Gluten Free emergency preparedness

Episode 41: Are You Prepared?

This podcast is not intended to scare anyone- it is just the practicality and helpful tips to help you be prepared- When you are dealing with a food restriction for a medical reason- it is everything to be prepared. You can’t just go to a local shelter and assume everything will be catered to you- I mean in a real emergency- people will be scrounging and willing to eat just about anything- So being prepared is soooo key- you need a social stockpile!!!

 

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Today I am going to cover 5 main things that will help you in case of any emergency.

Being prepared for an emergency when you have food allergies, intolerances or celiac disease is CRUCIAL!!! So go on over to the podcast and listen, then come back here for all the notes you need.

 

Food Storage: For starters, keep it simple. I mentioned that I purchased through a company called Thrive life. To me that was easier and helped me replenish faster. I also know that if I have a choice to eat that or fresh whole foods, I would likely choose whole foods… but that is not always feasible… especially in an emergency, so that food is for when we are in desperate times. Thrive life is not sponsoring this in any way- I am just sharing my personal journey here. That was my starting point for replenishing my food storage supply… but then it comes down to What does your family normally eat? Potatoes, rice, pasta, beans… isn’t it awesome that you can get ALL of those items at your local grocery store now (it may be a little tricky to find a lot of GF pasta, but when you see it on sale- stock up!)

 

We eat a lot of applesauce, rice cakes, certified gf granola bars, cereal, chips, peanut butter, canned fruit etc. Some of those items expire sooner than others- like a bag of chips… but when I am at the store and I see a sale on any of these items, I stock up.

And OF course I have to mention water here although I will be talking all about water in a few minutes… Have bottled water handy!!

 

So number 1: start your food storage stash, and if you have already started- awesome- go back, check dates, get rid of the old make a list of what you need and go get the items and stock up on extra sale items.

 

Meds & personal items: Medication is such a tricky thing with celiac disease and food allergies. If you know me and have followed me for a while- you know that I love essential oils. They are my first go to for most problems, infections etc. But I am no dummy! I believe in medication as well. I stock up on both oils and meds. We make sure that we are purchasing safe gf meds. But also, for my little Sadie, she doesn’t have red die- now it is crazy how many medications have red die in them… many syrup meds do- but most brands now have a better option to by the die free bottle instead- do that!!! Most of the time it is the same price! Make sure you have plenty of epi pens if you have food allergies! So just last week when we realized how the world was truly changing because of this corona virus- my husband went to the store and we stocked up on cold meds, upset stomach meds and ibuprofen. Now these aren’t going to cure the corona virus- but if things continue to shut down- then we know it will be harder to purchase down the road- so we stocked up! And the craziest thing that has come out of the corona virus was the need to buy toilet paper. I mean truly!! Who would have thought that all the stores near you would be out of tp first!! So when you see it- stock up- toilet paper has great shelf life! Hehe Hand Sanittizers has never seemed so important as it has the last few weeks. Don’t forget about about tampons, pads, menstrual cups, whatever you use- you better have a supply or that would be its own emergency in an of itself?

 

Back Pack: We never know what kind of emergency we are going to have… so we may need everything that is important to us- in one place ready to grab and go! Since I was little, even though we were sooo poor, each of us kids had a backpack with our name on it, with an extra pair of clothes- shoes- food- cash- snacks-diapers-wipes— formula- emergency blanket- first aid kit- flashlights batteries- matches— At one point my mom even got us ‘space food’ I have no idea where she got that- but we thought we were sooo cool that we had the same food astronauts would eat! This doesn’t have to be an expensive things to put together- use your kids old backpacks from last school year- go to a thrift store and buy an old backpack- because believe me- in an emergency the last thing you will be worried about is having a new name brand back to carry around! Haha. Also, it is a great idea to go through these bags annually- pick a time of year and put it on the calendar- kids grow fast- and those diapers and formula won’t be needed forever.

 

Electricity: This is a crazy one… if you have been following me on instagram for a while you know that last year our power went out for days at a time and sometimes a whole week. It was frequent. My husband has always told me that we needed to buy a generator for an emergency- I am always so frugal so I didn’t want to spend money on that- but when our power went out- you better believe I was supportive then. He went to buy a generator and guess what- supply and demand- the prices were so much higher and it was hard to find one. He had to go to several different stores. And that was when it was just a few housing communities were without power, so many stores and all surrounding homes had power- and there was still a crazy panic. The things I learned from having those outages- other than realizing my husband is in the wrong career (he is a lineman) for when there are emergencies haha. But I learned that it is important to purchase a generator that uses propane and natural gas. 

If you still have gas hooked up to your home than that is the cheapest and easiest way to fuel the generator. Propane is good especially if you don’t have natural gas available. But propane tanks are expensive to refill. And you have to refill them regularly so I was running to find gas stations all around me that actually sell propane and that take a card. Because for the gas stations near me that had propane- they were also out of electricity and could only take cash. I didn’t have cash… so yes have an extra amount of cash at home too! Having the generator hooked up to our home was amazing. We could function as usual- although we were extra cautious with limiting how much electricity we were using. We played a lot of games, cards, reading etc. because we didn’t have cable or the internet either. This is experience was a super inconvenience. People were crazy- neighbors turned psycho- but we were calm- we were prepared- well we got prepared real quick- and I am sooo grateful for the experience- I learned so much- because I was forced to- I learned how to hook up a generator to my home- I pretty much felt unstoppable- like I am the boss!!! Of course having batteries, flashlights and candles is crucial as well! So as crazy as this may seem- I think we will all look back at this corona virus and be so grateful that we had the opportunity to prepare for the upcoming crazy times this world is going to experience-

 

Water: water is tough- I have never had to be without water for a long period of time. There was a time when I had my first child gav- in the apartment- formula- Mac and cheese- flush the toilet – that was only a few hours- have water bottles- use old detergent bottles- fill them with water and store under your bed or in the garage- it will be perfect for washing dishes and clothes in an emergency. Get 50 gallon water barrels. Fill them with water and the allotted amount of bleach to ensure it stays fresh and not moldy. Prepare a way for you to go to the bathroom- lets face with stomach issues you want a clear plan of how you will go to the bathroom! There are emergency toilet kits that you can put on a 5 gallon bucket. With a toilet seat lid and baggies. OR you can still flush a toilet by dumping extra water down- so they say- but if water is scarce- I don’t see that as the best option.

 

All of this I say out of love and education, not out of fear or despair. I believe that we can be realistic and prepared for an emergency. For all of us with a medical restriction or those with medical devices it is everything to keep everyone safe and watched over.

Today I discussed some of the major things that I have done or need to do in order to be safe and prepared. I know there are so many other ways and things you can do and buy to be prepared. If I have missed something that you feel is so important go find me on IG and message me- I want to hear it- and I will share my followers too!!

I just love our gf community! I am so grateful you tuned in today and I hope the next emergency isn’t for a long time- but if it is sooner or if this virus takes a turn for the worst- I hope and pray that you and I are as prepared as we need to be!

 

Double check to make sure you have subscribed to this podcast so that you don’t miss another episode.

 

And do you have a favorite social media platform? Instagram, youtube, Pinterest, facebook… I want to see your gluten free face there too. So go find me @servingceliacs wherever you like to hang out and go and have the best gluten free day!

Gluten Free emergency preparedness
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