Surviving a snowstorm no problem for the gluten-free set

Atlanta has not had an snow/ice storm that lasted this long in probably twenty years. Actually, we've been very lucky in terms of power outages and this time around we didn't have spend the night in a  hotel to get warm. We didn't need to host friends and family for overnight stays because our power was on and theirs was not.

As usual, days before the supposed snow was to arrive, the local TV news folks warned us to stock up on food and supplies like prescriptions medicines. And as usual, we didn't really get too worried because well over half the time such warning are given, nothing particularly dramatic happens. Somehow the snow never comes or the ice - or whatever. Even so, I decided to go to Publix with my husband to stock up on groceries during the weekend. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of food (and that nothing on the shopping list was overlooked by mistake) so we'd have plenty to eat for the two days we were supposed to be snowed in. We were shopping for the week actually, so we'd be good to go for longer than that.

It started snowing at our house on Sunday night around 9:30 and didn't stop until about 11:30. It was beautiful and the flakes were huge. I'm not sure I've seen such lovely snow before. The back deck, yard and even the street were quickly blanketed in powdery white snow. The next morning the snow was still there and the entire city was basically shut down due to dangerous road conditions. My husband's employer even closed for the day. We stayed warm and took photos of the snow covered house and yard. We were able to work from home, but I wondered when we'd be able to drive out of our neighborhood. The snow turned to ice by the end of the day and the huge hill on our street is not easy to navigate in such conditions.

When Tuesday arrived the roads were worse, the sun never came out and we could not get out of our neighborhood unless we walked. The frigid temps kept me inside where it was warm and dry. By today, I was feeling cooped up and wanted to get out of the house. The ice on our road started to melt in places so we called Publix to make sure they were open. I was told the store would be open at least until 4 pm. We bundled up in the warmest clothes we own and carefully made the trek to Publix.

We actually needed milk because somehow we didn't buy any during our snowstorm shopping trip. Otherwise, we just picked up things we wanted. There is so much food in my freezers that we could eat for quite a while without worrying about going hungry. Of course, some of it is gluten-free bread type items - or cupcakes - or muffins. All things I've resolved to eat less of this year.   

It occurred to me that at least in my case, I always have plenty of food in my home. I might run out of fresh fruits and veggies, but I'm not going to run out of shelf stable or frozen foods for quite a while when stranded due to bad weather. Before I went gluten-free, we didn't keep a lot of food in our pantry. My husband did almost all the shopping then and he's a bit of a minimalist. Once I started the gluten-free diet, I decided I needed to have more food in the house so for the past five years, I've had it. This is probably the first time since then that it made sense to have so much food here, but in any case, we haven't gone hungry and have not had to overload on carbs either.

We'll hopefully get back to normal on Saturday when warm temps melt the lovely snow and ugly slush away. This Florida gal can do without below freezing temps, no doubt! For those of you who can get out and about where there is a Fresh 2 Order location, they have a coupon (sent to their website subscribers) for 50% off a meal there through Sunday, the 16th. Their pork and sweet mashed potatoes are both on their gluten-free menu and quite delicious!