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[Robson Valley]

Everything looked so clean, I thought that I could grow a second+ batch of sprouts in the jars
without giving the jars & lids a thorough wash-cleaning. Wrong. Barch #2 went moldy. Same sack of Mung Beans.
So everything gets a strong wash. No. Big. Deal. Maybe a 10% chlorine bleach rinse would do the trick.

I use my regular big canning jars and the Bernardin ring tops. Plastic window screen is easily had.
All of it goes into the dishwasher (saves me money on water, power and detergent over hand wash-ups.)

I need the heater mat, I can't grow sprouts at 20C in my winter kitchen = need just a little more heat.
It always was 25C+ in the downstairs kitchen when I was running the pellet stove for heat
but I'm not supposed to do any heavy lifting (40 lbs pellet bags) ever again after the surgery.
So it sits cold and the central heating furnace is set to run at 20C.

I did buy sprout seed mixes from an on-line site. That's a worthwhile way to go.
I get a craving for the taste of fresh, raw green peas. The sprouts just about meet that.

Mature ripe dry seeds are full of storage carbs and storage proteins, some with a lot of storage lipids, too (peanuts).
When seeds germinate, the living seed needs dissolved activated carbs, fats and proteins. That's what you're eating.
They put mung bean sprouts in chicken chow mein, do they not? The chicken is a nice thought.

 

[Nice65]

I grabbed a bag of mung beans today, not to make mung dal, but to grow bean shoots. I got the tiny dried split mung bean lentils too, for cooking with bacon and onions for soup, or making tarka dal. Chickpeas for general use but also to make hummus, it’s so easy I don’t know why we buy it ready made.

I always seem to buy loads of tinned sardines and mackerel for illness or crisis, but strangely never fancy it when ill. I bought more, so have a few more tins in the cupboard now, just to look at and decide I don’t want.

Lots of part baked baguettes and rolls (long keep on them), multigrain Ryvita is yummy, Tuc biscuits, lumps of Cathedral City cheddar were on offer so I grabbed a couple.

Sainsbury’s does a foiled vac pack of cooked potato, bacon and onion. It’s a bit boring, but ok with ketchup and added smoked sausage or bacon. It take it camping sometimes and fry it up with a couple of eggs and some bacon grill or Spam.

Processed cheese, like Primula in tubes or the smoked stuff. Not the best stuff to eat, but long keep and easy if you’re not up to cooking or too much food prep. If you get ill, and I hope you don’t, easy food that tastes good and isn’t a faff is essential. Even those cans of Nurishment or the protein shakes fill you up for a bit with a couple of biscuits or a bit of bread and peanut butter.

Mattesons smoked sausage keeps well and doesn’t need to be in the fridge, lot of flavour in them for anything from a spicy bean stew to soups or adding to cheese sauce along with a load of mustard and whatever veg is handy.

Nuts, oats and dried fruits we have a lot of, dark Muscavado sugar, golden syrup = porridge and flapjacks. Dried cherry and cinnamon flapjacks are lovely. I couldn’t find freeze dried apple. Got a tin of Nido milk powder in the cupboard from ages ago, awful for tea or coffee but brilliant for porridge or muesli.

Got the power supply back on in the garage so I might well get some biltong on the go too.

 

[Robson Valley]

Growing sprouts during the winter must be a mental health exercise.
Entertaining in a small way to watch it all happen.

I like to buy prepared foods as ingredients in something else.
All other sorts of foods like soups to burgers, pancakes to breads, I make my own with my own recipes.
Good pantry of 4-5 kinds of rice, 3-4 kinds of flour and no more than 6 shapes of durum semolina Canadian pasta.
I am slacking off, not making enough of my own pasta as I should.
My guts are chronically explosive. Pasta is very soothing, seems to be independent of the type of sauce (meat vs cheese).

Tonights small shell pasta Alfredo will have a heap of fine dice salami, green pepper and onion in it.
Tomorrow, I'll have little oysters, mussels and crab meat in some kind of curry sauce. Patak's perhaps.
I could easily be persueded to make some fry bread to go with that. Kind of a native indian chepati but thicker.

 

[Toddy]

I bought freeze dried apple from this fellow two days ago. It arrived really promptly and it's lovely stuff

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/tramock/m.html?ssPageName=&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2654

 

[Nice65]

I bought freeze dried apple from this fellow two days ago. It arrived really promptly and it's lovely stuff

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/tramock/m.html?ssPageName=&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2654

Good for you, thanks. I’ve grabbed some raspberries too.

