Another pretty boring week , looking out the window at the rain , at least it isnt snow . We have come to the end of himselfs current hospital cycle and we have a whole month off , im awaiting appointments which may take weeks months or years , who knows .
I was deeply impressed that i managed to get a whole 3kg of brown rice for the grand sum of £1.50 it was just in date , so ive kilner jarred it with oxygen absorbers and it will last me a year . You cant keep brown rice for much longer as it can go rancid . The dreaded crisp lady had a big box of wholefoods bags hidden amid the 100% unhealthy usual stock . On the prepping front do remember to rotate your stock , dried anything can be practically immortal , spices etc lose there strength once unsealed but they are still usable if you add a wee bit more , the sniff test works best if it has no smell it has no taste , tinned goods last years past the date , anything with tomatoes not so long. it depends on the quality of the tin and lining , certain tinned fruit lasts longer than others . You cant tell by the brand the only way to tell is by opening one and having a look . Dried fruit is another near immortal if its looking a bit shrivelled soak it in a cup of tea and its as good as new . I'm on a mission for a wet day and will do a stock check , anything coming up to its usable lifespan goes on the worktop in a box and its added to the next couple of weeks menus.
Chicken stew is starting to smell good , made with a couple of garlic chicken thighs and the juice and skin from yesterdays chicken and veg , wilted celery a couple of sad carrots and a big tin of 5 bean salad that ive been trying to find a use for, it was years out of date but when opened were perfect . So its stew and dumplings for tea ...it looks that sort of day