Bunny tr. from Back to Basics - Emergencies?

[MommyinTX]

I've been doing just the basics shopping for 3 months, and it does make a big difference in spending. BUT, it dawned on me that there is now nothing in the house for emergency meals in case of a power outage. The people in Kentucky with no power for a week really made me wonder what we'd do. We do usually have peanut butter and bread.

Ideas??

Thanks,
Becky

[peanut]

Becky, I actually have a monthly menu that I try to keep food for in the house at all times...except perishables. Sometimes I'll buy food especially for times of emergency.

I date everything I buy with a permanent marker. I check the dates and eat them before they reach their 1 year mark. We've had interesting meals. I find the emergency rations also make a quick meal for the days I'm too busy to cook and forgot to take food out of the freezer. Instead of going out to eat, we have the emergency rations.

Because we treat them like that, I make sure I have healthy emergency rations. Things like:

~ canned fat free bean salad, or other canned salads (I think you can buy a canned corn salad too).
~ canned tuna and salmon
~ canned sardines
~ canned fruit
~ mac and cheese in packages
~ just add water and stir type foods
~ canned pork and beans
~ canned soups (low fat and low sodium are available)

Things like that. Hope this helped!

[dcompton]

Peanut butter's a good start! How about some tuna or other canned meats that you make into a spread for sandwiches? That's assuming you would have bread. Maybe some crackers? Cheese? (It can be frozen to keep.) Bottled water for emergencies, even if you don't usually use it.

Me, I'd be up a creek. My apartment is all electric. I've wondered what I would do for extended periods of time. I keep a few cans of soup and some canned veggies. I guess I could learn to love them cold, though I'm not wild about the idea, needless to say.

I'll be interested to see what others might suggest that don't involve such exotic equipment as grills and fire pits that don't exist in my life. It's just me and stove, that would be useless in a power outage.

[dcompton]

Peanut got her post up first. I hadn't thought of canned fruit. I have that too. I guess I'm good to go. Well, sort of.

[spyzvixxen]

I stock up on loss leaders/items I can get for free. It makes for a mish mosh in the cabinet. When my sister comes to help with the baby, we play MacGyver and see what we can whip up. Definitely some interesting meals.

[peanut]

Me, I'd be up a creek. My apartment is all electric. I've wondered what I would do for extended periods of time. I keep a few cans of soup and some canned veggies. I guess I could learn to love them cold, though I'm not wild about the idea, needless to say.

I'll be interested to see what others might suggest that don't involve such exotic equipment as grills and fire pits that don't exist in my life. It's just me and stove, that would be useless in a power outage.

Donna, I have a camping stove and fuel on hand always. Plus a little backpacker's stove with fuel. We could probably go for a week on that if we had to.

Plus we have a freezer. If you leave the lid down the stuff will stay cold 3-4 days (depending on the size of freezer). Plus, where I live it's frozen outside most of the year, so food could just be transferred outside. Though it would have to be put in critter proof containers. Also we have a fireplace we could cook over...and a healthy stack of wood since we had to cut down 3 trees last summer.

In summer, I don't know about anyone else, but I'd be BBQing and cooking over a firepit!

Our biggest problem if an emergency came would be water related. Water is scarce on the prairies in the summer, and we really only have two sources: a lake near us and the rain. I tried storing extra water jugs in the freezer (reused milk jugs and put bleach in the water), but the water tasted funny after a month. So I think buying bottled water is a better idea.

[rowdy35]

we have a generator and fuel for the just in case

also i keep crackers, chips, drinks and canned foods in the house just in case some type of catastrophy hits

[Grainlady]

One of our "layers" of food storage in our home is what we call the 72-hour kit (it's portable) which includes single-serving foods that don't require heating or refrigeration. This includes foods from all the food groups and came in handy a little over a year ago when we had an ice storm similar to the one in Kentucky.

We have single-serving cans of fruit juice, V-8, tomato juice, small tins of potted meat and tuna, granola or granola bars, cereal, nuts, dried fruit, single-serving fruits (applesauce, peaches, pears, etc.), pudding cups, pork n beans, crackers, cheese, peanut butter, MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat), instant soup packets, instant oatmeal packets, instant hot drinks (cocoa, coffee and tea bags). I even keep a box of individual-size Half & Half or CoffeeMate coffee creamers on hand. They can be kept at room temperature and will work instead of milk when added to that packet of instant oatmeal, cereal, coffee or tea.

