Tag: food

Toddler Tuesday

#ToddlerTuesday

www.brexitsurvivaljournal.comAny parent of small children knows they don’t do “boredom”. If they aren’t kept busy, they will find something to amuse themselves and that can often be what you do not want them to do. They are also very often “picky” with their food and need foods that they will eat.

Surviving Brexit With Babies, Toddlers And Small Children

Hopefully, Brexit will pass off without anyone noticing any difference and you can just play with and feed your children as usual.

If it doesn’t, then preparing ahead of time will save your sanity and make life easier for everyone.

Food

Stock up on any special items you normally feed your child with, including formula (baby milk), rusks, and any foods you know your child likes AND that can be stored with a good long “use by” date. These might include tinned baked beans or spaghetti for older children or tinned soup. Remember to include treats appropriate to your child’s age, such as chocolate buttons and Smarties. They are not only useful as rewards or bribes but if there are problems preparing food, they can stop a child from becoming too hungry. You can also store sliced bread in the freezer, provided it is well wrapped against freezer burn. Frozen sliced bread can be toasted direct from frozen for a quick snack of toast.

Leaving Home

Let’s hope no one has to leave home but if you do, a prepared “go” bag, including a wash bag, pyjamas, clean underwear and a change of clothes for each child is useful. Remember nappies and wet wipes for any child using them. Other useful items for each bag include a bottle of water and a snack, such as a chocolate bar (appropriate to age).

Amusements

Just in case there are power cuts or you have to leave home, then including a game or book or toys in the go bag for each child can save a lot of trouble. Colouring books and crayons or coloured pencils are useful, low tech, easy-carry and cheap items to include. Books are heavier but may be useful for older children. A favourite toy may be vital to remember. Low tech toys are useful if there are power cuts even if you remain at home. You can always remove a few current toys to pack away because by the time October 31st comes around, those toys will seem new again.

Cold Weather

At October 31st, the weather in the UK is usually turning colder, even if there are a few days of Indian Summer. Keep some warm clothes on hand in case there are power cuts or lack of warmth or you have to move.

Brexit Survival Journal

Get checklists that will help you survive Brexit and provide space for you to add your own items with the Brexit Survival Journal.

Brexit Recipes – Survival Food For Brexit

How Long You Can Last Without Food

OK, while you can last about 3 weeks or so without any food, no one is suggesting a total lack of food in the UK following Brexit. There may, however, be shortages of certain foods at certain times, either due to import difficulties. or if fuel is in short supply, so supplies can’t get to certain areas.

A lot of the UK’s food is imported. For instance, bread is usually made with imported wheat as UK-grown wheat is not always suitable for making bread (ref: http://www.nabim.org.uk/imports-and-exports).

www.brexitsurvivaljournal.comImported Food

Many of the fresh vegetables we eat in the UK are imported: oranges, fruits and veg out of season, such as tomatoes, lettuce, courgettes and soft fruit. Maybe you don’t eat that kind of food?
Perhaps you prefer fish and chips? Most UK potatoes are home grown, so potatoes should continue to be available, provided transport is available. The fish might be a different matter.

“From a UK perspective, seafood material originating in the UK is generally exported for overseas consumption, whilst UK seafood consumption is largely reliant on imported material.” (ref: https://www.seafish.org/media/1653731/overview_-_brexit_and_the_uk_seafood_industry_1.3.pdf) In other words, most of the fish eaten in the UK is imported, while what we catch is mostly exported. Imports of fish to the UK are worth about £3bn, about one third of which comes from the EU. (ref: https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-8396)

Curry houses are not faring any better according to the Independent newspaper, with ingredients coming from the EU costing a lot more and staff shortages. (ref: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/uk-curry-industry-brexit-staff-shortages-bangladesh-catering-association-a8677911.html)

What Food Will Be Available After Brexit

Hopefully, all foods we currently have will still be available after Brexit, even if takeaways are having difficulties, however, it is possible there will be some shortages and delays while trading terms are finalised. It would certainly be wise to stock up on basic foods, especially those that require little or no cooking and that can last in a store cupboard for a good while, provided that they are foods you would normally eat.

