The headlines can be scary but with a little prep ahead of time, you and your family will not have to deal with food and household shortages.

20+ ITEMS IN HIGH DEMAND:

Bottled water and brand-name seltzers

Canned goods

Pasta

Baked goods

Yeast

Flour

Butter

Cream

Cheese

Bread

Premade/ready-made fresh foods and cold cuts

Meats, poultry and fish — even less popular fish, like halibut

Toilet paper and paper towels

Cleaning supplies

Frozen foods, particularly frozen meals and pizzas.

Turmeric, Vitamin D, Vitamin C

Citrus fruits (also known to be immunity building)

Jarred salsa

Pasta sauces, especially marinara.

Liquor, beer and wine — even the top-shelf stuff

EMERGENCY TIPS:

1. Emergency basics- have flashlights and/or a lantern in case of power outage. At the min, matches and candles, which can be bought on clearance after the holidays.

2. If your heat is electric, think ahead to how you’ll keep warm in a cold climate. Portable heater? Fireplace? Blankets work, until it’s 40 degrees in your home.

3. Stock up on water and food. Food should be ready to eat in a can, that doesn’t require heating. This assortment of camping foods is a good idea too.

4. Speaking of food, food in the fridge lasts 6 hours, the freezer a little longer. Keep the fridge closed during the outage and your food may last a little longer.

5. Cell phone. Our cordless phone went completely dead in the outage and I couldn’t find the corded phone. Luckily, we had a battery-powered cell phone charger like this one, which was a lifesaver.

6. Cash. It’s good to have cash on hand for emergencies, in cash you need to go to the store and their credit card machines aren’t working. This actually happened a few times to me.

7. Full gas tank. This is one thing I try and have all winter long but the last few days I didn’t have even a 1/4 tank of gasoline. In an emergency, everyone heads to the gas stations and as you may have seen on the news in the past, it can be total chaos.

8. Games and books for everyone. Uncharged iPads and computers are useless in an outage. But if you know bad weather is heading your way, charge up your electronics ahead of time. And have a stash of games and books just in case.

9. Camping stove or bbq grill to cook food.

10. One gallon of water per person, per day of an emergency. Gallon jugs are good for this, or even a few cases of bottled water.

11. Generators run on gasoline are a good option if your area has frequent power outages. Amazon sells them, along with Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc. Base the kind you get on the size of your house and/or the appliances you need to keep running.

12. An extra freezer for storing food such a meat, veggies and more.

13. Extra medication. We always have extra over-the-counter medications, like Tylenol, Pepcid, Excedrin, etc. Also, a good idea to have extra prescription medication on hand, especially emergency medications like asthma inhalers and blood pressure medication.

14. A bucket toilet. This can be DIY or Amazon sells several different versions.

15. Costco or Sam’s Club membership. Both seem to be able to keep food and supplies in stock a lot easier than the local grocery store.

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Here are more supplies to have on hand:

2 week supply of non-perishable food
1–2 week supply of water — one gallon of water per person, per day.
Portable, battery-powered radio or television and extra batteries
Flashlight and extra batteries.
First aid kit and manual.
Sanitation and hygiene items (moist towelettes and toilet paper).
Applesauce and other fruit purees
Canned fruit in water
Frozen fruit
Dried fruit
Canned vegetables (i.e., green beans, carrots, peas, diced tomatoes, pumpkin puree), low-sodium if possible
Canned vegetable-based soups and chilis, low-sodium if possible
Frozen vegetables (i.e, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus)
Jarred tomato sauce
Tuna or salmon, canned or in a pouch
Chicken or turkey, canned or in a pouch
Frozen fish, such as shrimp or individually portioned pieces of salmon
Shelf-stable silken tofu
Lentils, canned or vacuum-sealed
Eggs and egg beaters
Nut/seed butter
Nuts and seeds
Trail mix
Dry or canned beans
Whole wheat pasta or chickpea pasta
Brown rice
Ancient grains (i.e., quinoa, farro)
Oats
Instant oatmeal packets/cups
Whole wheat or seed crackers
Whole wheat or sprouted bread (can keep in freezer and toast when ready to eat)
Shelf-stable boxes of milk (shelf-stable varieties are available for regular and non-dairy milks)
Powdered milk
Olive oil
Avocado oil
Flax seeds
Chia seeds
Low-sugar electrolyte drinks
Pre-made protein-shakes or meal-replacement shakes (in case you get sick and lose your appetite)
Canned or boxed low-sodium broth
Coffee
Cooking Oil
Coffee filters
Pepper
Sugar
Salt
Cocoa
water
Kraft mac and cheese
canned veggies
cup of noodles
canned chicken noodle soup
baked beans
bags of rice
spam
canned chili
peanut butter
flour
sugar
salt
baking soda
cooking oil
noodles
dry beans
frozen foods
pasta
pasta sauce
Baking Soda
Hand crank or manual can openers
Canned food — any type
Wooden, strike anywhere matches
Old newspapers
Wax for fire-starting
Large cotton balls with soaked in petroleum jelly (also for starting fires)
Bleach (or freshly made pool shock)
Baby wipes
Diapers
Coloring books & crayons
Tooth paste
Toothbrushes
Dental floss
Combs
Hard candy
Hair brushes
Disposable razors
Nail clippers and files
Feminine products
Bars of soap
Hair pins
Cigarette lighters
Aluminum foil
toilet paper
Plastic sheeting
Socks — all sizes & colors
Shoe laces
Reading glasses
Garbage bags
Brooms
Dustpans
Clothespins
Clotheslines
Garbage cans
Dryer Lint (to use as firestarter)
Rope of any type
Honey
Popcorn
Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and aspirin
pet food
Essential oils
Cough syrup
Eye drops
Whistle.
Extra clothing.
Photocopies of credit and identification cards.
Cash and coins.
Special needs items, such as prescription medications, eye glasses, contact lens solutions, and hearing aid batteries.
Items for infants, such as formula, diapers, bottles, and pacifiers.
Needles
Straight pins
Safety pins
Buttons
Thread
Elastic-material
Dry beans
Rice
Noodles
Flour
Band-aids
Laxatives
Lip balm or chapstick
Nails, nuts, bolts, & screws
Heirloom garden seeds
Fresh garden produce and herbs
Herb plants
Duct tape
Hand garden tools
Two-cycle oil
Automotive oil and air filters
Paperback books
Plastic tarps
Fels naphtha bar soap
Borax
Oxyclean
Homemade laundry detergent
Plastic tubs & containers
Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
Laundry detergent

BLEACH

Clorox Bleach Tablets

Bleach tablets are an excellent choice for those that have limited space and do not want to deal with storing a lot of liquid bleach. The tablets also have a much longer shelf life than liquid bleach.

Here are some of the registered disinfectants on the EPA’s list. Find the full here.

Clorox Disinfecting Wipes
Clorox Commercial Solutions
Clorox Disinfecting Spray
Clorox Multi-Surface Cleaner + Bleach
Klercide 70/30
Lonza Formulation
Lysol Clean & Fresh Multi-Surface Cleaner
Lysol Disinfectant Max Cover Mist
Lysol Heavy-Duty Cleaner Disinfectant Concentrate

MEDICATIONS FOR FEVER AND FLU

Mucinex Extended-Release Maximum Strength– Helps expel mucus for 12 hours with a single tablet dose. I looked it up and even with high blood pressure, my Dad can take this too.

Advil Liqui-Gels. If you have a family and they are all feverish, you can go through a lot of fever reducers. I ordered a 200 count bottle of Liqui-Gels the other day. They take effect a bit faster than tablets.

Also stock up on your prescription medications.