How to prepare for a snowstorm: A guide by a lifelong Michigander.

I write this as Michigan is four days into a six day blizzard event, and the event is headed all the way down the deep south to the Gulf Coast. Videos of empty grocery shelves are all over social media right now, particularly when it comes to bread and milk, and people south of the Mason-Dixon Line are sharing their Snowpocalypse grocery hauls... y'all are not used to this, and boy is it obvious.

I am used to this. My mother taught me how to do this as a young child (this was part of how you trained your daughters to be tradwives back in the day). This is a normal survival skill up here.

This is part of my "Building an Ingredients Kitchen" series because that's a huge part of it. You don't have to get ready if you stay ready. And blizzards aren't our only weather concern, the other eight months of the year we get to worry about severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. It's literally the only downside to living so close to Lake Michigan, the most perfect body of water in the world. I may be biased.

The Basics:

• If possible, keep a steady drip of water going from every water faucet, to keep your pipes from freezing and bursting.

• Stock 1 gallon of potable water per person per day. That's the calculation for both drinking and cooking, you'll want to stock more for hygiene if that's something you need. If this is something you're storing long-term, be sure to re-up with a fresh supply every six months.

• If you have a generator, make sure you have the gas to run it for every predicted day of the storm, + a couple of days past to give the electrical crews time to work. Same for any propane, butane, or wood/wood pellet device you plan on using, have the same amount of fuel budgeted for each as you would a generator.

• Have fresh batteries in your smoke detectors, and at least one fresh fire extinguisher, and give the whole family a reminder on how to use it. House fires spike during blizzards, because people are burning tons of candles, and using old, faulty space heaters. Don't be a casualty.

• Have fresh, working carbon monoxide detectors in your space. CM poisoning deaths also spike, for all the reasons house fires do.

• Make sure you have a stocked first aid kit on hand, and that you refill all your prescriptions before the storm hits.

• Campers know: good lanterns, and battery charging packs, are necessary for no electricity situations. Headlamps are also good for midnight toilet runs. Make sure all of these have a fresh charge before the storm hits. Lanterns often double as battery chargers nowadays, but everyone with a phone needs a solar power battery charger on hand for emergencies... and outdoor activities in less turbulent times.

• Toilet paper. So dumb, right? We started buying the club sized box and just storing it - it'll all be used eventually, and we don't have to worry about panic buying. At least keep a few emergency rolls tucked away with your water.

On the TP note... so your toilet is on an electric water source, and your tank won't fill with the power out? Drain the bowl, line it with a heavy-duty trash can liner and fill the liner 1/3 way with cat litter or cedar shavings. "If it's yellow, let it mellow" applies here, but you'll want to take the bag to the dumpster and set this up again after a BM.

Speaking of candles and space heaters, and old Michigander trick:

Get an unscented pillar candle (a 7 Day Candle in a glass jar will not work for this), and an empty METAL coffee can that the candle fits completely into, flame and all. Remove the paper label, the can will get hot. Place the candle in the coffee can, and light the candle. Obviously, don't put the lid on the coffee can unless you're storing this setup.

One of these will heat a car. If you see an unlabeled metal coffee can with a new pillar candle and a lighter or matchbook inside in the backseat of a Michigander's car, now you know - they're preparing to be stuck in a ditch for 12 hours at -15°F.

You'll need more like four or five to heat a room. Again, carbon monoxide poisoning is an issue with this technique, make sure you vent your space regularly and have detectors close with fresh batteries. And you're dealing with an open flame, so all precautions apply - full supervision at all times, safe, non-flammable surface, etc. And do not use this in a tent!

How to sleep warm:

• Wear all your warmest clothes. I'm talking 2-3 layers of sweaters, sweatpants, and socks, as well as your winter coat if needed. Do not forget to keep your head well covered at all times, that's where you lose the most heat.

• Concentrate your living to the main area of the house, literally close the doors to the bedrooms and any other rooms you're not using. Everyone sleeps in the living room. Preferably in the same bed. Other than the kitchen and one bathroom, that's where you're concentrated while the power is out, to maximize your body heat.

• If you camp, pitch your tent in the living room, and cover it with a few of your largest, warmest blankets. Everyone sleeps in the closed tent. The trapped body heat will keep the tent a comfortable temperature. Again, no candles in a tent!

• Now is the time to pull out every single blanket you own. More blankets do keep you warmer. Same for sleeping bags, if you have them. Make sure you use a few to cover the windows and any drafty doors. Keep in mind that blankets and sleeping bags work by trapping your body heat, which you lose from everywhere, even the bits in contact with your sleeping surface. Make sure you "burrito roll" yourself, or sleep in a heavy blanket "sandwich" so you're preserving all your body heat.

The Pantry Stock:

So, you missed the bread and milk...

Not an issue if you have powdered milk, and bread flour and instant yeast on hand. But you have an electric oven? Do you have a grill? You can bake a sandwich loaf. Do you have a camp burner? You can make pita or tortilla. I highly recommend keeping at least a little backpacker's burner (not sponsored) (another not sponsored option) (a not sponsored wood fuel option) and fuel on hand for emergency situations, they're not an expensive investment, and they don't take a lot of space to store. Again, be mindful of carbon monoxide levels as you use it in an enclosed space! Use it near a cracked window and a detector!

Your Pantry Stock List:

Obviously, most of this is meant to be consumed regularly, you just want to keep it in amounts that will get you through at least a few days if you need to shelter in place, like in a blizzard. Essentially, make sure you never run out of these. Buy ahead when you're getting low.

• Powdered or shelf-stable milk.

• Shelf-stable powdered eggs, or ground flax seed for the folks with egg allergies.

