Building A One Month Preparedness Pantry ... part 6

You can read previous posts HERE along with an explanation of why I'm doing this series HERE. 

In this post we're going to wrap up this series talking about food. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this as building and maintaining a well-stocked pantry is what A Working Pantry is all about.  

Let me just say this, we saw many people and distributed food boxes to many people who did not have food due to the aftereffects of Hurricane Matthew.  Some of it was not preventable, most of it was.

Keeping a well-stocked pantry will prevent you from having to live on junk food or whatever else you can find that doesn't have to be cooked until help arrives.  

How long could your family survive on your current food pantry?  Would your family be among those who were helping provide food to others or would your family be among those waiting for someone to help them?

The difference could very well lie in whether or not you have a well-stocked pantry? A well-stocked pantry along with the other things we've talked about in this series would enable you to weather most natural disasters, which is what this
series has been all about.

I hope this series has been beneficial to you and that you can take the things I've shared and learn from them.

Patsi 

Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

A Working Pantry

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine 

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE. 

Building a One Month Basic Preparedness Pantry ... part 5

You can read previous posts HERE along with an explanation of why I'm doing this series HERE. 

In this post we're going to talk about water … water to drink, water to flush your toilet, water for your animals and water to run your household.

In a disaster situation drinkable, useable water is often the first thing that becomes unavailable and is the one thing we cannot live without.

Several days after some of the stores in our area had electricity restored, they still did not have safe water to drink or bathrooms for customers use.  One store set up port-a-potties outside the store.  Another store limited the number of customers that could be in the store at one time to 25 because there was no water for the store sprinkler system. Both of these are very large nationally well-known stores.

Drinkable, useable water was trucked into our area by the tractor trailer loads for several weeks. Watering stations were set up in different locations so people could get the water they needed.   For those who were trapped by the flood waters or damaged roads getting drinkable water was a real issue.

So, let’s talk about water and look at some ways to be prepared in this area …

Bottled water (watch for sales and stock up if it’s not an immediate emergency), you would need to use and rotate to keep fresh

5 gallon size jugs of water you can purchase, you would need to use and rotate to keep fresh  

Fill up the bathtub or use a waterbob

Use Watering cans to transport water

Fill up clean empty milk cartons

Fill up empty juice bottles

Boil, treat and sterilize water from outside sources (you would want to be careful where you got the water).  

Catch rain water  

Patsi 

Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

A Working Pantry

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine 

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE. 

Building A One Month Preparedness Pantry ... part 4

You will remember that the reason I started this series was because we are in the area that was hit the hardest by Hurricane Matthew when he made landfall on October 7th, 8th and 9th of last year.  While we had very little damage personally others around us were not so fortunate.

My husband and I along with others spent the better part of the rest of 2016 helping those who had been affected by the hurricane. The devastation was unbelievable!  As a result, I decided to write this series with the hopes that it would help others be more prepared for natural disasters, thus Building A One Month Preparedness Pantry was born.

You can read previous posts HERE along with a more in-depth explanation of why I'm doing this series HERE.

In this post we're going to talk about non-electric ways to cook food when the power goes out.

We saw lots and lots of people who were existing on snack crackers, chips, potted meat, etc because they had no means to cook. We also were told by many that they had lost the foods in their refrigerators and freezers because they had no way to cook it before it spoiled.  Many were without power for several days and some for several weeks.

So, let's talk about some non-electric ways to cook food.   There's the ...

gas grill ... There are all shapes and sizes to choose from, from tabletop size to the huge stand-alone kind ... and of course you would need propane gas to fuel it.

charcoal grill ... charcoal would be needed and here again they come in all shapes and sizes.

gas camp stove burner ... don't forget the propane gas

solar oven ... the right time of the year this would work

rocket stove ...this would do in a pinch

wood stove (you can get portable wood stoves) ... you would need wood and of course it would heat up the area around it, that's something that would need to be taken into consideration especially if you lost power in the summer.

fire pit (gas or wood) ... depending on the weather this would be an option for outside.  This would work for roasting hot dogs and such.

gas stove ... you would need to make sure that you had gas on hand to run it. These come in all sizes and shapes from appliance size to portable sizes suitable for camping.

propane cooker ... this would need to be used outside.

When considering options for cooking without electricity it would be wise to have as many back-ups as possible.

So many people we came into contact with were simply victims of not being prepared.

Patsi 

Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

A Working Pantry

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine 

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE. 

