, so they are clearly doing a brisk pickup business.

It was a little different from my usual store, which requires you to approve every substitution. HyVee let me check “any substitution” and then you got the lowest price, which was great. I’ll do that again, too - probably tomorrow. LOL We keep thinking of things we need.

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #653 on: December 13, 2020, 02:26:29 PM »
Sun Hat, maybe you could find room on your current property to put in a green house to grow things in the winter months.

My grandparents had a farm in KY and lived a very rustic life. Outhouse, no running water. They had to pull water out of the well in buckets. To me it was a horrid life but they managed to raise 6 children. One thing I was told by my Mom is that they had a root cellar and stored stuff in there. I have no idea how that works but here is an article I found on alternative root cellar ideas: https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/10/root-cellar-alternatives.html

If you were to buy a large quantity from a farm, maybe you could use some of the above methods in the article to store the veggies.

There are some people I watch on Youtube that have farm and grow most of their food. They freeze, can foods, dehydrate foods and now they are into freeze drying foods. They bought a small freeze dryer. The shelf life of freeze dried foods is the longest of most methods. These people have a lot of video's and are very interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Z56JFObqI

While I disagree with the DeVraes family's attempt to trademark the term "Urban Homestead", I do admire what they've done with their 1/5 acre home lot in Pasadena, CA (1/10 acre as garden plot).  They grow thousands of pounds of produce annually -- in 2010 (the last year they kept meticulous count) they grew 7000 pounds of organic produce (over 400 varieties), collected more than 200 eggs, and collected between 25-50 pounds of honey --  they were eating a vegetarian diet for under $2 per person per day, or $60 per month per person for an organic, whole foods diet (not one made low in cost by purchasing highly processed foods for pennies on the dollar playing the grocery game).  Of course, they were putting major work effort into obtaining their food.

https://urbanhomestead.org/about/

The DeVraes family, and other urban and suburban homesteaders show that growing significant food can happen without owning a farm.  I have a friend who before she moved had made significant progress on making her own .23 acre suburban home plot a food growing powerhouse.  In addition to garden beds to put edible landscaping everywhere she could, following the adage that any plant you water should provide you with something useful (food, herbs, flowers).  She put in a lot of perennial berry bushes, fruit trees, etc.  But she loved to go out and garden every morning.  I'm not able to make myself like gardening.  I would do if it I had to, but I don't have to. 

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #654 on: December 13, 2020, 03:30:34 PM »
Another thing that I discovered this summer is that scallions (green onions) can be regrown by saving the root! I would place the roots in shallow water and eventually when the roots got a little bigger would plant them. I had the most beautiful scallions and I am sure these could be grown inside too. I just don't have the appropriate amount of space or windows to do that but I sure wish I did. I love scallions and they grew tall and strong. I was so annoyed that I had to finally do away with my little container of them. All I used was potting mix and used a small translucent Rubbermaid container that I popped holes in the bottom. They seem to like full sun but when we got some bad storms, I moved the container closer to the house and under the awning where it got very little direct sunlight. But still did fantastic! I had a good size rosemary plant that I couldn't bear to chuck out so I brought it inside. I have it under a fluorescent light in the kitchen and it seems to be doing good so far.

There are other veggies you can grow from the roots but I didn't get into that...yet!

NotJen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #655 on: December 13, 2020, 03:57:53 PM »
Another thing that I discovered this summer is that scallions (green onions) can be regrown by saving the root! I would place the roots in shallow water and eventually when the roots got a little bigger would plant them. I had the most beautiful scallions and I am sure these could be grown inside too.

Yes, I do this whenever I buy green onions - I just keep them on the windowsill.  It worked a lot better with my CSA onions.  The ones from the store don't work out as well for me.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #656 on: December 13, 2020, 05:46:02 PM »
But really, 75 cents worth of onion sets will keep you in green onions for a year.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #657 on: December 14, 2020, 06:11:43 AM »
Hooplady just made your hummus recipe and it came out very good! Thank you! Finally got the Tahini yesterday. Now my question is does tahini need refrigeration? My can says nothing about refrigeration so I assume it is like peanut butter and doesn't need it.
Glad you liked it Roadrunner! I don't refrigerate my tahini, too hard to use when cold.

hooplady, can you tell me the brand of Tahini that you like best? I bought Joyva brand. I know nothing about tahini and what to look for. Also, what do you like to use to dip? Crackers, celery, carrots? I had these sesame crackers from Costco and really delish but might like something healthier like veggies.

Dicey

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #658 on: December 14, 2020, 07:11:03 AM »
@Queen Frugal, do you follow The Frugal Girl blog? She's a kindred spirit. 

Love the tale of the intrepid young traveler!

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #659 on: December 15, 2020, 10:00:09 AM »
Now that I've stocked up on flour and yeast (stocked up, not hoarded!) my goal is to learn how to bake pita at home.

Homemade pita is so good!  I hadn't really had much pita until a Mediterranean restaurant opened in a nearby city in the early 1990s.  They had the best mujadarah, but even better, they would bring basket after basket of just baked pita to the table -- we broke young adults would sometimes go and order a bowl of lentil soup just to get the bread.  They aren't in business anymore, which is sad, and since then I've never been to a restaurant that makes its own pita.  Somehow receiving commercially made pita wrapped in plastic wrap just isn't the same.

