No Power, No Food.

[Tsagamer]

Hey everyone,

I live in NH and have been without power for 4 days so far. The power company says it'll be another 7 days before power is restored. Today I ran out of non perishable Food, and both my local grocery stores had to trash most of thier gluten-free products cause of a power outtage. I can't eat out like everyone else is....any ideas?

[celiac-mommy]

Do you have a cooler, or could you get some bags of ice to put in your freezer and grab some cheese, milk, lunchmeats etc... otherwise, nuts, nut butter, rice chex, gluten-free rice cakes etc...

[DarkIvy]

Oh my goodness...

Have you tried getting some canned goods? Tuna, sardines, and simple rice crackers?

Other than that I'm totally at a loss. That's really, really awful and I hope they get out there sooner than you expect. Good luck with everything, you'll be in my thoughts and prayers!

[DarkIvy]

Oh!!

I just thought of something... in situations like this, sometimes they prioritize for people with the most need. Have you let the power company know of you dietary restrictions and that you need to be able to cook and store food? I don't know how it works, but maybe if they know that you can't just run to pizza hut and grab food like everyone else they might make you higher on the priority list.

[Tsagamer]

both stores I went to today had empty refrigorator and freezer sections. I've been living snack foods and rice chex for awhile...I will try calling PSNH though....

[Jestgar]

Is it cold enough to store food outside?

Do you have a grill you can cook on? (OUTSIDE. DON'T BRING A GRILL INSIDE TO WARM THE HOUSE)

[LDJofDenver]

Hey everyone,

I live in NH and have been without power for 4 days so far. The power company says it'll be another 7 days before power is restored. Today I ran out of non perishable Food, and both my local grocery stores had to trash most of thier gluten-free products cause of a power outtage. I can't eat out like everyone else is....any ideas?

Like someone recommended, you could heat some things up on a grill (gas grill or charcoal). If you don't have one, maybe just pick up a little one, or even a little back-packer camp cook burner.

If not a possibility, you can eat canned goods as is without heating (of course, they would be more appetizing if warmed, but...) Progresso has several OK, gluten-free, soups: Chicken & Wild Rice, Chicken Corn Chowder, Chicken Rice w/Vegetables, New England Clam Chowder, Lentil, French Onion -- they have good labelling, will state in bold if wheat is in it. Dinty Moore beef stew is gluten-free. And Stagg chilis: Classic, Ranch House Chicken, Turkey Ranchero and more, usually have gluten free right on the label of OK. And of course, there's always canned beans -- good protein, many are gluten-free, you could add spices: Bush's Best Baked beans-homestyle, honey, original, vegetarian, bold & spicy. Bush's navy beans, pinto, refried beans. B&M baked beans: original, maple, barbecue, bacon & onion.

Hope that helps, and hope your power is restored sooner than later.

[missy'smom]

When we were without power earlier this year we cooked on our one burner butan gas powered potable burner. The asian market in our area sells them. The burners are around 20 something dollars. The small gas canisters were very inexpensive and last a while. We made canned soups and stir fries with canned chicken, hot dogs and steamed rice. Canned corn and some other veg, and tuna don't need to be warmed up. You could make a salad of some kind with those and a vinagrette with salt and pepper, olive oil vinegar and herbs. The area where Whole Foods is had power and has a cafe with a microwave so we went there once and bought a meal and microwaved it. Is there somewhere that would let you do something like that?

[purple]

I'm so sorry...we live in the mtns but our power only goes off for a day. I am trying to think. Can you buy a propane bottle stove with 1 burner to cook on?

Peanut butter on gluten-free cookies, chips and refried beans.

Ask the neighbors if you can use their means of cooking.

Any Farmer's Markets?? Any camping type stores to get back packing food like ready-to-eat-meals?

Do you /neighbors have a generator or wood stove?

A fire place to roast hotdogs if you had some? Or bake potatoes in. Dutch oven cooking?

Do you have snow? Off food topic...You can fill the bathtub or buckets and when the snow melts use the water to flush the toilet.

