basil67 Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 (edited) This one is about daily life. Tips, tricks, hacks and lifestyle while things are haywire. I've been saying for quite some time that I should eat less meat and the empty supermarket shelves are kind of forcing the issue. So I think there will be lots of legumes in my cooking. Good legume recipes anyone? Eggs are also getting scarce and my hens have started their winter freeloading - does anyone know if they can be tricked back into laying if I leave outdoor lights on for a couple of hours in the evening? I've also chopped up some old towels and overlocked (serged) the edges to use for extra cleaning cloths and hand washing. Might do the same with some spare flannel if toilet paper stays scarce. Some people in a FB upcycling group were grossed out when someone made the suggestion, but throwing soiled things in a diaper bucket to soak and then wash is how we managed in the days before disposable diapers. And line drying in the sunshine removes any remaining stains or germs. I'm a bit sad that our local pool has closed for a few weeks. Might have to go swim in the river instead. Edited March 20, 2020 by basil67 6 Link to post Share on other sites
Happy Lemming Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I have a 5-6 bags of lentils in stock and plan on making Alton Brown's Lentil Soup Recipe attached... I substitute pepper in for the "grains of paradise" ingredient. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lentil-soup-recipe-1947017 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Happy Lemming Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I made a simple bean/corn/ham soup last night for dinner. 1 pound of dried pinto beans 1 can of corn I chopped up some leftover ham that had been for sandwiches, but wasn't going to last much longer. (so into the soup it went) 4 chicken bouillon cubes Then added a good supply of water and turned on the slow cooker. As the beans absorbed the water, I added more. A couple dashes of hot sauce to add a little kick to it. Boy it was good, I had the leftovers for lunch today!! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author basil67 Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 Wow, I have all the ingredients for the Alton's soup in my pantry. With the second recipe, a dash of hot sauce will brighten up anything. What size can of corn? Similar to a soup can? Speaking of hot sauce, Chipotle in Adobo sauce has recently hit our shores and recipe books. Wonderful stuff! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Happy Lemming Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 When we run out of bread and flour (to make bread), I told my girlfriend lunches/dinners will be rice with a hamburger patty on the side. I also think I'm going to push grapefruits for breakfast, there is a good supply on my grapefruit tree outside. I'll save the pancake mix and make "breakfast for dinner" next week. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Happy Lemming Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 1 minute ago, basil67 said: What size can of corn? Similar to a soup can? Yes... just the standard can (15.25 ounce) Link to post Share on other sites
Happy Lemming Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I'm also going to make my Pesto Pasta with peas, next week as well. Just a simple recipe of pasta (drained), splash of olive oil, 1-2 tablespoons of pesto sauce and 1/2 can of peas (drained). (gently mix it altogether) Season with a little garlic salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper. It doesn't sound like much, but its actually really good. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Author basil67 Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 9 minutes ago, Happy Lemming said: When we run out of bread and flour (to make bread), I told my girlfriend lunches/dinners will be rice with a hamburger patty on the side. I also think I'm going to push grapefruits for breakfast, there is a good supply on my grapefruit tree outside. I'll save the pancake mix and make "breakfast for dinner" next week. I never did get used to eating grapefruit. Perhaps I don't know how to make them palatable. Did you know that pancake batter also makes good Yorkshire Puddings as a side for a roast dinner (or casserole...it takes the place of a bread roll to mop up juices) I only discovered them in the last few years, Put a generous drizzle of oil in the bottom of muffin pans, heat till smoking hot in the oven, then tip some batter into the muffin pan and bake till they are all puffy and tall. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-yorkshire-puddings 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Author basil67 Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 I will have to think carefully about the pesto peas one. While I'm OK with tinned legumes, tomatos and corn, other tinned veges leave me a bit blah. (other post coming shortly when hyperlink is approved) Link to post Share on other sites
Happy Lemming Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I've got some "emergency" oodles of noodles packs, way back in the pantry. I am looking for suggestions as to how to "dress them up" a bit. Any ideas @basil67?? Link to post Share on other sites