However, I've been able to recreate pita at home almost as long, thanks to a book I bought in 1993 to go along with a gifted bread machine.  It's called Bread Machine Baking Perfect Every Time, by Laura Brody and her mom Millie, and I have the first edition.  The bread machine is used to make the dough, but you roll the pita by hand and bake it in the oven.  I use a cast iron griddle as a "baking stone".  The pita puff beautifully and split open as expected.  I'm sure there are pita recipes available for free online.

NotJen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #660 on: December 15, 2020, 10:27:11 AM »
Did my usual grocery shop yesterday - no shortages noted.  Cleaning supplies are even back in stock, and there were several brands of Lysol-type wipes available.

SailingOnASmallSailboat

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #661 on: December 15, 2020, 10:33:49 AM »
hooplady, can you tell me the brand of Tahini that you like best? I bought Joyva brand. I know nothing about tahini and what to look for. Also, what do you like to use to dip? Crackers, celery, carrots? I had these sesame crackers from Costco and really delish but might like something healthier like veggies.
I use Joyva when it's all I can get; my favorite is Ziyad which is usually available locally. Target had a brand called Pepperwood Organics that was good but I haven't been able to get it lately. Ideally I use fresh pita from a local bakery but since COVID I've been doing plain saltine crackers. When I take it to a group function I often include carrot sticks, red and yellow pepper slices and celery. Now that I've stocked up on flour and yeast (stocked up, not hoarded!) my goal is to learn how to bake pita at home.

I did this video a long time ago (!!!) but the information still stands. Making pita bread by hand is lovely and easy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc2B9l_aPuk

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #662 on: December 17, 2020, 06:31:35 AM »
Making a hodge podge cabbage soup while it snows right now. I used some leftover meatloaf in it. I also added fire roasted Rotel tomatoes, other canned tomatoes, onions, cayenne pepper, chicken broth, sliced peppers, taco seasoning.

The snow is coming down hard and should keep snowing till 11 am the weather people are saying.

Glad I have plenty of supplies!

Queen Frugal

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #663 on: December 17, 2020, 08:52:12 AM »
@Queen Frugal, do you follow The Frugal Girl blog? She's a kindred spirit. 

Love the tale of the intrepid young traveler!

Thanks Dicey! I'm checking her blog out now.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #664 on: December 17, 2020, 09:10:13 AM »
Just had a bowl of my soup and OMG, I was a bit heavy handed on the cayenne! I have turned into a fire breathing dragon!

SunnyDays

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #665 on: December 17, 2020, 10:24:12 AM »
Just had a bowl of my soup and OMG, I was a bit heavy handed on the cayenne! I have turned into a fire breathing dragon!

Then you can turn the heat off and save even more!

Poundwise

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #666 on: December 17, 2020, 11:11:25 AM »
Got our first milk delivery this week!! Not very Mustachian ($10/month delivery fee, and the milk is more expensive so I calculate this luxury will cost us $25/month).  But it is pretty cool to get the milk in old fashioned glass bottles. It tastes creamier too-- not homogenized.

But it served its purpose in that we didn't have to go grocery shopping this week. Now we have a better chance of "eating down our pantry".

Of course, since this is the year of food storage failures for us, this week somebody unplugged our garage fridge and all the frozen food thawed, though it didn't spoil...

Michael in ABQ

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #667 on: December 17, 2020, 12:05:35 PM »
Our governor finally lifted the completely arbitrary limit of 75 people in grocery stores and other big box retailers and made it in-line with everything else at 25% capacity. So Costco, Home Depot, or a Walmart Supercenter went from 75 customers to 300-500. The hour-long lines at every grocery store instantly vanished. Maybe the thought of having some elderly person die from standing in the cold to buy a gallon of milk was finally enough to change her mind. Now we can finally make another trip to Costco and not have to stand outside for an hour - or pay the 20% Instacart markup + their fee.

stoaX

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #668 on: December 17, 2020, 12:15:18 PM »
Did my usual grocery shop yesterday - no shortages noted.  Cleaning supplies are even back in stock, and there were several brands of Lysol-type wipes available.

Same here today in the suburbs of Charlotte. 

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #669 on: December 18, 2020, 04:36:31 AM »
So since I have abundant supplies of most everything, my goal is to stay at home for the rest of the month without going anywhere. Today will be day 3. If I make it, it will be 16 days this month and the earliest I plan to go out is January 5th. My dog will be groomed some day the first week of January. If I make it till Jan. 5th, that will be 21 days at home.

I have Misfits veggies that are delivered every two weeks. If need be, I can do a Peapod grocery delivery to my house and we have a liquor store that delivers. Today, I have the Post Office picking up a package so I don't have to go and wait in line. I have also ordered frozen burgers from Costco that are due to arrive today. I am doing everything I can to avoid being around people and getting Covid.

Since the Hub and I don't work anymore, it is easy to stay home. I know people with kids and jobs would finding staying home impossible. Some people just hate staying home but I am the opposite. I don't mind at all. But I don't like having to hunker down due to the virus. It is such a worry to go anywhere.

