Some disasters, such as the frequent hurricanes that seem to plague the Gulf Coast, do not permit easy escape. Some families do not have reliable transportation to escape, either.

Indeed, to each his/her own, but I think it is a good idea to have some supplies on hand. Better safe than sorry.

We have a lot of frozen meat, lots of cheese, practically no canned food and just a normal amount of produce in the fridge. Since we have a generator, I don't worry too much about the freezer but I would be heading to a store within a few days once we ran out of produce. In the wintertime I will usually buy a few soup mixes that you add water and meat to that we could cook on the woodstove, in case we get snowed or iced in. I probably buy a few loaves of bread for the freezer, too, just to have something easy to eat even though we don't usually eat bread.

I know everyone's area is different weather/disaster-wise, but in the north country here, when we have big spring floods or winter blizzards, we can be socked in from days to even weeks without being able to get out with a vehicle. Where my sister is in Virginia, snow/ice or just windstorms have socked her in for up to two weeks while crews cleared roads of trees to get them out of their valleys.

Olychick -- the water in bottles/jugs in the freezer is an excellent idea. A full freezer uses less electricity and stays frozen longer. I also just pop a jug into my cooler anytime I use it -- and refreeze it time after time.

While I'd miss fresh fruit after a week or so, I do have enough frozen or canned fruit to keep me going quite a while (really appreciated during an extended job loss and fresh fruit/veggies were expensive.)

We do have cash on hand just in case. But I live in an area that doesn't have natural disasters (except we're waiting for "the big one") and in the 32 years I've been living in our neighbourhood have lost our power once. Hence my very lackadaisical attitude toward excess storage of anything.

We are empty nesters but do keep "back ups" on hand, I like to have 2 of everything if possible...in case we don't get to the store because of bad weather, or illness, or the store is out of a product I want.

"I don't expect another large-scale event of that magnitude in my lifetime but if one does happen, my safety net is my car." This is a great plan, as long as the roads are passable, that a million other people aren't trying to do the same thing - leave in their cars, that you have a full tank of gas and won't need to buy more (no electricity, no gas) and don't get stuck somewhere on your way with little or no food or water in the car. In some situations, there might be no phone service to "call friends."

I'd rather stay put, sleep in my own bed (presumably) with assurance that there is enough food and water and a bathroom (again presumably) to get by for a while. I don't consider it a fortress at all, but sometimes home is the smartest place to be. But to each her/his own.

Gosh, probably 2 months at least, maybe longer.

I've got 4 refrigerators on my property, one in the kitchen, one in the pantry, one in the MIL quarters and one out in the shop and they are all full of frozen meats and vegetables. I've got a generator that can keep them all running if a power outage were to occur, plus my 9x6 pantry is full.

My friends joke that they are coming to my house if the zombie apocalypse occurs.

As to why? There are two main reasons. My mom grew up extremely poor, going to bed hungry, not knowing when she would get to eat next, etc. Because of that, she has always maintained a full pantry so I grew up with that being normal.

When I moved out on my own at 18 one of the first things I did was stock my pantry.

The second reason being that I live in the country, about 20 minutes to the nearest grocery store and it is not practical to run to the store on a daily basis.

Interestingly, on the kitchen forum we had this discussion once and one poster said that pantries are a waste of space since you can just go to the store every day to get that nights dinner supplies.

Our family would be ok for at least three weeks. A lot less, if we also need to provide for those that are unprepared.

blenton, one outage in 32 years is amazing! We almost lost power yesterday--the lights flickered as a portion of a neighboring section went out. The grid was a bit strained--it was 106 degrees F yesterday.

We could make it a week possibly 2 bit full timing in a 5th wheel you can't stock up to much now if we were in a area and a bad storm was coming we would stick up deff!

I, too, live in a temperate climate. I have very little food in the pantry and freezer. We could certainly make do with canned tuna and crackers for a week or so if necessary. I hate going to the grocery store, but I like fresh food so I buy a week's worth of menu ingredients at a time. My parents go to the store every day because they don't plan menus and never know what they want to eat until about 3 p.m. It makes me crazy when I'm visiting them.

If power was on, months, if power was out, we could use the generator until it ran out of fuel to power the freezer, not sure how long that would last. We also have solar power so not sure if that would still be working since it's not a separate system. It's hard to foresee all the variables. We would have weeks of cold canned food we could live on though in an emergency.

The two of us would have a decent real meal once a day for week I guess. The rest wouldn't be balanced but we wouldn't starve fro a week or a bit longer if we had to.

