Food shortage again?

[Woody girl]

What on earth is going on with people!?
Our local (independent) deli are out of my prefered loose leaf organic green tea. I had to get bags.
It's all getting out of hand now.

I'm afraid I've stockpiled tea. I would rather do without food! I can grow or forage food.
Had trouble getting my favourite english breakfast tea a few months ago, but I have now found a much cheaper alternative source than £5.50 for 80 teabags at co op prices.
Had to make do with a box of "another brand" for a bit, but I've learned my lesson. I now have a 3 month supply. It may not be enough though!

 

[slowworm]

There are no food shortages; the shelves around here are full. One or two specialist items aren't currently available but there's plenty of food

It depends where you are. Round here, apart from the odd item, there hasn't been a problem. I know some places in the south east for example where shelves have been stripped bare and you need to queue for hours to get in of an evening, well 4pm.

 

[Toddy]

No shortages around here either. Lot of Christmas stuff still on the shelves too, I'm told.

I have tea, I have a lot of tea and so do my neighbours....we share interesting ones around, just to try them out.

I admit I Brexit stocked up on coffee, good chocolate, olive oil, vanilla extract, tea, nuts and stuff like nutritional yeast (that's made in Lithuania).
Basically daily stuff that doesn't grow/crop here.

M

 

[bearbait]

The Marmite shelf in my local supermarket has been conspicuously empty for several weeks now, since well before Xmas.

In a way I can understand it, frustrating though it is: one can do without toilet paper but one CANNOT do without Marmite.

I can't even hang around the less salubrious pubs on a Friday night to see if I can get any.

Tschhh...

 

[SaraR]

I'm afraid I've stockpiled tea. I would rather do without food! I can grow or forage food.
Had trouble getting my favourite english breakfast tea a few months ago, but I have now found a much cheaper alternative source than £5.50 for 80 teabags at co op prices.
Had to make do with a box of "another brand" for a bit, but I've learned my lesson. I now have a 3 month supply. It may not be enough though!

Between me being a bit of a tea head and DH wanting ordinary tea, we usually got substantial quantities of both tea bags and loose-leaf tea in the house anyway, so no need to stock up extra.

 

[Stew]

None of the coffee I wanted at Morrisons. The horror!

 

[Allison McKenzie]

I am just off to the shop to buy a few hundred loo roles before the idiots start stockpiling.

 

[Woody girl]

This evening I popped down to the co op to pick up some extra bits and pieces, and decided to double up on fresh veg as some supermarkets it is reported are running out.
Thankfully ours seems ok at present, but deciding to also back things up with extra tinned veg too, I was shocked to find most space was given to tinned tomatoes, and the rest consisted of mushy peas, 8 tins left, carrots 1 tin left, and that had gone from 37p to £1.00 a tin.
Ouch!
Luckily I have some tinned carrots put by, but this is a bit of a worry.

 

[Tengu]

I have too many tins of tomatoes.

And Dad wont let me make home made pasta sauce, as seems sensible.

 

[Woody girl]

There are many ways to use tinned tomatoes. In soups, stews, goulash or chilli, to just plain heated up and served on toast for breakfast or a cheap snack when you are peckish, dont want a full meal but a biscuit wont suffice.
Tinned tomatoes are amazingly versatile ingredient in many recipes.

 

[C_Claycomb]

My parents were told by their neighbour that the local Sainsbury's (a medium size store) had been completely stripped of vegetables, as in everything, completely empty shelves, even the potatoes.

 

[Allison McKenzie]

We have serious shortages for fruit and veg, not just the fun stuff eaither, like cauliflower, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, oranges.

They did have the nice croissants, but no blue milk. Boo.

 

[Toddy]

I had two orders delivered in the last couple of days, and Himself shopped for salad stuff yesterday morning, there were no shortages....well I tell a lie, we didn't get a fruit loaf or two bags of sherbet flying saucers that I'd ordered.
They did deliver root veggies, bags of fruit and assorted tins and packets.
One was Sainsbury's the other was Iceland.
I like Sainsbury's but it's a pain having to order so far ahead. Iceland's delivery is excellent. Usually next day though occasionally day after, never been longer than that, and if the order is over £35 it's free delivery....and they sell toilet rolls and other household staples too in their grocery sections.

M

 

[Woody girl]

No sherbet saucers! How on earth are you going to pacify the fairies at the bottom of the garden!
I've managed to get some extra veg today in case of shortages, but I have a lot of dried veg and lots of tinned, as apart from covid, I expected this, and I'm sure there will be a lot of shortages for the near future, if not longer.
We have been spoilt with most of our veg comming from abroad . Time to step up our veg gardens in earnest this year, not just salads in a pot.
It may seem trivial at the moment, but then so did covid in January last year... and look at the mess we are in with that now!

 

[Bishop]

DIY Sherbert recipe, adjust for creaminess or tongue torturing zing as desired.

Citric acid, Baking soda & icing sugar

• 6 tea-spoons citric acid crystals
• 3 table-spoons baking soda
• 4 table-spoons icing sugar (or more to taste)

Grind it all to a fine powder with a mortar & pestle/ coffee grinder or two spoon method, takes ages but keeps younglings occupied. Chuck it all in a ziplock bag and shake to mix.

 

[Toddy]

I was so disappointed
I don't eat many sweeties, but I take a notion to a flying saucer (okay, I confess, half a dozen) on occasion.
Hadn't thought just to make my own. I even have rice paper

 

[Toddy]

I have too many tins of tomatoes.

And Dad wont let me make home made pasta sauce, as seems sensible.

They'll keep, even long past their date. They're awfully useful in so many dishes too. Make really good pizza toppings and they make a good texture in a veggie lasagne.
M

 

[santaman2000]

There are many ways to use tinned tomatoes. In soups, stews, goulash or chilli, to just plain heated up and served on toast for breakfast or a cheap snack when you are peckish, dont want a full meal but a biscuit wont suffice.
Tinned tomatoes are amazingly versatile ingredient in many recipes.

Tomato gravy over toast is common here in the Southeastern US.

First fry your bacon and set it aside. Nextt add enough flour to the grease to make a good roux and cook until the flour no longer tastes raw (Until it begins to darken in color) Pour a tin of tomatoes (liquid and all) into the roux, season to taste (basic salt and pepper plus optional basil) then stir and simmer to make the gravy. You can serve it over toast, hash browns, grits, or just about anything else. Personally I dice the cooked bacon and add it back to the gravy.

 

[Oliver G]

Tinned tomatoes is one of those things that I always have knocking about. We were gifted a soup maker for Christmas so I've taken to popping that on the go while I'm baking bread for my lunch. We're currently stockpiling cooked / part-cooked meals and freezing what we can, not necessarily for food shortages but for when we're too tired to cook properly with the new baby that we can just put food in the oven and crack on with other duties.

The tomato gravy sounds good, I was surprised to find in the midlands they do a bacon roll with a splash of chopped tomatoes, I thought I was just given a very soggy roll.

 

[MrEd]

I struggled to get hold of coconut milk late last week, but managed to get some Monday.
Phew.