Panic buying

[Gwiwer]

Who needs flour? 

 

We acquired 9kgs of the stuff over the weekend.  First because Ocado and the corner shop between them managed a bag each of plain and s/r, then SWMBO online order for the same arrived without prior warning and then I was given the much the same again by a colleague at work.  The problem is safely getting it to anywhere else .....  I can't mail it because every post office around here is in the back of a currently-closed WH Smiths.  

 

Likewise we have plenty of dried pasta in stock because multiple orders came good at the same time when we hedged our bets and didn't expect anything much. 

 

Ocado do offer "do not substitute" when ordering but you have to go looking for the option - it isn't obvious.  I don't bother.  We get the email several hours before delivery advising what, if anything, is subbed or out of stock.  I can decide then whether anything is going back.  So far only a handful of damaged items (broken eggs, a split bottle of milk and the lettuce that flooded into) have been returned.  Almost all subs have been acceptable with the one exception being dairy yogurts for soy-based ones; non-dairy is the requirement.   

 

I prefer to choose my own fresh food, be it fruit, veg, meat or bread, but currently I prefer not to have to queue and deal with hyper-stressed paranoid fellow shoppers who either seem to think they should have the place to themselves or would do well at model railway exhibitions with their pushing and barging in.  We have had almost everything delivered for as long as we have lived here so nothing has really changed except the availability of slots and of some items for a short time.  

[APOLLO]

Stopped raining at 4-00 this afternoon and the sun came out - que trip to nearby Tesco for a few bits n bobs . I joined the well organised and orderly queue of about thirty odd people, and was in within 20 mins with a freshly sanitised trolley .  I wish though folks would pay attention in the line and move with it instead of being transfixed to their mobile phones - ahh well ----

 

They have marked all the lanes as one way streets which most folks ignored, including me till I saw the markings !!. I got what I wanted, and a bit more as I only want to go there once a week (Mrs does the main shop Friday evenings - no queues !!)  They even had flour and a shelf full of small bottles of hand sanitiser - not seen those for a month.  Got my beer though - Corona on offer at ten quid a box of 12 and half a dozen Wainwright. !!!

 

I reckon this milarkey is in for the rest of the year (at least) - social distancing that is.  Still, if it works then that is good - and virtually everyone around here seems to be taking it seriously - also good.

 

I wonder what the "new normal" will be as we (hopefully) ease out of lockdown in the coming months. Shopping, always a pain in the arse is  now a REAL pain, and I fear that many smaller shops etc will simply not re open due to people changing their shopping habits permanently.

 

Brit15

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, teaky said:

Make your own.  Just take some flour ... oh, hang on.

Do you think it will work with Gram Flour?

I bought a bag to make onion bhajis but never got round to it

I've also got a bag of orzo (rice grain shape pasta), again never used for it's intended purpose.

There is a wealth of long forgotten items in my "exotic products" cupboard including ful (dried fava beans), maybe time to use some up.

 

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, andytrains said:

Potatoes!

We are already eating potatoes, I like to have a mixture over the week of meals with Potatoes, Rice & Pasta, unfortunately I haven't been able to get any Basmati Rice or Pasta for the last three shops,

I have tried ordering largish bags (3-4kg) and smaller (1kg) but they always get knocked off the shopping list before delivery. Is there still a shortage?

[monkeysarefun]

Its like someone has flipped the switch back to 'NORMAL' as far as the shops go because everything seems to have just calmed down here since even last Friday. My local supermarket has pretty much everything back, though it still has limits of 2 on some items. I never experienced a queue here although expecting replication of the worst of the overseas images on TV  the shops placed taped X's every 1.5 metres on the floor from the checkouts and also  out the front door and  way  down the street , they are now looking ragged and scuffed up. The security guards that appeared at the checkouts have gone, the staff no longer use gloves or wipe down the trolleys. I haven't seen anyone in a face mask for the last couple of weeks.