Michael in ABQ

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #670 on: December 18, 2020, 03:10:03 PM »
Our governor finally lifted the completely arbitrary limit of 75 people in grocery stores and other big box retailers and made it in-line with everything else at 25% capacity. So Costco, Home Depot, or a Walmart Supercenter went from 75 customers to 300-500. The hour-long lines at every grocery store instantly vanished. Maybe the thought of having some elderly person die from standing in the cold to buy a gallon of milk was finally enough to change her mind. Now we can finally make another trip to Costco and not have to stand outside for an hour - or pay the 20% Instacart markup + their fee.

This bogles my mind. Since the beginning, we have had no capacity limits on entering grocery stores and as far as I'm aware, no mass outbreaks as a result. Stores don't seem to be good passers of the virus since close contact is limited generally to seconds as you pass each other in the aisles.

Yes, it was a completely arbitrary and capricious move. Our church was limited to 25% capacity which meant about 175 people sitting or standing in a large open room of perhaps 10,000 SF for about an hour. Yet somehow a 150,000 SF Costco can only have 75 customers plus employees in 15x the space? Made no sense and I'm amazed it took almost a month for her to finally reverse course. Honestly if not for the cold weather I'm not sure if she would have.

There's been a lot of arbitrary limits imposed throughout the pandemic. Some states decided you could have 50 people in a restaurant but only 10 in church. Or that 1,000 people standing outside to protest is ok but 100 people standing outside to watch a musician is not.

Queen Frugal

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #671 on: December 19, 2020, 07:00:21 AM »
I did my two week grocery shopping trip yesterday. No shortages. The elderly checker who I see all the time was decked out in a mask, face shield, and gloves, all behind her plexiglass. I had to ask her a question. She couldn't hear me. It was a good reminder of just how rough some people have it right now.

What will our new normal look like when the pandemic is over? The last two times I went grocery shopping I have been quietly annoyed with other customers violating my personal space - which is now 6 feet! Is this feeling going to be hard wired into my brain for years to come? I hope not.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #672 on: December 20, 2020, 05:32:01 AM »
Anyone have any good tips on keeping fragile vegetables longer in the fridge without going limp?

Does anyone vacuum pack their lettuce in vac seal containers? I usually wrap my fragile lettuce (not head lettuce) in damp paper towels with mixed results. I try to use it up but sometimes time gets away from me and don't get around to using the lettuce and it gets wimped out. GRRRR!!!

Looking for ways to improve storage of lettuce!

SquashingDebt

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #673 on: December 20, 2020, 05:45:01 AM »
Anyone have any good tips on keeping fragile vegetables longer in the fridge without going limp?

Does anyone vacuum pack their lettuce in vac seal containers? I usually wrap my fragile lettuce (not head lettuce) in damp paper towels with mixed results. I try to use it up but sometimes time gets away from me and don't get around to using the lettuce and it gets wimped out. GRRRR!!!

Looking for ways to improve storage of lettuce!

I think the easiest way to improve storage of lettuce is adjusting which types of lettuce you buy (when you intend to store them).  Iceberg and romaine will last quite a long time, of course.  There's also new types of lettuce being sold in the plastic clamshells that's more like those two in texture, as opposed to baby greens.  I've found that it lasts quite a long time too. 

This is the product that's available in my neck of the woods, and I'm specifically talking about the top 2 products on the page:  https://www.littleleaffarms.com/our-products/

If you want to get even more flexible/creative, you could explore sometimes substituting chicory or radicchio for lettuce.  One of the main selling points of them is that they store well in the winter.  There's a nice salad demonstration on YouTube if you search for the video titled "COOKING: Radicchio Salad with Jason Salvo".

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #674 on: December 20, 2020, 06:24:34 AM »
I have been getting Misfits vegetables every other week and there are different types of lettuce offered each time. I steer clear of the Romaine due to the frequent problems the stores have had with e-coli. They have not offered head lettuce lately so I have been choosing the red leaf lettuce and some other similarly fragile types of lettuce.

I have been wrapping the lettuce in damp paper towels and I tried putting that into zip lock bags. I have also used mesh bags. Sometimes I think the plastic bags are a bad environment for the lettuce and the mesh bags allow the paper towels to dry out. Have not tried paper towels/lettuce in foil. I have seen people vacuum pack lettuce but not sure of the results.

I did watch the Jason Salvo video. Good information.

SunnyDays

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #675 on: December 20, 2020, 02:21:24 PM »
I always buy leaf lettuce and it will keep for weeks with this process:  shake out as much water as possible when you get it home (let it sit upright in the sink for a while for more to drip out), then wrap only the bottom third in one half size paper towel and put into a plastic bag (a dry one).  Change the paper towel every 2 or 3 days.   I’ve kept mine in both the crisper and on a shelf and don’t notice a difference in longevity.  Assuming you are using the lettuce gradually, there shouldn’t be any rot.  If it gets witty, just put it in a bowl of water in the fridge for a few hours and it’s good as new.  But then you have to start the whole process over again once it’s wet.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #676 on: December 20, 2020, 02:35:48 PM »
I always buy leaf lettuce and it will keep for weeks with this process:  shake out as much water as possible when you get it home (let it sit upright in the sink for a while for more to drip out), then wrap only the bottom third in one half size paper towel and put into a plastic bag (a dry one).  Change the paper towel every 2 or 3 days.   I’ve kept mine in both the crisper and on a shelf and don’t notice a difference in longevity.  Assuming you are using the lettuce gradually, there shouldn’t be any rot.  If it gets witty, just put it in a bowl of water in the fridge for a few hours and it’s good as new.  But then you have to start the whole process over again once it’s wet.

