Have you got any contingency plans for getting your Christmas food if the weather disrupts everything?
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If, as promised, we are to be blanketed in snow again in the next few days, have you got any plans for if you get snowed in or the online supermarkets suspend deliveries? Or have you already got all your festive goodies safely stashed at home?
Answers (11)
Not at all which is worrying. My shopping is meant to be delivered on Monday and without it I'm going to have to battle to the supermarket.
No I haven't made any plans. Perhaps a little worrying, but luckily for me I am in walking distance to several supermarkets, so I should be alright. Unless people start panic buying!
Hope it goes ok for you Little Piskey!
I believe grass can be a last resort (people in North Korea do and have resorted to cannabilism if we are to believe recent media reports) oh and pine needles make good tea - When I was in the T.A. i did actually learn a few things that might help me out should the worst happen and Tesco runs out of stock.hehe
Isnt it funny how we in the west live - we live in our little boxes , drive our little boxes on wheels everywhere to get our food then retreat home to put the food in a little box then sit in front of a box and eat eat eat till it does our Box in!!!.lol
In the Village i live in Slovakia all the people have stores of potatoes , kitchen gardens and chickens at least to survive on - they dont actually live like we do and they walk everywhere. My pal Andre who was a lecturer in electronics at Presov University actually uses a handcart to pick up his potatoes from the field and take them home to his store which is built onto the end of his house , he uses wood to heat his house and the tiling ventilation/ heating system is quite simply amazing - you cook on it, it heats your house and your water. And he is 65 fit as a fiddle and healthy as. It actually quite amazing and I do hate to harp on about it but when i am there and drinking fresh mountain water from the Tatras , eating fresh laid eggs in the morning and milk straight from the cow and not forgetting taste - i dont think its my imagination but food actually tastes real - tomatoes , potatoes even eggs actually taste of something - our western farming has doena lot of harm and i do actually feel amazingly healthy when i am away from Britain.
If you do feel unwell instead of going to the doctor i can thoroughly recommend a trip to Slovakia - just avoid the Hostels! lol
You get my drift though - we in the west are actually doing less but getting less fit and less developed in many ways - we dont know how to survive anymore which if you think about it is actually quite scary.
"You get my drift though - we in the west are actually doing less but getting less fit and less developed in many ways - we dont know how to survive anymore which if you think about it is actually quite scary"...you are so right, Omendata, it scares me!
I've made none. I live in the city that seemed to get the least snow during the last snowy 'disaster', so I'm having a little faith. If the worst happens, I guess there'll be some chocolate under the tree?
No, I'm intending doing some shopping next week but I have pizzas and stuff in the freezer which need to be eaten so we'll have those if necessary. I've got plenty of cup a soups too.
I fortunately have a large freezer and have leg of lamb and some stuffed/garnished chickens (two for £7 in Tesco a week or two ago.) Have milk and bread and veg in freezer,even spare margarine.Got 2 fruit cheesecakes for £1 each on an offer, they are in freezer. Have pkt " bisto" and pkt cornflour in, supermarket cheapish brands,for making gravies.Bought own brand value pickled onions and beetroot today for jazzing up left overs.Purchased big 25kg bag potatoes at merchants and will keep outside in garage, won,t have to think about potatoes till Feb or so.Have tins of custard powder,uht milk in for making custard, and have supermarket xmas pud, 2 on an offer. they last and are well wrapped.Have short grain rice in( pudding rice,) and could do old fashioned pudding with that even if did not get anything fancy. Always have one or two standby plastic jars of fruit in storecupboard with lids on available at supermarket, good value for money and less hassle or waste than tins.Have bought porage oats, cereal, sugar, tea, coffee,over last 2 months to last till after Feb.All pretty basic staples, many will keep, or can be frozen.Oped to start buying them when saw a good price or offer on them.Have crackers and napkins from last year, oldish candles, and have stocked up on enough firelighters for festive season. Main reason was to spread the cost as well as to avoid rushing in crowded slippery shop carparks.I have done this for several years as I hate driing around shopping in a rush and bad weather.I bought two packs mixed fish mix, and froze, in supermarket for a simple fish pie,and also bought quorn mince/sausage for veg sheperds pie/trimmings option.
