Emergency Kit: Kitchen Preparation- Storm outages

[Melissa Burnell]

HOW MUCH EMERGENCY FOOD?: the foods below are fairly light weight, but there
are some canned goods, most of it needs water to be ready to eat .. although
the standard is supplies for 3 days, considering the FEMA response etc I’d
vote for at least a week’s worth of food and water … this is only possible if
you have a car ..I have an online buddy who has spent so far 11 hours and moved
31 miles in TX today .. water adds in weight .. alot of weight there is no
way you can physically carry all you need

WATER: 1 gallon of water is about 8 pounds .. recommendations run 1 – 1 1/2
gallons a day so up to 12 # per person per day .. having smaller bottles to
carry water on your person may work better than trying to lug a gallon in a
backpack

if you are recycling containers for water you must clean them, then toss
bleach in them swish around, dump and add fresh water ..

you can carry iodine or purification tablets as well as backup bleach

KITCHEN GEAR:
IMPORTANT: put all the foods you want to use for emergency use in the freezer
for at least 5 days .. opening a package of rice with miller moths is not a
good thing …

we go on vacation every year and bring some kitchen gear with us .. this is
in the emergency closet so we can just grab and go .. I found this great square
pack with handles .. it has my peeler (I hate the ones in the condo), can
opener, lightweight plastic dish set for picnics etc (I avoid paper if possible),
camp silverware, zip bags (the guys fish), aluminum foil, corn meal and
flour mixture (for fish), spices (spices you can use pill bottles to store them
in, dried onions, dried mushrooms), bottle of oil (plastic bottle in zip
bag), empty bottle for minced garlic (we refill each year), oh and my frypan the
ones there generally suck, dried tomatoes yada yada ..

Misc kitchen gear: a large family pot or 2, a ladle, frypan (lid works on
mess kits), can opener, freezer zip bags (handy for all kinds of things) ..
spices – although spices sounds like overdoing it – for kids the taste of familiar
things can be calming .. film cannisters are not food safe but if spices are
in baggies and twist tied it would work

adults or older kids will need to carry the canned goods, dark kidneys,
tomatoes, corn etc ..

grab from the house breads,cheese, fresh fruit & veggies etc

fold down sterno stoves are easy to pack, the weight of the sterno may or may
not be a concern .. we carried these in the saddlebags of the bike so we
could stop and have soenmthing to drink and eat in local parks etc … you can
also pick up stoves that will burn anything – we got ours years ago and think it
was close to $60 then .. lightweight, quick heat for cooking, very efficent
use of fuel (pinecones, bark whatever) .. pack an extra set of waxed matches
with stove

Ice chests – assuming you have freezer room put some 1/2 gallon milk jugs in
fridge and freeze (some for the freezer ice chest, some for the current ice
chest and some for drinking water use the first day (*wrap these and have out) ..

for the ice chest you will be getting into – limit opening the lid, ice will
melt quickly and you can loose your food stocks

having two smaller ones makes more sense than 1 big one .. designate one as
long term storage (2-3 days from now foods) .. all food needs to be frozen and
wrapped .. use the frozen jugs of water (do not top off with water) .. pack
food low, then cover with blue ice, then another layer or 2 of newspaper old
blanket, towel whatever

EMERGENCY FOODS: suggest you make some of these and cook them, you can adjust
to fit your families tastes

use your SEAL – A – MEAL to make channels .. measure out one serving, place
in channel (*try using a funnel) then seal and cut ..

complex carbs will hold you over, eliminate the puffed cold cereals – no
staying power

nuts are a good source of protein, another is quinoe (*grain from S America)

HOT RICE CEREAL – serve 4 (divide into 4 bags)
3 C Minute Rice
1 t cinnamon
1/2 C dried fruit (raisins, dried apples, etc)
dried milk & creamer

**for all add 3 C water ..for individual serving add 3/4 C hot water and cook
.. Bring to a boil, cover, remove from heat. Allow to steam 5 – 7 minutes ..

HOT CORN MEAL MUSH – serve 4 (divide into 4 bags)
1 C corn meal
1 t salt
dried milk & creamer
tad of sugar (opt)

**for all add 3 C boiling water .. individual serving 3/4 C water

HOT OVERNIGHT CEREAL – serves 3 – 4 (bag up separate)
1 C cracked wheat
1 C oats
1/4 C wheat germ
1/4 C brown sugar
1C dried fruit
cinnamon

**cover w/hot water and leave lid on .. in morning simmer addung water to
prevent sticking

CREAM OF WHEAT

CREAM OF RICE

QUICK GRITS

CEREAL ADD INS: (divide into approx 1/4 C package)
6oz dried fruit
1/4 C raisins
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/3 C shredded coconut

**cover with water, cook til raisins are plump .. add on top of hot cereals

other options:
1/2 C grape nuts
chopped dates
sunflower seeds
nuts

SCRAMBLED EGGS – serves 2 (package at least 3 of these, can be used in other
ways)
2/3 C dry egg powder
1 T wheat germ
3 T dry milk
pinch of parsley, chives, salt & pepper

* add 2/3C warm water. stir lightly & cook .. real bacon bits are a nice
addition

SNACKS: everyone should be carrying individual servings of snacks

GORP:
Raisins, salted nuts, choc chips, cocoanuts, chopped dates etc etc

package in small 1/3C packets

PEANUT BUTTER BALLS:
1/2 C smooth peanut butter
1/2 C honey
gradually add in
1 C dry milk
1 C uncooked quick oats
use melon baller or roll into small ball let dry for several hours to day ..
wrap and package

COOKIES:
fig newtons, oatmeal cookies, shortbread

CANDY:
individual wrapped candies

BREADS:
Pita bread, tortillas, heavy brown breads – rye, pumpernickel,

MEATS or SUBSTITUTES:
dry salami, smoked meat sticks, beef jerky .. canned tuna .. ham in can
(*small) .. canned chicken ..

TVP granules .. peanut butter

SOUPS:
Wyler’s packaged soups. bouillon, lipton etc

instant potato, dehydrated onion, bacon bits, paprika, garlic powder, dash of
cayenne, some creamer makes a good soup

check the grocery shelf for soup starters most have dehydrated veggies in them

MEAL ADDITIONS:
pasta bag 1/2 C per person individually .. can boil with boullion

ramen cook 2 packages of noodles w/ 1 package of spice save it for another
meal

box mac & cheese * split the cheese mix in 2 add in creamer and/or dried
milk, add a bit more pasta (also split into 2 bag up individually

DRINKS:
make a variety of drink servings

Tang (this is really great hot, also good if you have a cold)
Hot coffee w/creamer & sugar (*label if you have diabetics)
Hot cocoa mix
Cool-aid – find out how mnay servings you get from one package and split up
the coolaid – I like a bit of Lemonade tossed into my water

STORAGE:
If trying to store large amounts of food .. make sure you freeze it for 5days
first, bug eggs are allowed in our foods, when they hatch you loose your food
..

small metal garbage cans, fruitcake tins are all options ..

I use canning jars & metal lids (not plastic) up at camp to keep the mice out
of pasta, flour, pancake mix etc etc

[nealsmith]

We keep an Emergency Pail under the stairs in the hallway. It’s an inexpensive 5 gallon bucket from lowes with about a weeks worth of homemade mixes for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. We went through nasty storm several years back where we lost power for about a week and we’ve been very careful since then to ensure we have an emergency kit. Between Tornadoes, ice storms, wind storms, hurricanes and all the damn terrorists these days, you just never know when you’ll need it.

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