My best friend is a professional organizer by way of passion, and she would be so proud! You'll see why in a sec...
Here's the tea... Irma is on her way, and all of Florida is in a state of emergency. Good lookin' out guv'na; we need it. Now, you see this is what happens when a Category 5 is headed your way...
This picture is from Wednesday. The stores are bare bone. Bread gone. Water gone. Peanut butter gone. This is a grape jelly region, so that was gone. No, seriously, all of it. If you wanted blueberry though, you were set. Any who, like an umpire, all the essentials are "OUT!"
Just picture walking into your favorite local grocery store, and mayhem is what you find down every aisle. Can't even get a shopping cart.
Oh, and forget finding gas. TIP: Hurricane watch has been announced, fill up your tank the next day. Filled up on Sunday, and avoided the lines. Gas stations have Cheesecake Factory wait times of 60 minutes and more at a lot of locations, or they're actually running out of gas altogether. :-/
My family and I are set. Went all the way to Broward County to stock up groceries, and get mail out before Irma. Yet again, this post gives you a peek into what's going on down here. If Irma is about to be knocking at your door, or you ever face a situation like this, here are my pantry tips.
ORGANIZE IT
The Before...
The After...
HERE'S MY WHY: visibility and accessibility
(Great list of pantry items at the end!!)
Organizing the pantry was part of my contribution to the house. House of 5 right now. It is almost inevitable that we will lose power, and the non-perishable and snack supply TRIPLED! LOOK AT ALL THE PUDDING!! This is different from Spring Cleaning. Knowing what you have is key, so you don't waste money on non-perishables you already have, and in order to know what you need to buy in excess.
WATER
Stock up! Simple.
Call stores ahead of time to ask when the new truck deliveries are coming. Shop around. Second contribution: We had only 1 case of water in the house. We found water at Fresh Market in the county up. Currently, stocked up for 2-3 weeks. Don't hesitate to have more than what you think. Bottles. Gallons. Spring. Alkaline. Fill up empty bottles. Have water for your family.
KNOW YOUR FREEZER
Our freezer is full of frozen veggies, frozen fruit, and seafood. Check out my post from yesterday to see what you can do with food before the storm.
Losing electricity in the forecast???
Tips:
*Don't add to your fridge.
*Design a meal around what you have in the freezer.
My third major contribution will be a massive seafood and rice dinner for the fam tonight! I'll post pics later. The seafood is thawed. Just have to figure out what direction I want to go in, but trust, there will be bacon involved somehow.
That's all for now, and thank you to everyone who has been checking in on me! <3 I will keep you all posted.
Pantry Yays: Apples, Dates, Pudding, Packaged Tuna and Salmon, Bread, Peanut Butter, Chips, Veggie Chips, Jerky, Jello, Fruit Snacks, Squeezable Baby Drinks, Cookies, Crackers, Pickles, Nut Breads, Paper plates, Cutlery, Extra Garbage Bags, Bags of Ice, Check for items on sale...
No bananas (They bring fruit flies! No bueno when you can't go outside.)