Baked beans

This is a staple item of many people’s diet in the UK but all the beans have to be imported because they do not grow in the UK. Baked beans store well, most kids will eat them and they are nourishing, having a fair amount of protein and fibre and also vitamins and minerals. Top them with some grated cheese and serve on toast and you have a hearty lunch. If the power is out, they can be eaten cold, so if you like baked beans, then stock up on them ahead of Brexit.

Other Tinned and Packet Staples

If you’re stocking up on foods that your family likes to eat and that are easily stored and cooked or heated, check up on your stocks of spaghetti in tomato sauce, soups, tinned ham, canned peas, pasta and ready made curry and tomato sauces.

Tinned fish

Most of the fish that ends up in cans: sardines, tuna, pilchards and most salmon etc is imported. If you like canned fish, then building up your stocks would be a wise move.

Flavourings, Spices And Sauces

HP sauce, a British staple is produced in the Netherlands. While Heinz tomato ketchup is made in the UK, many ingredients for sauces, flavourings and canned or packet ready -meals may be imported. Table salt is mostly produced in the UK but pepper is imported.

Cold And No-Cook Foods

Nuts, nut butters, dried fruit and porridge oats are all handy storage items and can be eaten without any cooking. Nuts and nut butters, especially provide protein and healthy fats. Dried fruit contains iron. Oats, chopped nuts and dried fruit make a handy muesli, together with some sugar if you need it. Nut butters spread beautifully on bread, soda bread or crackers.

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Foraging

If you live near the countryside or have a large garden, you may be able to add some foraged items to your diet, if fresh foods are running low. Blackberries and plums can often be found growing wild, ready for picking in the autumn. Don’t forage near roads because of pollution. Don’t forage if you don’t know what you are picking. Some wild plants can be fatal.

Ready to make your Brexit more comfortable? Get the Brexit Survival Journal NOW.

Take Action

The Important Stuff

There is a journal available with check sheets that you can fill in and use to save recipes and stuff ahead of time. Knowing what’s important allows you to budget for any expenditure and find a place to store stuff, keep it fresh and rotated and keep everyone up to date on the plan and how to work it.

Having A Cunning Plan

When an emergency is announced, the shops are besieged, everyone runs round like a nest of ants that has been dug up, saucepans or bathtubs of water are stored and very few eat properly. A few days later the water is emptied out, the bread is stale and everyone goes back to their ordinary lives, apart from the few who got caught out and those who were really prepared.

Which Do You Want To Be?

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Prepared

The prepared person has a plan that everyone knows, has stores of food that they and their family like and will eat, that can be used if necessary and that will not be wasted if they are not needed just now. They have clean water, medical supplies, ways to keep their pets safe, a working car and a safe home to go to if they have to leave.

Unprepared

The unprepared person ends up cold, hungry, sitting in the dark or maybe a local community hall, without their pets or medications and no clean clothes.

You need a plan that will:
● Help you keep in touch;
● Keep you sheltered;
● Keep you fed and watered;
● Keep your pets safe;
● Keep your transport working where possible; and,
● Keep your medications current and more……

But It Will Only Work If You Take Action!

Brexit Survival

Surviving A Short Term Emergency With Brexit

● No matter whether you voted leave or remain;
● No matter whether you want “Leave Means Leave;
● No matter whether you want a second referendum; or
● Leave now without a deal

You Need To Prepare!

 

www.brexitsurvivaljournal.comWhat Is Brexit

The United Kingdom split almost 50:50 in the 2016 referendum on whether the UK should leave the European Union or stay. There was a small majority in favour of leaving. There has also been a lot of acrimonious debate since. That means that whatever happens with Brexit, almost half the country is going to be disappointed with what happens, whatever it is. There is a brexit timeline available to check if you want.

