Do you have emergency food storage?

Question

Long story short, I got very sick last week. So weak that I could barely get out of bed and stand up straight. I also couldn't consume any solid foods. I would just vomit. I was so glad that I had one small container of my home made chicken stock in the freezer and one small package of Jelly powder. This may seem like nothing in normal days, but they were life savers. 

I think I will make a concise decision to always keep Jello, and soup cans from now on for the unexpected.

How about you? Do you keep any food for any forms of emergency?

Answer

CNS - Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup!!! It's my go-to for when I don't feel well. When we travel out of the country I pack a can. I DO have stocks in the freezer. And all sorts of rice, beans, pastas, etc. We had a wonderful ribolitta soup today with lunch and I thought then that I really should make a wonderful soup and freeze in two cup portions.

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I have supply of sugar free pedialyte just in case I ever get ketoacidosis again. type 1 diabetic.

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I have so much stuff jammed in my pantry and freezer, we could probably live for a month on just that. There's probably plenty of 'sickbed' food that I could whip up (including stock and jello!). 

I thought that was a lot of food, until a member of a volunteer organization I'm in said she has enough to last four years. Yep, that's right. Four years. In case of a political apocalypse.

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Yes, this is earthquake country. Water, foods that don't have to be cooked, Bic Flame Discs and charcoal to cook the things that would be defrosting in the fridge and freezer, etc. I'm not the only one here so we would just help each other if one were that sick. If both were that sick we'd eat the canned soup. Jello is not allowed in this house, though. I can not abide Jello, sick or not.

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I don't but now I plan to. I also was very sick the past few weeks. I didn't eat much for probably 5 days and was desperate for food but had nothing that was even remotely appealing or tolerable. I eventually crawled out of the house and bought several chickens and existed on homemade stock for days. I plan now to make ahead and freeze it. It was exactly what I wanted and really seemed to make me feel better when my symptoms randomly worsened.

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Not for "emergency" situations... KNOCK ON WOOD... but have enough canned stuff and rice/pasta that would take a LONG time before I looked SKINNY!?!

REALLY have to pare down my pantry... shelving in garage. Have decided NOT to succumb to great prices on canned goods... unless reall good on GOOD tuna??

Knocking on wood... my forehead... I DON'T live in an area that often has severe weather. Did have SANDY last October but I'm WELL inland. BIG snow is kinda rare & have "crazy" GOOD neighbor who takes care of that... won't take money but beer or being guinea pig for food is always an option.

Answer

Yes, earthquake country here. Food, first aid/meds, water, sanitizers, batteries/solar...the works. In different places in case of not being able to reach it due to rubble. My stash inside the house is in what we call the "Y2K cabinet"....if anyone remembers that era :)

I live far enough out that I might need a few weeks of supplies before getting any help.

I really try to rotate stuff but it is easy to buy in bulk -and harder to eat in bulk. I am not getting through the 10 pound sack of pinto beans as I had hoped :)

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Due to personal experiences with hurricanes, plus rotating through several combat zones while enlisted by Uncle Sugar, I've learned to keep at least six to eight months worth of non-perishable goods and other supplies to take care of my family.

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Not what I consider emergency stash but if you count the boxes of canned goods stacked up in one of my spare bedrooms used for storage and all the pasta/rice/flour/ and other dried goods plus the two freezers that stay full, I could go about three months without shopping. 

I don't normally eat canned soup anymore since the kids left home and I make my own but I do keep a few random cans around and do have dried jello & pudding powders in my cabinets, although I can't even remember the last time I made any...I know I haven't made any this year.

We do live in hurricane/tornado territory and when it gets to be that time, we make sure the generator is good to go and we have enough charcoal to get us through a couple weeks if we had to use the grill everyday.. We keep cases of water stacked regularly...

Answer

Always.

I was raised in hurricane country and we always had canned goods, batteries, water, meds, propane/charcoal at the ready.

I've also lived in areas where I was without water and/or electricity for a week at a time. So the habit has stayed with me.

the last 10 days I've had problems standing for more than a few minutes at a time so the "provisions" have been very helpful. I've run out of fresh tomatoes and bananas but aside from that I'm good!

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I collect sardines.

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Chocolate;)

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but the roundabout answer is yes -- I try to keep saltines and a few cans of chicken soup on hand. I always have rice and pasta and instant mashed potatoes, as well as the Knorr gel stock concentrates, so there's always something to eat when someone's under the weather.

Answer

LOL Chem...I am about to go rummage through the kitchen cupboards at 11:30 PM to make a list. I rarely become ill but if I were to get knocked on my butt like you did I would want cold liquids and warm broth.

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I keep jugged water, staples, canned foods and emergency cooking supplies all in one place in the mudroom, along with a replacement set of meds. for the pets and us that I refill every coupla years or so.