Author basil67 Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 Sure. I googled oodles of noodles and assume we are talking about 2 minute noodles. What about a Thai hot and sour (Tom Yum) soup with some shrimp, mushrooms and chunks of fresh tomato? If you can't be bothered making the paste, you might be able to find a paste for the base recipe. Or a Malaysian Laksa. Again, with a pre prepared base. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
simpycurious Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Making do? How about thriving in the time of Corona? It can be done, you have got to have a positive attitude 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Ellener Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 I have been trying to eat as much fresh stuff as possible past few days. It was easy to get the non-perishable healthy foods as those shelves were pretty full, plus I could afford them ( they are often 2X the price or more...) Wish I had a grapefruit tree- I love grapefruits! 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Ellener Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 2 hours ago, basil67 said: Did you know that pancake batter also makes good Yorkshire Puddings I do now! When all this is over that can be my celebratory meal- roast beef, horseradish, carrots, parsnips, roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding! Or some low-maintenance variation on it depending on my living situation 🥫The last three years holidays with no proper home have had to be IHOP or microwave! But they were all pretty nice days to be honest, if unrefined! WW2 there was a song 'when the lights go on all over the world' referring to the 'blackout' across Europe; I think I'll write another 'when the chairs go back in all of the restaurants' type thing. I have a little 'crock-pot' in storage, that makes lots of 'make do' type meals. I could just bung the beef, some onions and whatever we have in there and make the Yorkshire puddings into dumplings, toss them in for the final hour of cooking. I just use flour/fat/water but probably the pancake mix would work too. Kroger had meat again today. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Ellener Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 https://cookingonabootstrap.com/ has some good recipes based on leftovers and substitutions 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Kitty Tantrum Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 It remains to be seen how my food options will be impacted. The only thing I absolutely was not able to stock up on was frozen strawberries. All the big packages were gone and I'm not paying through the nose for the little supermarket bags. That bummed me out. I might not always be able to get my favorites anymore. But I'm fortunate to live in an area that's pretty decent in terms of natural resources. Push comes to shove, we have a little patch of lawn that can be dug up and turned into a garden; landlady can just deal. I'm going out one more time tomorrow for extra supplies and then we'll be set to hunker down at home for a few weeks straight. My husband is collecting some things from the shop tomorrow, and then we'll be closed indefinitely. One of the first things I did was buy a bunch of plain cotton wash cloths and some portable bidets/cleaning bottles. I suspect toilet paper will continue to be available in limited quantities until everyone finally has an entire garage full of the stuff - but I'm using the "shortage" as an excuse to quit toilet paper entirely, personally. I can stand to lose a lot of weight before I reduce myself to eating legumes as a staple of my diet. If I start posting about eating rice and beans over in the food thread, you'll know it's hit the fan in the PNW. 🤪 Link to post Share on other sites
Author basil67 Posted March 20, 2020 Author Share Posted March 20, 2020 2 hours ago, simpycurious said: Making do? How about thriving in the time of Corona? It can be done, you have got to have a positive attitude If you put it that way....I am an introvert and a crafter. I have been in training for this my whole life! 3 Link to post Share on other sites
greymatter Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 (edited) Basil have you considered getting a bidet toilet seat? I have never tried one but ordered one that just arrived yesterday. It wasn’t expensive ($30) because it’s not a fancy one and only uses cold water. I also ordered one for my sister who is out of work, and had it delivered to her (we live 3,000 miles away from each other). It needs to be attached to the water intake and I’m not very handy so not sure about that part yet, especially since I’m working long hours from home and don’t have time during the week to mess with it. Maybe this weekend I’ll unbox it and see what the instructions are. If I like it, it would be good to use a lot less TP because my plumbing doesn't do well with it anyway. Edited March 20, 2020 by greymatter Typo Link to post Share on other sites
