Did we solve the occasional cuppa / MILK dilemma?

[Chrisp]

I got some Orange Pekoe tea, which is the only tea I’ve enjoyed drinking without milk. Don’t drink any other tea now. Black coffee too.

 

[Karlos]

In another life 20 or so years ago I used to take a flask of hot water to work with a jar of Typhoo QT, instant tea granules with whitener.

Seemed OK at the time but don't fancy it now.

 

[Resfeber]

As per the title. Easy enough to store a few tea bags, instant coffee, fresh coffee bags etc in your van for unplanned cuppas, but have we found a way to get proper freshest / longest life milk to accompany it.
If I know I'll be brewing I'll take a small flask of fresh milk, but what about those unplanned brews, without resorting to coffeemate etc.

Like these as 20 ml for one strong mug of tea with enough milk to taste.
Typical 6 month shelf life in ocean kitchen cupboard at usual ambient temps in summer.
Tesco supplied at about 65p to 70p for 5.

 

[Dr-Snickers]

Like these as 20 ml for one strong mug of tea with enough milk to taste.
Typical 6 month shelf life in ocean kitchen cupboard at usual ambient temps in summer.
Tesco supplied at about 65p to 70p for 5.

View attachment 65672

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View attachment 65674

I’ve been looking for those but been out of stock at my local supermarket.

I have just found these on Amazon:

Dana UHT Milk Long-Life 250 ml x 12 Pack Semi-Skimmed 1.5% Low Fat https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YVJR4BT/?tag=eliteelect-21

They seem to have a much longer shelf life from manufacture (About 11 months on average) and come in a great size. They do a whole milk option too which is cheaper but still might be a little expensive....

 

[Vagophile]

When living in Corfu 40+ years ago, fresh cow's milk was virtually unobtainable unless you knew someone with a cow. Goats milk was a possibility, but still quite scarce. The staple for most people was "Nou nou", condensed milk in a tin. I got to like it so much that I still use condensed milk for tea and coffee.

 

[Resfeber]

Condensed Milk Sandwich Recipe

Save Print
Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
3 mins
Total time
8 mins

This super easy condensed milk sandwich is not only tasty but is so easy to make. If your kids love condensed milk then it is a hit for sure
Author: Aarthi
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 2 sandwich
Ingredients

• Bread Slices - 4
• Sweetened Condensed Milk - as needed
• Butter as needed

Get IngredientsPowered by Chicory

Instructions

1. Take bread slices, spread condensed milk all over it. Sandwich with other bread.
2. Cook in butter till golden on both sides.
3. Serve.

Could be something for a Ridgemonkey.

May I suggest the following be substituted for the SCM

 

[Taf Powell]

Fresh milk on tap.View attachment 65450

That’s fantastic GG!

 

[Dorist1469]

Use coffee ma

Something like this?

Semi Skimmed Whole Milk 10ml Sticks Long Life Portions Creamer Sachets Lakeland | eBay

NOT BOXES of MILK. Whole: MAY 2022. Modern and easy to use. 100% pure long life.

www.ebay.co.uk

I use coffee mate powder for my coffee and buy 500ml cartons of long life for the hubby’s tea I’ve just paid £1 for 5 cartons from home bargains, the do skimmed, semi & full

 

[Dr-Snickers]

Use coffee ma

I use coffee mate powder for my coffee and buy 500ml cartons of long life for the hubby’s tea I’ve just paid £1 for 5 cartons from home bargains, the do skimmed, semi & full

Do you happen to know how long your UHT says it’s best before date is? My last few only lasted 3 months.

.....there again..... cogs working here....that’s still better than spending £10 on 12 small bottles of milk that I won’t use all of. Much less waste m/expense in the grand scheme of things!

Back to my small UHT carton from Sainsbury’s that has been my Glastonbury staple for years.

 

[PAMMYVAN]

We don’t take milk, but you can get the little pods of UHT in B&M. They do have the small sachets of Sauce & Mayo handy for van saves carting whole bottles.