Easy to heat foods:

Beans, chili, canned veggies, corn or rice pasta and sauce, canned salmon, broth/pasta/canned chicken

Nachos-refried beans, canned or fresh tomatoes

Canned fruits/juice

[nutrifoodie]

I live in NH too, but am not there currently because I am in CA at school, (coming back home in 4 days will the power be on?!) so I know where you are coming from.

If I were in your situation I would go to the grocery store and get nuts, dried fruit, lara bars, apples, oranges, canned pumpkin (can eat it right out of the can!), and other canned goods.

I would definitely buy some icecream and frozen goods for outside.

If you are near Philbricks Fresh Market, if they have power, they have an amazing salad bar.

Outbacks is always a good option, and I've brought my own bread to Subway in the past with success.

I hope this helps!

[Tsagamer]

thanks for all your responses!

I have power at work, and my boss just let me run to a grocery store here in the city. I got plenty of fruits and canned hormel chilis as well as a microwaveable treat I'm enjoying now back at the office. I hope my power is back soon, but until then its fruit, cheese, sausage, chili and ceral!

[mamaw]

I think everyone had good suggestions for you. But I think everyone should take a careful look at the situation! It can happen anywhere at any time. Everyone needs a gluten-free food stash for at least a month (longer if possible) , a portable heating element, water & other essentials.

I think the USA needs to wake-up -- we are living in a different world these days. Weather is playing with us in the north, east, south & west......BE PREPARED................

Buy a generator, think outside the box of security, it could save your life. I for one do not want to starve to death or freeze to death. Nor do I want to ever wait in a long line of angry ,hungry , thirsty people for supplies....we need to look out for our own self reliance its not up to others......

I hope your power comes back on soon.....

blessings

mamaw

[Juliebove]

We lost power for a week during the hot summer when I lived in NY. Of course being so hot really helped because we didn't feel like eating much. Mainly we lived off of canned beans, canned green beans, peanuts and little shelf stable cheeses.

[Takala]

Some hints on surviving without power:

I keep a stash of Lundberg rice cakes around now, those with peanut butter are non perishable and a good emergency non cook meal. I also keep boxes of nut milks around, they can be kept in a cool garage once opened. Also, Mission corn tortillas are gluten free and it's good to keep several packages in the freezer. If you have a bread type product and you're worried it is going to go moldy fast you can always toast it under the broiler if you think you're at risk for losing power, and it will then keep longer if you don't have a cool place.

I also keep a big stash of dried fruits and nuts I buy at farmer's markets. Amish groceries will also have this type of thing. I freeze them initially to kill bugs and then store in the spare fridge in the garage with my alternative gluten-free flour stash.

I wasn't before, but now I do keep some sort of gluten free lunch meat or canadian bacon or sausage on hand always, that can be put on some rice cake with some cheese. It is also good to keep eggs around, because you can quickly hard boil them before a storm hits and they then are ready to eat.

A secure box in the garage can keep apples, etc. Apples are good fresh bulk that keeps well. So are carrots. So is cabbage. Add oil and vinegar to cabbage and that's salad.

It is possible to make a cup of tea or instant coffee with just a votive candle set in a little chafing dish holder, or if you're creative you can rig up something to suspend a cup of water over the candle flame. Heat your water, but then make it in a styrofoam cup if you have no running water to do dishes with.

Rice can be cooked quickly if it is pre soaked in water for awhile and then heated. So can rice pasta. Add some sauce or cheese, some chopped pre cooked meat or tuna, and it's a meal.

We have a generator, which can run the microwave, and more importantly, the well for water, BUT, I learned last year, when power goes out, your local gas stations can't pump fuel for it, so if you're using a generator for hours, you need to get your fuel for it BEFORE the storm hits. We only had enough for about 10 hours of run and we were out of power nearly a week. We were extremely lucky that the small town 8 miles away did have a functioning gas station where we could buy more gas, because most areas did not, what was worse was that the news radio was not reporting how extensive the power outages were and I went for a big long drive and discovered that the bigger town 15 miles further away was almost all shut down because of it.