I have Misfits delivery coming this Tuesday. I will try your method. Thank you!

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #677 on: December 20, 2020, 04:43:14 PM »
Anyone have any good tips on keeping fragile vegetables longer in the fridge without going limp?

Does anyone vacuum pack their lettuce in vac seal containers? I usually wrap my fragile lettuce (not head lettuce) in damp paper towels with mixed results. I try to use it up but sometimes time gets away from me and don't get around to using the lettuce and it gets wimped out. GRRRR!!!

Looking for ways to improve storage of lettuce!

I do a variety of things.  We find romaine lettuce keeps longest (1-2 weeks), and that it's better to risk to drying out slightly over being too moist, since we can rehydrate limp lettuce leaves but can't do anything if they get slimy.  Any prepped lettuce (washed/spun/chopped or just washed/dried leaves) get put in a container with a dry paper towel or a clean, dry linen napkin.  I use a paper towel or linen napkin in a variety of produce storage situations.  I peel carrots, chopped of the ends, then store them with a paper towel, changed every couple of days as it gets wet.  Same with clean and sliced zucchini, or cut bell pepper strips.  I can get several more usable days from produce if I clean it well (removing any soft spots), dry it, and prep it before storing with a paper towel, and then changing out the paper towel when it can't absorb more moisture.

Mostly I just try to make the more fragile produce first, and save the sturdier lettuces, cabbage, carrots, etc. for the second week.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #678 on: December 20, 2020, 05:31:09 PM »
I usually wash the lettuce and then wrap it in a clean dish towel and put that into a loose plastic bag. It lasts about two weeks, but we don’t use much lettuce in the winter. I use kale or spinach when I want something green.

TomTX

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #679 on: December 20, 2020, 07:51:28 PM »
I fail to see the point of peeling carrots. The skin is quite thin and edible.

I also don't peel potatoes. Or sweet potatoes. Washing them? Sure.

Dicey

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #680 on: December 21, 2020, 01:52:41 AM »
Look for Mrs. Meyer's green bags. They're great for extending the lives of all types of produce.

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #681 on: December 21, 2020, 08:25:24 AM »
I fail to see the point of peeling carrots. The skin is quite thin and edible.

I also don't peel potatoes. Or sweet potatoes. Washing them? Sure.

I peel carrots depending on their use.  There are some dishes where the carrots look better if they've been peeled.  Peels are saved for stock, os there's no waste.  I also find my carrots last far longer if I peel them and store them with a paper towel.

I peel potatoes on the advice of my doctor, because I form kidney stones easily.

TomTX

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #682 on: December 21, 2020, 05:21:18 PM »
How long are you storing peeled carrots? Unpeeled mine are usually fine for at least a couple months  (though if they are still around by then I do shave off the little roots they usually sprout by then)

Caoineag

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #683 on: December 22, 2020, 08:50:28 AM »
How long are you storing peeled carrots? Unpeeled mine are usually fine for at least a couple months  (though if they are still around by then I do shave off the little roots they usually sprout by then)

Yeah I was wondering that too. Maybe she is somewhere hot and humid? My carrots last longer than potatoes and aren't refrigerated. That's the nice thing about root vegetables, they last forever and prefer cool to cold so no refrigeration required.

Cucumbers are our biggest risk. They bruise easily, they require an exact temperature for optimum shelf life and we usually use them in small quantities. We tend to do the English cucumbers when we want them to last a little longer. My second one I have to keep an eye on is cauliflower. As long as we eat regular veggie trays we are good but otherwise we need to prep and freeze it to extend its shelf life. Cauliflower patties are a tasty way to use up excess cauliflower about to go bad.

Green cabbage is great as a second week vegetable. Mushrooms and bell peppers can be prepped and frozen for recipes so they hold up well too.

I basically meal plan to use up the fragile fresh, freeze what can be frozen if we aren't getting to it in time and then use cabbage, onion and root vegetables in the second week along with what I froze or already have frozen (peas, corn, green beans and broccoli tend to be bought frozen). Kale can make it to the second week if frozen for soups otherwise red and green cabbage are the second week green leafies.

Our biggest problem with 2 week grocery runs is space for all the fresh veggies, not eating them up in time. We actually waste less produce with biweekly grocery runs versus weekly. With weekly you usually have something left and that will get buried and forgotten.