 

Although we are  meant to limit our trips and shopping to the essentials, this message is a bit confusing because pretty much all shops are still open, I can still go out and get a haircut,  browse for lounge suites, new cars, antique clocks , pretty much everything except have a sit-down meal, book an overseas flight or get a tattoo. Despite that  it still seems a surreal other worldly experience looking back on the last month or so.

 

Main issue now is the 4 x 70litre plastic crates of stuff we stocked up on a few weeks ago when it looked like everywhere in the world was  going to go the way of Spain, Italy etc and stuff was disappearing fast. We won't  need to buy Ryvitas, pasta,  lentils, peanut butter, long life milk, several types of flour, dried fruit  or tinned tomatoes or tuna  in the mid to long term.

Edited April 30, 2020 by monkeysarefun

[Platform 1]

4 hours ago, andytrains said:

She told the poor old delivery driver to F-KK off and get her a Turkey.

He was back within the hour with a complimentary 20lbs Turkey.

 

It wasn't Margo Leadbetter was it? 

 

[Mark Saunders]

1 hour ago, Platform 1 said:

 

It wasn't Margo Leadbetter was it? 

 

no that was the Christmas Tree and Jerry caught diplomatic flu!

[kevinlms]

6 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Its like someone has flipped the switch back to 'NORMAL' as far as the shops go because everything seems to have just calmed down here since even last Friday. My local supermarket has pretty much everything back, though it still has limits of 2 on some items. I never experienced a queue here although expecting replication of the worst of the overseas images on TV  the shops placed taped X's every 1.5 metres on the floor from the checkouts and also  out the front door and  way  down the street , they are now looking ragged and scuffed up. The security guards that appeared at the checkouts have gone, the staff no longer use gloves or wipe down the trolleys. I haven't seen anyone in a face mask for the last couple of weeks.

 

Although we are  meant to limit our trips and shopping to the essentials, this message is a bit confusing because pretty much all shops are still open, I can still go out and get a haircut,  browse for lounge suites, new cars, antique clocks , pretty much everything except have a sit-down meal, book an overseas flight or get a tattoo. Despite that  it still seems a surreal other worldly experience looking back on the last month or so.

 

Main issue now is the 4 x 70litre plastic crates of stuff we stocked up on a few weeks ago when it looked like everywhere in the world was  going to go the way of Spain, Italy etc and stuff was disappearing fast. We won't  need to buy Ryvitas, pasta,  lentils, peanut butter, long life milk, several types of flour, dried fruit  or tinned tomatoes or tuna  in the mid to long term.

What supermarket is that?

In Woolworths, the taped lines on the floor have now been replaced with proper stick on labels with signage and logos, in corporate colours.

Also they now have proper automatic sanitiser dispenser stands at the entry. The trolley handles & baskets are being wiped before going into the racks & stands. So they are geared up for the long time and presumably permanent, as they wouldn't have spent the cash for the dispensers for nothing!

[monkeysarefun]

4 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

What supermarket is that?

In Woolworths, the taped lines on the floor have now been replaced with proper stick on labels with signage and logos, in corporate colours.

Also they now have proper automatic sanitiser dispenser stands at the entry. The trolley handles & baskets are being wiped before going into the racks & stands. So they are geared up for the long time and presumably permanent, as they wouldn't have spent the cash for the dispensers for nothing!

Its also a Woolies! The only permanent looking things that it has are plastic screens between the checkout chicks and us, and screens between the self-serve checkouts.   I've not seen any dispensers.  Maybe you are in a posh part of the country?

[kevinlms]

20 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Its also a Woolies! The only permanent looking things that it has are plastic screens between the checkout chicks and us, and screens between the self-serve checkouts.   I've not seen any dispensers.  Maybe you are in a posh part of the country?

Something like this, they might not be this brand. It seems that there are several suppliers.

 

https://www.saraya.com.au/index.php/products/dispensers/item/is-9000-adjustable-no-touch-dispenser-stand-dispensers-food-professional

 

I've seen them at a number of Woolworths, in the outer east suburbs of Melbourne.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, kevinlms said:

Something like this, they might not be this brand. It seems that there are several suppliers.

