Discussions

lots of things you can do, look at war time recipes, they used potatoes in a lot of items you wouldn't have thought to do. I also add extra noddles to hamburger helper (or make your own hamburger helper) eat more basic recipes, less meat and add beans, lots of rice and beans dishes, fried rice is a great meal on its own with a bit of meat or beans in it, bean burritos ect  
 
for paper products use less paper towel, use a rag or wash cloth and Lauder for most things around the house, even use a towel in place of napkins ect , there are reusable dippers/baby cloths(wipes) sanitary pads ect,(id do a diva cup tho) depends on how bad you have it or how much you want to go back to our old fashioned roots but people did it before and if things get that bad we can do it again  
 
BUT at the moment i dont think we really need to ration, even Italy doesnt have a food shortage and there is delivery <:img src=:images/icon_smiley.gif>:  
 
Edited by traveller, 2020-03-25 12:25:43

The secret to making things last is not to waste.  
 
Eat your leftovers.  
 
Plan to use up leftovers or food about to expire. Try not to throw food away.  
 
Don't use a whole paper towel when 1/2 will do (or use a rag).  
 
Use an appropriate amount of detergent/soap according to the manufacturer's directions (I usually only need 1/2 the recommended amount of detergent).  
 
Monitor how much you're eating. If you're inside most the day, you probably don't need any many calories as you think. Make sure things like milk is an appropriate portion (a serving is only 8 oz - 1 cup - 250 ml for an *adult*, less for children. You need 3 servings a day, but you also include other foods like 1/2 c. yogurt or cottage cheese, 1 oz of cheese or other such foods).  
 
These are things that we should be doing anyway in the interest of cost effectiveness and environmentalism.

There are multiple apps, where you put in the limited ingredients you have.. and it shoots a recipe at you. I’ve used one called Tasty for a few years now.

Slow cooker or simmer homemade soups. Best wartime and depression ration recipes are typically homemade soups.  
Simmer all day on low or slow cooker and you will also not be bound to the stove when your household gets sick.  
Plus most of your prep work can be done ahead of time. Freeze the fresh ingredients. Put dry ingredients in ziploc bags or containers/jars. That way, when you need it, just dump it all in the pot with your liquids, and let it cook while you go take a nap.

don't think too many people concerned about rationing just yet. Fast food take out windows still going strong in Brandon anyway. Maybe cut the Big Mac in half and save for the next day. lol

Looking on the sunny side of things , this might be a good time to loose some weight by rationing yourself !!!

- don’t waste anything (eat all leftovers)  
- use up most perishable food first  
- if we can’t eat it before BB date, make it into soup or something to freeze (milk about to expire goes into muffins)  
- one evening a whole meal, next evening something lighter  
- grocery shopping only when we have to and stocking up on a few extras at a time; not hoarding large amounts of anything  
- plant some veggies, even in the house you can grow spinach and spring will soon be here.  
 
This disruption-in-life may last a long time. Think about survival , not just about convenience .

Been growing veggies in the house all winter, very few tho.  
Darn.... of all things is … one thing I simple can't afford to do, is lose weight, high metabolism, needless to say, no leftovers in my house, all eaten, cause I enjoy fresh.  
I kno I know, sucks to me.  
Suppose it can be just as hard to lose weight as gain, for some people

Thankfully, can still buy most stuff. Have our own beef and some pork so no problem there. Always utilize leftovers. Have used bread machine for 30? years so always have fresh. Buy organic flour in 20 KG sacks so lots of that. Have powdered milk for recipes. Husb. has been getting groceries early in day, early in week so still have fresh vegs & fruit. Have lots of good, favourite recipes plus lots online of course. Don't need to gain any weight so that keeps me from excess baking, etc. Have had full pantry for years, replacing as used not as needed.  
 
Edited by owyhee, 2020-03-25 15:20:59

Cooking series. Clara is awesome!  
https://youtu.be/fgq5lqd4cxc

I have been a long time user of Hello Fresh and that has been great so far. They drop off 3 or more meals weekly and it i:ncludes everything needed to make a 2 or 4 person meal (usually with some leftovers for us). I also have enough dry goods for 2 weeks, but as long as this service is available, it gives us fresh meat and produce (and great recipes!) without going to the store. Not the cheapest, but better than using Skip the Dishes.  
 
Edited by JethroButters, 2020-03-25 16:29:45

I second Clara! I found her years ago & she is great!

