UK - Resources for help getting food during quarantine and other supermarket related problems

Wonko said:
I am fighting a running battle with potatoes
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I've given up putting potatoes in a cupboard. They always sprout. Putting them in the fridge if there's room slows that down a lot. Cooking and freezing mashed is another option. I found freezing boiled potatoes made them turn to mush. That may depend on the type of spud. Now, with no energy for cooking, the only spuds we eat are frozen oven chips.
 
I would normally put potatoes in the fridge, problem is on delivery day there are higher priority things to put in the fridge, and it's not that big a fridge
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Freezing mashed spuds works well and you can do various delicious things.

Fry up a little finely chopped onion 'till translucent and defrosted mash & mix through until thoroughly heated.

You could also add in some pre cooked cabbage. I freeze steamed cabbage when I've got too much. Defrost and add in to the spuds and onions.

Keeping spuds in the fridge is apparently bad - something to do with the effect on sugars. Apparently the sugars form a toxic chemical when cooked if the spuds have been refrigerated.

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk...ou-should-never-store-potatoes-in-the-fridge/
 
Wonko said:
I disagree

3 groups

Normal people - social distancing

those with some preexisting conditions - defined as those who are offered a flu jab - increased risk/vulnerable - told they should not go out for 12 weeks (it was literally on all the news broadcast, a couple of week before anything other than hand washing was suggested for others. Q. 'What does 'vulnerable mean, what conditions are included?' A. 'If you are offered a flu shot you should consider yourself vulnerable, get your food delivered and stay at home for 12 weeks'. By various government reps.
I started buying food at this point- attempting to get 12 weeks worth.

later addition - people who have weakened immune systems, or serious respiratory problems etc - extremely vulnerable (later to become known as 'shielded')
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Oh, well of course I could be wrong, but thats not my recollection at all. The 12 wks of being not able to leave your home for any reason was only introduced for the shielded/extremely vulnerable group. Otherwise they are absolutely no different to the rest of us in the increased risk group, if we all cant go out for 12 wks.

The gov's website
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

gives 3 groups -
1 social distancing for all (in the black bit at the top)
2 at increased risk must be 'particularly stringent with social distancing'
3 the shielded group (some clinical conditions put you at even higher risk....NHS England will write to you etc etc)

My recollection is that the not being able to leave your house at all for 12 wks wasn't introduced until the shielding group was announced. They may have said the 'particularly stringent social distancing' needed to be for 12 wks but that's different than not leaving house at all. I remember the press conference and everyone was really shocked that these 'extremely vulnerable' people were being told they couldn't leave the house at all.

What would be the point of introducing a 'shielded group' if the instructions to them (the even more at risk than those on flu jab list) were going to be the same?

If you're correct then I obviously missed something - which is entirely possible i may well be wrong, in which case my apologies Wonko, but if thats the case then the MEA are also mistaken & giving out the wrong information (see post I linked to above with their graphic from their mea fb post), and the shielded group were given exactly same instructions as the rest of us (with pre existing conditions/on the flu jab list) were given the week before.

The MEA info is that people with ME & everyone at 'increased risk' (ie flu jab list) simply be very strict with the social distancing, not that they do not leave their house for 12 wks - that's only for shielded group. So if that's wrong they need to be told.

Anyway I guess it doesn't matter who's right, we're mostly all following the instructions for the shielded group, despite not technically being in it for having ME alone.
But my & MEA's reading of it is that the gov do say you can go out your house with a pre existing condition like ours & diabetes/high blood pressure etc, but you just have to be very strict with the distancing. Only the shielded cannot go out.

Edited to add, not that I recommending anyone go out, only my understanding of the gov advice, which evidently, may be wrong.

Edited to add - am now completely doubting my reading of it pls see post 329 below
 
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Invisible Woman said:
Keeping spuds in the fridge is apparently bad - something to do with the effect on sugars. Apparently the sugars form a toxic chemical when cooked if the spuds have been refrigerated.

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk...ou-should-never-store-potatoes-in-the-fridge/
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My understanding is that the sugars turn into an indigestible starch, similar to hat happens to the sugars in bread when you freeze it - lowering the GI value.

Instead of the aforementioned options I used up the last of a loaf, and half a tin of bacon grill that was the only tinned meat I could get at one point as one and a half sandwiches for tea.

Having pulled the last loaf of bread from the freezer I now should have space to freeze the chilli, and make up shepherd's pies tomorrow, to freeze half of, and use up a bag of potatoes (which normally leaves a couple of largeish portions of mash to have with meals for the next day or 2.