Building A One Month Preparedness Pantry ... part 3

Part 1 of this series can be found HERE and part 2 can be found HERE.  

The reason I started this series can be found HERE.

Part 3 is about disposables ... paper plates, plastic cups, plastic utensils, paper towels, etc. As a general rule the only one of these items we use on a regular basis are paper towels unless we have a power outage!

A power outage for us means we do not have running water and if we do not have running water I'm all about those paper products.  I'm all about using and throwing it all away. Why?  Because it's just easier not to have to heat water to wash dishes in and in a temporary off-grid situation where everything takes longer and is harder to do this little convenience is one I'm going to use if at all possible.

Are they expensive, they can be, but they don't have to be!  I have a collection of holiday paper plates we use that I've gotten by purchasing them for a fraction of their cost after the holidays are over.  Just recently I added the plates in the picture above to my collection about a week after Halloween for $.37 a package.  It doesn't matter to me that they are holiday plates, to me they are our emergency preparedness plates.  So, in a plastic tub they will go along with our plastic cups and plastic utensils.  

Once a year, at Christmas, we purchase red plastic cups in bulk to package the fudge in that my husband makes for food gifts (We get the cups at Sam's Club and I think there's either 180  or 200 cups to the package.  The package usually runs around $10.).  Whatever is left of those goes into our emergency paper products preparedness tub. When we travel and have to stay in a hotel, we bring home the unused styrofoam or plastic cups that come with the price of our room. Between the two, we can usually keep enough in our preparedness tub to get us through a power outage. Remember, we're preparing for a 1 month power outage so save accordingly.

We do purchase a box of plastic utensils at Sam's Club, the one's that are individually packaged with a napkin, fork, spoon and possibly a knife, to have in our preparedness tub. One box will last us a long time and it sure does make cleaning up from a meal in a non-electric situation a lot easier.

Being prepared by having disposables on hand will make a difficult situation a little easier to handle!  Trust me on this! 

Patsi 

Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

A Working Pantry

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine 

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE. 

Building a Basic One Month Preparedness Pantry ... part 2

Part 1 of this series can be found HERE.  The reason why I started this series can be found HERE.

Part 2 is all about non- electric emergency lighting...

When the power is disrupted in an emergency situation the lights go out as well.  If the power interruption happens in the evening or at night, we are literally left in the dark with no warning.  No one likes stumbling around in the dark looking for a flashlight or a candle to light so part of our basic one-month preparedness pantry is to have our non-electric light sources available and ready for use.

Here are some options:

Flashlight.  This is probably the first thing we all reach for when the lights go out so we need to know where we can find one ASAP.  Pick a location in your house and keep one there at all times when not in use, that way you will know where to go immediately when it’s needed.  Here's an option for a solar powered flashlight too!

Oil lamps.  (make sure you have oil for your lamps as well)  We keep our oil lamps displayed as part of our home décor so that they will be ready to light when needed.  We keep oil for our lamps in a safe place that is easily accessible to us.

Battery operated lamps/lanterns (make sure you have batteries)  Our battery operated lantern is stored on a shelf where all we need to do is reach and get it.  We also have a central location for all our batteries.  We know right where to go when batteries are needed and don’t have to spend time searching for them.  If power has already been lost, you don’t want to be searching around in the dark for batteries so pick one location and keep all your batteries together.

Head lamps.  I can’t say enough good about head lamps.  During our days without power during Hurricane Matthew I used a head lamp quite a bit.  It went with me where ever I went and left my hands free.  You can adjust the light up or down on the ones we have as well as the brightness or dimness.   It sure was handy when doing handwork or reading and of course when up and walking around.

Emergency candles.  Emergency candles are different from regular candles.  Emergency candles are meant to burn longer and put out a bit more light.  Make sure you have a safe way to burn them.   If they are single stand-alone candles make sure you put them in a container that will not allow them to fall over.  You don’t want to have to worry about your house catching on fire while providing light for your home.

Solar powered landscaping lights.  If you have solar powered landscaping lights in your yard, bring them in and use them as a light source.  The next morning take them back outside to let them recharge.  It’s not a huge amount of light but it is better than nothing.

Fragrance candles can be used but they don’t give off as much light and you need to be aware of anyone in your household who might have allergies to the fragrance.

Store these items somewhere in your house so that you can get to them easily when needed, maybe a tub or tote labeled emergency lighting would work.  If you're storing oil lamps make sure they are empty of any oil.   The goal is to know where your emergency lighting supplies are and be able to get to them as soon as possible when needed.