You must be one of the lucky ones to still have a job or qualifies for EI. I'm out of work and self employed, so no EI. I see that fast food windows are open but I can't afford fast food right now so I have started rationing. My meals have been the same for a week now... a bowl of cereal for breakfast, a scoop of mashed potatoes for lunch, and either soup or buttered noodles for supper. Haven't had meat, fruit or veggies for at least a week now, but I do have 3 cans of tuna so the next time I am in possession of a loaf of bread at least I can have sandwiches for a few days.  
 
Yes, people are already rationing. The working people don't get that, they think the only fear is catching this virus (which has about a 98% chance of survival) I wish that was my only fear but I am too busy wondering how I will avoid bankrupcy and losing my home and where will I live when I lose my home as I will still have no income and might not be able to find work when every job posting is bound to get a few hundred applicants.

I'm not rationing yet. But we are eating everything from our freezer now. I have already been living a fairly frugal lifestyle so we are ok for now. If we previously had leftovers that weren't for lunch the next day, in the freezer it went. We are now eating those items.  
 
Youtube has a wealth of informational videos on living frugally and frugal recipes.

Today we're having leftover soup. Make a base out of this recipe, which I always have in the cupboard (https://superveggiemom.com/recipe/vegan/homemade-vegetable-broth-powder/ - but if I'm missing an ingredient I just skip it) + a tin of crushed tomatoes. Added a bit of soy sauce, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and olive oil to balance flavours.  
 
Diced 2 carrots and the limp remains of the celery (the trimmings and peels are saved in the freezer for making stock later on), simmered them and then added all the left over bits and bobs from the fridge. This i:ncluded green beans, corn, roasted potatoes and rice.  
 
So good!  
 
We still have lots of cheese, so I'll make grilled cheese with it too.

So far I have been able to get everything I would usually buy, though sometimes it is a different brand. A few things are not available "today" but I can probably get them on my next trip-i always try to buy before I am right out of something, so if it takes 2 weeks to get the item, it's still all good. The other day I had no chocolate chips so I made raisin cookies. Today-i bought chocolate chips on my trip to the store.

There is now a program you qualify for? Initially they were offering a benefit similar to EI, but today that changed. If you are completely out of work you should qualify for $2000 per month.

What the person above said about the new benefits. I think its called the Canada emergency response benefits. Applications should go up through the Cra on April 6th and they're planning on paying people about 10 days after. Pretty much everything who works should qualify... you need to have made 5 grand last year and not be working because of covid basically.

Yes, I saw that. I've been trying to call the number but can't get through. If I can get that I can relax a bit and wouldn't worry so much about charging food to my credit card if I knew I could pay it back soon, but at the moment I'm unsure how I will pay for anything so I'm trying to be as frugal as possible incase this lasts more than just a few months and incase I don't qualify for any assistance.

The government page on all the new benefits available -  
https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/economic-response-plan/covid19-individuals.html  
 
The actual bill (the emergency response benefits are after the income tax stuff) -  
https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-1/bill/C-13/royal-assent  
 
I've been reading about it since it came online, and I talked to the MPs office today. If you made 5 grand last year and are off work now because of covid, you should qualify. If something happens and you don't qualify but they gave you the money (I have a feeling they're just going to put all the applicants through and check later), then you have to pay it back interest free. I don't think there's a phone number for it yet. I wouldn't bother calling the EI people, as from what I understand this is through the CRA.

For those who are rationing. When the stores catch up again: you don’t need much to make your own bread. Water, yeast, salt, flour. Won’t be artisan, but it is still good, and cheaper than buying bread. If you can’t afford meat, beans and lentils are a good source of protein. Cook with onions and salt, or just salt and they are good. Have with a slice of bread and you will be full and it is good for you. Stop buying boxed cereal, it is expensive and it really isn’t all that good for you. Go back to porridge if you want something wholesome. I know lots of people turn their noses up at porridge, but a bag of oatmeal goes way further than a box of cereal. You really don’t even need milk with it. Cooking from scratch is more affordable than buying remade. Start with the basics.

haha because these sales are decided months in advance, honestly most follow a yearly schedule, but flyers are sent away at least 8-12 weeks in advance  
 
I did notice a week or two ago lysol was on sale and i laughed too  
 
Edited by traveller, 2020-03-27 17:05:43