 

[Elly Swanson]

On the other hand, "NATO Standard" tea = milk (powdered) and two sugars. If you didn't specify otherwise, NATO Standard was what you got. And even if you did, it was still what you got.

Compo (=24 hr ration pack) cheesecake recipe: oatmeal block, jam (from a tube), "Cheese, Processed" (from another tube) on top. Didn't actually taste anything like cheesecake but you shut your eyes and dreamed.

Now I think of it, Royal Marines put the jam on last, but that was because they were rustic dolts from Devon and did the same with their scones back home. But let's not start that again.

Processed cheese came in a tin for us (army). We called it cheese possessed. Since lockdown we’ve been shopping for an elderly lady in our street. Every other week she asks for Sainsburys’ processed cheese slices. God they know how to camouflage cheese products in the fridge!
Old habits die hard and when we asked where could we find the cheese possessed they looked at us as if we were mad. We chuckled all the way to the checkout and have been reminiscing about other stupid army sayings ever since.
Now we must sound like we’re talking in slidex or batco half the time!

 

[Elly Swanson]

Condensed Milk Sandwich Recipe

Save Print
Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
3 mins
Total time
8 mins

This super easy condensed milk sandwich is not only tasty but is so easy to make. If your kids love condensed milk then it is a hit for sure
Author: Aarthi
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Indian
Serves: 2 sandwich
Ingredients

• Bread Slices - 4
• Sweetened Condensed Milk - as needed
• Butter as needed

Get IngredientsPowered by Chicory

Instructions

1. Take bread slices, spread condensed milk all over it. Sandwich with other bread.
2. Cook in butter till golden on both sides.
3. Serve.

Could be something for a Ridgemonkey.

OMG, connie onnie sarnies. Had never heard of them until I went on leave with my scouse boyfriend. In 43 years together it’s never been on his list of “ooh, I just fancy a . . .”

Definitely would work in a RM, but it’s not going anywhere near mine!

 

[Wogga]

Processed cheese came in a tin for us (army). We called it cheese possessed. Since lockdown we’ve been shopping for an elderly lady in our street. Every other week she asks for Sainsburys’ processed cheese slices. God they know how to camouflage cheese products in the fridge!
Old habits die hard and when we asked where could we find the cheese possessed they looked at us as if we were mad. We chuckled all the way to the checkout and have been reminiscing about other stupid army sayings ever since.
Now we must sound like we’re talking in slidex or batco half the time!

Still carry an emergency supply of Bacon Grill

 

[Borris]

During my former life in the fire service, if there were protracted incidents then these self heating meals would be wheeled out.

They weren't that bad and certainly gave you an energy boost if you were tired, wet and knackered.

Unfortunately they sometimes got used for practical jokes. A carefully placed primed but unopened tin could be relied upon to give an un-suspecting colleague some very fast food indeed. If the lid wasn't opened they would come up to heat and eventually explode hopefully covering the victim in sausages and beans or lamb curry. The trick was to keep the keep your chum seated in one place for long enough to reap the reward.

Now that's us well off topic!

 

[Elly Swanson]

Why not just buy fresh milk and drink what you don’t use before it goes off. Like has been said before it

Still carry an emergency supply of Bacon GrillView attachment 65738

Oh nooooooooo. Hope you always pitch next to a defibrillator just in case, Wogga! On a cold day you'd be better smearing it all over you to keep the cold out, rather than eating it.

 

[Elly Swanson]

During my former life in the fire service, if there were protracted incidents then these self heating meals would be wheeled out.

They weren't that bad and certainly gave you an energy boost if you were tired, wet and knackered.

Unfortunately they sometimes got used for practical jokes. A carefully placed primed but unopened tin could be relied upon to give an un-suspecting colleague some very fast food indeed. If the lid wasn't opened they would come up to heat and eventually explode hopefully covering the victim in sausages and beans or lamb curry. The trick was to keep the keep your chum seated in one place for long enough to reap the reward.

Now that's us well off topic!

Doesn't matter which emergency service or branch of the armed forces it's that dark humour that gets you through!

 

[2into1]

Why not just buy fresh milk and drink what you don’t use before it goes off. Like has been said before it

...because it’s an unplanned cup of tea and I’m no where near a shop perhaps?