I also was here during Loma Prieta. We didn't lose power and the house was fine. Earthquakes are our greatest potential natural disaster here. I don't live in a flood zone and tornadoes although they do occur in our state are rare and not intense like they are elsewhere in the country.

Although we have taken normal precautions, water heater properly strapped, no beds under windows or heavy picture etc. I don't really have an earthquake kit. My home is filled with things one would need in an emergency but not in one place. First aid supplies, flashlights, batteries matches, camping gear etc. we have but not "staged" for a disaster. It doesn't make sense to me. There is no guarantee that the supplies they recommend would be within reach in a major earthquake that caused enough damage to your home to need them. Fire is the biggest threat once you have survived the rock and roll and any falling debris or objects It makes people feel good to be prepared but all that stuff packed in one place could end up being buried under a bunch of rubble. To me it's another false sense of security measure.

My husband's family in California all have earthquake kits in backpacks in the closet next to the front door. Mini kits in each car. Some food items and meds they switch out yearly, and basic toiletries. They had to camp out in a park overnight due to aftershocks after one quake once. Peanut butter, crackers and fruit roll-up (with a refillable water container) were a great comfort for them.

Two adults here. Married 50+ years. I do not have a trove of food 'on hand' and never have. I shop every 7 - 10 days. We rarely eat 'out', but I'm a very basic cook.

I have 'cooked' over a gas fireplace in our former home when DS was little. Our area's electric lines were prone to failure, but I could always get the car out. DH, the current Westie and I moved to a hotel for a night once when we could have hung meat in our living room after a three-day outage.

I'm a fool to post this today, as the Chicago area is the bullseye for a super wind/hail/rain storm due tonight, but we have had zero power outages of more than two hours in this house since we built it in 2001. I'm more concerned about the sump failing than losing the contents of a single 40" fridge/freezer. I'm concerned that our 100-year American Elm and our huge Sycamore survive -- and do not fall on us! This storm will fill the creek beside our house, but we've never been remotely threatened with a flood...so far.

We live on a 'country lane', but only two miles from the center of town. If we couldn't get the car out, we could walk to get food -- provided the grocery store was supplied.

We're away for three months in winter -- condo on a rise above the tsunami area.

As I posted on the other thread, we follow the LDS Church teachings about home food storage and we have:

a.) A portable 72-hour emergency "kit" which includes food that doesn't require heating or refrigeration and alternative methods for cooking and heating water. We also have a large amount of water in storage in the basement, and 1,000-gallon capacity in our rain barrels (and ways to purify it). I have even supplied one of these for our granddaughter at college. Not that long ago they had to remain inside the dorm due to a chemical spill from a railroad accident and she got out her kit and had it ready if they needed to evacuate, or use it to prepare food. She also filled everything she could find with water, and takes the kit with her on her 4-hour trip when she drives back home....just in case!

b.) 6-12-months worth of pantry foods (things I use for everyday meal planning and preparation). It fluctuates because I wait for stock-up prices to replenish food at the lowest price possible.

c.) 6-12-months worth of long-term emergency food (freeze-dried meat, fruit, vegetables, etc., and a focus on the "Seven Survival Foods" (grains, legumes, sprouting seeds, sweetener/s, salt, oil and powdered milk (and milk alternatives).

The least amount of food we have for self-reliance is in the refrigerator because they require electricity, and that's the #1 thing we have to contended with during storms (usually an ice or snow event, but we also live in tornado alley and have had outages that have lasted a couple weeks). We have supplemental methods for supplying electricity, but that is only for short duration, so we hope for the best and plan for the worst.

I read this article, "Nine Meals From Anarchy", many years ago and it might help others understand why some of us practice self-sufficient living. It's from the U.K., but the same thing could happen here. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/11/nine-meals-anarchy-sustainable-system  A truck strike in the U.S. would be all it would take to for those "Nine Meals From Anarchy".

Just today I was studying what has happened in Venezuela when the country collapsed and some of the things they experience. As food became scarce, the government instituted a fingerprint registry for buying food and made "prepping" illegal. The government took over most stores and forced farmers to hand over the majority of their crops at the price the government chose to pay and the government sold them to the people at prices they couldn't afford. I used to follow a blog of an American couple in Greece during their horrible economic problems, and how this couple not only saved themselves, but many others, by practicing prepping and knowing how to garden and having the forethought to buy LOTS of seed packets and learn how to save seeds. Brandy from "The Prudent Homemaker" blog tells how her home food storage saved her large family in 2008 when they didn't have any income for 8-months. http://theprudenthomemaker.com/about 

Everyone can experience an emergency at some point in time....and home food storage - even 3-6-months worth - could make a huge difference. If you know you don't have to have money for food, the money you do have can go for something else. If you have a full stomach, you are able to "fight" for another day.