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #684 on: December 22, 2020, 10:12:15 AM »
How long are you storing peeled carrots? Unpeeled mine are usually fine for at least a couple months  (though if they are still around by then I do shave off the little roots they usually sprout by then)

I find that conventionally grown carrots do keep for months, but organic carrots don't.  I usually buy 6# of organic carrots from Costco.  I don't mind shaving off the roots, but with the organic carrots the roots also get some sort of black moldy stuff, and the ends shrivel and mold.  So I peel the organic carrots to store, and get at least a month that way.  It works for me.

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #685 on: December 22, 2020, 10:35:38 AM »
Huh.  I didn't know carrots would do better not refrigerated. My mom kept them in the fridge, so I do to, but that might explain why they get rather... flaccid fairly quickly.  Thanks, all!

I continue to get all of our groceries via Amazon Fresh, which has priced out to be slightly cheaper (but then I add a tip, so probably about the same) as shopping at my local grocery story.  (I live in a very expensive area.)  Initially, I was worried about the produce, fearing I'd get the bruised bananas if I weren't digging through the pile myself, but that hasn't been the case at all.  I typically order once a week. 

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #686 on: December 22, 2020, 10:37:39 AM »
Okay, I am totally blown away! I placed an online order for some very mundane items thru Walmart. Just a tad over $35 and just enough to satisfy the minimum requirement to get free shipping. A short while later, I got a confirmation of the order and it said it would be delivered today! Approx. 2 1/2 hours later I got a text and also an email saying it was delivered. In the email there was a picture of the bags on my front door step. It was FREE delivery thru Door Dash thru Walmart.

Unfortunately, my Walmart is a dinky store and doesn't carry much for grocery items. Mostly shelf stable stuff. If it was a Super Walmart I would be in heaven to have such quick delivery service!

My friend in another state just had the same experience a few days ago on a small kitchen appliance. It wasn't as quick but same day.

RetiredAt63

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #687 on: December 22, 2020, 10:46:52 AM »
With our numbers going higher and a 28 day lockdown starting on boxing day, I am trying to hit the grocery store even less often.  This morning I bought 3 bags of frozen veg as well as a few fresh.  Lots of eggs, cream, etc.  Meat mostly went into the freezer.


TomTX

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #688 on: December 22, 2020, 02:42:50 PM »
How long are you storing peeled carrots? Unpeeled mine are usually fine for at least a couple months  (though if they are still around by then I do shave off the little roots they usually sprout by then)

I find that conventionally grown carrots do keep for months, but organic carrots don't.  I usually buy 6# of organic carrots from Costco.  I don't mind shaving off the roots, but with the organic carrots the roots also get some sort of black moldy stuff, and the ends shrivel and mold.  So I peel the organic carrots to store, and get at least a month that way.  It works for me.

I get the organic carrots, either at Costco or HEB.

SquashingDebt

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #689 on: December 22, 2020, 04:38:06 PM »
I get organic carrots from a local farm and they last for 6+ months sometimes, although there's sometimes a bit of mold to cut off around the top of the carrot.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #690 on: January 02, 2021, 06:34:49 AM »
I have not been out of the house in 18 days to go anywhere! I expect to go out possibly on Thursday which will make it 23 days of staying home.

My supplies are holding up very nicely and I have to say I haven't made too much of dent into my mini warehouse. Since Thanksgiving I have used one turkey and one spiral ham. They are big and took up room. Today we are having a prime rib so that will free up some space too. The paper supplies are hanging in there. Normally I buy TP and paper towels from Costco and they have not had them for at least a month or more (their brand). The notice said they would reevaluate the situation January 2021. Have checked and still nothing on the website.

I am trying Butcher Box subscription. I received my first box a few days ago. Have not tried the meat yet. Can't say it is low cost but staying away from the virus is number one on my list. I also have a Misfits subscription I get every two weeks. This has proved to be the missing link for me as far as fresh veggies. It also is not perfect. I get the box where I choose my items rather than receiving a surprise box. I can't always get what I want but I manage to get enough fresh veggies to fill in the gaps for two weeks. I prefer to pick my own veggies rather than get things I don't really want. I have frozen veggies too.

Soon, I will do a curbside grocery store order. I really don't need much. But this is when I can buy more frozen things and other fresh veggies I can't seem to get thru Misfits. I also need bottled water for my coffee maker. Our water is very hard and ruins every coffee maker we have ever had till we started using bottled water. Does anyone use a Brita water jug/filter for hard water?

That sprial ham gave us a lot of meals! We had ham dinners, pea soup, ham for breakfast, Fettucine Alfredo with ham. Used the bone for the pea soup. Was quite a bargain. Approx 11 lb. ham for $1.99 a lb.

How is eveyone doing on their supplies?


K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #691 on: January 02, 2021, 06:06:49 PM »
I have not been out of the house in 18 days to go anywhere! I expect to go out possibly on Thursday which will make it 23 days of staying home.

My supplies are holding up very nicely and I have to say I haven't made too much of dent into my mini warehouse. Since Thanksgiving I have used one turkey and one spiral ham. They are big and took up room. Today we are having a prime rib so that will free up some space too. The paper supplies are hanging in there. Normally I buy TP and paper towels from Costco and they have not had them for at least a month or more (their brand). The notice said they would reevaluate the situation January 2021. Have checked and still nothing on the website.