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No, even though I'm on the coast and we DO get bad storms. I can honestly say I've never felt the need to stock up before a storm though I definitely should. I have a few candles around and usually have a few cases of water just because.

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I don't have intentional emergency food but have too much food in general. I have a cupboard full of instant ramen and a freezer full of rice. I have canned tuna and canned tuna curry as well as pouches of curry and pasta sauce in the freezer and lots of pasta. I have bread for toast plus measured ingredients I can throw in the breadmaker. I have miso paste galore for soup. Who knows what else I have.

Answer

nothing intentionally planned, but i generally have several quarts of soup, plus a couple of chicken stock in the freezer, along with a loaf or two of ww bread and several varieties of nuts.

i also have a half dozen cans of tuna, a couple of cartons of trader joe's roasted red pepper/tomato soup and soy milk in the cupboard -- and of course, some good chocolate.

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'Sick' food equals gatorade, ginger ale, low-sodium canned soup, and refrigerated pudding and jello cups... I try to keep at least a little on hand because I get randomly nauseous (thanks fibro), but if we don't have any DH is dispatched to the grocery store to pick some up in times of need.

Answer

One emergency "food" (I use the term advisedly) that it's good to have around - or two or three of them, if you're so inclined and they're on sale....is large cans of Crisco or other veg. shortening. If you insert a wick (admittedly, not the thing we all usually have around, but...) it will burn as a candle for weeks on end.

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Aside from a pantry that is usually crammed to the gills, we have two cases of MREs stashed away. At this time of year, one case goes into the back of the SUV and stays there until spring (we ski just about every weekend, so in case we get snowed in anywhere, we're set for a few days).

Answer

Certainly have a sufficient supply of canned soup among other things. However, be sure to date them so you can donate them to a food pantry before they expire. Another issue I found is that if you are staggering around an enormous store trying to replenish stock, you might as well stay home. A year or so ago, when I was hardly able to negotiate a vast warehouse supermarket, I put a couple of familiar sounding soups in my cart. When I came to cook them, eeuw. So try them first. Be Prepared.

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Not consciously, but we could probably live on what we have here. We'd have to get creative, though.

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ummmmmm.... Whether emergency supplies or sick room food, am I the only one in the whole wide world who ever buys ramen? 

When I was at Sam's club the other day they had a "box" of Maruchan Chicken flavor noodle soup with THIRTY SIX packs for $6.87, or 20¢ a serving! Emergency food I can afford to throw away in five years!! 

No, it's not in the Styrofoam cups, it's just in cellophane packs, but everything is included. I HATE the Styrofoam cups because when I first moved here I hired a "housekeeper" who put the damned Styrofoam cup in the dishwasher! It didn't exactly "melt." Just the glue that holds the little plastic balls together did. The housekeeper was replaced immediately and the new one and I spent the next six months picking stinky little plastic Styrofoam balls out of the dishwasher with tweezers every time we ran it! So now I buy all ramen/udon/whatever either in solid plastic bowls or just the package. 

Anyway, chicken flavor ramen soup is good stuff when I have a head cold. Doesn't anyone else ever buy ramen??????????????? :-)

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I forgot to mention Rice-A-Roni. A must-have.

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There's clearly a distinction between when you're sick and when there's a natural disaster. Some people's "emergency" foods assume the ability to at least boil water. I don't make that assumption.

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oh goodness, i could probably have a general store from what i have on hand. ;-).

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Mushroom soup, oyster crackers and ginger candy for the flu (they seem to help with nausea). 

I do have a ridiculous amount of pho stock - I found a good one and just loaded up. I fear the day it disappears from stores. They're in cartons, so I'm set for quite some time. Gotta have my pho stock.

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Yes, for emergencies we have water (which we cycle through), MRE's and enough food to feed our cats for sixty days and there is always broth, stock and soup in the freezer.

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Not at all. If an emergency occured today, I wouldn't last long. I'm even currently out of bottled water. :/

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I also have enough ammo (if there's such a thing as 'enough ammo') and the means to defend my stash.

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I usually keep a fairly stocked pantry in the winter since the possibility of being snowed in for a week is pretty real. We all ended up with viral pneumonia in succession in September. The pantry was empty. Apparently the solution when I am too sick to function is to buy a months worth of takeout and convenience food. I want that month & wasted money back.

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Having gone through a few severe earthquakes in LA we've learned to keep 3 day survival kits on hand. They contain high energy food bars, water, first-aid supplies, blanket, flashlight, etc.

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We keep a well stocked pantry and freezer all year long. the hard part is rotating.
We have 2 weeks worth of MRE type meals in the event of a major societal upheaval, either natural or manmade.
We keep fuel on hand for the emergency generator.

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Do you have emergency food storage?

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