Cyclone Preparation

What to make, bake and do in the kitchen

Today in my cyclone preparation I’m concentrating on what I can do in the kitchen that is going to make my life a whole lot easier later tonight and the coming next few days should we lose power.  Firstly, we have lots of allergies and intolerances in our house so tinned, and packet type foods are not really an option for us.  My fridge is stocked with enough fresh foods to last us for the next 3 – 4 days.

This morning I prepared some foods in advance so as to avoid doing this without power.  I have a heap of frozen freezer bricks ready to go should I need them to keep my perishables cool, if you don’t have these maybe look having some ice on hand.

To begin, I planned out what would roughly eat over the next 2-3 days and then looked at how difficult that would be to prepare or store if we had no power.  I think having a food plan or menu for the coming days is a great idea because it forces you to think ahead and hopefully avoid being stuck with eating the same thing over and over.

Cyclone Preparation

What I have made, baked and done in the kitchen this morning:

• cut up and roasted vegetables like, pumpkin, sweet potato, onions, zucchinis, carrots and stored them in the fridge, for reheating later on the bbq or for tossing through a salad.  By doing this these fresh vegetables take up far less room in the fridge or esky if there is no power.
• cooked on the bbq enough meat for the next 3 days.  I’ve got chicken thighs, pork chops, and rissoles.  I love cooking all these on the bbq so I get that nice smokey flavour.  They can be reheated later or served cold with a salad and also take up less room once cooked.
• made my kids favourite custard and some chocolate.
• got the flask ready to fill with boiling water closer to cyclone time for tea and coffee.
• put the dishwasher on and gave the kitchen a really good once over.
• straightened out the fridge so everything is easy to find with only short door openings required.
• made sure that my stock of crackers and spreads in the cupboard would be ample for the next few days.

I’m hoping that by doing this, meal preparation over the coming days will be far less stressful………and if I don’t lose power well aren’t I going to be the most organised mummy ever!  Tell us what your cyclone preparation tips are in the comments below.

You may also like to read our blog posts on making a STORM in a Box Kit and 30 Things to do with kids when you have no electricity.