LTL ~ Wednesday, October 5, 2016
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beachwoman2006
Posts: 1,214 Member
Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.
Today's Topic: Planning Ahead
If you knew ahead of time that there's a possibility that you will be without power for a couple of days, what would you be sure to have available food-wise?
Today's Topic: Planning Ahead
If you knew ahead of time that there's a possibility that you will be without power for a couple of days, what would you be sure to have available food-wise?
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In anticipation of maybe having the need to either evacuate due to Hurricane Matthew OR staying here (depending on the intensity of the storm) and being without power for a couple of days, I found myself thinking about what foods I should have on hand that would not require cooking or could be cooked on my gas grill.
In addition to the "normal" things (like bottled water), I picked up some apples and oranges, peanut butter, bread, canned fruits, etc. at the grocery store yesterday -- things that require neither refrigeration nor cooking. I can live on PB sandwiches for a few days if necessary!
If it turns out that we aren't evacuated and I'm stuck here without any power, I have have boneless, skinless chicken breasts, a couple of small steaks, and some individual pizzas in my freezer. If the power is out for more than 24 hours I know these are things I can cook on the gas grill so that I don't lose them. I also have potatoes that can be cooked on the grill if necessary. And canned vegetables that can be cooked in a pan set on the grill.
My copy of the new Nicholas Sparks book came into the bookstore yesterday and I picked it up so I have something to read. I even have a battery-operated book light so that I can read without any power
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The Horizon milk that is shelf stable or an alternate like almondmilk. Cheerios, bananas, Cape Cod Sea Salt Popcorn; Pure Protein Bars; Protein Powder for a shake; apples; dried fruits and nuts; peanut butter, bread, cans of tuna, packets of condiments, bottled water; low sugar jelly; rice cakes or rollers; canned salmon; and chocolate for emergencies.0
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Right now we are not prepared very well but should be in the event of earthquakes and other disasters. Stay safe for sure.0
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Old fashion can opener and tuna! PB.0
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You HAVE to have some way to make coffee.2
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Here in Michigan we are encouraged to have emergency provisions in case of blizzards or heavy snow storms. When we lived in Kansas and Iowa, we prepped for tornado season and then blizzards. In Colorado, it was the spring blizzards that would leave us stranded without power as well as the occasional tornado. In Oregon, it was the random ice storms that shut things down. There is always something!
I like to have everything in the pantry since I try not to open the fridge or freezer in an attempt to keep things cold longer and not lose everything. So my pantry items: chocolate, Diet Coke, canned tuna, salmon, chicken, bread, crackers, peanut butter, pickles, mustard, cereal, canned milk, protein bars, trail mix, chips, popcorn, canned soup, and canned fruit. For the counter: apples, oranges, bananas, carrots. Of course, bottled water.
We generally don't have access to our grill (snowed in), but we have used our fireplace to roast hot dogs and make s'mores. And our gas stove works, too, with a match to light the burners.0 -
I could definitely live off of peanut butter sandwiches, protein bars, and fruit for a few days. Thankfully I'm in the Midwest so I don't have to worry about hurricanes, but if a tornado hit that's what I would be eating.0
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Load up on gasoline, and crank up the generator.0
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Apples and Bananas, bread, peanut butter, water, canned tuna and granola bars. The meat in the freezer would keep for a couple days so I could fire up the grill. Oh, and ice so I could pack some of the frozen meat in a cooler.0
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Another Midwesterner here. I don't know if there is a scientific rationale for it or not, but we haven't had tornadoes close to us since the 90's. I'm in the western suburbs ~30 miles from downtown. I've lived here all my life and do recall Oak Lawn getting flattened in 1967. I'm more concerned about the storms that come through one after another dumping large amounts of rain. Our rental property got nailed in 2013 with 34 inches in the basement.
As for food, I'm sure I could subsist on the protein bars, nuts, and energy gels/blocks that I have in the house for several days. We always have jugs of water handy.0 -
Do you guys get the impression that it takes longer to restore power after an outage now than it did years ago? Not saying this to freak out Cindy, I promise, but we've seen friends in highly populated areas who went over 7 days without electricity. I think the longest outage I've experienced was maybe 4 days. We were living well with the gas grill then, enjoying (formerly) frozen salmon and other delicacies from the freeezer.
I have no special stores of anything at home, but like others have said could do pretty well on canned and dry foods for several days.
I've never done this, but a bit of guidance from the Y2K scare has stuck with me: when a predictable disaster is coming your way, seal your bathtub drain and fill the tub with a reservoir of fresh water.0 -
Yeah it has been since 1962 when we had 116 MPH gusts with the famous Columbus Day Storm. Not a tropical storm but definitely strong above hurricane force winds.1
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I had 11 days without power during and after Hurricane Sandy. Eating cold canned goods became tiresome after 2-3 days. After that I was able to drive to other areas that did have power and ate all my meals out. That grew tiresome too. And worrisome because gasoline was extremely hard to come by. But it was the lack of heat and hot water and light throughout the entire time that was the worst.
I'm thinking of you, Cindy, and all others who may be impacted by the hurricane. Take care of yourselves.0 -
Looks like a pretty good list; I can't think of anything to add. Stay safe Cindy and all who are going to be affected by Matthew!0
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only thing I would add is as many freezer packs or ice in tupperware as you have space for to keep things cold in the freezer fridge for as long as possible.
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Stay safe Cindy and others.0
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DavidKuhnsSr wrote: »You HAVE to have some way to make coffee.
Believe it or not, as I was making my coffee this morning, I was thinking about THAT! LOL Probably the LEAST of my problems.0 -
cakeman21k wrote: »only thing I would add is as many freezer packs or ice in tupperware as you have space for to keep things cold in the freezer fridge for as long as possible.
I have about 30 ziploc bags of ice cubes in my freezer! Another thing that this does (if you're away when the power comes back on) is a way to determine whether your freezer was without power long enough to thaw everything. If you get back and you still have cubes of ice in the bags, you're okay. If you get back and you have nothing but bags with a solid block of ice, you should probably just toss everything in the freezer because that means the freezer was without power long enough to COMPLETELY melt all the ice cubes.0 -
