Every Little Bit Counts | Food Security
A few weeks ago, Laura mentioned the EBS, and it stuck with me. It ended up back on my to-do list this week, so this afternoon I carved out some time to revisit something we’ve had in place for a while… our “Meals in a Bag.” I figured I’d share this in case it sparks an idea for you or adds another layer to your own preparedness. Let me preface this first… These are not our everyday meals. They’re not replacing our fresh from scratch meals, pre-made freezer meals from bulk cooking days, or our rotating pantry. These are for: - the weeks when life just life’s - unexpected emergencies - power outages (which, in our area, happen more often than I’d like) I’d consider these our 3rd or 4th line of defense. We’ll also pull from them if we happen to be out of something in the freezer or pantry, but that’s not their primary purpose. So what are “Meals in a Bag”? Each bag contains everything needed to make a full meal, pre-portioned and grouped together so there’s: - no thinking - no digging through cabinets - no “what are we even making tonight?" You just grab the bag and go. What we’re focusing on Right now, we’re primarily stocked with: - Lunch options - Dinner options And then a few backup breakfast items like: - SPAM - Freeze-dried eggs - Hashbrowns Nothing fancy. Just practical. The unexpected benefit This has pushed us to think beyond our kitchen. By building these out, we’ve also had to consider: How would we actually cook these if the power is out? So we’ve tested (or planned for): - Gas grill - Charcoal - Jetboil - Open fire And now I’m going down a bit of a rabbit hole wondering how much draw an Instant Pot would take off our solar generator… which I might test tomorrow because now I need to know. Why this matters This isn’t about fear. It's about removing friction when things get hard or inconvenient. Because when you’re: - tired - stressed - dealing with an emergency …the last thing you want to do is figure out dinner from scratch.