*Loss of income.

*Unexpected medical expenses.

*Natural or man-made disasters

*Interrupted food supplies.

*Water shortages or contamination.

*Power outages, and who knows what else???

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help you." will normally take at least 72-hours after a natural or man-made disaster. Good luck.....

Little to nothing. Single and I eat mostly fresh food--veggies, fruit, yogurt, meat--and shop like the Europeans do every couple days at least. Oh, there are always a few random cans of beans and soup in my pantry, and I often cook a big meal and freeze individual portions for subsequent meals. But no hoards of things stored for emergencies or even the long haul. As someone said above the only thing I'd panic about running out of is coffee for me as well as cat food for the, well, cats! Occasionally during our long cold winters we'll get blizzard warnings for a couple days and then I also make sure there's a good supply of wine and chocolate. Otherwise I can walk easily to two grocery stores, two pharmacies, and 1/2 dozen restaurants of various types in my neighborhood so I'm never more than a couple minutes from food.

Quite a bit. I have lived in disaster prone areas my whole life, been through hurricanes since I was a toddler, more tornadoes than I care to think about living in Oklahoma and Texas, lived through the famous blizzard of 82 when we lived in Denver.

Youcan't get very far in your car when there's no gas stations that work with no power and the fuel is extremely rationed and people will kill over it. The generator will only work till you run out of gas, see above. The fridge and freezer will only keep as long as you have power or gas for the generator, see above. The highway out of the disaster zone is at a complete stand still a basic parking lot, because OK guess, no one has gas, see above!

Do we prepare, absolutely as much as is possible. The person with the gas hit the lottery but it could be a deadly win because everyone wants it and won't hesitate to kill you for it.

I sure am glad some here don't live in the disaster zones lol

Ihave 2 fridge and freezers well stocked. I have canned goods pantry well stocked. We are currently living off of that since we have limited space in the rv. I have all of my canned goods in big plastic bins stored in the house, both fridge and freezer get replenished every other week or so. Severalr people have told me in the event of a nuclear event or zombies they were coming to stay with me. Well maybe so maybe not.

Tillyou have lived through the crazy that happens in these situations believe me you don't have a clue.

I thought we were fairly well prepared for a flood since it had happened here before. I have learned so much that I didn't know!

So thinking you are going to drive off somewhere.... Yeah that's lala land.

Just getting to Louisiana to rescue my elderly mother after Katrina and Rita was a horrific experience. We had to find enough gas containers to make it there and back and carry it with us. We had to carry food and water and as many supplies as possible to sustain us and to leave with my family that was stuck down there. We had to bring extra gas for them because there was none, again see above! They had one generator left that had not been stolen from the property. It was only big enough to run one or two things. They had to keep swapping between the fridge and freezer, the well pump for water and the septic tank to function (didn't think of that one did you) and the one little tiny window ac unit that was in the biggest room in the house so they could all try to stay alive in the excessive heat and humidity. My mother would have died had we not taken on the task of that kind of trip. Don't know till you live it...

Five years ago, my area was hit by devasting tornadoes. We were without power for about five days. That meant there was no grocery to run to, no gas stations open, no banks or ATMS, no restaurants, and no help for at least part of that time.

We had food in the freezer, a reasonably stocked pantry, and plenty of charcoal for the grill. We and several neighbors enjoyed pooling our resources for those couple of days before groceries opened, sitting around outside late at night in the light of lanterns.

We had (and have) a radio, plenty of batteries, lanterns, water, non perishables, We have a generator but used it sparingly, only to keep the freezer cold for the most part.

We still talk about those days and nights.

I was ashamed for the young family from across the street with two young children and an infant born just before the tornado. They had nothing, no food on hand even for the children, no cash on hand. They expected and were happy to have others take care of their needs. I wanted to take the husband to the woodshed, so to speak, for being so lazy and selfish.

I'll be darned if I'll put myself in the position that I have to rely on others for basic essentials due to my poor planning.

Live alone and have WAY more food on hand than I'll (hopefully) ever need during an emergency. I'm probably bruising my head as I "knock on wood" and say power outages in my part of NJ are very rare and short when they do happen. Back when Super Storm Sandy bashed the Jersey shore, lost power for about 36 hours. It was late October, luckily NOT really cold. I did prepare to some extent. Made sure I had flash lights/batteries and cell phone charged. Water is not a concern cuz don't have a well.

