How to Stock Your Pantry For Winter Emergencies

The properly stocked winter pantry can be a source of considerable comfort for you and your family, it might even be lifesaving someday.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• canned foods and drinks
• assorted other foods
• wind-up flashlight
• wind-up radio
• camp stove and fuel
• can opener
• water
• charcoal barbecue
• a camping style propane heater
• canned heat
• batteries
• candles
• matches
• sleeping bags
• blankets
• warm clothing

1. Make sure your winter emergency pantry includes a way to prepare hot foods and drinks. Power outages are common in winter storms and natural disasters so you need to be prepared to lose your electricity for hours or even days.
   
   You'll need an alternative energy source for heating meals and hot drinks. You can get by with either a camp stove or a charcoal barbecue grill, both of which must only be used outside of your house.
   
   You can also put in a supply of canned heat, the gel type or the tablet type, either will work.
   
   If you're lucky enough to have a wood stove and plenty of stove wood, then you can use that for both cooking and heating your home. Just make sure you stocked plenty of matches in your pantry for lighting the fire.

2. Be sure you stock foods that don't require long cooking times, or that can be eaten directly from the can or jar without heating.
   
   Some hearty, protein packed, foods should be included like tuna and other canned fish, canned meats, peanut butter, and dry salami.
   
   An assortment of canned vegetables, fruits, soups and chili, and the like make good food items for your winter emergency pantry too.
   
   Don't forget crackers, drinks like coffee, tea, and cocoa, dried milk, and whatever else you like that stores well and will keep without electricity.

3. Put a supply of water in your winter pantry, preferably enough for two or three weeks. Emergency preparedness experts recommend about thirty gallons per person for two weeks.
   
   Water is vital in your winter pantry because pipes will freeze, and the water supplies are often disrupted in a natural disaster.

4. Place these must have items in your winter emergency pantry:
   wind-up radios and flashlights
   a can opener
   batteries
   candles
   matches
   extra sleeping bags. One for everyone n the house.
   warm blankets, preferably wool.
   warm winter clothing, hats, gloves, scarves, wool socks, and warm coats.
   a camping style propane heater

5. Don't forget the little things you'll need like first aid supplies, extra medicines, pet food and supplies, diapers for babies, and some form of entertainment for those hours the power is off. Good choices are board games, cards, jigsaw puzzles, coloring books, craft supplies, and books to read.

Tips & Warnings

• In a power outage always eat the foods in your refrigerator and freezer first, before digging into your supply of canned foods.
• Plan ahead and make lists to be sure you have everything you might possible need in a winter emergency or natural disaster.

[roseanne09]

on 11/21/2009 Excellent article and tips on stocking a pantry for winter emergencies. 5*

[jenng]

on 11/18/2009 GREAT ARTICLE ON How to Stock Your Pantry For Winter Emergencies 5*

[rnhealthinfo]

on 11/13/2009 Great ideas on How to Stock Your Pantry For Winter Emergencies and it's time to start now! 5* recommend

[ourlastchance]

on 10/29/2009 We live in the country so we have to stock our pantry, we never know when we may be snowed in for a while and the back roads are never cleared off so we are usually just stuck here. Thanks for the great article, I needed this push to start stocking my pantry for the winter emergencies to get me started on it now.

[famousewriter]

on 10/28/2009 These are great emergencies supplies.