Prepping for Sandy

Hurricane Sandy has been roaring up the East coast. I actually wound up with a surprise day off today (which I was shocked about since generally working in hospitals = never having days off-- though working in research in one location does help out.)

Since developing a slight obsession with Zombie movies/ and post apocalyptic shows such as The Walking Dead, 28 Days Later, Survivors, Zombieland, and most recently starting to get into Revolution, it has made me a bit of a doomsday-prepper - which I personally consider to be a good thing. I am not a crazy doomsday prepper, as in I still have a life outside of prepping, I just consider it a good idea to keep things on hand for an emergency and to have a plan. So overall, I suppose I am just prepared. Prepping for Zombies and the apocalypse is slightly more entertaining than preparing for a hurricane, earthquake or fire. Nonetheless, there is a lot of overlap in the items needed.

Prior to Sandy starting up, I did some googling of what to have prepared.

• We moved all movable objects inside or tied them done
•  Filled our gas tanks with gas.
• Made extra ice/ put freezer packs in the freezer in case we lose electricity.
• Made sure to have water and non-perishable food on hand. 
• Prepped candles/ flashlights/ batteries etc. 

 I also put my "Disaster Preparedness Kit" Out which includes emergency water, food, thermal blankets, poncho, first aid kit, etc. I also added in a handcranked radio/ cellphone charger/ flashlight, some extra storm proof matches, and of course my Doomsday Survival Guide!

 Is it weird that this was actually on my wedding registry?! Thanks to my Aunt for buying me the bag, and my friend Alicia for the Doomsday book and radio/flash light thing!

One of the other recommendations for prepping for a hurricane was to wash all of the dishes/ do laundry and take a shower.. so I did all of those things including washing the bird!

Leo and Ghreylin seem to know the storm is coming and they are all cuddles up and hunkering down for the storm!

It is certainly getting blustery out there!

http://d2om8tvz4lgco4.cloudfront.net/archive/x1831584822/g12c000000000000000f770c53ea800c8db3a7ef51c8da4716c1c102c41.jpg

Eating Healthy for the Busy Person

"If you need something done, give it to a busy person!"

Ah… how true it is. It does seem the more we have to do, the more we get done.

Of course, it's also easy to let certain things go when you are really busy, such as going to the gym and eating healthy.

So here's the key:

Plan

Prep

Do!

My professor always complains that people say they are either organized, or they are not. She states, "Organized people are organized because they take the time out of their day to get organized," which, in the end, saves time!

So:

- plan what kind of meals you want to make for the week.

- make a shopping list

- go to the grocery store

- at some point soon after going to the grocery store- take the time to prep any of the healthy food that requires effort that might later deter you from eating it.

If you set out to chop/ peel/ prep a bunch of stuff at once it takes much less time than going through the process each time you want to eat something. Plus, think of the time and energy you'll save on washing the knives, vegetable peeler, and cutting board.

I personally go through this process not only because I am busy, but because Jordan is lazy, and I know he will not bother to use vegetables if they are not ready to be used.

Last week at the grocery store I bought a 5 pound bag of carrots for $1.99! but of course, whole carrots require a bit more effort than baby carrots, so I took the time after I went shopping to peel and cut them up.

Along with a bag of green peppers, I cut up a few into strips to be used for whatever my heart desired at the moment. They can always be chopped smaller later on if desired.

It also seems we are more likely to go through fruit in our house if it is cut up and mixed together (in this case, apples, bananas, plums and nectarines are all pretty easy to eat anyway, but I do enjoy the variety. It works even better if there is something that required cutting up such as a melon.

Then finally- once I am all done prepping I stick it all in the fridge in tupperware for easy access and quick meal making throughout the week :)