Made sure I had TP, cat food and litter. NOT being flippant, but that's about all I do when weather is forecasted to be BAD. It's a bit of a joke about supermarkets being rushed by members of the French Toast Club before arrival of winter weather. People freak with just a few inches of snow.

My freezer is literally full to capacity. A few shelving units make up my "pantry"... plenty of canned soups, beans, tuna, etc. Dry goods, rice, pasta in air-tight containers. Could cook if needed cuz have gas stove that can be lit with match, but would be without oven.

I REALLY need to use up some of the stuff I have but would just fill back up next time I came across a bargain.

"Water is not a concern cuz don't have a well."

I still think it's prudent to have some drinking water stored. Not sure if you have earthquakes in NJ, but it seems they can happen just about anywhere. Anything that could disrupt the water distribution system by breaking pipes, or perhaps a chemical attack on the source that renders the water unusable for a period of time, etc. (Don't municipal water systems use electricity to distribute water?) We all have a supply in our hot water tanks, if they stay whole and the water is uncompromised, but I still prefer to have some potable water on hand - it's easy insurance. I keep a few bottles in each of my cars, too, just in case.

We could easily last months in a disaster situation. Fully stocked freezer and pantry. Generators, plenty of fuel, propane and wood. Unlimited rivers and lakes nearby for fresh water. I think the longest we were without power for was for 3 days, during the ice storm of, maybe, 1996. A little chilly, but we were comfortable and safe. Our closest elderly neighbours had a thermos of hot coffee or hot chocolate every morning, and hot soup, chili or stew every day. Husband checked on them in the morning and I checked on them in the late afternoon.

We are 2 adults, one small dog and a pond full of koi. I have one full sized freezer, one small chest freezer and 2 fridge/freezer combos. About a quarter of my basement is also full of dry goods and fruits and veggies I have canned. The freezers are full to the gills. The sump pumps will take care of any water coming into the basement.

After a number of small outages and one big one a few years ago, we switched from a portable generator to a whole house one last summer. As Chisue wrote, we have some major storms coming tomorrow so I am not too worried. All will work including aerators for the koi pond to keep them alive. four years ago a blue spruce came down taking out power for three days. I lost some big, much loved and valuable koi due to lack of oxygen. The new generator was money well spent. (My neighbor laughed, saying we don't need this, but he was always the first one asking us to throw him a line off the portable generator. I may be mean and deny him one in the future as we offered him the portable a major discount and he declined.)

How long can I hold out? Easily several months if we are frugal. And we are.

We don't usually have disasters around here, except for that time the power was out for a week or if we have an ice storm or bad summer storm. I do a big grocery shop once a month so depending when something happened I would have at least a months food. I have lots of pasta and rice, oatmeal in my pantry along with canned tomatoes and canned pineapple. Usually an extra loaf of bread in the freezer. I have frozen chicken and some fish frozen corn. I have a wood burning fireplace and lots of seasoned wood and kindling out back I could use the fireplace to cook if need be. No bbq but all my neighbours have one and I do have 2 bags of charcoal down the basement. I usually have enough dry cat food to last more than a month. If anything I would run out of toilet paper haha. No extra water but if I needed it my brother works at a grocery store and would bring me some bottled water.

We could probably last a couple of weeks. It wouldn't necessarily be what we wanted to eat, but we could eat. I usually have a bit of a stash in the pantry, just because I like to be able to cook what I want without lacking ingredients. And since I cook for my dog, we have oodles of chicken frozen. I also keep water bottles frozen for cooler use. We have a charcoal grill and a wood stove, so we could cook well enough to get by.

We live in an area where natural disasters are usually anticipated (hurricanes, ice storms). I can only think of two tornadoes anywhere close, in the 30+ years I've lived here.

Well, I would have plenty of meat to last about a month, but we don't eat processed food so the fresh veggies would only last a couple days. But I have enough spices to put in my will....... lol

Many of you mention having charcoal as a back-up for cooking, but I would also suggest you have some cans of Sterno and a burner stand, or even a chafing dish (check thrift stores) you can cook on using Sterno. One can of Sterno will heat about 6-meals and is safe to use indoors with proper ventilation.

Charcoal is the least expensive fuel per BTU that a family can store. Each briquette will produce about 40°F of heat. If you are baking bread and need 400°F use 10 briquettes. In an emergency situation, you can also MAKE your own charcoal - http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Charcoal.  Charcoal and a grill, however, aren't always a good cooking choice during extremely cold weather because the external ambient temperature can drastically reduce the grill temperature. Large amounts of food may not cook properly in cold conditions (large cut of meat, pot of soup/stew/chili), so choose accordingly - smaller amounts of food that can cook or heat quickly.