 

https://www.saraya.com.au/index.php/products/dispensers/item/is-9000-adjustable-no-touch-dispenser-stand-dispensers-food-professional

 

I've seen them at a number of Woolworths, in the outer east suburbs of Melbourne.

 

 

No, we just had a pimply youth holding a squirt bottle. He's not there any more either.

[rockershovel]

You have Woolworths in Australia? 

[kevinlms]

35 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

You have Woolworths in Australia? 

Yes, but nothing to do with Woolworths in the UK, US or anywhere else.

 

https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/The_Woolworths_Story/How_We_Were_Founded/

[Enterprisingwestern]

36 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

You have Woolworths in Australia? 

 

We have C & A in Spain, you Brits don't know what you are missing!

 

Mike.

[rockershovel]

13 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

We have C & A in Spain, you Brits don't know what you are missing!

 

Mike.

 

Coats and ‘Ats, I’d quite forgotten them...

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

14 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

 

Coats and ‘Ats, I’d quite forgotten them...

 

 

Cor mister, you was posh, something totally different related to ladies underwear to us Sheffield lads!

 

Mike.

[Hobby]

1 hour ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

We have C & A in Spain, you Brits don't know what you are missing!

 

They are all over mainland Europe, it was just the UK stores they close... We know exactly what we are missing, there was quite an uproar when they shut them down... Can't get SWMBO out of the places when we go to Germany!

[teaky]

11 hours ago, melmerby said:

Do you think it will work with Gram Flour?

I bought a bag to make onion bhajis but never got round to it

I've also got a bag of orzo (rice grain shape pasta), again never used for it's intended purpose.

There is a wealth of long forgotten items in my "exotic products" cupboard including ful (dried fava beans), maybe time to use some up.

 

I can't see why gram flour wouldn't work.  The flour is only a binder rather than a main ingredient.  Perhaps you could try making a small quantity for lunch one day as a test.

 

Bhajis - Definitely make some.  Dead easy and really tasty.  Simplest recipe: chopped onion, heaped teaspoon curry powder or garam masalla, gram flour and water; deep fry and serve with simple salad, fresh onion and chutney.  Depending on what's in it, perhaps some of your excess pasta sauce could be used to make a veg curry?

 

Orzo - Only ever had it in a hearty soup but other than perhaps seeming like an odd texture or size of pasta it should work served with a sauce.

 

Fava beans - You could make some posh baked beans using fava beans and some of your pasta sauce or a chilli.  I think a Dr Hannibal also has a recipe involving liver and a nice Chianti.

[Nick C]

14 hours ago, melmerby said:

We are already eating potatoes, I like to have a mixture over the week of meals with Potatoes, Rice & Pasta, unfortunately I haven't been able to get any Basmati Rice or Pasta for the last three shops,

I have tried ordering largish bags (3-4kg) and smaller (1kg) but they always get knocked off the shopping list before delivery. Is there still a shortage?

 

Our local Sainsbury's had plenty of rice in the "world foods" aisle when I went there on Monday evening. Now they're open until 22:00 again I'll be going later, there was no queue at all at 19:30. The only thing I wanted that was out of stock was peppers. Admittedly, I wasn't after rice, pasta or flour though - we stocked up on all three online a couple of months before this all kicked off, buying 5-10kg bags of each from https://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/pasta, who seem to have stock of all three at the moment according to their website - a bit more restricted in terms of variety than when we ordered though.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Nick C said:

 

Our local Sainsbury's had plenty of rice in the "world foods" aisle when I went there on Monday evening. Now they're open until 22:00 again I'll be going later, there was no queue at all at 19:30. The only thing I wanted that was out of stock was peppers. Admittedly, I wasn't after rice, pasta or flour though - we stocked up on all three online a couple of months before this all kicked off, buying 5-10kg bags of each from https://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk/pasta, who seem to have stock of all three at the moment according to their website - a bit more restricted in terms of variety than when we ordered though.

Thanks for the link

However they are very short of items just now

No big bags of pasta, just 500g of Penne (and a bit pricey with it.)