I am trying Butcher Box subscription. I received my first box a few days ago. Have not tried the meat yet. Can't say it is low cost but staying away from the virus is number one on my list. I also have a Misfits subscription I get every two weeks. This has proved to be the missing link for me as far as fresh veggies. It also is not perfect. I get the box where I choose my items rather than receiving a surprise box. I can't always get what I want but I manage to get enough fresh veggies to fill in the gaps for two weeks. I prefer to pick my own veggies rather than get things I don't really want. I have frozen veggies too.

Soon, I will do a curbside grocery store order. I really don't need much. But this is when I can buy more frozen things and other fresh veggies I can't seem to get thru Misfits. I also need bottled water for my coffee maker. Our water is very hard and ruins every coffee maker we have ever had till we started using bottled water. Does anyone use a Brita water jug/filter for hard water?

That sprial ham gave us a lot of meals! We had ham dinners, pea soup, ham for breakfast, Fettucine Alfredo with ham. Used the bone for the pea soup. Was quite a bargain. Approx 11 lb. ham for $1.99 a lb.

How is eveyone doing on their supplies?

My last day inside a store was 12/5, and other than walking in the neighborhood and going for a drive with DH earlier this week, I've been home.  In that time, I've gotten Costco once, Aldi once (small order), and Walmart twice.  Walmart was a first for us in terms of using Instacart, and I won't do it again if I don't have to.  But they had vegan ice cream at a good price for my dairy allergic kid, along with the best eggnog we could find (it shouldn't be so hard to avoid artificial flavors).  Even more than that, they had RV rapid dissolving toilet paper and no limits, so my shopper brought me 4 packs of 8.  I'm hoping when we need TP again Walmart will have it available to order like they did last summer.  I didn't use Walmart for produce, so we're going to need either Costco delivery or Sprouts curbside very soon.  Misfits sounds interesting, and I wonder if it would help with things like ordering cucumbers and them arriving a day shy of spoiling.

I'll be interested to hear your Butcher Box review.  I've considered it in the past, but stuck with our in-state 100% grass-fed beef from a rancher I've been a customer of for 12 years now.  He doesn't have the same variety, however.

We have hard water and use a Berkey water filter system.  From what I understand it removes some minerals but not all, specifically it removes sedimentary minerals and chloride, but only reduces high levels of ionic minerals.  We still end up with mineral deposits in the pan we use to boil water for tea, and in the coffee maker.  DH takes care of these every couple of weeks using white vinegar, which we were finally able to get again from Aldi.

I envy you the spiral ham!  We didn't buy one because I have one kid who hates ham, so we didn't have it for a holiday meal.  But with all the meals you listed I feel like we missed out!.

Our freezers are still plenty full, as is the pantry.  Really, other than being low on fresh produce and eggs, we're doing really well.  I used my Vitamix yesterday to grind popcorn for cornmeal mush -- the difference compared to using store cornmeal was amazing.  I have some brown rice in the fridge we aren't going through fast enough, so I'll be grinding it for rice porridge.  I finally put my foot down with the college kids and told them I don't want to buy expensive processed breakfast cereal anymore.  It was an okay concession early in the pandemic, but it went on far too long.  Eliminating the cereal will also bring down the grocery bill by eliminating the need for almond milk and reducing dairy milk expenditures.  I'll make homemade oat milk for smoothies.

Honestly, I think we went through a transition with food and meals during the past almost 10 months and have come out the other side now.  Our diet is more like it was a decade ago, which is both simpler and healthier.  I'm no longer catering to picky eaters -- they can feed themselves and if they don't like what I buy they can buy something else with their own income.  And by "they" I really just mean the one who is surer picky with a penchant for junk food -- kids #1 pretty much eats what I make and one the rare occasion he doesn't care for something he eats the rest of the meal and heats up some baked beans.  I've learned that even in a pandemic we mostly don't love canned foods, but also that canned tomatoes are super handy to have on hand -- I've been making a 30 minute chili for the guys that is just canned beans, canned tomatoes with chiles, and chili powder, and they love it.  We had a pantry moth infestation a couple of months ago and lost the grains and legumes that weren't in gamma sealed buckets, and I was reminded how much simpler it is to have just a few grains and legumes -- a long and medium grain rice, pinto beans, red lentils, quick and old fashioned oats, flour, and popcorn.  I didn't replace any of the other beans or grains, and we had more than a dozen jars of them.  I have plans to simplify even more in 2021.

PMG

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #692 on: January 02, 2021, 06:44:42 PM »
I wouldn't count on Misfits not delivering cucumbers the day they need eaten. We've only done a couple boxes but have learned to expect that half of it needs eaten promptly. We're doing one this week after quitting them in March/April. We're hoping they (and shipping services) have been able to adjust to demand and things are slowing down after the holiday rush.  Caveat, we live very rurally so ship time to us is 1-2 days, in metro areas it may be same day or 1 day. Bonus: They had quinoa as an add on for $1.99 a pound which is a pretty good price and we're almost out so I ordered quite a bit.

Target has also started shipping some food items that they had paused over the holidays so I've got an order of dry goods coming from them.  Between the two I hope to delay an in person trip until we need eggs. 