The plan is coming together - after that only 3.5 kilos of spuds left to go, and a bag of carrots, and 2 small cabbages (it's ridiculous, sometimes a cabbage is over a weeks worth, sometimes it's 2 meals (these are small - 2 meals each, maybe 5 between them) - same order, same price).

Then it's a plan for the eggs, given the way the temperatures gone up they won't keep like they would normally. one that doesn't need milk.

I hate juggling.
 
Am now slightly concerned that if I wrong about the 12 wk thing I don't want anyone to be following what I said & putting themselves at risk. If @Wonko is sure he saw them saying anyone with any pre existing condition (ie those eligible for a flu jab) needs to not leave their house for 12 wks, then I defer to that. People need to check out the advice for themselves & make their own minds up of course, but I want everyone to be safe.

& lol if it were up to my excessively cautious self, everyone who's remotely vulnerable would be staying in their houses 24/7 unless they live out in the sticks with only wildlife for neighbours! So pls don't listen to me i'm probably wrong, I was just trying to work it out in my own head as much as anything else.

Have edited my posts above to reflect this.
 
@JemPD

I'm not saying that you are wrong, according to what is currently being presented by gov.uk.

What I am saying is that the events, categorisations, and 'advice' that was given, as we all went along, is as I have described.

So I'm not wrong either :laugh:

It does seem to have changed, especially since they realised that the number of people who are 'vulnerable' is 16 million in the UK - a figure announced at the briefing 2 days ago.

Maybe they realised that 16 million vulnerable plus 1.5 million extremely vulnerable people couldn't all stay at home and have shopping delivered, when the total, recently increased, capacity of the supermarkets seems to be a little over 2 million delivery slots a week?

If people can, then they should probably stay at home, but if it's a case of stay at home and starve, bleed or burn, then they should consider going out for a while (obviously task oriented for as short a time as possible).

(I cannot find footage, yes I looked. Flu jab refers me to brexit and other searches come back with useless and unrelated things when compared with the search words I used)
 
Does anyone know the situation with getting government food parcels delivered to the 70 and over category if their partner is under 70?

My Dad turns 70 this weekend putting him in vulnerable group. But my mam is 68. Does that make them null and void on the assistance front?

Does he need to have a health condition as well as being 70?
 
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It could be something organised by local voluntary organisations. When I wrote to my MP the reply was mainly about what local groups I could contact for help, including getting emergency food, I think. Can your parents find out from the neighbours whether the boxes just appeared or they had to apply for them? Or maybe contact local social services and ask.
 
Wonko said:
My understanding is that the sugars turn into an indigestible starch, similar to hat happens to the sugars in bread when you freeze it - lowering the GI value.
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Nope - at least not according to New Scientist -
According to the New Scientist, we shouldn’t be storing raw potatoes in the fridge because it can lead to the formation of acrylamide during cooking.

At low temperatures, an enzyme breaks down the sugar sucrose into glucose and fructose, which can form acrylamide during cooking.

Acrylamide has hit the headlines thanks to the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), which has launched a warning of the possible cancer risk associated with this chemical.
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I've heard freezing bread changes the chemical bonds between fat and starches and that lower the GI apparently.
 
People on neighbourhood app keep commenting about Iceland spaces popping up, loads available etc. Every time I look however; nothing.

I decided to type in a postcode from a neighbouring town and lo and behold... there they were... tons of available slots :banghead: for a town that is 1 mile away.

This same thing keeps happening with Morrison’s too. Which is strange because the town I live in is closer to the physical shops, than the neighbouring town getting all the slots :thumbsdown:

it appears I am living in a delivery slot black hole.

I was also thinking... Tesco’s said I was put on priority list... but they also said that it doesn’t guarantee getting a slot because there may be a lot of priorities in my area... how many days/weeks does a person wait, potentially before questioning if they are in fact on this list as promised?
 
Just tested out Tesco’s and it worked! My first ever delivery slot in a month :) Top option is ‘1 hour slot’ bottom option is ‘priority’

Delivery is this Sunday :) what a very strange feeling! Being able to choose the food that I want and buy my usual over the counter painkillers. That was almost exciting :laugh:
 
Hell..hath..no..fury... said:
Just tested out Tesco’s and it worked! My first ever delivery slot in a month :) Top option is ‘1 hour slot’ bottom option is ‘priority’

Delivery is this Sunday :) what a very strange feeling! Being able to choose the food that I want and buy my usual over the counter painkillers. That was almost exciting :laugh:
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That's cool. I just had my last 'normally booked' Tesco delivery today and most things were in it. Except potatoes - not sure why these are suddenly becoming popular in the hot weather! I ordered 3 types and some sweet potatoes, none arrived...

I even got the strong white flour I ordered, which was a bit unexpected.
 
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