I use a versatile COBB Grill, which uses charcoal very efficiently, and 8-10 briquettes will cook and heat water for 3-hours and will maintain a temperature of 450°F for baking and roasting. During an emergency, go ahead and heat water while you have the grill going and store it in thermal containers. You'll have hot water for instant soups, instant oatmeal, beverages, rehydrating freeze-dried food, general clean-up...

I also have three different Solar Ovens which I use all the time, not just for emergencies.

We make Hobo Stoves out of our empty #10 cans and Buddy Burners (tuna and other similar small cans filled with cardboard or sawdust and paraffin wax). How to: http://blog.utahscouts.org/camping-2/buddy-burner-scouts-first-stove/  We keep some as an emergency stove, and there is an organization we donate them to who give them to the homeless. I sent them to my sister for Christmas one year and she used the Hobo Stove after 2 different hurricanes, and now keeps a stockpile of the Buddy Burners on hand.

For those who have time to look for online bargains, I think the Sterno 70150 party kit is nice to have on hand. The Amazon Warehouse sometimes has them as open box reduced price items.

We have 7 gallons of water in a container in the garage(water mains are always breaking around here). I keep pasta, brown rice & jars of salsa around. I buy flour & yeast in bulk and freeze it. I have 4 lbs of sausage, 2lbs of hamburger in the freezer which is typical. 3 dozen cans of tuna(they expire in 2018, it was a great sale!). We have half a cord of firewood, 3 fireplaces(we've heated the house w/ those before in the middle of winter.....last March when the furnace went out on a Sunday). We have a camp stove & sterno.......but....there's a billion open acres of forest behind the house, lots to burn...and a stream.

Well, I have Eggo Waffles in the freezer and Kroger is just two minutes away. We don't really have natural disasters. Well, we have the occasional tornado, but there hasn't been one even near my neighborhood in over 25 years. Our power did go out once for a week during a hurricane (we only got the wind, no rain). I don't remember what I ate, but I don't remember it being a problem. It's more a trauma of having to throw away everything in your refrigerator when the power has been out a long time.

Not much on hand here in our "camp" on Lake George (hey are you that Loon Lake? We're practically neighbors). We are here for 5 months and then back to Florida for 7 months. We don't have a lot of storage in our camp and what we have not used by October, we have to pack up and take with us on the 3 day trip south. So I try to be lean and mean with perishables and canned or bottled goods that would freeze over the winter. We'd have trouble if we truly had a disaster and were cut off from stores. Luckily I have neighbors who live here year round and might help feed us :)

There have been some very good insights about how much you store and why. Here is a bit more on why I do it (taken from another parallel posting):

It is very important for 1 income families to plan and prepare for financial ups and downs. It is just as important for 2 income families to plan and prepare – often the two incomes are necessary for daily living, and when one of those incomes is interrupted, it could be a calamity. I am in a 2 income family, and we economize in so many ways so we can live well and save for the future. We started out at zero (again) just 15 years ago and have had a couple of trials in the meantime. Ready money is not always available – so “food insurance” is very important to keep a family afloat.

Our savings (including retirement savings) in the past was wiped out several times – none in our control.

1. Two lengthy job losses over the years – not eligible for unemployment,

2. One 6 month serious illness – not covered by insurance (see below),

3. An employer who folded – skipping out on paying our last two paychecks and an entire year’s worth of tax withholdings (which we had to pay in again to the Feds/State) (and we lost the health insurance we relied on-see above),

4. Finally, a financial institution failing that took away an entire year’s worth of income that had been saved.

If worst comes to worst, the powers that be will not foreclose, garnish, or attach your food supply. Food stamps are not always available -- in everything that happened to us through the years, we only qualified for a total of 3 months of food stamps. We choose to grow our own, shop wisely, and store extras on hand so we can feed ourselves and others far more cheaply than those who choose not to economize the way we need to. I wish I could keep my food costs down as low as Grainlady's !

We could probably do a week or two. My problem is I buy non-perishables and then forget about them or don't use them until they expire. I just did a major clean out of my pantry and I was horrified at the amount of expired food that I threw away. Maybe 3 trashbag's worth. I have to get better at menu planning and rotating food supplies.

loonlakelaborcamp.....I commend "you" for taking inventory of your resources, looking ahead and playing "what if". Life can really bounce you & yours around. It's good to be on top of things.....and not underneath.

