Groceries? what to buy

[Steve Smyth]

80 days and counting (but whos counting :0-) ) till we leave Canada for England and take over the helm of Sir Ulfius. My question is- what amount or what types of basics should we be looking at for a week? Breakfasts are pretty easy- cereal, muffins etc- Most devening meals should be in a pub (of course) so the question is, when you go out for a week- what all works well for lunches and the odd evening meal? any favourites? Any ideas if the boat has the basics? sa;lt pepper etc? Typically,if a renatl company offers a "grocery service" what types of things would they buy?

 

 

Cheers

Steve

 

ps been watching the Shroppie at Nantwich on the webcam- give us a wave as you go by!

 

ss

[DHutch]

We ussally (both at home and on the boat) have a "deli lunch"

- Bread, with various things from supermarkets (saisburys/tescos usally) and the local shops.

- Ham/Cheese/Salami/pate also green salad, maybe a porkpie and some tuna

- Also my mum has potatoes (often in a salad with mayonase) as she cant eat bread. (glutin intolerence)

 

And if we're not having sit-down lunch, we can have bascaly the same!

 

 

 

Daniel

[Bones]

lunch is always soup and cheese for me.

 

That way people can eat when they are hungry. I use yesterdays leftovers for the following days soup. Or make vegetable soup - very quick and very easy!

[Breals]

A back up supply of pot-noodles is a must. I'd recommend 'Bombay Bad Boy' flavour. Leaves your lips numb for half an hour!

 

Other than that, maybe some eggs and bread and stuff. And remember going in search of shops to get groceries gives you a good excuse to leave the towpath and see something of the towns and villages you will pass through on your travels.

[doomed1]

A back up supply of pot-noodles is a must. I'd recommend 'Bombay Bad Boy' flavour. Leaves your lips numb for half an hour!

 

Other than that, maybe some eggs and bread and stuff. And remember going in search of shops to get groceries gives you a good excuse to leave the towpath and see something of the towns and villages you will pass through on your travels.

 

 

 

Bombay Bad Boy numb for half hour you must have lips of steel.my lips are still in the fridge from last nights.

[Christine]

I take more tea/coffee/sugar that I would normally have used at home and I would certainly have a back up evening meal - rice/pasta + sauce, should you have a breakdown and are stuck out in the middle of nowhere. A Wet and windy March trip on the Llangollen with a failed engine could have been very miserable if we had relied upon getting to Wrenbury for a pub.

 

On a cruise last September when I was cook for 8, I rather insisted on a lunch time stop because it was getting a bit 'boys up the back & girlies up the front' (so to speak) so that we all managed to get together for a quick 30 min stop with soup/sandwiches.

 

Chrissie

[DHutch]

Yeah, pastas always good.

- Or spegtteii, with pasta source with a bit of bacon fryed into it.

- Alterativly tortellini always makes a nice and simple meal, with a couple of sources. All from the supermarket.

 

Also a curry and rice, classic.

- We often make a big pan full before a week on the boat, then out on some basmatti rice, heat the curry, and bobs your uncal!

 

 

 

Daniel

[Sir Nibble]

I guess a lot of this depends on what you consider to be good food, some folks won't eat anything that isn't fresh and organic, whilst others will eat whatever doesn't actually eat them first. I would suggest a walk round a supermarket to see what takes your fancy at first oppertunity. Personally I prefer tinned stuff to leave fridge space for BEER, try a "babys head" (steak and kidney pudding) Fray Bentos make a good tinned one, it's yummy and good belly ballast as well as being traditional English fare. The marina where I moor my boat is a hire base and they keep a small amount of groceries simply because they are expected to, but the range is poor and prices high. If you are going to eat ashore, stock up on the small sachets of sauces when no one is looking!

Welcome and enjoy your visit.

[Janet S]

You can't beat Fray Bentos tinned snake & pygmy pies - you can never get the pastry crispy, but they sink to the bottom of your stomach like a stone...perfect for soaking up the Guinness!

 

Janet

[DaveR]

For the eveing meal we have tended towards the TESCO meal range.

 

Good quality, good taste and no washing up - except the plate you use, along with the beer glasses and the wine glasses, knives and forks - did I mention I take my wife along as OCM & CC&WU (chief cook and washer up).

 

Fortunately she doesn't read these . . . . . . .

[saltyseadog]

80 days and counting (but whos counting :0-) ) till we leave Canada for England and take over the helm of Sir Ulfius. My question is- what amount or what types of basics should we be looking at for a week? Breakfasts are pretty easy- cereal, muffins etc- Most devening meals should be in a pub (of course) so the question is, when you go out for a week- what all works well for lunches and the odd evening meal? any favourites? Any ideas if the boat has the basics? sa;lt pepper etc? Typically,if a renatl company offers a "grocery service" what types of things would they buy?

Cheers

Steve

 

ps been watching the Shroppie at Nantwich on the webcam- give us a wave as you go by!