 

[Woody girl]

I have no car to get to the supermarket and I'm not risking the bus. I'm very limited on what I can get localy
. I'd love some more dried fruit but I have plenty of maple syrup (6 bottles) and porridge oats peanut butter and dried milk and instant potatoes tins of peas carrots and sweetcorn. Plus I've dried a lot of frozen veg. Very cheap and easy and no prep as it's already done.
Teabags... not enough only 300!
A few tins of meat though I don't eat it as a rule and many tins of tuna baked beans and tomatoes.
My worries are fresh organic milk and cheese eggs and bacon. No more room in freezer so that's out.
I have 3 medical masks the 44% protection ones.. and a half mask with one n95 filter so I've decided to try and make some masks. They won't be perfect but I hope they'll provides some protection and I'll go to the supermarket late just as they close up.
I have a pal convinced that she can make one for her hubby and herself out of her bra!
Oh my goodness! one way to keep hubby in the house if guess!
I'm not using a bra by the way!

 

[santaman2000]

I find California oranges (and indeed almost all oranges) better suited to squeeze and drink than to eat. For eating the only citrus I actually like are satsumas and various types of tangerines. That said, none of them are really available to “forage.” They’re cultivated crops here.

 

[Toddy]

But even so, citrus fruits growing easily is a pleasure
I like citrus fruits, they were an expensive treat when I was a child. Christmas time sort of fruits really. I do make glacé orange slices, and I make orange slices in syrup too. Mostly they get used in baking though or for pudding.
The left over syrup from the jar makes a good substitute for diluted orange juice though.

M

 

[Robson Valley]

I'm very fussy about citrus.

McGee explains that Navel oranges are not used commercially for juice as an oxidation product is really bitter.
Juice or eat them fresh from the skin and enjoy it.

The best Navel oranges in North America come from Booth Ranch in California.
Second would be the CaraCara orange, can't remember an orchard for those.
Good Blood oranges come from places in California as well.
The rest, like the so-called Navel oranges from South Africa, are bitter crap.

Tedious, but really fine slice a dozen big limes into 7C/1750ml water and hold in the fridge over night.
Cook at a hot simmer for 45 minutes. Add 1 kg sugar and cook for at least another 45 minutes.
Jar up and there's enough pectin that they should gel quickly.
If it goes too yellow, add 1 drop of blue food coloring. 1 drop.
This is lime marmalade, stupidly simple to make.
My meds don't mix with Seville oranges for regular orange marmalade.

 

[oldtimer]

Remember driving over the state line into California many years ago. We were stopped by a state trooper who aggressively enquired if we had any oranges or orange juice in the car. Guns? drugs? alcohol? : not interested, but orange juice! We thought it was funny but he didn't share the joke.

In retrospect, we guess it was a measure to prevent the importation of any pests of orange trees. At the time, the significance of the Florida licence plates on our hired car escaped us.

I like travelling with oranges in the camper van, they keep well and provide sweet refreshing juice for snacks on the road. Last year I realised when visiting our son in Andalusia that an orange in the fridge had already made the journey from his valley to England, where I bought it, and back to Spain. It still tasted great!

 

[santaman2000]

The best oranges in America (indeed, in the world) are from central Florida. The best satsumas are from southeast Louisiana.

 

[santaman2000]

Remember driving over the state line into California many years ago. We were stopped by a state trooper who aggressively enquired if we had any oranges or orange juice in the car. Guns? drugs? alcohol? : not interested, but orange juice! We thought it was funny but he didn't share the joke.

In retrospect, we guess it was a measure to prevent the importation of any pests of orange trees. At the time, the significance of the Florida licence plates on our hired car escaped us.

I like travelling with oranges in the camper van, they keep well and provide sweet refreshing juice for snacks on the road. Last year I realised when visiting our son in Andalusia that an orange in the fridge had already made the journey from his valley to England, where I bought it, and back to Spain. It still tasted great!

Up until the 1990s Arizona used to have a check station at the state line making sure no fresh produce of any kind entered. That said, they have cared about processed produce such as juice or tins.

 

[petrochemicals]

I was to told today why people are buying toilet rolls, apparently if one person sneezes, 100 s**t themselves! ☺

 

[TLM]

I was to told today why people are buying toilet rolls, apparently if one person sneezes, 100 s**t themselves! ☺

Kind of late to buy the paper , isn't it ...

 

[Mr Wolf]

The panic at work is amusing

 

[petrochemicals]

Also not that Im thinking of panic buying, but the problem of other people panic buying is a bit worrying, it makes me think maybe there will be none left for me. Im thinking of stocking up, primarily tinned stuff, Guiness, Carling, Tetley, maybe a few bottles ........

 

[Mr Wolf]

I have been commanded to stock up on tinned food.
She has spoken

 

[Tengu]

I think this should have happened last month....

(Sent Dad an email advising him about the subject. I still dont know if he has found the neccisary Glenryck pilchards; but since he probably wont survive without at least one loaf of fresh bread a day, its all academic...)