You are encouraged to have at least the following items on hand so you may be better prepared to deal with power outages:
Tips for an Electrical Outage from the City of Dover, DE. They suggest the following: Turn off your electric water heater (usually the top left-hand circuit breaker) and unplug any solid state electrical equipment (microwave, VCR, TV) so that it won't be damaged by a power overload when the electricity comes back on.
Turn on your porch light or other outside light so that when our crews are in the area they can more easily see which houses have power and which don't. It also helps them know when and where the power is back on.
Canned & Packaged Goods Date Codes - Clicking HERE will take you to a listing that will help you decipher those confusing codes on the tops and sides of canned, boxed & bottled goods.
FEMA Recommendations
The RED CROSS has a page which lists the items you should keep in your home in case of emergency. Click HERE to see their list.
They recommend a three day supply of water, but remember there were people after Katrina who couldn't be recued for a week. What do we have to lose by storing more than we THINK we'll need?
Necessaries In An Electrical Outage
Make It Large - Make It Little - But Make It
Webster's 1913 Dictionary says a pantry is "an apartment or closet in which bread and other provisions are kept." The online Wikipedia states, "A pantry is a room in a domestic house used for food storage. The derivation of the word is from the Old French term 'paneterie'. A pantry may contain a thrawl, which is a term used in Yorkshire and Derbyshire (England), and is a stone slab or shelf used to keep food cool in the days before refrigeration was domestically available.
Our grandmothers or great grandmothers (depends on your age) most likely all had one. Their reasons for having one may differ from yours, but having one is a good idea no matter where you live. Mentally walk through your day today. Remember all the products you needed like toilet paper, water, pasta, rice, potatoes (dehydrated flakes store well if kept dry), veggies, meat or fish, etc. That's how to think of what you'll need in your pantry. Some folks will stock canned goods and often forget the need to have a MANUAL can opener. It would be torture to need the food that's in a can, and not be able to open it if the electricity is out and you only own an electric can opener.
Mormons make it a practice to stock enough necessaries for at least a year I believe. I'm not Mormon, but I share their belief in being prepared. I've found several sites or articles on the internet, which help with understanding why we should all have a pantry. Some pages concentrate on what to stock. Others may go on to explain how to maintain a good pantry. Yes, there is a right way to do it. If you think of how food stores put the newest/freshest item behind the older products, you'll understand how to work your way through the items in your pantry.
If you try to create a pantry complete with canned and dry goods when bad weather is approaching, you'd better plan on having lots of money immediately on hand. Of course, there's always the possibility of unexpected prolonged electrical outages to plan for.
If you're like me and have to watch every dollar, then watch the food store ads for specials each week. ACME and Food Lion are two of my personal favorites for incredible "buy one get one free specials". When you see an item you'd like to stock in your pantry on sale, buy several of that item. If you do this as a regular practice you can save hundreds of dollars in a year. I know. I've done it. Because of doing this, I've had the opportunity to help friends who've fallen on hard times, and have to choose between paying the electric bill or feeding their family.
On the website organizedhome.com, editor Cynthia Townley Ewer states, "The secret weapon of a well-organized kitchen is a working pantry. A planned reserve of foodstuffs and sundries used in the home, a pantry saves time, money and stress in the kitchen. Tap the pantry for unexpected meals and reduce trips to the supermarket. Stock it with frugal finds to lower grocery costs. Set aside a supply of food and sundries for a rainy day and protect your family against weather emergencies or financial dislocation. Properly managed, the pantry is an integral part of an organized home. Polish your pantry pride with our best hints and tips: ..." If storage space is really limited, Cynthia has some advice. To read her great tips, click HERE. Even a fairly small apartment has food storage space you haven't thought of.
Milk - Any Flavor You Favor
"Parmalat® Milk Box is real, wholesome milk, which is made available by using a revolutionary pasteurization process. This process heats the milk to an ultra high temperature, killing all bacteria that could cause the milk to spoil. The milk is then stored in an innovative ‘box’ that is seven layers thick and has an airtight seal. This prevents any contamination with air, light and bacteria. It keeps our milk healthful and delicious for up to six months (from the day packaged) without any refrigeration required, prior to opening. All Parmalat Shelf Stable milk quarts are packed 12 quarts per case. Our milk is also available in 5 gallon Bag in a Box."
The above is the blurb on the manufacturer's site. To see all the information on products they produce, go to Farmland Dairies I personally wouldn't recommend purchasing the 5 gal. bag due to the fact that once opened, Parmalat needs refrigeration.
Having milk on hand that can be stored without refrigeration truly comes in handy if you find it's too late in the day to run out and grab some. Not everyone can just pop into a car and run to the store.