Chi, just remember -- most of those foods don't expire! That is a sell by or best by date only. Sometimes I think that it is used just to make us think we have to throw it away! I also organize my pantry almost like a store shelf - the kitchen and organizational forums helped me with that.

On the other hand, you can keep track mentally of how much you use an item in X amount of months so you don't over buy. Like the last time I bought butter -- on sale seasonally for $1.50 a pound -- normal price $3.39. I use about a pound a week plus a bit more if I bake. 30 pounds of butter (frozen up) is less than a 6 month supply -- and I saved $56+ with no running to store for one in a pinch!

I was hoping to cut and paste a couple of pertinent sentences from this article, but I guess Houzz doesn't want this. Here's an article re sell-by dates:

But expiration labels basically mean nothing.

I think most things get wasted because of lack of planning and failure to cook at home. If you purchase a head of lettuce, how many things can you make with it this week, not just for one particular meal? Grow your own lettuce and you'll find out you can do more than just make a salad with it - almost like Bubba from Forest Gump and shrimp....

I have recipes in categories by main ingredient. Example: If I sprout a 1# bag of lentils I can make lentil taco filling, sprouted lentil pancakes, and Lentil Granola Bars. Dehydrate any leftover sprouted lentils, which cook quickly or I season them and use as a snack food.

I plan meals around a theme, not a specific plan, because it's more forgiving and allows for lots of options. I can change one day for another without wrecking the whole thing, or leave a day out entirely.

-Monday - Big Meal - This usually means a large cut of meat and all the trimmings. This will be used for other meals, sandwiches, possibly enough for the freezer, and if there is a carcass from a baked chicken, it will be used to make broth/soup. Some weeks I just find the "Big Meal" in the freezer, when pressed for time.

-Tuesday - Leftovers (if you have an aversion to leftovers, have them on Wednesday when they aren't quite as "familiar", or better yet, have them take on a whole new "look". That roast chicken or beef from Monday will look good shredded as BBQ chicken/beef on a whole wheat bun, and no one is the wiser that it's leftovers.

-Wednesday - Stir-Fry - Which can also take on many different "looks". A good way to use up fresh veggies you prepared earlier in the week (add frozen veggies if necessary), some leftover rice or other cooked grain, and any kind of meat will work (cooked or raw). I even make Ham & Swiss Rosti because it's somewhat "stirred and fried" http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/ham_swiss_rosti.html and is a Q&E meal. (I make it in serving sizes, not the whole pan like in the recipe, and we like it for lunch the next day.)

-Thursday - International - This usually means something with pasta or a tortilla, but any country (including the U.S. will do). You can make nearly any Mexican entrée with several different kinds of meat, or vegetarian with beans/rice. The same goes for pasta meals.

-Friday - Vegetarian - A good way to save on your meat budget. If you don't have time for a good breakfast during the week, Friday night might be a good place for those meatless breakfast dishes.

-Saturday - Soup and/or sandwiches - We include wraps, hot dogs, hamburgers, and quesadillas as a "sandwich".

-Sunday - Homemade pizza or a large dinner salad. Another good way to use up small amounts of things accumulating in the freezer/refrigerator.

Other options can be: something new (I make 3 new recipes each week), casserole night, Slow-Cooker night, comfort food favorites, everyone for themselves night.....whatever theme works for you.

Get expensive, off-season (like bell peppers when they are expensive in the winter and you need 2 T. for a recipe), occasional use (like chopped celery) at the salad bar at the grocery store. It's a great place to get toppings for your next homemade pizza without having a pile of produce dying of loneliness in the crisper drawer.

We could probably go for maybe 3 weeks just on the meat in the freezer. I just did a pantry clean out a couple weeks ago. Actually didn't get rid of stuff, just organized it. I don't have as much as I thought in there. I would have to go to the store for fresh fruits and veges, milk, yogurt, things like that.

We do have two generators so we could keep the fridge and freezer up and running. And usually have a case or 2 of water sitting around. We are also on well and septic so the generators would have to run the water pump also.

I don't feel like I'm nearly well enough prepared for an emergency. I'm going to work on that!

Grainlady, we cook a lot alike. My mama always said you could feed 4 people off of one chicken for 4 days! (I do think our chickens were a little bigger then!)

I purposefully boil up my starches and freeze them in single/double serving bags for quick use with a meal. No waiting to boil up a whole pound, you eat only one portion, and they thaw in minutes in the microwave. I even take spaghetti sauce and portion out in ziplocks so that it never goes bad in the bottle. Nothing ever gets "tossed". Any prep scraps go into the compost bin.