What Does Brexit Mean

BRitish EXIT: the term Brexit has been coined to stand for BRitish EXIt from the European Union, the community it has been a part of for 47 years.

www.brexitsurvivaljournal.comWhile the government is putting billions of pounds into preparing for Brexit, it is possible that not everything will be covered, especially if the exit is a no-deal scenario. There will be people upset with the situation, whatever happens on 31st October 2019, the Prime Minister’s proposed EU departure date, When people are upset with politics, difficulties and commotion can happen and that can lead to shortages of food, medications and fuel, political disturbances and power cuts even if only in small areas. If you are in one of those areas, life may become uncomfortable for a while. Economically, financial exchange rates can also change, affecting the prices of imported goods, especially oil.

This site is NOT about the Brexit debate. It is not taking sides one way or the other. It provides good plain commonsense on making preparations for keeping yourself and your family fed, warm and sheltered for a short period after any final Brexit decision (one way or the other). Whether the UK leaves or stays in the EU, there may be some upheavals in some areas. If it leaves, there may be shortages of items that are imported or that need to be moved around the country.

Emergencies

Emergencies can happen anywhere, anytime – a power station going down, a flood, a storm, blizzard, wildfire. Any or all of these might make life hard for a while.

Even if you live in the calmest, safest part of the world, a tree can fall, lightning can strike, your electrical power can go down, such as the huge power outages in England and Wales on 9 August 2019, when two power suppliers lost power simultaneously, a strike or a problem elsewhere can affect supplies to your local shops. It doesn’t have to be Brexit related. Life is a risk. In August 2019 a dam threatened to burst in the Midlands area of the UK and many residents had to be evacuated from their homes at very short notice.
Even without Brexit, it’s important to plan to make yourself and your family self-reliant in the event of a major disaster. In a time of crisis, you don’t want to have to go cold, go hungry, scramble to stay alive, have to make do without your medications, or to have to depend on others to help you out.

www.brexitsurvivaljournal.comDisaster Announced

When disasters occur, normal routine is totally thrown out even if only in a small area. If that area is where you live, then there may be widespread shortages. Not just food but also power, water and medication.

Before a disaster strikes, such as a storm or hurricane, there may be news flashes to let people know it’s coming. Then you’ll see pictures of empty shelves in the shops because people who didn’t plan ahead rush out in an effort to take care of themselves and their loved ones. If imports and transport of goods are limited, then what is sent to the shops my be prioritised, for instance food may be seen as more important than cleaning items.

That mad rush will only result in a few days’ worth of supplies and these may not stay fresh. And long term power outages ( like after major hurricanes), or storm damage can make it difficult for people and supplies to get out or in to affected areas.

Short Term Emergency

A short-term emergency disrupts normal life temporarily. It could be a flash flood, a storm, a forest fire, or an uncertain political situation. Any of these could lead to food shortages, maybe a need for shelter and a lack of other necessities, such as clean water, warmth and electricity.

Any of these could happen at any time and if you want to survive as comfortably as possible, you need to know exactly what to do if disaster hits and where to go if your home isn’t safe or habitable. It’s always useful to be ready for whatever happens.

You can prepare for a bad few days or weeks by making sure you have emergency food and household supplies, such as cleaning items, available in your home in case supply lines are disrupted. You could also have emergency bags ready and waiting with at least three days’ worth of food, water, clothing and the means to provide or make a temporary shelter, in case you need to leave temporarily.

Not For Preppers

This is NOT a prepper’s site, as is normally thought of; it is NOT helping you prepare for the complete end of civilisation as we know it, however, it is certainly a preparation site, getting ready for disruption. There is a workbook available, related to this site, that will help you prepare for a short disruption where things will eventually get back to normal. It contains lists of items you may wish to stock up on plus space for you to add your own items to obtain. It also contains some easy emergency recipes and about 20 pages for you to add in your own easy cook / no cook recipes. The journal also prompts you to consider your options for cooking, warmth and fuel. Preparing ahead of time can help you survive more comfortably and means you should not need to go outside at times when things may be disturbed. Most emergencies arrive quickly but they also don’t happen that often, so you get time to prepare for something happening (even if you won’t always know what).. Let’s get started.

TinsTuesday

Try buying a few extra tins of stuff you would normally buy and stash them away in a spare cupboard somewhere. #TinsTuesday

#WashupWednesday

Make Wednesday a day for adding washing and cleaning items like soap, shapoo and toothpaste to your emergency stash. #WashupWednesday