Camping stoves that run on little bottles of propane are nice, if you can remember to get them set up before the storm hits.

Camping lanterns that run on batteries are wonderful. I keep one by the door always. I hate coming home in the dark and not being able to find the flashlight.

Rechargeable flashlights belong in your wall sockets.

Cheap princess phones work during power outages. Fancy modern cordless phones, with 20 functions, don't. You want a cell phone charger for your car, because then you can plug it in there.

Keep your vehicles gassed up with at least a half tank. Never, ever bring home a vehicle on a nearly empty tank of gas.

Always keep bottled water around.

Always have paper plates, bowls, styro cups around for emergency dishes that don't need washing.

Depending on how this winter goes I may try to talk the spouse into putting in a woodstove for emergencies instead of just using the fireplace. I had one in a previous house I could cook on and I miss it.

Oh, and if you see freshly downed power lines, DON'T go near them but call 9/11 and the power company and report them.

[GFinDC]

Well, you got lots of good idea already. I can't believe nobody mentioned snow ice cream though. A little food color and some sugar and you gots desert. But don't use the yellow snow unless you make it with food coloring.

Hmmm, any more practical ideas? Oh, maybe some summer sausage would be good with the chips. It keeps pretty well. Roasted peaunts in the shell keep well too. Some places sell salted cod fish. You have to really rinse it good and boil off the salt before it is edible.

[Gemini]

both stores I went to today had empty refrigorator and freezer sections. I've been living snack foods and rice chex for awhile...I will try calling PSNH though....

I don't know where in NH you live but I live in Mass. and now have power restored. I was a little freaked out at first but when I really thought about it, it's not that hard and very do-able. First off, are you near to any restaurants that are in operation? I realize some are out of power also but, unless you have multiple food issues, going out can be done. I went out Friday because the restaurant was lucky to have power restored so I made out on one good meal.

Always keep boxed rice mixes, canned beans, canned soups.....anything non-perishable that can make a good meal. Do you have gas burners on your stove because they can be lighted with a match. I, at least, had those. If not, invest in a butane camping stove and you'll have the means to make a gourmet meal in a pinch! I realized from this storm that there are a few essentials that a Celiac has to have when it comes to times like these. I always keep emergency foods on hand and was glad to have them this week-end. Had to go out for coffee....thank God McDonalds in that part of town had power!

We kept our refrigerator stuff on a second floor balconey outside....it's cold enough to keep perishables in a cooler. Actually, the stuff kept better than in my fridge. Maybe you could come to Mass. for a road trip and hit the grocery stores on the border.....they are well stocked.

I know it's kind of weird....this was my first prolonged power outage since going gluten-free and I learned a few things but managed quite well. The food may not be restaurant quality but it's warm and good.

I hope you guys get power restored really soon but if you are near to the Mass. border, there is food here you could load up on. Good luck!

[ladywinger]

All of the above are very good suggestions. I highly recommend investing in a generator...but, please get knowledge about

the use of one. Never have the generator running in a garage or areas near doors or windows where the fumes would come into

the house. Your local Lowes or Home Depot or such retail store will have someone who can instruct you on calculating wattage

use.

We live where hurricanes are a norm and we have many days to weeks without power. Our Generator has save us from food

spoilage, the abilty to have one light on and keep our water well working. We use our outdoor grill for cooking.

Now, I don't know what you would be able to do if you live in an appartment/condo building. Hopefully, they would have a source

for their tenants.

Good Luck- Stay Warm and Full Enough!

[ang1e0251]

I think this a good reminder for all of us. Another thread was discussing an emergency kit and this shows us why. No matter what climate you live in, circumstances can happen to leave you stranded and without power. We depend so much on our electricity. We had wood stoves for years to back us up but no longer. Need to discuss with DH what we would do without power.

I think I'll look over my food supplies and see how I would fare without utilities...