I was a-hunting today

[wiseheart]

... for food items of reduced price, of course. That's what I do all the time.

I was relatively successful, too - that's the hunting instinct that I've developed lately, paired up with extreme stubbornness. The only thing I didn't get was the boxed powder for making mashed potatoes. I kid you not! I'll have to look for it in various supermarkets next week, because beauty_forashes is right: we do have to stock up some food that is quickly and easily made, in case of energy fall-outs; and also food that can be eaten without cooking. So I also bought two tins of canned luncheon meat, since it was on offer, too. It reminds me of my childhood when we had to buy what was available instead of what we wanted, and sometimes the queue for meet was a mile long and Mum had to join it at 5am or so to still get at least some of it. *sigh*

Right now, we do have basically everything we want, it's just getting more outrageously expensive with each passing day. But it might not remain like that, so better safe than sorry. Yes, there are sales every week, but mostly not for basic foodstuff; and salmon and Irish whiskey and other luxury items aren't what we'd consume. Ah, well, my friend Evie and I are working on making each other aware of what's cheaper in which shop and even do the shopping for each other, depending on which one of us is closer or has more time (the latter is usually me, of course).

Cooking was an easy thing today, thank yesterdays preparations. I only had to make the rice and the salad, everything else was about leftovers. Tomorrow I'll have to cook something substantial that will also last for two days because Tuesday is always a bit busy, due to the physiotherapist's visit and choir practice. I do have a vague idea, but we'll see.

After lunch I decided to solve a few crossword puzzles - and promptly fell asleep for the next two hours. *g* Apparently, I was more tired than I had thought. But that's okay. I was up early enough to answer Evie's phone call, and then for Das Große Backen, which is the German version of the GBBO. Today, it was very educational: I've learned how to make nougat from the scratch - it seemed to be a quick and easy method. If it truly works when I give it a try is another question entirely, but we'll see it when I actually dare to try it, right?

Due to the above, I didn't do any crafting or writing today. But tomorrow is another day... or so I hope.

Comments

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Of course there's never sale on things people will buy. :(

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

Have you tried making fresh mashed potatoes? it takes longer but it's so much better tasting and not expensive

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

As a rule we make mashed potatoes fresh. I only use the pulverized ones for Shepherd's Pie — or when we happen to be out of fresh ones. Plus, the powder can be kept and stored for months — fresh potatoes cannot.

[red-day-dawning.livejournal.com]

I’m in one of my (frequent) I-hate-cooking phases, which means I need more vegetables for salads, carrot sticks etc. and more processed foods like canned soups etc. so I need to do masses of shopping. Which I also loathe… The only good thing about shopping in person is that I can select better fruits and veg. Prices are still rising here, but nothing like your price rises I imagine. I must stock more staples though. The only thing I remember to stockpile is ground coffee beans! I should buy rice, lentils etc when they are on special. Today I’m forcing myself to cook — I will make Schwäbische Linsen, enough for a few days.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Coffee is important!

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

There's plenty of sales here for goods you need on daily basis. We only have to study the leaflets then factor the price of fuel you need to get to the shops. And that's the crux of the matter, as we live at the outskirts of a small town with no shops in the proximity.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

These are the (rare) times when living in a big city does have its advantages. There are three supermarkets within walking reach (four if I feel energetic) of our home. Of course, dragging home the stuff I bought on foot is a tad less pleasant, which is why I make my food runs in several etappes. Still exhausting, though.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

I am hoping we don't get any outages in the UK but, just in case, I purchased a one-burner camping stove, some gas cannisters, and a pan. That means I can get a hot drink and heat up a can of something at least.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I love your practical mind. *g*

[artemis10002000]

I'm glad you and Evie can work together on the shopping. During first year of Covid shortages the people in my house would be grabbing hard to get stuff like flour and eggs and such, it was a huge help.

You're right, we also need to start considering buying food for electricity shortages. I had been reading about that online but not started looking into it yet, already been reeling keeping on top of regular price hikes. But yeah, gotta start thinking about that. Maybe mom can help, she was born in 1940 so while she was too young to have memories of wartime shortages, she does vividly remember the post-war improvising.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

And isn't it a depressing mental image? I mean, the waste in which our societies have lived in recent years was outrageous, but the bad part is that the ones to live with shortages won't be the ones who practiced wasting resources.

[artemis10002000]

Yeah, exactly. It is just going to hit the regular people who couldn't afford to indulge in such waste anyway.

[beauty-forashes.livejournal.com]

Good for you, for stocking up! I sound like one of those tin-foil-hat people saying we need to do that now, before food shortages get worse or things get even more expensive. But if you have it, you have it and will be prepared. We're doing just a little at a time and tomorrow we'll get a small supply of candles and spare batteries in case the energy fall-outs they predict do happen this winter. It's good to feel that hunting instinct instead of fear or worry. I do too, and I rather like a challenge.

[lab-jazz.livejournal.com]

You Germans are in a very tricky spot with the coming on of winter, and all your Putin caused problems :(((

yeah you need to prepare as much as you possibly can

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Errr... actually, I'm Hungarian, but we still have our problems. The major one being that our delusional PM is regularly overcome by the urge of confronting the rest of the EU, which leads to our national currency losing its worth at an alarming rate compared with the Euro. Inflation rates are astronomical over here!

[lab-jazz.livejournal.com]

Errr... actually, I'm Hungarian

I'm surprised. I have no idea why I thought that you were German, but I was quite sure you were. (Do you speak German?)

Sorry about that.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

No problem. I do speak German quite well indeed, since my Grandpa was German, and I earned a living as a language teacher before retiring, teaching — German, of course! *g*

[lab-jazz.livejournal.com]

That connects the dots for me. I remember that on one of your posts you put an image of some baking you did. Alex asked you for the recipe and you put it in a comment reply for him. The recipe was in German and Alex later on translated it into English for me. That is why I thought that you were German :)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I take many of my recipes from German websites because they — unlike English ones — give the required ingredients in grams, mls and the lies; measures that I'm familiar with. And usually I don't bother to translate them, unless some of my Hungarian friends ask for it.

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

So nice you and Evie are able to co-ordinate your shopping, every little bit saved helps! Prices here are sky high, I can't imagine how you guys across the pond are coping.