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Anne ✝️🇮🇪🇬🇧60+wife to my best friend🤵🏼‍♂️

@useitupkitchen

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Mort free/Frugal/bulk/intentional buying. Scratch/batch cook. Food Preserve - container veg grow. LWaste living. FT Carer 2 my ND disabled daughter 🥰

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A little kitchen apothecary brewing… oxymel

On the left: Fire Cider (without the fire 🔥) — mine’s a gentler version with just a touch of heat.
On the right: Garlic Honey — nature’s powerhouse duo in a jar.

I went for as many organic ingredients as I could:
🍊 Orange
🍋 Lemon
🌿 Sage + Rosemary
🧅 Red onion
🧄 Garlic
🫚 Ginger + Turmeric
🍎 Raw apple cider vinegar (one with “the mother,” one without — both work fine!)
🍯 Raw local honey + organic garlic

Both jars are now tucked away in the larder, slowly transforming. I’ll burp them daily to release the natural gases as they do their thing.

💛 Why I’m going love these:
– Fire cider is warming, immune-boosting, and a lovely winter tonic.
– Garlic honey is soothing, antibacterial, and doubles as a natural sweetener.

After the horrible 2 weeks of illness we’ve had in our home, these beauties will give us a big immune boost.

🌿 Simple ingredients, big benefits — a little old-world apothecary for modern kitchens.

They’ll be ready in a few weeks.

#kitchenapothecary #herbalremedies #firecider #GarlicHoney #inmykitchen #oldways #winterremedies #keepinghealthy #oxymel by @useitupkitchen

After 5 weeks of steeping in the larder it’s ready!

Decant, strain and it’s a good to go!

I’ve had a teaspoon and cor it’s … well I’ll let you decide if you try it.

It’ll sit in the fridge and it keeps well for 6 months, if it lasts that long. 1tsp daily to keep the 🦠 away.

#immunesupport #immunebooster #herbalhealth #healthtonic #naturalremedies #naturalhealing by @useitupkitchen

by @useitupkitchen

I’ve been prepping for about 13 years before I knew what it was called. This was due to vulnerable family members in and out of A&E and hospital admissions which is ongoing. So I had to have a good pantry if I couldn’t go shopping.

Back in the day I was a Girl Guide, following the moto ‘Be Prepared’ has always stayed with me.

40+ years ago I was a qualified nurse, but illness ended my career very early. The knowledge has remained and I’ve called upon it frequently for my family. Obviously it’s vastly progressed since my time, but the basics remain.

With valuable guidance from my friend @simply.nonna I’m moving forward in growing on a small scale, a kitchen garden. I’ll be buying more seed for planting next year trying to be more self reliant.

I’m not an experienced canner and always learning. The plan is to transition my reliance upon my freezers to shelf stable food in a jar. I’m currently saving for a small generator as a power backup for one freezer.

#resilience #prepping #canning #pantry #food by @useitupkitchen

Part 2 of Freezer tour.

Medium size chest freezer in the garage for meat.

I bulk buy and when on offer meat which saves money.

The plan is to pressure can a fair amount of the meat to make shelf stable meals in a jar for the pantry.
I’m becoming increasingly cautious of power cuts and I’d rather not have the meat go to waste.

I can’t afford a generator, so pressure canning it is.

#myfreezerpantrychallenge2026 #pressurecanning #meat #freezer by @useitupkitchen

Part 1 Garage Freezers tour.

I have two garage freezers which I use to buy in bulk, batch cook and food prep. Being a vulnerable household, this method works well for us. Now I’m seriously thinking of going down to one freezer.

The government’s Resilience Programme, specifically power-cuts, has made me rethink how I should store food.

Pressure canning and water bath canning maybe the route for me. I’ll still batch cook for the freezer, but on a smaller scale. Also using up leftovers more often.

First is the large freezer.
A considerable dent was made during the September challenge, but a long way to go yet.

Definitely soups, frittatas will be a feature in the next few weeks.

#myfreezerpantrychallenge2026
#rotation #feedmyfamily #freezercooking by @useitupkitchen

Instead of buying tins of food as part of the government’s resilience program, I thought I’d do more canning.

If push comes to shove, these jars of readymade meals can be eaten cold.

I just reheat through thoroughly, add chosen herbs or spices to change the flavour and that’s it.

#canning #resilience #womenwhoprep #homecooking by @useitupkitchen

A date with my husband to visit @bridgetbbutchery

We received a warm welcome from the staff. The head butcher went the extra mile to assist. They were polite, professional, helpful and spotless.

Looking forward to a return visit supporting local butcher’s business.

#supportsmallbusiness #butchers #traditional #dateday❤️ by @useitupkitchen

It’s never too early for me to get ahead.

I’m starting with prepping the Brussel Sprouts. Turning them into two different dishes.

A creamy crunchy dish and the other a salty crispy vibe.

Next will be the potatoes, so come back for more.

#christmasfoodprep #brusselsprouts #sprouts by @useitupkitchen

Sautéed the finely sliced cabbage and onion in oil and butter. Added a tsp of garlic powder and rock salt and fried until translucent.

#myfreezerpantrychallenge2026 #feedmyfamily #useitup #cabbage by @useitupkitchen

It isn’t about not making a dent in the supermarket daily money takings. Of course they’ll make up their lost revenue the day before or the day after. It’s coming together to protest and voice how angry and fed up we are with it. Which is out democratic right to free speech.
Remember the poll tax - that was reversed.

Demonstrations happening across major cities in Europe. And we’re doing this. The nay sayers will always be negative and the haters will always be haters and blame it on the usual political areas. We must ignore them and not deviate from our goal. Stop food waste and reduce food prices.

#werenotbuyingit #costofliving #costoflivingcrisis #foodprices #supportlocalbusinesses by @useitupkitchen

#icecream #homemade #chocolatechip #madefromscratch #myfreezerpantrychallenge2026 by @useitupkitchen