We’re fine. We got hit, but we were very lucky, and we are fine. We lost power for almost 3 days, and I am very glad to have my air conditioning and internet back. But we lost everything in our fridge and freezers. So I went grocery shopping yesterday with no list, no menu, no plan at all; since I had no idea what the grocery store actually had. I knew I wanted milk, eggs, bread flour, sugar, and some household products. I knew I wanted fresh produce and meat for 4 for the rest of the week (the roommates evacuated north) as well as lunches for me and the kids. And I have an empty fridge and freezer.
And that was as far as I could plan.
I felt so unprepared. I wandered the store aimlessly, staring at the half empty shelves waiting for inspiration to hit. And I do mean half empty. And the prices were higher than usual. I am not exactly sure why, but my Randalls hadn’t stocked any meat that would have cost less than $3/pound (or it was gone before I got there). No ground meat of any kind, but lots of high end steaks. Only 2 sad little whole chickens left in the huge case, for too much money. Some pork chops. That was pretty much it. The produce section was thin, too, with lots of empty shelves. No mushrooms, no tomatoes, no bananas, no potatoes. The frozen foods were still marked off with police tape (you know, the kind they mark crime scenes with), inaccessible and unbuyable. And there was no eggs, and the only milk left was the super premium organic for $5 per half gallon. I just decided to wait on the milk and got some cheese instead for dairy.
So what did I come up with? Well, last night we had a yummy salad with green leaf lettuce, half a brandywine tomato, celery, carrots, diced ham, and feta. The brandywine was expensive, but I have been wanting to give them a try to see whether they were worth all the buzz they have been getting. If the grocery store ones taste that good, I can’t wait to grow my own. Tonight we are going to have roast beef with roasted sweet potatoes and onion and a Yorkshire pudding (if DH can get some eggs on the way home). Tomorrow night we are having either pan fried or grilled sausage with some steamed broccoli (and maybe a cheese sauce) and rice. I ran out of inspiration at this point, but I have bacon and a bunch of stuff in the pantry (I barely had to touch the stuff I bought for my 72 hour kit), so I will just wing it.
Gah, I hate the thought of having to rebuild my fridge and freezer, but at least I can try to avoid things that we won’t eat, things we shouldn’t eat. And my freezer has a chance at being organized! 🙂 Maybe.
In Scout's Freezer 
H-Mart had loads of produce and I bought some of those brown fruits – longhan and they are good. Wierd but good.
They also had plenty of fish, frozen meat and frozen prepared stuff – some had ice crystals but I found some that didn’t.
Mom
What were they like? Sweet, crisp, juicy? I wish H-mart was close enough to shop there on a regular basis, like you can.