Hurricane meals can be so boring. Many people live on room-temperature toaster pastries, salty chips, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Vienna sausages and canned tuna once the power goes out.

What foods MUST you have on hand when hurricane season starts? Share your ideas in the comments section below for making delicious foods without electricity. Some of my must haves are listed in bold in the recipe below.

RECIPE: I have a favorite recipe for storm season: Mexican stew. It is really flexible: you can use ground pork, beef, chicken, turkey, tofu, or beans. If you don’t have an ingredient, leave it out, or improvise.

If possible, brown a chopped onion (fresh or frozen) and ground meat before the power goes out. Otherwise, brown them on the grill, in a cast-iron pan. (Tofu and or beans work as protein, too, here for vegans, and canned white meat chicken works for omnivores.). If you have fresh carrots, celery, garlic or bell peppers, add them, chopped.  Add an envelope of taco or chili seasoning, (or herbs and spices like cumin, oregano, chile, garlic powder, onion salt, and red pepper flakes to taste.) Then, add a can of Ro-Tel, (chopped tomatoes and peppers, found on the canned vegetable aisle), a can of black beans (or any plain beans), and a jar of salsa. Add water, broth, soup broth or V-8 juice until you have a stew consistency, and serve hot. Eat it with a little cheese on top (if you have some) and corn chips, if you have some.

In a pinch, use raw onion, or no onion. This works with leftover pork or beef, or shelf-stable tofu. In its most basic form, it is cans of beans, Ro-Tel, salsa, and V-8, all shelf stable, with any protein you have on hand.

This can be as simple or elaborate as you want. My favorite salsa for this  is Zapata green chile salsa, a must have for my hurricane box. Mostly, I eat badly (junk food) when storms loom. What about you? 

What foods MUST you have on hand when hurricane season starts? What do you prepare, or cook? Share what foods you buy below.

We’d love your recipes, too. Go here to submit a recipe,, and use Hurricane as the category, so we can all grab your best hurricane recipes before the power goes out. Thanks!