Els Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 3 hours ago, greymatter said: Basil have you considered getting a bidet toilet seat? I have never tried one but ordered one that just arrived yesterday. It wasn’t expensive ($30) because it’s not a fancy one and only uses cold water. I also ordered one for my sister who is out of work, and had it delivered to her (we live 3,000 miles away from each other). It needs to be attached to the water intake and I’m not very handy so not sure about that part yet, especially since I’m working long hours from home and don’t have time during the week to mess with it. Maybe this weekend I’ll unbox it and see what the instructions are. If I like it, it would be good to use a lot less TP because my plumbing doesn't do well with it anyway. I grew up in a country where bidets were pretty common, and I just could NOT wrap my head around them. I mean, if you're peeing and you use a bidet, you just got yourself a helluva lot wetter than you would've been by just drip-drying. And if you're taking a poop and use a bidet, it feels to me like it's [TMI] pushing all of my poop remnants into my ladybits due to the angle (they are always in the back), which I imagine can't be good for UTI prevention. If I ever (touch wood) run out of TP, I'm gonna drip dry for peeing, and hop in the shower after I poop. Link to post Share on other sites
sothereiwas Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 8 minutes ago, Elswyth said: I grew up in a country where bidets were pretty common, and I just could NOT wrap my head around them. No no no - that's NOT how you use those .... THe bidets I've installed are adjustable for angle, so I guess that's why they have this. The adjustment does angle the spray back, always wondered why. In a lot of asia and India they use a "bum-gun" which is essentially an old school kitchen sink sprayer that's attached to the water supply of the toilet and holsters someplace accessible. Full control, some folks swear by them. Link to post Share on other sites
Ruby Slippers Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 It hasn't impacted my day-to-day life much yet. I've been working from home all week, and probably will till I start my new job in a few weeks. I worked at home for years, so this is not unfamiliar and is my preference. I was planning to go shopping tomorrow for clothes for my new job, but have been ordering things online. I saw a great post on Twitter - something like: "Day 5: We remember how to farm" - with a video montage showing tons of super easy ways to grow vegetables from the seeds of a single vegetable. Though this is a trying time, I think a lot of good stuff will come out of it. For the most part we've all become quite spoiled and dependent. This is bound to boost our self-sufficiency and sense of appreciation for what we have. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Timshel Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 23 minutes ago, sothereiwas said: No no no - that's NOT how you use those .... 😂 Ok, but does a person need to dry off with toilet paper still? What about splatter, like e coli droplets going everywhere around the toilet seat and such? I guess it would use less paper to dry than to only wipe. We have always used (flushable, septic safe) bum wipes but those are gone now. We will shower since "morning regular." I feel weird talking about this, ugh. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
preraph Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 If you like basil, now would be a good time to buy a growing basil plant for pesto. I like my pesto with spinach and basil in it and I substitute walnuts or pecans. Most recipes make way too much pesto, though. You only need a little for some pasta, not a bowl full. You can freeze some of it though as long as you do it before adding mayo or yogurt. It's a pain though. Well, people will be tearing up their old t-shirts if the paper shortage continues. I keep a small drawer of cotton rags already and also have a bag of handkerchiefs, so awashing we will go if necessary. I'd hate to have to jump in the shower every time I used the bathroom since it's about every hour. I have a clothesline outside, which are generally frowned upon by homeowners assocations these days, but f 'em. I just put up a new one recently after the old one wore out. Glad I did. Grapefruit isn't for everyone's taste buds. It is very bitter to mine. Like how some people taste cilantro as bitter or sour or whatever. Different taste buds. They always looked amazing and delicious to me, but I just can't eat one at all. Wish I could. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
sothereiwas Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 11 minutes ago, Timshel said: Ok, but does a person need to dry off with toilet paper still? Some have warm air blow dryers, some require a pat dry w/ a little paper. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Kitty Tantrum Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 For drying I just have stacks of single-use cloths and a small laundry basket. As long as you wash thoroughly before drying, they don't even get dirty, just damp - like drying off after a bath or shower. Little bleach in the laundry cycle and they come out perfectly clean. I wouldn't buy a bidet toilet seat. I wouldn't want something that sprays from the back. I'm all about the handheld bidet - dominant hand hold and controls the angle, non-dominant hand does the dirty work of mechanical washing. Grab a cloth, dry everything off, then soap up and wash hands, dry again with a new cloth, done. WAY cleaner than toilet paper. Drip-drying on the regular after peeing sounds like a great way to end up with massive irritation downstairs from urine sitting on sensitive skin. 😖 3 Link to post Share on other sites
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