My nephew is amazed at what I can "cook up" in 20 minutes or less directly from the freezer and pantry. His mom is always ordering in or stopping by the deli counter because she has no "time" to cook. We even timed it one night after 3 of us ordered a pizza as a treat - and then 4 more people dropped by. Rather than order more pizza (I didn't want to spend the extra cash), I used my freezer preps and had a whole meal laid out for 7 that cost less than 1/2 of what the single pizza cost -all done by the time it arrived. They ended up taking the pizza home for breakfast! No wonder their food/eating out costs are quadruple what ours are.

My biggest priority is having enough food for my pets. As far as how much I could live on myself with the human food ? Well, it wouldn't be pretty or appetizing, but I could open cans and survive on that for about a week.

It's just me now so not a lot. I do have some freezer food and canned goods but not a lot of fresh stuff in the fridge. It would just go to waste. I have been thinking about it recently because I've been reading a book about Lenigrad during WWII and all those people starving to death. It didn't take long for the food supply to be almost non-existent once the city was surrounded, which is scary.

I'm going to take everything out of my fridge and cabinets soon, have two exchange students coming in a little over a month and need to see what I have and what I need to stock up on. It's going to be weird cooking for 3 again.

I'm hoping this thread has been beneficial. I still don't totally understand how many people "live on the edge" of their food supply, but they seem to be comfortable with it. I see others may be even more thorough in their home stores than I tend to be.

I work with FEMA sources through my work, and even FEMA is now actively recommending we all have 2 weeks of ready supplies - that is up from what they recommended in the past! If this thread spurs some to take stock of, rotate supplies, or purchase a few more, I can only think that is a positive. Just knowing "best by" or "sell by" dates don't mean food is to be tossed will save many money.

Many have brought up other areas to think about -- water supply, ready cash, pet food, cooking fuel sources, and of course, TP! I remember one night without electricity years ago -- my husband needed to get up at 1:00 to drive truck. I was trying to heat up water over a candle for some coffee or tea for him to keep awake! FYI, takes over an hour! Since then I have a small camping stove at the ready, but I will probably just get some sterno packs for ease of use as Grainlady suggested.

Just last night I was watching TV and heard about flooding, tornados, wildfires, windstorms, and a local plant closing -- all things that can happen anywhere and affect our food/incomes anywhere in this country. (Crossing fingers that California doesn't get "the big one...)

We keep the cupboards full and waste a lot of past date freshness date food. The freezer is full most of the time too. We could probably eat for a month without going to the store, but would miss the fresh vegetables, bread, eggs and milk.

We have a grocery store within a mile and visit it 2-3 times a week for veggies and beer.

We don't plan the stuffing of the cupboards, we just see items that we like on sale and stock up, but often don't eat it before it's stale. So wasteful!

PKponder TX-

We mainly eat fresh produce from our garden this time of the year, but in the winter the largest percentage of "fresh" food we consume is produced IN our home from growing sprouts (our little garden-in-a-jar), micro-greens, and wheatgrass and juicing it, along with some hydroponic-grown items; and the sunny south window filled with nutrient-rich herbs like parsley, chives, thyme, rosemary, and basil brought in from the garden in the fall, and enzyme-rich fermented foods. That is truly FRESH, nutrient-rich food. I generally by-pass the produce department entirely.

When I do purchase produce, I choose foods like lettuce, celery, and green onions I can plant the root end and grow more indoors/outdoors (the proverbial buy-one, get-one free). Why? Because so-called "fresh food" from the store is anything BUT fresh after being harvested, warehoused, transported, warehoused again, and finally placed in the store; and we are under some false impression that they are actually healthy and nutrient-rich, when the opposite is true. Nearly half of the vitamins may be lost within a few days of harvesting unless it is cooled. Within 1-2 weeks, even refrigerated produce loses half or more of some of its vitamins.

This is why seeds for sprouting are one of the "Seven Survival Foods" I have on hand, because we must have food high in enzymes to thrive, and that means fresh food that hasn't been processed with high heat. "Dead" food may provide calories, some nutrients and fiber, but it doesn't provide enzymes. I've read you can survive on wheat alone as long as you eat some sprouted wheat each day. Everything that has been heated or frozen lacks vital enzymes. When my Army Officer son-in-law has been on deployment and had to live mostly on MREs for long periods of time, he'll sprout grains/beans/seeds and consume them so he doesn't have secondary health issues from not having fresh food - it's that important.

-Grainlady

I'm sorry I'm a lame poster and haven't yet mastered the art of a link. I assumed I could use the cut and paste method but apparently that doesn't work. I know someone tried to help me earlier but things got busy and I lost the thread.