I used to stock some Parmalat in my mother's pantry for her use for when the weather was bad, or she wasn't able to drive while recuperating from injury or sickness. It does taste a little different than your regular milk, but certainly not differently enough to discourage my 13 yr. old from pouring it over her cereal. Do you remember seeing scenes of empty milk departments in the grocery stores when the weather folk call for a coming snow storm? Stocking some Parmalat saves you from having to stand in those long check-out lines. There's also the possibility that there won't be any milk left in the store by the time you get there.
I'm sure pricing varies by geographic location, but here in the Dover area it runs about $1.37/qt. It's not cheap, but it's sure come in handy many times in my household. When you go to your food store, you WON'T find it in with the cold milk. You might want to save yourself some trouble by asking the store personnel where to find it. Not all stores carry it. I know that the Dover, DE. ACME and WalMart do.
Stagger when you buy a couple quarts by when you see a new expiration date on the top of the carton. That way it won't all go out of date at once. Because I stock Parmalat in my pantry, I've been able to help a couple families out by sharing some with them when they ran out of milk at a bad time.
Cheese
Cheese is of course another dairy item you may want to stock if for no other reason than it can be used to fend off dietary fatigue (getting bored of eating the same "stuff"). Processed cheeses such as Velveeta have a pretty long shelf life, and don't have to be refrigerated before opening. If you have bread on hand you can make grilled cheese sandwiches even on a BBQ grill with the use of a cast iron skillet.
Meats
I've noticed a new packaging idea in the last year or so. Many of the companies that package meats and fish for long term storage in the pantry are using foil packaging. One of the recent additions to this growing list of products is "Jack Link's Fully Cooked Ground Beef". It comes in 3 flavors. There's lightly seasoned Italian style, and Mexican style. The package states it's the equivalent to 1 lb. of fresh uncooked ground beef. It has no preservatives, and is fully drained No refrigeration is needed. The shelf life is 6 months. I know WalMart carries this product.
Hormel's canned ham chunks has a shelf life of 2 years. You can find all kinds of fish and meat products in your local grocery store in both cans and foil packaging. Variety is what you want to shoot for.
Don't Forget Paper Products!
Forget worrying about no food or water...grin. Who would want to find themselves without toilet paper? We can all get along without paper towels, but it's smart to always be ahead of the game when it comes to stocking up on toilet paper. I usually try to have an extra, large package of paper in stock in my pantry. Yes, I've been known to donate a roll or two to friends and neighbors when they couldn't get out to get some.
Water
You might consider having some extra drinking water stored somewhere in your home. At the very least, have several bottles (described below) on hand so that you could empty the water stored in your hot water heater in them. If your electricity has been out for a while, and the water in the tank has been allowed to cool, fill as many bottles as you think you'll need until the electricity is turned back on. Unless you've been living for months in your castle in the British Isles, you should be able to forego the bleach treatment mentioned below. That's useful for water that's intended to be stored for a long period of time.
The type of bottle that you'd probably find it easiest to save is a 2 liter soda bottle like you see below. Actually, any type of bottle that's made of the same clear plastic will do for long term water storage such as the large bottles that hold apple juice. These bottles are not bio-degradable. The typical plastic milk jugs which appear cloudy will deteriorate in time. If you're working on a tight budget and soda is a luxury, WalMart's Sams Club brand of soda is about 50 cents for a 2 liter bottle.
I've located a great page on the internet that explains how much bleach to use in order to properly purify the water you've stored. Click HERE for that information. You'll need to purchase an eye dropper in order to measure the bleach properly. Fill your bottle as full as you can get it. I understand this will help keep the water from going flat. Be sure to get unscented bleach.
It's best not to wait until you hear a storm is coming before you start filling bottles unless you have absolutely NO room whatsoever to store them. Waiting will work only if the emergency which causes an interruption of your water supply is seen coming such as a bad weather event. In these days of shaky national security however we may not see an electrical outage coming. You can always stand in the center of town waiting in long lines for water. FEMA suggests keeping a 3 day supply of water, but the folks who just experienced hurricane Charley were told it could be up to TWO WEEKS before electricity is returned to all areas. I'd rather have more than I need rather than not enough.
Instead of messing with bleach, you can use another water purification method. For instance, sometimes you can find a second-hand Brita water filtration system at a yard sale or at stores such as Goodwill or Salvation Army. For more information on Brita products, you can click HERE and visit their site. My daughter was quick to remind me that you can always buy the bottled water from the store, but that tends to be fairly expensive if you want to store enough for a couple weeks worth. Also, don't forget that your hot water heater is holding water for you.
I will NOT completely duplicate the efforts of others who have gone to the trouble to provide good information and suggestions on the web in regard to the food goods you might want to stock in your pantry. Below are some links to what I believe are good sources of information.