• Canned meat products: tuna, sardines, smoked oysters, canned chicken, SPAM, corned beef, etc.

• Rice. I buy basmati, jasmine, and brown in 10lb bags for my regular consumption, but ymmv on how much rice you eat or how much pantry space you have.

• Beans and lentils. I keep dried green lentils, dried red lentils, dried green peas, and dried pinto beans on hand in 5lb jars, and red kidney, cannellini, chickpeas, and black beans in cans for quick, easy meals.

• Crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. I know, I know, this is a tomato-free blog, but it's a weird allergy, and chili is a classic snow day meal. Plus, you can make your own spaghetti sauce with these ingredients and some Italian Seasoning and a dash of red wine vinegar and olive oil, skip the expensive pre-made stuff in the jars. If you're like me and you do have a tomato allergy, I got you - here's recipes for Not Chili and Pumpkin Pasta Sauce.

• Noodles. Whatever noodles you like. Spaghetti noodles? Elbow mac? Rice noodles? Ramen? Fideo Noodles? Noodles.

• Flour & other baking mediums: I keep all-purpose flour, bread flour, yellow cornmeal, PAN arepa flour (I'm better at arepas than tortillas, so I keep this over masa harina), chickpea flour for a plant protein binder & scrambled egg substitute, tapioca flour for fruit pie filling, and sweet rice flour mostly for kimchi making. Obviously, I'm kind of excessive thanks to allergies and having to make everything from scratch, flour and cornmeal (or your favorite gluten-free baking mix, and millet flour, if you're gluten or corn free) alone is fine and will provide you with at least flatbread and pones throughout the storm.

• Salt, sugar, instant yeast, baking soda, and baking powder. Make sure you have fresh going into storm season.

• Cooking oil, white vinegar (also important for sanitizing!), and raw apple cider vinegar.

• Broth or bullion. Again, it's tradition up here to spend our snow days making and eating giant pots of soup. You want to be ready for spontaneous soup between September-March.

• Popcorn kernels. Why pay for the pre-popped, bagged stuff, when you can make it fresh and hot?

• SunButter, or peanut butter. And preserves, if you're PB&J (or SB&J) people.

• Coffee in a METAL can, and/or your favorite hot beverage. Kids love a good hot chocolate after coming in from playing in the snow, which if you stock ahead you may want to keep hidden until it magically appears when the snow flies.

• Pet food. They WILL eat you if there's nothing else to eat in an emergency situation.

This all assumes a fully stocked spice cabinet, of course.

The Freezer Stock:

You may wonder why I would suggest stocking perishable foods for a snowstorm. That would be because the entire outdoors is your freezer during a snowstorm. As long as it's below 32°F, you can store your frozen foods in a tote in your garage or on your patio, or in the trunk of your car. Just make sure you focus on eating it during the storm, and that you return it to a freezer (or at least a good ice-packed cooler) once it gets warmer again.

• Frozen vegetables. Just in case you get stuck before you can make a fresh food run.

• Frozen meat. Particularly your favorite meat for chili or your favorite soup.

What to buy during that pre-pocalypse grocery run:

Assuming you have all of the above on hand, of course.

• Fresh vegetables, especially what you need to make your planned snow day soups and casseroles (we're also Midwestern, we do those, too).

• Fresh meat, if you'd rather not eat what's in your freezer.

• Fresh fruits, for snacking.

• Marshmallows for hot chocolate.

• Double the marshmallows, as well as your favorite butter or butter substitute and favorite cereal if you want to make cereal "krispies" treats with the kids (or for yourself!). The recipe is on every marshmallow bag, and you can do it on a burner.

What to buy during that pre-pocalypse Dollar Tree or Five Below run:

• A few pillar candles. You may want to bring your coffee can to make sure they're the right size.

• BBQ lighters or stove matches, for your gas burner and coffee can/candle setup.

• Cleansing wipes. You will not want to get wet if you have no heat in a snowstorm.

• Comfort snacks.

• Puzzle books & pencils.

• Jigsaw puzzles.

• Board games.

• A new deck of playing cards, or Uno, Old Maid, etc.

• Physical book copies.

• Coloring books with crayons/colored pencils.

• Craft kits.

• Art supplies.

What to buy during that pre-pocalypse Party Store or dispo run:

haha, that might be a bit specific to Michigan...

What to download:

Look, iPad kids are a reality. I'm not particularly proud of how some of my generation has been parenting, but I also have had to detox from screen addiction myself as a full adult, and that was tough af. I couldn't imagine dealing with it with the brain of a 5 year old. And an emergency situation is not the time to DT a toddler.

Everyone, parental status regardless, should have a good solar powered battery charger on hand for an emergency. That's how you're going to keep your phone powered up so you can stay in touch with your loved ones, weather reports, and emergency services and notifications. And if you have an iPad kid, you're going to need at least 2 more for them. I'd say a main and a backup per iPad kid. Probably excessive, but I've seen what these kids do without their iPads right there...

And you cannot expect to have internet access, so you will need to download everything they'll need for 3-5 days.

• TV show episodes & movies.

• Music playlists.

• Games.

• Anything else they use their tablet for.

Remember to go into the storm with the tablet(s), headphones, and all chargers fully charged - solar chargers also have a quick wall charger option.

Meanwhile, if you're a reasonable adult with a music service subscription, make sure you update your playlists and downloads before the storm hits, and charge your speakers and headphones. Downloaded music takes the teeniest of battery use, and having a good playlist makes those analog activities you picked up a lot more fun. Same goes for Mp3 players. If you're using a Discman, get LOTS of batteries, those things were huge battery sucks.

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