The storm passed us by

We got lucky this time and the ice storm managed to all but pass us by. We woke this morning to a pretty glaze of ice on the trees and bushes, but not so much that it was dangerous or inconvienced us in any way. Of course now there are a lot of people with a lot of extra food in there house. People around here get insane when weather is focasted that might make them stay in their houses for more than 24 hours. To their credit the 20-inch snowstorm which closed down the area for a week and the ice storm of 2002 which cut electricity for almost that long are not very distant memories. Yet when I ran into the grocery store yesterday to pick up a few items we were really out of, one would have thought that we had been told that all the grocery stores were going to be closed for the next month and everyone need to buy all the food they would need. I also have to question the diet of these people; milk, bread, pizza, chips and beer were the winners in my unscientific survey of other's carts. The store had pulled everyone in the store to work registers and the lines were own the aisles. It isn't even like this is the only store in the area, we have 10 grocery stores in a 2-mile radius of our house. I am sure that everyone of those was having the same experience.


As a veteren of weather related entrapments in my house without power here are my suggestions of good "storm" food. Remember that you may or may not end up losing electricity so refrigerated and freezer items are not the best purchases. Fresh fruit and veggies that don't need to be cooked. These are healthy and are great because you can just pick them up and eat them. Water is a necessity, I refill and keep water bottles frozen in the freezer. These are great in the summertime to just pull out and use for trips to the park, they can also be used to keep foods cold in a cooler, then when they melt you have drinking water. Cans of soup and things like Chef Boyardee, these aren't the healthiest meals in the world but they can be eaten straight from the can or warmed up over an alternative heating source. Comfort food such as chips, pretzles, cookies and pastries (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts) are wonderful, this is a time of stress give yourself and your family some comfort. Bread, Peanut Butter and Jelly. I could probably be considered a food hoarder, but I try to keep things like these in my pantry at all times for emergenices. This of course could be a condition brought on from living in a place all my life in which we have hurricanes, tornados, snowstorms and ice storms. In NC we never know what Mother Nature is going to throw at us next.

I am thankful today that we do not have to break into those supplies and that we are warm and comfortable in our house. I am also thankful that my husband is able to go pick up MB and bring her back home today.

Amy