Not too much unless I am out of something for Izzi. Make sure we have water available to drink. I might make some iced tea up and maybe cook something that can be heated on the wood stove if necessary. I try to be prepared most of the time. I probably would get the laundry caught up too. I would probably wash up the chimneys on the oil lamps and have them ready, just in case the power goes out. We do have a generator. I wish I was getting 15 inches of snow.

Sue

Bottled water, bread,milk, pet food. My pantry and freezer are pretty well stocked.

We're getting hit here right now.

If you're headed to the store, you need to fulfill the bread and milk craving. It's a must. I also bought soup, ramen noodles, Cajun rice and sausage, lunch meat, chips, dip, crackers - all stuff that is easy to cook. I think I've almost planned more of a party than anything. We have access to a wood stove and a gas range. Also make sure you have batteries, flashlights, candles, and medicines.

We had freezing rain at the start of this mess. I parked with the windshield wipers pulled out away from the car and made sure I brought the ice scraper in the house so it wouldn't get frozen inside the car. Fortunately, my vehicle has a remote for locking/unlocking cars.

The better question is what don't I stock up on. A bitter lesson learned last year at this same time when we spent almost a week without power.
This time, we got plenty of warning so I was able to do a lot more. I bought plenty of water, soups, raviolis,crackers, and a ton of things that can be made on the stove top (we have gas so the top works but not the oven if power goes out). I've made 2 casseroles that can be reheated, the inner mix for pasta stuffed shells, a meatloaf and plenty of fixings to go with.
I have flashlights and batteries a plenty, both my oil lamps and plenty of oil to go in them, the corded phone just in case we have no power but still have phone service , done up the laundry and vaccuumed really good because it almost drove me crazy when I couldn't do that for days last time.
Other than that , ice melt , dragged all the extra blankets in from storage, and bought windshield melting liquid which can be used to speed along the ice off the steps.
We got sleet & freezing rain last night and then it turned off to snow. Probably close to 12 inches now and still coming down in buckets.
*sigh* come on spring.

I keep staples on a shelf in the garage, so I a;ways have something to fix. Tomorrow I'm making Taco Soup. Perfect for a snowy day, or days, as the case might be. At WalMart folks were really stocking up; carts were full and running over.

I feel so sorry for those who are having the really bad weather situations now.

Sue

I live in town and we don't lose electricity but I always make sure I have plenty of food in the house when we get a storm. That way I don't have to go out. The grocery checkers and I always laugh about the folks that fill their carts to overflowing just because we are supposed to get 3 or 4 inches of snow. They buy several weeks worth.

Nothing...in fact, I avoid the stores because they're so crowded with people buying milk and bread.

We stock up on stuff in the summer--hurricane season!

I have a question. How long are you without power if it goes out? I can't imagine how cold it must get in your homes. I think I'd do like Nicole did and go to a hotel.

I just got the usual groceries. Nothing extra. I have a well stocked pantry.

But the ice storm of 2007 taught many people you better stock up. Stores were closed, since there was no electricity.

Moni

Coffee. Gas if you have a generator. Flashlight batteries and candles.

I'm sure we could live for a few weeks on what we have in the house... might not be the greatest meals, but we'd have plenty to eat.

When we lived in NH it was only 3 miles to the store, but I always made sure we had enough milk, Coke and chocolate. LOL Gasoline and oil for the generator. I always thought it was funny that people were stocking up like the end of the world was comming.

Now we live in FL and like Patti43 we stock up in the summer on bottled water, batteries for the radio, propane for the grill. I get a couple of boxes of milk. DH picked up a couple of tarps, in case the roof blows off.

I think it was two winters ago that we a ice storm. I had plenty of soup and things to cook but I only have an electric stove so it was chips, cold sandwiches and cookies.By the way, no electricity for 4 days in a Iowa winter. Not fun.

I have a lot of food in my pantry too. Last time the ice storm stuck and we were without power, I lost my bread that I had been baking because I had a gas cook top and no oven. All my meal plan (roast) went down the tubes that day. I can cook from my pantry, but it's just easier to have simple to prepare food.

