Image by geocam20000 via Flickr

This past Sunday morning while watching news of the effects of hurricane Ike I had no idea central Ohio would also be impacted by this storm. My heart goes out to those who lost friends and family in the storm and those who had to leave their homes for safety. 

The local weather forecast for Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, September 14 called for wind gusts of about 25 miles per hour. What we actually experienced were wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour. Things were getting pretty exciting here late in the afternoon and by 4:00 pm, after seeing a few trees topple over, I realized things were probably only going to get worse. By 5:00 pm we lost power and immediately gathered candles, flashlights and spare batteries.

Going through this process was a great reminder for me that we are so fortunate to rarely deal with this type of disruption in our lives. It also made me realize that if every grocery store and restaurant within a reasonable driving distance had lost power, we probably would have been in trouble when it came time to think of a solution for dinner. Given the fact that I have a portable butane cooktop and fresh groceries were easily available meal solutions were rather easy this time around. But there is always the big “what if?”

What if the grocery stores are all closed? What if I don’t have a generator to power my refrigerator? What if I can’t get a generator? What if I can’t get ice? (This did happen here in Columbus. Ice was sold out everywhere.)

Being adaptable amidst stressful circumstances can be difficult, but is certainly necessary if you want to maintain a reasonable amount of sanity. While we personally didn’t have much adapting to do this past week, the events surrounding us certainly made me think about ways to get through more difficult circumstances.

My thought in putting this list together is not to try to figure out how to survive for a week or more but rather for a couple of days under circumstances that allow me to stay in my own home. My list focuses only on the food aspect of getting along without electricity and is based on things I would be able to cook on a portable cooktop. Since some of the things on my list are items I don’t regularly use, I’ve put a recurring reminder on my calendar to check for freshness. At the same time I can be sure to reassess the current supply of my normal staple items.

My list (in no particular order) is as follows:

• flour
• cornmeal
• salt and pepper
• spices and dried herbs
• oil
• rolled oats
• shredded wheat
• dried fruit
• nuts
• jam, jelly or fruit butter
• onions
• potatoes
• ground flax seed
• baking powder
• baking soda
• single serving size packages of soy milk in aseptic containers
• canned diced tomatoes
• canned beans
• lentils
• dried carrots and celery
• jar peanut butter
• elbow macaroni
• packets of instant miso soup
• tofu in aseptic containers

Having these items on hand would allow us to eat cold cereal or hot oatmeal with milk, fruit and nuts for breakfasts. For lunches we can enjoy peanut butter and jam on flat bread. For dinners or lunches we can have lentil soup, vegan macaroni and cheese, miso soup with tofu or beans and rice with tortillas. While this list does not afford the luxury of fresh vegetables, I think it would be a pretty good variety in a pinch.

In the coming weeks, I will share some recipes with you that utilize items on this list so you can use them yourself or be inspired to come up with a few things on your own that would better suit your family’s preferences. One of the most important things for me in putting this list together is that while these meal ideas lack fresh produce they are still nourishing, filling and much more healthful than boxed convenience foods.

I would love to hear about the things you’d add to the list and what some of your meal ideas would be. What creative meals and methods of cooking did/have you come up with during periods without electricity?

While roasted red peppers are widely available at olive bars or packed in jars and provide great convenience, nothing really compares to the fresh flavor of a pepper you have roasted yourself. Try it sometime and taste the difference!

Stove-top method for gas stoves:

Wash and dry your pepper. Place pepper directly on the grate over the gas flame and turn on the stove. Turn the flame high enough to touch the pepper and allow the pepper to char and blister on the outside. Turn the pepper with tongs to allow as much of the surface area as possible to become blistered and charred.

When the pepper is sufficiently blistered and charred place it in a zipper top bag and seal or put it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow the pepper to cool undisturbed. When the pepper is cool, the skin will slide right off. Open the pepper and remove the seeds. Your pepper is now ready for use in any number of ways.

Broiler method for electric stoves:

Preheat broiler to high. Wash and dry your pepper. Cut in half from pole to pole. Remove seeds and ribs. Place pepper, cut side down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Broil 1 1/2” to 2” away from heat until pepper skin is blistered and charred, about 5 to 7 minutes depending on the heat of your broiler.

Continue as described in second paragraph of stove-top method.