I am living in Houston which means that I have been impacted by the hurricane Harvey. Being from France, I have no idea what it is to get prepared for a hurricane. I heard that Harvey was coming on Wednesday, and since I was working I did not really have time to go to the store before Friday. I was not really panicking because I had no idea what was coming since I have never experienced something like that. We had floods before, and in a few hours the water was gone, so I have never had to prepare for anything like this. Seeing all the people rushing to the store buying packs of water, and all the food that did not need to be refrigerated I thought that maybe I should get prepared too.
Since I am eating SANE, most of what I eat are vegetables, nutrient-dense protein, and whole-food fats. It is pretty challenging to be able to get a lot of those without having to refrigerate them. I pretty much needed to prepare for something that I did not know about. I decided to buy things that I would normally buy without buying a ton of it in case the power would go out. I did not expect to see long lines in stores and empty shelves. I admit I started panicking a little because I felt like I was not prepared.
Here are the things I did before the hurricane to make sure that I would have SANE foods ready for me regardless of what was going to happen.
Shopping List
- Spring mix x3 lbs.
- Spinach x2 lbs.
- Lemons x6
- Cucumbers x3
- Frozen vegetables x2 lbs
- Frozen fruits x2o oz.
- Protein bars x6
- Coconut milk 1 gallon
- Baby carrots x1 lb.
- Eggs x12
- Bacon x1 lb.
I already had canned tuna, and canned sardines in my pantry, and I also had food in my freezer, so I did not need to buy too many things. I also did not know if the power was going to stay on, so I did not want to buy too much.
Preparation
1. Smoothies
You can make several batch of smoothies with spring mix, lettuce, frozen fruits, lemons, and coconut milk. If you are worried that you are going to lose power then you can store them in the freezer that way if the power goes out it will stay fresh longer. You can then put them in a cooler with ice.
2. Salads
You can use the leftovers of the greens to make salads with the cucumbers. You can also buy some avocado, and other vegetables to add to your salad. I bought the minimum since I did not know if my freezer will stay on.
3. SANE bread
I made bread using this recipe, so I would have something ready to eat in the fridge that I could also keep outside the fridge for a little longer in case the power would be out.
4. Beverages
I have a water filter pitcher, so buying water was not an issue for me. It may become an issue when you cannot use the tap water anymore because of the flooding. I have seen online that we can boil the water, and I was planning on boiling it before filtering it. I would suggest to have a new filter ready to make sure that the water is properly filtered.
I drink coffee, so not knowing if I was going to be able to use my coffee machine, so I made coffee with a cold-brew coffee maker. I just needed to put ground coffee in the filter, pour water inside, and keep the pitcher in the fridge.
5. Others
I made some hard boiled eggs which would be convenient, and it also a way to keep the eggs longer if the power goes out. Buying canned fish is also very convenient to add to your salad because power or not you can still keep them. I also had some protein bars such as Epic bars, and Rx bars which is easy to take with you and that do not need to be refrigerated. If you want to be even SANEr you can order some protein bars on the SANEStore but you would have to be more prepared than I was.
I hope that this will help some of you in the future who are unfortunately going through a hurricane. I have been lucky because my house was not flooded, so I did not need to evacuate, and my power did not go out, so I was able to use my fridge the whole time.
I think that it is better to be over prepared than not prepared at all. I also think that buying things that I could use at the moment without having to use what I had in my freezer was very helpful since we do not know when the grocery stores will be able to get restocked.
We currently have to go in line to enter the store, and as days are passing the stores are getting emptier. I bought more eggs, frozen vegetables, and lettuce since I know I can keep them because I won’t lose power.
Things will be very different if you need to evacuate, but if you have a cooler with ice you can pack as many things as you can in it. You can also have a bag ready with foods that do not need to be refrigerated. Things will get difficult if you end up in a shelter since packing SANE foods when you are trying to save your life is not going to be your priority.
I am praying for everyone in Houston who lost everything, and some even lost family members or friends. I am very grateful for not losing anything in this hurricane.
