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Cake day: May 11th, 2026

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  • There are a lot of plants we consider weeds that used to be cultivated as staple crops. Industrialization meant only the most productive species got attention for mechanization. Less productive species fell out of favour and now are kind of lost knowledge.

    Lamb’s quarters: also called goosefoot or wild spinach. It’s related to quinoa and both the seeds and the leaves were eaten.

    Purslane: grows in poor soils and is hardy. Still used in Mediterranean cooking but is considered a garden weed in a lot of the world

    Dandelions and amaranth: both were cultivated, and most amaranth varieties are considered weeds now

    Sorrel: tough leafy green with a tangy flavour used prior to citrus in Europe.

    Ground elder: hated by gardeners and farmers. A nice spring leafy green planted around monestaries

    Mallow: used to thicken soups and stews. Still used in the middle east and Mediterranean but is considered a weed elsewhere.

    Nettles: you’ve probably heard of this one? Not farmed anymore to my knowledge.











  • Good point about frozen veggies. It’s also easier to portion out what you need compared to the binary state of a can of food.

    When it comes to prepping, cans should be reserved for calorie and nutrient dense ingredients that benefit from canning anyways, like canned meats, condensed milk, sardines and shellfish, or ingredients that primarily come in canned form like diced or pureed tomatoes. Like frozen food they’re canned at peak freshness compared to store bought produce which has to be picked early to ripen in transit.

    The biggest risk right now is food prices are going up due to inflation (plus corporate greed and food cartels like the meat cartel), but will soon be going up due to a lack of fertillizer globally due to the strait of Hormuz. Next year is going to be worse by far. With a lack of oil you might get rolling blackouts so be careful to not get too much frozen food…

    A deep freezer can help though. You can freeze bags of water inside the deep freeze and as long as you don’t open it during a blackout it can last for a day or two (depending on how much water you freeze in there) to keep your stuff from going bad.



  • I’ve been meal prepping more and getting into tinned fish.

    Sardines are nature’s protein bars and are full of healthy fat and cholesterol. Lots of vitamins too plus calcium from their bones, plus they taste good! I quite like smoked sprats or just Deenz in olive oil or tomato sauce.

    They also work well as an ingredient. I haven’t tried this recipe yet but it looks fantastic!

    I would get dried beans and rice and make that a staple. You can soak the beans overnight, rinse them, and then boil them for 10 minutes with salt and freeze them. Then when you need beans you take a bag out (I freeze mine in flat sheets. Same with soups stews and home made stocks) and either simmer them for 3 hours or you pressure cook them for 20-60 mins (depending on what type of bean)

    Mexican and Brazilian recipes use a lot of rice and beans so you can use those as a reference on what to make and which seasonings to use.

    $/kcal it’s hard to beat those two.