Being Prepared

For many of our members in the United States this weekend brings storm warnings.  If you don’t live on the east coast of the U.S. you’re spared the hurricane warnings this time but we all know that, wherever you live, from time to time you need to be prepared for a few days without conveniences.

 

We’ve got a few tips for stocking your cupboard that you can use, either now or in the future.

 

Be sure that you don’t use loss of electricity as an excuse for eating poorly.  Chances are, without refrigeration, you’ll be eating more concentrated food than usual but you can still get wet foods into your diet if you give it a little thought.

 

~ Choose fruits that will hold up without refrigeration.  Apples and oranges and bananas are good choices and an uncut pineapple will last on the counter for some time.

~ Have bread, crackers and nut butters on hand.  Buy raw nuts rather than salted nuts and splurge on some dried fruits for snacking.

~  Healthy cereals and boxed almond, soy or rice milk are great to have on hand and granola can be a snack by itself or used as a cereal.

~ Under normal circumstances we’re all about getting the most value and reducing packaging but in a storm situation have single serve packages at the ready, salad dressings, fruit cups, tuna.

~ If you have a stove top or a grill you can make a hearty soup out of canned tomato sauce and cans of beans and vegetables.  Add your favorite dried herbs and you’ve got a meal.

~ Create your own single serve meals and place them in the front of your fridge or the top of your cooler so that you can grab them fast.  Salads can be made in advance and placed in resealable plastic bags.  Make stackable salads in jars putting dressing on the bottom, heartier veggies next (carrots, peppers, onions, then the greens in ascending order so that the greens are not soaking in the dressing.  Grab the salad and turn it over on a plate.

~ Tomatoes are still in season in some areas and they keep well without refrigeration.  A sliced tomato will taste great by itself or drizzled with some olive oil as a salad.

~ Don’t forget about your pets.  When you’re stocking up on the human food make sure you’ve got a reserve supply for the furbabies.  If the power is out and the stores are closed you’ll be glad you have an extra bag of kibble.

 

These are just a few ideas for inclement weather and power outages but they also work for other instances.  It’s good to have these items on hand for days when life throws you a curve and you just can’t get out to shop.

 

Of course if there’s a reason to expect power outages or danger of any kind we urge you to follow the news and weather carefully and to make preparations as suggested by your local office of emergency management.