Much says OOS, like other wholefood shops.

Just been on Amazon, plenty available but a lot of profiteering going on. A typical price for ordinary dry Italian made pasta (not organic) should be around £1 - £1.50/kg, some are more tha £10!

Same rip off price applies to Basmati price

[boxbrownie]

6 minutes ago, melmerby said:

 

Just been on Amazon, plenty available but a lot of profiteering going on. A typical price for ordinary dry Italian made pasta (not organic) should be around £1 - £1.50/kg, some are more tha £10!

Same rip off price applies to Basmati price

Your not wrong there.....yesterday I went on to order another tub of Draper Tough Wipes (we use them all the time for cleaning, great wipes) and I bought a tub about eight weeks ago before all the cuffufle, yesterday I went on my previous orders and almost pressed “buy again” before noticing the price from that supplier had more than doubled!

 

Gits!

 

Reported to Amazon for profiteering but not expecting an outcome with that one, although I did get an advert removed a few weeks ago which had a 500% over shop prices......it was a brand new seller, surprise, surprise.

[rockershovel]

The choral accompaniment to the opening credits of Mr Bean goes “ecce , qui est fava” - rather doggy Latin for “behold the man who is a bean”

[zarniwhoop]

13 hours ago, teaky said:

Orzo - Only ever had it in a hearty soup but other than perhaps seeming like an odd texture or size of pasta it should work served with a sauce.

I think orzo works well in soups or stews, and very badly otherwise. If the ingredients for a vegetable soup are available (Marigold stock or vegetarian 'oxo' cube, or marmite - and yes, those might all be out of stock) with some root veg and (floury) spuds, or perhaps even in a tin or packet soup, it can work well (and perhaps simmer down to thicken the broth).

 

But it's still a bit of an unusual texture and when I use it I only use a little (like pot barley, or pearl barley, I wouldn't want it to be the main carb). Unfortunately, Jamie's pop-up programmes haven't covered orzo.

 

And yes, those of us who are veggie are poorly served for alternatives when "regular" people buy the things we normally buy. I'm lucky enough to be able to get out to shop, but for deliveries I've noticed vegan (prepared) foods have become very popular in all the main supermarkets this year. Perhaps less so in Sainsburys than Tesco or Waitrose, but I've noticed various prepared Indian veg mixtures and uncommon veggie pasties (Jamaican, S.African) when I've been in my local branch. But again, avoid substitutes or they'll give you meaty samosas or cornish pasties.

 

It's a shame that the alternative option seems to only be 'any' or 'none'.

 

Good luck to melmerby, and to everyone else, for getting food you want to eat.

 

ĸen

[Hobby]

To be fair to them "time is money" and running around trying to find alternatives isn't a good use of time, especially as delivery and click and collect orders will be a lot higher than normal. Doesn't help some of you (I just take what comes!) but it sometimes does help to look at it from their point of view.

[zarniwhoop]

On 01/05/2020 at 00:36, zarniwhoop said:

But it's still a bit of an unusual texture and when I use it I only use a little (like pot barley, or pearl barley, I wouldn't want it to be the main carb). Unfortunately, Jamie's pop-up programmes haven't covered orzo.

Hah, I've just been on an excursion through wikipedia and discovered that orzo is barley, apparently - so presumably a variation of pearl barley.

 

All prompted by looking up the portion size of Waitrose pearled spelt (93.5gm!) to work out what the actual carbohydrate content is (I have to adjust my insulin according to how much carb I'm eating, the packet shows cooked amounts per100gm cooked and per 180gm cooked portion, but doesn't seem to say how many portions there are), and then looking to see what wikipedia said about pearled grains (not a lot - only pearl barley and pearled millet get a look in).

 

And there was me thinking orzo was just an odd shape made from pasta flour or semolina.

 

Arguably I'm still on-topic because I only panic-bought the pearled spelt because I couldn't get to places selling small amounts of grains for grinding to a coarser flour, although mine probably won't be very coarse.