We're also settling in to some good food routines and learning both simple staples and more complex fun things.  We joke (a bit sadly) that the restaurants need us more than we need them.

We also started a cooking club with 4 other households. We are working our way though a regionally famous cookbook and meet bi-monthly to finish cooking and eat together (online). It's been a good balance of challenging and fun to actually do work together with other people!  It's lead to a vibrant ongoing group chat. Definitely a bright part of my winter.

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #693 on: January 02, 2021, 07:29:04 PM »
I, OTOH, have started Phase 1 of a staged move to another state, and feel like I am starting allll over with pantry stocking. Ugh.

The good news is that we have a larger freezer here and I’m more comfortable going into the store because I can rely on everyone to wear a mask. The bad news is that we have more people in the house and it seems like food just evaporates.

It does make me really appreciate the convenience of a well stocked pantry, though. It’s pretty annoying to keep discovering that I don’t have some ingredient. It’s a process, for sure!

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #694 on: January 03, 2021, 05:50:47 AM »
It is just the Hub and I so the spiral ham did go a long way. It was so extremely good! What kills me is that I bought mine for $1.99 a lb. and right now they are on a further reduced sale for $1.29 a lb. I am sure they are trying to get rid of them. But since I am not shopping or doing curbside for almost a week or more, I am sure that 'bargain' will be long gone. I did buy two spiral hams when they were first offered at Thansgiving. I froze one, so down the road we will pull that out. I still have 3 more bargain turkeys in the freezer. They were either $0.49 or $0.59 per lb.

I also stock up on 3 dozen eggs everytime I do curbside. It is pretty crazy but Jumbo eggs were only $1.69 a dozen compared to other sized eggs being much more! I am like...jumbo is bigger and should be priced higher! However, I read somewhere that jumbo egg are less desired! For me they are super desirable! They are bigger, so more egg, they are cheaper and they last as long as other eggs. Win, win, win!

Placed an order for a vacuum sealer. I currently have a very nice one but it has a quirk I don't like. It requires that you feed the vac bag into the machine and then it sucks about 2 inches in before it will seal. I have no control on the size seal I want. I found a machine on Amazon that might be what I want. I want to seal up my grains and rice, pasta. I started to do it on my current machine but it became an annoying task. This new machine was only $39.99 so will give it a whirl and see how it goes.

Misfits is not exactly 'perfect'. For instance, I have not been able to get head lettuce. The lettuce they typically offer is loose leaf or a fragile red leaf lettuce. Sometimes you don't get a lot of it. Sometimes the package is bigger. You might not be able to get normal cukes. They might offer mini cukes or English cukes. You can only select one. For instance, if you pick mini cukes, you might get six but you cannot choose that twice to get 12. I order the biggest box and get it every two weeks. They allow you to pick 14 items. They can be various fruits and veggies. Then, there are add ons. Such as mushrooms, baby spinach, mixed salad greens. They offer a variety of grains. One week I bought a jar of olives. I usually buy two cartons of mushrooms and saute them and put in the freezer. I do that every two weeks and am building a little stock. With those add ons, you are not restricted on quantity, however, you are charged extra for each item. The prices aren't too bad. I typically add on a few things. I have not been all that pleased with the tomatoes. Sometimes they are a little squishy or split from damage or a little shriviled. What I like to do in the winter anyway is to chop up jarred roasted red bell peppers into the lettuce. They are flavorful and bright red to give the salad eye appeal.

Butcher box is 'interesting'. Right now, I am doing the custom box which is $149 every two months. For first time customers they gave me $10 off. I picked the items I wanted. There are two size boxes and the other one I think is $270. Then there are, what I call, surprise boxes. You choose type of suprise box you want, like a 'beef' box or a 'chicken and pork' box and there are others. These surprise boxes are $139.  With my order, I got 'free bacon for life'. One 10 oz package. Plus, free shipping for life. The surprise boxes can be fun if you are open minded and just figure you will find recipes for what you receive. Nothing is odd ball at all. Ground beef, chicken breasts, ribs, steaks, stew meat, beef roasts, pork roasts, pork chops, whole chickens, chicken thighs, chicken legs, pork ribs, salmon filets. Also, whole turkey and I am guessing mostly at Thanksgiving. I think they have add ons too. So you pick out what you want in the package deal, then move on to adding more things at an additional price if you so choose. The meat came in an insulated box and was frozen hard as a rock. Very pleased with that. You can also alternate on how often you receive delivery. The one thing that I do notice is that the roasts are not huge sized so for some families, that might not be ideal. My Hub and I cook as if there were 4 people in the house because we love leftovers and like the fact that we have another meal we can just warm up. Or, freeze for a later date.

Oh, K-in-the-kitchen, so sorry you didn't buy a spiral ham! Don't deny yourself again! Get something else for that picky kid, pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs and have that ham next time! You never know, picky kid might try it and like it at some point!

Any of you making bread at home? I have tried one bread recipe I found on youtube and it is easy and good. I am interested in making grinder rolls or hoagie rolls depending on where in USA you are. The Hub and I will make some meatballs soon and I am looking for a grinder roll recipe. If anyone has an easy recipe, I would be interested. Here is the youtube demo on the bread recipe. It starts at the 2 min 17 second mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUO4BWNeR_8   This married couple bought a homestead and raise farm animals and grow veggies. They freeze, can, dehydrate and are now freeze drying things. They offer a lot of tips in their videos. I thoroughly enjoy watching them demonstrate their homestead skills.

