I'm not sure if we've had H1N1 flu or not. The doctor didn't do the test - said that he wouldn't treat it any differently regardless. Still, we spent the past 48 hours with two members of our family having fevers, nausea, and in one case significant coughing and respiratory junk. We're crossing our fingers that the rest of us have dodged the virus (whether or not it is H1N1). The remaining three of us were immunized for H1N1 on Monday -- not quite long enough to have any immunity yet (apparently we need 8 to 10 days to develop decent immunity).I made a surprising discovery about our preparedness in the process. I already have plenty of Gatorade, gloves, masks, Kleenex, ibuprofen, sanitizer, disinfectants, and food stored. I figured it would be easy to make chicken noodle soup and bake bread from storage items if we couldn't/shouldn't get to the store. What I discovered, though, is that the sick members of our family didn't want homemade chicken noodle soup. They didn't want applesauce (which I had plenty of). They wanted the old generic comfort standby of Campbell's chicken noodle soup. They wanted saltine crackers and jello (which I just used up). They also wanted flat soda to settle their stomachs.
I've now learned that especially when stomach-sick, it's important to have predictable bland foods. Plus, what if I had been sick? I wouldn't have been up to cooking at all. And having easy-heat-up soup would have been much easier anyway. In the future I'll include soda, crackers, more jello and plenty of Campbell's chicken noodle soup in my storage. I'll make all of these items a part of my three-month storage. Thankfully, I wasn't sick (and didn't need to be quarantined) and was able to get to the store to stock up on these items. I was surprised to discover that the store was almost out of chicken noodle soup -- apparently many other sick individuals feel the same way about "sick" foods.
What are some predictable sick-foods for your family?
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8 comments:
Yup, the Campbell's chicken noodle soup is a necessity among my prep stuff. It's what my son wants when sick.
Rice Krispies/Rice Chex/generic versions are always on hand for illnesses. They make the BRAT diet items list, and can be served with rice milk for upset tummies.
Store bought applesauce for illnesses - mine has more cinnamon than sickies want to face.
Lemon flavoring packets "Real Lemon" - now that it's not made with lactose in it - is for ME. When sick I drink far more liquids if they have a little lemon flavoring in them, and this can live in storage.
Peppermint tea for the husband - it's the only tea he'll drink.
Cheap boxed macaroni and cheese for my husband. For some reason he feels this is easy on his stomach. I'm lactose intolerant and can't understand that.
I think those are the highlights of what I have stored for illnesses ... along with the boxes of tissues and such!
Frondly, Fern
Excellent suggestions! We so often think and plan while we are well not while we are sick. I have a case of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup kept on hand but I am glad you brought up this point. Preparation needs to have easy to fix items at the head of the list. Then the "homemade" can be after the dust settles.
Judy
Thanks for your comments Fern and Judy!
If you live by a Macey's grocery store they have Western Family chicken noodle soup for .33 a can. I bought a whole case today and was really excited to read your post today. I love the blog and all the info.
Thanks for the heads-up, Julene! I sent my husband to purchase multiple cans and just discovered your comment. We were able to get 4-packs of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup for $2. They were almost gone from the shelf.
Our predictable sickness items are Mrs. Grass chicken soup (it comes in the blue box and is my FAVE!), ginger ale for an upset tummy, ginger and/or mint tea for an upset tummy, and lots of Gatorade/Powerade for electrolytes. Plus, I've started using this Thieves Essential Oil stuff -- it smells like Christmas but is really helpful to prevent the flu from spreading.
preparednesspro.com
I just went shopping and bought all the sick essentials - enough medicine, sprite, lightning mcqueen soup and bread for toast! Thanks for the reminder to have those kinds of things because I'm sure we'll get sick and if we don't it will be because I can safely quarantine my family in an outbreak on my far from perfect month supply of food.
Good idea on the McQueen soup -- that would increase the novelty factor for kids while still being predictable.
Ginger and mint and also great tummy soothers!
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