Hurricane Preparedness

Sigh. It's that time of year again, folks. In the south, people that live near-ish the coast are getting ready for these lovely large storms that leave a swath of destruction in their wake. To me, the worst part about hurricane season (aside from the actual hurricanes) is trying to build up a stockpile of food.

Not eating meat complicates things, as most nonperishable entrees contain "meat" (or at least that is what we will call that stuff). Trying to eat healthy means that we don't eat a lot of canned veggies, preferring fresh, and in the absence of fresh, frozen.

We do eat canned beans (easier, faster, and honestly, BETTER than my attempts at cooking dried beans. And plus, they are still pretty economical), and canned tomatoes. We also have luxury canned goods such as olives, artichoke hearts, pesto, etc. Oh, to be an American during these times. It's great, I tell you!

(Ok, I have wiped the drool off my keyboard now).....

We don't have a grill (we did have one, and it exploded. Yeah. That was pretty scary.), so our only method of cooking is a camp stove. I'm thinking about making a solar cooker, but until that happens, let's not assume I would be able to cook with one.

What I learned from Ike is that a lot of people purchase chips and packaged bakery items (i.e. Hostess cupcakes). You know, I had honestly NEVER considered those as hurricane items. But they are nonperishables, eh? I don't think that chips would make it in this house. Hostess type snacks might not either, since it's something we literally NEVER have. But in a pinch, I'm going to remember that.

Here are the ideas I have so far:

-Instant oatmeal
-Couscous (fast cooking, and flavored if you want it)
-PB and J :D
-Bread (this would have to be purchased right before a storm)
-canned beans
-canned tomatoes
-canned fruit
-canned veggies
-those delish vacuum-packed dishes you find in the Indian section of the grocery store!
-Stovetop stuffing (I love this stuff, and it's comfort food....good after a scary storm)

I would plan on giving the veggies to a food bank after the season if we didn't use them.

But yeah. That's all I have. Not very good, is it?

I'm going to be thinking and stockpiling, and I'll continue to update if I have any ideas. In the meantime, leave me any comments you may have about what I should add to the list.