I have enough food on hand for a couple months or so . I'd miss my fresh veggies and my eggs, however (I CANNOT EAT powdered/liquid egg product, not without a TMI stint on the throne). But yes, I'd survive and mostly live quite well.

When I move (SOON), I'll be growing a lot of my own veggies -- the fresh will only be fresh three out of four seasons of the year, of course. (Although eventually there will be an attached greenhouse) And I'll be raising chickens. And there will be a root cellar, and lots of sun for growing sun-loving veggies!

(Oh, yes, some sort of fresh veggies all year round -- as Grainlady noted about sprouts...)

PS: 2011, I had three long term power outages here. For some unknown reason I was savvy enough to purchase a grill just prior to the first of those. And I was gearing up for food storage prep, too.

I did well -- also had an abundance of light sources (because I'm a camper, too). This all confirmed the need for me to continue on with food storage, making sure that my choices lean heavily to both healthy and tasty. Yeah, in a true meltdown, people will eventually be glad to eat book bindings and old leather shoes and favorite pets... but when one has a choice.... ? I know where my storage and food preservation choices are lying. And it's not with those MRE's.

It is a little slower, and less foodstuffs are available at the moment here, because I am downsizing in preparation for my move later this year. (11 hour workdays aren't helping -- but I'm retiring at the end of July.)

I finally took the big leap and used my pressure canner yesterday for the first time. I canned 8 pints of ground beef. I think this skill will be helpful as I try to increase my food storage, especially my non-freezer storage.

The food storage threads here helped, as did major support on the Harvest forum, so those who contribute, never doubt that your efforts actually do help others, and I thank you and appreciate your time.

In the fridge or freezer probably 7-9 days. In the pantry I keep lots of canned soups..veggies, pastas and rice. I force myself to go to the grocery about 3 times a month.

How prepared are you for even a small "disaster"? If not, why not?

I think one has to weigh the definition and potential disasters you could face together with the impact of them. I'm not a "prepper". I prefer to think I'm a "common senser". I just can't get myself to scare myself into laying in years upon years worth of dehydrated food, hundreds of rolls of toilet paper, and an arsenal of weapons to protect the toilet paper when the SHTF. That said, I'm also pragmatic and living in a northern state an occasional snow or ice storm is a very real possibility and then tack on some severe cold weather. Living in a city, the likelihood of getting so snowbound that we could not get out in an emergency isn't a top danger, but the reality is that a heavy storm makes it worthwhile to stay home in bad weather. My latter years of working enabled me to be able to adjust my schedule most of the time so I could stay home in bad weather and ride out the storm. I've always kept some food in the house for such a need, plus having it means I don't have to run to the store every couple days. I do not like shopping. I go to a store, get what I want and get out asap most of the time. I still comparison shop, etc, but I don't make a hobby out of shopping.

I used to keep a fairly well-stocked pantry with canned and dry goods but with health issues that has expired. I am now using the freezer more as my food storage and try to keep a week or so covered with refrigerated and dry and freezer supplements it. It's not so much for emergencies but for convenience. And the convenience would pay off in an emergency.

Especially during the winter, but even in the summer I try to keep some gas in the vehicle, at least 1/3 of a tank and I keep a couple 2 gallon cans of gas for the mower so that could be used if a need should arise.

The second major impact or "disaster" if you so desire, is a power outage. During and following a big storm many years back my power was out for 7 or 8 days. Now that would have an impact on my preparedness but at the time, it really didn't too much. I used what I could from the frig and freezer right away but after a couple days I just went to a sandwich shop or deli and picked up the days food. Some meals were simple and basic, sausage, cheese, crackers, etc. The streets were made passable quite quickly. Water service was not interrupted. I used my vehicle to charge the computer and cell phone and as I recall the landline wasn't affected. I had a battery TV and radio for entertainment too and I used up my cache of batteries during this time period. I do keep battery lights and flashlights around. More than most.

I don't lay in food supplies in fear of getting laid off or something as do some. For me, that comes under money management. And some people tout keeping cash handy in case of disaster but many if not most make the mistake of thinking everyone will have and will be willing to make change for them. I keep some money around and I keep small bills for tipping on deliveries, etc. Many also make the mistake of thinking they can buy anything in a disaster if they have cash. Many stores will close in a power outage, their fuel dispensers won't work and the registers won't work either.

In the event of a chemical disaster or something and I can get out of town, I do have places planned where I could go for cover. I don't keep a "go bag" but grab a couple changes of clothes isn't a big deal. Meds are kept together and grab a couple other things, I could leave.