I'm with the pantry people...I don't bother to stock up. I have lots of food in the house and we always have a protane grill ....I have cooked in the fireplace just for kicks so I could do that too. We cook with propane too...I don't really know if there is anything electrical in that to keep me from cooking.

adellabedella you might look at a little coleman two burner camp stove for a back up, if you don't have a gas stove in your new house.

Those things come in handy, even if you should cook outdoors with them. We used one in the garage before.

Moni

I try and keep a good amount of easy to prepare things in my pantry being careful to note expiration dates and have sheles set up by year, I look for items that can be either opened with hand held can opener or reconstituted with water hot or cold. during our ice storm with no electricity or heat I was glad to have my little Sterno stove and cans of heat to use on it. a pan dedicated to heating reusing water for heating water bottles for hand warmers. I try to have water on hand too. since our water went off at the same time. (ne Texas) I keep a couple of empty kitty litter jugs filled with water to use for flushing if the need arises.

If you think your might have a power outage, fill your washer and bathtub with water to use to flush or something.

Sue

Nothing. I keep a good stock of food in my pantry anyway and we don't drink milk or eat much bread.

Sue, our water works, during a power outage. Just all electric stuff doesn't.

Moni

Lettuce. I knew we were low and we would miss it. We have a well stocked pantry, freezers full of meat and chocolate. We're set. We have a wood stove so we can cook and heat things on that. We also have a generator, so we can pump water to flush toilets and heat enough for a quick shower and to wash dishes.

If the pantry was low, I'd stock up on items to make soups with and bread to dunk in it. We were without power for 4 days last winter.

Moni, our new house has a gas stove and a wood stove in the fireplace. We had those last time too. We actually have all kinds of camping equipment. As luck would have it, the camping was in the camper or in the garage behind the camper. I could have gotten to it if I *had* to. The garage was cold and dark and I chose not to go out there.

During our first power outage due to an ice storm in 2000, I was sick and my then 7 mo baby was also sick. We were in an all electric house. We had the little camp stove out, but it was just so cold and uncomfortable that I needed something easy to prepare. Every power outage has been a learning experience.

Sue I think it's just people on wells who lose water when the electricity goes out. We're on city water and sewer and we don't lose water when the power goes out, thankfully!

Oh, yes, unless it is a major ice storm like occurred some years back around here. Great big towers toppled like dominoes. At that time the town did run low on water for some reason. People in the country lose power more often than those in town. We heat with wood and I can cook and bake with it. No new snow for us overnight.

Sue

For some reason, when it snows, everyone in the house starts craving fresh fruit! Not that I'm complaining, but it is just so weird, because normally I cannot get anyone to eat fruit! Ever!!

So, when everyone else is at the supermarket buying milk, bread and eggs, I am standing there with a half dozen navel oranges, a bunch of bananas and a pint or two of pineapple chunks.

We also stock up on milk and half and half. I always try to bake when it snows as well, but all that stuff is usually already in the pantry.

When I lived in CA, we would have power outages for several hours caused by a car hitting a power pole and blowing a transformer. One morning we were without power and on a well. I got out my propane camp stove and and then went next door to my neighbor who was on city water. I filled some pans with water from her house and boiled it and took her back a pan of boiling water so she could make coffee.

Oh the usual: milk, bread, cat and dog food, Dr. Peppers, cocoa mix, marshmallows, etc.! LOL

We have about 8-10 inches of snow right now. Still have power but about four years ago we went without for 9, count'em NINE days! Sheesh!

Things we can eat without electricity.

Stock up:

Basic food stuffs: And things that don't require cooking. Your power could go out.

Bread
Sandwich meat
Jellies and Jams
Peanut butter
Mustard
Onions
Tomatoes
Fruits: Apples, grapes, raisins, prunes.
Nuts: peanuts, walnuts, pecans
Soda and bottled water.
Soups
Soda Crackers
Salt, pepper, spices
Baggies
Wax paper
Aluminum foil
Dish washing soap - can be used for general cleaning
Batteries
Refill medicine cabinet

And before the storm hits, do your laundry. It could be awhile before you can do that again.

Now that I'm slowly filling my freezer I don't need to worry about hitting the store as often as I used to.

We've been lucky here this year. We usually have a lot of snow but so far this winter I've only shovelled once. First snow was on Dec 5th. We've had only traces since. We usually have a "snow mountain" in the courtyard by this time of the year. I'm old enough not to miss the snow.