Make sure the foods have pull tops or have a non-electric can opener you can use.

I tend to purchase these items in August/September to have ready for the winter. These single-serving size items are usually on sale for back-to-school lunch items in the early fall.

Helpful Hint: We found by boiling a large amount of water first thing in the morning and placing it in all the Thermos-style containers we have, we had hot water the entire day for making coffee/tea/cocoa, instant soup, etc. and didn't need to heat water again. What was left at the end of the day felt great for a sponge bath.

We also have a 5-gallon camp shower we used for showering. They are made from black plastic and you can warm the water by sitting them in the sun. We had to add heated water, but it worked well.

You need some method for boiling water - bbq grill, portable butane or propane camp stove, sterno (with a flat-fold stove - found in most stores that have camping equipment), etc. This is especially important if you have to boil your city water before drinking due to bacterial contamination.

You can even make Buddy Burners at home, as every good scout knows, out of empty tuna cans and use them as a cooking source outside. They work great with a #10 can over them as the "stove". I convert all my empty tuna cans to a Buddy Burner. An organization here in town gives them out to the homeless for a heat and cooking source. So when I get too many of them, I donate them for the homeless.

Buddy Burners:
http://www.justpeace.org/buddyburner.htm

We also have 2 solar ovens that work well as long as it's sunny - even if the ambient temperature is cold. We have a Cobb Grill, which is wonderful in emergency use. They take a small amount of charcoal. http://www.cobbamerica.com/ and can be used for all kinds of cooking needs.

Just one word of warning. If the ambient temperature is really cold, bbq grills don't heat as efficiently, so try not to cook large pieces of meat as a food safety issue - cut them into smaller pieces first.

[joyofsix]

I keep crackers, tuna, peanut butter, granola bars and even a few cherished boxes of poptarts. We've used them on occasion.

[peanut]

Grainlady: Buddy burners! Man, did that bring back memories. I have a stash of them around here someplace too. I'm an old Girl Guide leader and grew up in Guides eating food off these things.

A hobo stove is a great thing to cook on too. It's a big coffee tin ( or gallon size can) with the top or bottom cut off and a square cut in the side (like a door) right at the base near the open end. That allows air in. You want air because this contraption sits over a buddy burner. And talk about heating food up! You can cook bacon and eggs right on the top if you aren't worried about what's coming off the tin. Even not, you can put a small backpacking cook kit fry pan on that for bacon and eggs, or whatever. Heats up quick too.

[HomeschoolMom]

I hate the fact that we're not in town and don't have a proper source or heat or cooking ability if we lose power. Not to mention that our hydro rates are through the roof and we feel like we're being held hostage.

We lost power for 2 days a couple of years ago and after that bought a generator to help power things like the pump for the well, fridge and a few lights. We keep that and fuel on hand.

We are currently researching a woodstove/cookstove for our kitchen. Hopefully we'll get that installed before this fall and we'll definitely use it. We get all our wood for free.

We've also started stocking our pantry with on-sale items that we could use in case of emergency. Not just a weather emergency but a major flu outbreak or something could also keep you housebound for weeks, not just days.

Here's what we have so far....
3 lge jars of peanut butter.
3 lge cans of coffee
3 cases of canned beans (kidney, pinto, lentils)
4 cases of soup (veg, cream of mushroom, tomato, minestrone)
2 cases of beef/chicken broth
2 cases of beans
2 cases of pasta & sauce
1 case of KD
2 bags of powdered milk
3 bottles of olive oil
50lb.of large flake oats
50lb. of wheat to grind for bread etc. (I'd like to get a hand grinder but we could always plug into the generator)
1 extra large bag of dog food
5 boxes of misc. cereal on sale
3 cases of spaghetti sauce
20pkg of spaghetti
1 case of tuna
1 case of canned ham
1 case of chicken
1 case of turkey
2 cases of canned fruit
4 cases of canned veggies
dried fruit
nuts
extra hygiene products
yeast
Baking soda, powder, vanilla, spices.

The only thing I can think of to add to this would be powdered eggs. That way I can bake bread, muffins, pancakes, etc. I can make casseroles, spaghetti, soups, sandwiches, etc.

Almost everything I picked up when it went on sale for 1/2 price or so.

We should have extra cat food too - just haven't had a chance to pick that up yet.