Hurricane Sandy Avocado and Yogurt Chili Recipe

When Hurricane Sandy hit, we were just about the bulls eye  We’re about an hour inland, and the ground is high where I am and we were lucky – very lucky compared to many other people.

But we’ve had no  power since Sunday, and have been told that it could be out until Monday.

While I don’t have a generator (note to self: buy one!), I do have an inverter – a gizmo that attaches to your car battery and, through a series of electrical cords running through the house, allows for the charging of devices, keep my sump pump running, and brew the occasional pot of coffee to keep me warm as the house is about 60 degrees a I write this. I *do* have to avoid draining my battery, however. Heat, warm showers, and teevee are out of the question, however.

Its Halloween as I write this, and I read that our endlessly amusing Governor, Chris Christie, has stated he might sign an executive order postponing Halloween. While I might disagree with him on many things, I *like* him – he’s quintessentially ‘New Jersey’.

All this is definitely putting a bit of a kink in low carbing, however. I’ve been somewhat, um, distracted in the days leading up to the storm since they (correctly) stated that this would be ‘the big one’ and shopping for the Apocalypse is always difficult – what do you buy for the unknown?

I have plenty of canned tuna and sardines as well as kippers. I can keep the low carb faith with those, but first, as it seems it will be a while before the power comes back on, my wife and I will need to inventory the fridge and eat the stuff in there that is going to get thrown away before we hit the cans.

I did pick up some Spam – and noticed that Spam is apparently on a lot of people’s minds during such times. Do these people normally eat Spam, or is it just ‘Spam is something you buy  for hurricanes’? Will food drives in the coming year be filled with Spam discards?

I can also report to the Hormel company that your Hickory Smoked and Turkey varieties are NOT considered hurricane-worthy, as when I stopped by one store the entire Spam shelf was empty except for a few of the smaller mini cans, the ‘singles’ wrapped in plastic, and the aforementioned hickory and turkey.

Given meal planning is a bit off, and I really haven’t had the luxury of focus, the eating details have been murky, to say the least. I can report no major carb blowouts, though I did have some strawberry shortcake and a bit of fried rice. I am most likely not in ketosis anymore – and I haven’t weighed myself in days as it has been too cold to strip to my skivvies and get on the scale since Monday afternoon when I was about 198.

The kids are funny. Their endless whining about being ‘bored’ and their complaining about the almost caveman-like necessity to use the stovetop to warm food(!) makes me trot out the timeless parent spiel  “When I was your age, I would have to shoo the dinosaurs away from the stove and pull out a pot made from a hollowed out rock, and warm the food that way. And the stove top didn’t go ‘ding’ when it was ready – I had to actually be there, watching it.”

Once the initial electronics withdrawal kicked in, the kids actually reverted to a more primitive kiddom. The smaller one played with her dolls. The larger one actually spent time teaching subtraction to the smaller one.

Will this last once Nickelodeon comes back on? I doubt it.

I do have a low carb recipe that works well in these circumstances – here it is:

Hurricane Sandy Avocado and Yogurt Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 avocado
• 1 7oz cup of greek yogurt that needs to be eaten before it gets thrown away
• 1/2 cup of leftover low carb chili before it gets thrown away or use salsa.

Mix cold and eat. Not bad for post-hurricane food.