Had the prime rib last night and if any of you like rare prime rib cooked perfectly every time, use Paula Dean's recipe: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a18012/paula-deens-famous-foolproof-rib-roast-recipe/
We have cooked various sizes 5-10 lbs. and every one has come out perfect! The Hub puts together a coffee rub seasoning and puts it on the outside of the meat and then, with strings, attaches fresh rosemary to the top.

On another note of hunkering down, the Hub and I watched two Sylvestor Stallone movies the last coupld of days. Creed and Creed II. Very entertaining and no one had to wear masks in these movies! We have one more Sylvestor Stallone movie we want to watch and that is Rocky Balboa. I hope today to watch that.

Well, Happy New Year to all!

K_in_the_kitchen

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #695 on: January 03, 2021, 08:40:47 AM »
Any of you making bread at home? I have tried one bread recipe I found on youtube and it is easy and good. I am interested in making grinder rolls or hoagie rolls depending on where in USA you are. The Hub and I will make some meatballs soon and I am looking for a grinder roll recipe. If anyone has an easy recipe, I would be interested. Here is the youtube demo on the bread recipe. It starts at the 2 min 17 second mark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUO4BWNeR_8   This married couple bought a homestead and raise farm animals and grow veggies. They freeze, can, dehydrate and are now freeze drying things. They offer a lot of tips in their videos. I thoroughly enjoy watching them demonstrate their homestead skills.

Had the prime rib last night and if any of you like rare prime rib cooked perfectly every time, use Paula Dean's recipe: https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a18012/paula-deens-famous-foolproof-rib-roast-recipe/
We have cooked various sizes 5-10 lbs. and every one has come out perfect! The Hub puts together a coffee rub seasoning and puts it on the outside of the meat and then, with strings, attaches fresh rosemary to the top.

This time of year I bake soft sourdough sandwich loaves as our daily bread (I don't bake it daily).  It's the most perfect soft sourdough loaf recipe I've ever tried. https://beautythatmoves.typepad.com/beauty_that_moves/2018/06/i-worked-in-an-italian-restaurant-for-six-years-in-the-early-2000s-in-that-time-a-grand-total-of-one-person-came-in-with-sp.html

I've baked no knead bread off and on for years.  It's particularly nice to break off a piece of dough and use it for pizza.  But I also have a nice bread machine pizza dough recipe I like.  And then there's a super fast pizza dough from This Pilgrim Life that's also quite good when I want pizza in a hurry.  You make the dough, prep your sauce and toppings, and then the dough is ready to roll and use.  https://www.thispilgrimlife.com/simple-thin-crust-pizza-dough/

There are a few really quick yeasted recipes I use sometimes, which I like because they're faster than no knead dough.  One is a "Cuban" bread recipe from the Tightwad Gazette, another is one hour French bread from This Pilgrim Life https://www.thispilgrimlife.com/one-hour-french-bread/, and I adore the one hour soft dinner rolls recipes from my Kitchen Aid mixer book.  Those rolls are perfect!

I used the Paula Dean method again for our Christmas Day prime rib, this time using a 9 pound roast.  Just like before, I checked after 2 hours and my roast was at 120°F already.  I think it's due to have an electric oven and it being rather new, so the seals are good.  I planned for it to possibly be ready sooner, so it was fine for us.  I make a rub with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and dried rosemary.  I whirl all of that together in the blender until the rosemary is powdered with everything else, then I put it into a bowl and add olive oil to make a paste.  We're getting better garlic and rosemary flavors than when I used fresh.  It really is the most foolproof recipe for standing rib roast -- thanks for sharing it!

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #696 on: January 03, 2021, 11:04:23 AM »
The grocery store we’ve been getting curbside pickup here offers an assortment of “meat bundles” that are very reasonably priced. I’m thinking about doing that to stock the freezer.

Roadrunner53

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #697 on: January 03, 2021, 11:30:22 AM »
The grocery store we’ve been getting curbside pickup here offers an assortment of “meat bundles” that are very reasonably priced. I’m thinking about doing that to stock the freezer.

One of our smaller grocery stores tried doing that a few years ago in the summer and it must not have been popular at the time because they don't offer it anymore. Now, would be the time with the pandemic to offer bundles! Good idea!

Villanelle

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #698 on: January 03, 2021, 01:36:39 PM »
We are, again, facing down a move.  It will likely be in April.  Normally at this point I'm very actively eating down the pantry, but I hesitate to do that.  It's a local move for a change, so we can  dump the contents of the freezer into a cooler and have it back in the freezer at the new home in about an hour, so I suppose that's not so bad.  And if we have to pack up boxes of pasta and canned tomatoes and extra olive oil, I suppose that's not so bad, though it's more to deal with. 

Cranky

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Re: Pandemic hoarding
« Reply #699 on: January 03, 2021, 04:50:41 PM »
I would totally move my pantry locally.