 

[Elly Swanson]

...because it’s an unplanned cup of tea and I’m no where near a shop perhaps?

Funny how us Brits have to have a cup of tea whenever we fancy it, and there's nothing to touch it. I never drink tea except have to have one with a full English breakfast and of course dunk my bickies in my hubby's to his annoyance. It also helps settle a "squiggly" tummy. But without fresh milk, I'd rather pass.

 

[Elly Swanson]

During my former life in the fire service, if there were protracted incidents then these self heating meals would be wheeled out.

They weren't that bad and certainly gave you an energy boost if you were tired, wet and knackered.

Unfortunately they sometimes got used for practical jokes. A carefully placed primed but unopened tin could be relied upon to give an un-suspecting colleague some very fast food indeed. If the lid wasn't opened they would come up to heat and eventually explode hopefully covering the victim in sausages and beans or lamb curry. The trick was to keep the keep your chum seated in one place for long enough to reap the reward.

Now that's us well off topic!

Self heating tins! OMG you must be much younger than your avatar suggests, Boris (have always wondered if you're actually a Terry Thomas lookie likie). In our day only the yanks had such modern, fandangled, fancy kit. But we were British and did everything the proper way!! Which usually meant eating eveything cold using the little army tin opener as a scoop!!!

 

[Velma's Dad]

During my former life in the fire service, if there were protracted incidents then these self heating meals would be wheeled out.

They weren't that bad and certainly gave you an energy boost if you were tired, wet and knackered.

Unfortunately they sometimes got used for practical jokes. A carefully placed primed but unopened tin could be relied upon to give an un-suspecting colleague some very fast food indeed. If the lid wasn't opened they would come up to heat and eventually explode hopefully covering the victim in sausages and beans or lamb curry. The trick was to keep the keep your chum seated in one place for long enough to reap the reward.

Now that's us well off topic!

Military vehicles used to have an electric water heater (called a "BV" = Boiling Vessel), a cube-shaped chamber that you could chuck tins of ration pack stuff into. Despite the exploding can issue it was the most crucial, battle winning bit of kit and would be great if they had them on Calis although then you'd need 24 volt electrics probably.

 

[Elly Swanson]

We've never come across a BV before and my hubby was in the army some years before me. But we are talking 60's/70s.

 

[YELRAV]

How about “acquiring” some of those milk cartons or tubes that was mentioned above and keep in your man bag/handbag.

So not stored in the van all the time but there when you are heading out. Or have a tiny bottle with lid that you fill before your journey.

 

[Tarquers]

We've never come across a BV before and my hubby was in the army some years before me. But we are talking 60's/70s.

Only ever seen a BV in armoured vehicles like tanks. Rest of us had to rely on hexamine stoves. Tea bags were awful at the best of times!

In latter years, parcels from home to the desert consisted of PG Tips and Wet wipes but that’s another story

 

[WelshGas]

Loved the Compo sausages.

 

[Borris]

Self heating tins! OMG you must be much younger than your avatar suggests, Boris (have always wondered if you're actually a Terry Thomas lookie likie). In our day only the yanks had such modern, fandangled, fancy kit. But we were British and did everything the proper way!! Which usually meant eating eveything cold using the little army tin opener as a scoop!!!

I'm of 1953 vintage. Those self heating tins were introduced towards the very end of my career which I terminated in 2005. Before then we had various other methods of feeding the troops which depended on the time of day. If it was during the night the procedure involved making vast quantities of "mashed monkey" sandwiches. The mashed monkey was tinned corned beef and the bread was obtained from a nearby bakery. If you didn't like MM you went without. This job fell to those left back at station who were manning other appliances. Once made, said sarnies along with large tea urns were delivered to site.
If it was during opening hours then a nearby local fast food outlet could sometimes prove the best method. We would usually pre-book them but that wasn't always possible. I remember back in the 1970's walking into a fish and chip shop and upon reaching the head of the queue asking for thirty five portions of fish and chips. I wasn't popular with the F and C shop or the other customers.