 

ss

Well steve, I would say that you should stock up with the following essentials & then you simply can't go wrong, Stella Artois - Blanc, Heiniken, Fosters, San Miguel, Brains,Orangeeboom, Becks, Mc Ewans, Castlemain xxx & some John Smith extra smooth, if you can get it! & baked beans.

[Denis R]

Here's my list to add to our other contributors' efforts:

Twice as much sliced bread as you think you'll use - it doesn't have to be rubbishy chemical stuff, good quality is available.

If you're not vegetarian, as much smoked back bacon as you can handle

Tins of Baxter's soup if you don't fancy making your own. Baxter's is good and not full of salt or msg

Home made chilli beef - beware cheap mince is mostly fat and gristle. Use tinned beans, saves the pain of cooking and that awful accompanying smell.

In the unlikely event of a heat wave, tons of fresh salad. My kids love to smother it in good old fashioned Heinz salad cream.... We usually do boiled new potatoes with it and slices of decent mature cheese.

[Steve Smyth]

Well steve, I would say that you should stock up with the following essentials & then you simply can't go wrong, Stella Artois - Blanc, Heiniken, Fosters, San Miguel, Brains,Orangeeboom, Becks, Mc Ewans, Castlemain xxx & some John Smith extra smooth, if you can get it! & baked beans.

 

seems like good advice- let me recap

Stella Artois, Heiniken, Fosters, San Miguel,Becks, Mc Ewans,Castlemain xxx, Bass- those I can get here

 

Tetleys is a brand of tea here but my uncle did work for Tetley Walker prior to his retirement so I do know the difference. I've read about "Flowers" so I told my wife we needed flowers on the boat- she agreed

 

Thanks all for the advice- as far as the beans- I was under the assumption the smell followed regardless of how they were cooked!

 

Cheers all- Keep the advice coming!

[pegisoo]

I always like to get at least 2 or 3 of the really cheap white loaves of bread from the supermarket, not to eat of course but to feed the ducks with!

I also buy a couple of packets of the part baked baguettes. They store for weeks and with a couple of minutes in the oven you have fresh bread even when you have not managed to find a shop. They are catually great for breakfast on the move too, just stuff with bacon and tomato and eat at the tiller! (although you will put more weight on that way than with cereal!)

The other essential in my book is a few bottles of red wine.

[charles123]

we never have a cooked breakfast at home but on the boat we nearly always do, so the routine is get up have tea coffee, then cruise for an hour or so have a full breakfast that you are ready for by then and later when hungy again in the afternoon just a light meal such as soup and good bread

 

Charles

[DHutch]

I also buy a couple of packets of the part baked baguettes...

That reminds me, we do the part bake bread thing.

- There usally meduim sized rolls, usally in a vacume pack jobbby.

 

As you say, they last for weeks (months often) and are very quick/easy to pop in the oven fora few min, and then you hae 'fresh' bread even if you havnt been to a shop for days.

- Nice bit of red leiceter (thats cheese btw) with that and your well away, lovely!

 

 

 

Daniel

[ChrisPy]

frogs' legs for starters, followed by roast swan ?

no need to go to Tesco

[Steve Smyth]

frogs' legs for starters, followed by roast swan ?

no need to go to Tesco

 

heh- A canal insiders "dirty little secret" ??

Do they taste like spotted owl or California Condor?

Cheers

Steve

[ChrisPy]

heh- A canal insiders "dirty little secret" ??

Do they taste like spotted owl or California Condor?

Cheers

Steve

...... and a muddy old pike for the fish course

[nichimyo]

Plenty of liquid not only alcoholic but fruit juice or squash. Also Bovril for those wet days when you've already had way over your coffee limit (that's if you like the new vegetarian Bovril which is no longer actually made with anything bovine).

 

http://www.tesco.com/storelocator/ will perhaps tell you where your nearest Tesco is. There are a fair number of them within spitting distance of visitor moorings.

 

Depending on how soft your crew is about feeding local wildlife, get at least an extra loaf of bread per day for each person in danger of succumbing to the aah-how-sweet disease.

[Moley]

The other essential in my book is a few bottles of red wine.

Those boxes are quite good, 3 litre, rectangular (so they pack easily), no glass to break, and last almost twice as long as a bottle

[Guest st170dw]

Those boxes are quite good, 3 litre, rectangular (so they pack easily), no glass to break, and last almost twice as long as a bottle

 

I bet they do - they are the equivalent of 4 bottles!

[Paul Evans]

I bet they do - they are the equivalent of 4 bottles!

I never find that to be the case. Once something containing alcohol is opened it has to be emptied just in case the contents go bad or evaporate. So to save my liver, I stick to bottles. And I've just discovered that I can fit 5 of those wine carrier thingys from supermarkets in the bottom of the wardrobe.

 

That's 30 bottles!

[matt]

Don't forget the bbq.

[steveh]

Extra toilet roll doesn't go a miss.

 

Matches just in case