With a 'severe weather warning' for my local area, I planned to do the bulk of my Christmas food shopping today. We had some snow overnight, but not much, although it was icy, my windscreen had a layer of ice on it by the time I got back to the car.
I got some of the items on my food list at M&S, but I was very annoyed to find that most of what I wanted had use-by dates that expired well before Christmas!! I ended up ticking off only about half the items on my list! I also complained to the store about this, as with more snow and ice on the way almost all over the country, I feel this is bad planning by M&S! I pointed out to them that I would have spent at least twice as much in the store, had the use-by dates been more than a few days away, so they lost sales.
I will now have to hope that the snow doesn't get too bad in the next day or so, so I can get the rest of the food I want in one of my two small local supermarkets.
Fruitcake - don't blame M&S for short dates on their foodstuffs. The food will last only as long as the ingredients and processing/storage will allow and this is very carefully assessed by the food techs to ensure that you get it at its best. They will sell festive items with use-by dates before Christmas as some people want to use them for parties or whatever before the 25th, and some items can be frozen to extend the life. If they could offer longer shelf lives on any item trust me, they would love to so do. Good luck next week!
I accept your point, Sidesalad, but I went to a local Co-op supermarket today and got the rest of my Christmas food, and their use-by dates were fine!
Fruitcake - each of the retailers has different acceptable shelf-lives for their products. That may be because of the product formulation or because of internal taste panel acceptabilty of quality on storage. Anyway - glad that you have your food sorted out for Christmas - enjoy!
If all else fails I have many PORTLY neighbours, I have a very large freezer and I have resigned myself to the fact cannabalism may just be necessary!
>;o)
Can I ask a question whats wrong with strapping on a rucksack and walking to the shops. I admire my mother she is 67 and did just that last week whilst all her posh friends refused to leave the house because they couldnt get their cars out!!!
I did the rucksack thing during the bad snow earlier in the year. I live at the top of a steep hill, so that was fun! Discovered my heavy motorbike boots were brilliant in the snow though, so did the rucksack trips for some of my elderly neighbours as well! :-)
I would seriously consider that, Omendata if I had a shop closer than 2.5 miles away down a country road with no footpath! Also, I'm not as young as I used to be and my knees are getting a bit dodgy. At least I know we'll get our turkey as it's coming from a local farm and will be delivered by tractor if necessary, so probably won't have to rsort to cannnibalism!
Unless you're another turkey, then it would be cannibalism! ;-)
Well said to many people rely on their cars.
Get fit get active get that rucksack.
Cannibilism might be the last option if these tax rises and fuel bills keep going up and up.
I have no portly neighbours unfortunately just a very skinny beanpole of a lad but i suppose he might do for an entree!!
good for her!
We had the weather warning last week and if you believed it you would have already done all the shopping you need. It happened last year so everyone should know what disruption it causes. Actually its not a problem for me in london and never was but for those living in remote places isn't planning the best contingency?
It doesn't quite work that way, donk, many rural areas have had icy roads for weeks and only very major roads are salted/gritted. The problem is getting to the major road. That also affects the supplies getting to the shops, and even fuel getting to garages.
Also many not so young folk do not want to risk falling on the ice, as they may have fallen last year and sustained fractures which can have a huge impact on their lives, health, and confidence.
I am lucky enough to live near three supermarkets! I can alk to any of them if needed. However i tend to keep my freezer well stocked and have a lot of tin foods etc. So hopefully if we do get snowed in or are unable to get to supermarket have plenty of things to go at. If people start panicking it will make it worse but hopefully that wont happen.
Have not made any special plans but I am old enough to have inherited the need always to have a store cupboard stocked with enough basics to make several meals at any time of year. I have already bought some festive goodies/extras and am fortunate to have the training and skills to be able to turn my store cupboard items into some pretty good meals if I was snowed in.
My faith has let me down. We were due our Tesco delivery last night, and it was cancelled due to bad weather. Now, we can't book for re-delivery, we're too late to order from any other online supermarkets, we have nothing in and no time to get out.
Bah humbug.
Last minute shopping trip it is.
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