One more thing … store enough for a month!   You’ll be surprised how much you'll use and while no one anticipates being without power for an entire month, having what you think is a month’s supply will ensure that you actually do have enough to get through several days without being left completely in the dark!

Being prepared with non-electric emergency lighting means the difference between sitting in the dark and as one person put it, ‘looking at the four walls and doing nothing’ and being able to function.

Patsi 

Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

A Working Pantry

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine 

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE. 

Building a Basic One Month Preparedness Pantry ... part 1

Previous posts in this series can be found HERE.

(Photo is of some of the many boxes of food and basic supplies that were distributed to victims of Hurricane Matthew in our area.)

We’ve spent the last week recovering and helping others recover from the devastation of Hurricane Matthew.  In some ways this past week has been surreal.  I’ve seen so much and learned so much and it is the experience of that ‘much’ that I want to draw on and share with you.

I hope you take this series seriously, the information I’ll be sharing and the things I’ll be suggesting you do could very well someday make a big difference in your life.  I want you to be able to take care of your family's needs in an emergency instead of having to stand in long lines for several hours just to get the basic necessities.  

Okay, the first thing you need to do to build a basic one-month preparedness pantry is ….

Assess what your needs would be!  If you had to depend solely on what was in your pantry for one month, without electricity, what would you need to have?

Remember that your pantry is more than just food.   It’s the food and household supplies that keep your home running smoothly readily available when needed.

Everyone is in a different season of life, so our lists are going to look different, but getting prepared starts with assessing and making a list.  Here is what ours looks like …

Medication (over the counter and prescription)

First Aid-Kit

Nourishing food

Comfort food (don’t underestimate how important this is)

Batteries

Non-electric lighting

Paper products (disposable plates, plastic wear, paper towels)

A non-electric way to cook/prepare meals

Drinking water

Household/bathing water

BOB … Bug Out Bag (in case we have to evacuate our home at a moment’s notice), also known as a 72 - hour emergency kit

Remember this is your one-month preparedness pantry; it won’t work for you if it’s not tailored to your specific needs.

So, what does your ‘list’ look like?

Patsi 

Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

A Working Pantry

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine 

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE. 

Why Prepare?

A week ago today, on Friday, October 7^th, 2016, Hurricane Matthew slammed into our area leaving massive destruction.  Many were caught unprepared because of the varying weather/hurricane predictions we were given.  Others did not even attempt to prepare because ‘they just don’t do that kind of thing.’

We were among the minority who didn’t receive any damage, that we’ve been able to find thus far, other than a yard filled with debris (our mailbox was a casualty, but that really was nothing compared to others). We did lose power, phone and internet service but have all three back as of this writing.  While we did not have all of our regular comforts of home, we made it fine … because we were prepared.

Preparedness is not just for those who think there is going to be some kind of major world/national apocalyptic event.   I firmly believe, and the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew has reinforced this belief, that everyone should have some level of preparedness.

This week I’ve seen and talked with …

those who lost everything due to flooding or because a dam broke/was over run (I think my heart goes out to these people the most, there just isn’t a way to prepare for sudden catastrophic flooding),

those who lost power and were existing on honey buns and snack foods,

those who lost everything in their refrigerators and freezers because of lack of power,

those who had no safe drinking water,

those whose ability to get to work became impossible or in some instances suddenly became unemployed because of the devastation of Hurricane Matthew  (The economic fallout of Hurricane Matthew is just beginning to be felt.) ,

those who were and are stranded in their homes because of flooding,

those who had no means of non-electric lighting, and

those who had no water for household purposes during the power outage.

I’ve seen and talked to people who had no food, they simply could not fathom having more than 4 or 5 days of food in the house and when you take into consideration that a good part of that food required refrigeration or a freezer; that 4 or 5 days suddenly became 2 – 3 days of food.

So, why prepare?   Do catastrophic events only happen to others?  Is there not a need for a basic level of preparedness?  I’ve always thought there was and after what I’ve seen and witnessed this week, I’m even more convinced.  So, beginning next week, I am going to start a series on how to build and maintain a very basic 1 month preparedness ‘pantry’ that will see you through your own “Hurricane Matthew’ type scenario. 

Until tomorrow!

Patsi 

Sharing 42 years' experience of frugal, prudent living and pantry building 

A Working Pantry

My second blog:  From This Heart of Mine 

She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27 

You can view my privacy policy HERE.