Snowed In-Need Gluten-Free Necessities

I have lived in a few different cities, Duluth, MN; Green Bay, WI; Charlotte, NC; and now Minneapolis.  In all these locations, when major weather is about to hit most people rush to the grocery store to pick up milk, eggs, bread and other necessities. But what if you can’t eat that…what’s your “must have” in the house when something like this or another emergency strikes?

As I write this, a major winter storm is bearing down on Minnesota AND it’s Christmas-time!  So running to the grocery store isn’t just about the eggs, bread and milk, it’s about your Christmas eve and Christmas meals!

So as I watch the snow falling I was thinking about some good gluten-free items to have around during that weather (or another emergency) that keeps you locked up in your house.

Schar Rolls

I recently wrote about these white rolls that could be used as hamburger buns or dinner rolls.  Here’s what I like about them: they’re packaged in such a way that they are shelf-stable for quite a while.  And although they suggest they be put in the oven for 4-5 minutes before serving, you could eat them even if your electricity is out.

Hormel Products

Hormel has a great list of gluten-free products. Many of which are shelf stable, like pepperoni, dried beef and even its microwavable beef stew.  The company has a great gluten-free list which covers all of the brands they own.

Crackers

Let’s face it, there are not that many decent crackers out there for we gluten-free folks. But there are a few standards worth keeping on hand plus others with a little more nutrition that provide additional protien and nutrients.

EnerG has a good, but very plain cracker.  Mary’s Gone Crackers, Flackers and Trader Joe’s all have crackers with more nutritional value.  These are great options to make a more nutritional snack.

Fruit Snacks

I am not the hugest proponent of fruit snacks after Emma got four cavities from eating fruit snacks.  So we’ve pretty much removed them from our house.  However they would be good to have around in an emergency.

Many natural food stores  including Whole Foods have fruit leathers of some sort which you can easily find.  General  Mills has Betty Crocker fruit snacks available as well.

As the snow continues to fall here (up to two feet predicted), we are prepared to hunker down, snuggle up and eat our Christmas meal, we don’t forsee any threat of losing electricity of really being stranded. But the snow made me think about how the weather can affect so many people and their food.  I hope this helps! Have a great holiday.

Tags: emergency, gluten-free, necessities, shelf-stable