Budget Bytes

01 September 2012

captain's log: day 5


I'm still in the red.

While this map of the electrical outages looks 100% better than it did even just yesterday, I'm still waiting. I've been through this before (Hurricane Gustav, 2008, no power 8 days), so I know I can make it. It's just a matter of sweating it out... I mean waiting it out.

On Thursday I had to face the truth and admit that everything in my refrigerator and freezer would be lost. All of my homemade chicken broth, almost an entire batch of slow cooker marinara, some slow cooker black beans, and single serving portions of taco chicken bowls and taco stuffed shells all went in the garbage. But hey, the refrigerator needed a good head to toe cleaning anyway. It's important to keep a positive perspective in these situations.

I'd love to post some "no power" recipes, but honestly, I can't even be inside of my apartment without sweat rolling down my back. So, no work will be done until I'm electrified again. Plus, I really don't even want food right now. All I crave is a huge 64 ounce Big Gulp full of icy cold liquid - It's HOT y'all!

I'll continue to try to answer your questions and emails when I can, but my access to wi-fi is somewhat limited.

All in all, this storm has really been nothing more than an inconvenience for me. I've actually got it really, really good and I'm grateful for that. My thoughts go out to those who have had significant damage and hardship because of it.

People may ask why we choose to live in the path of such potential danger. It's the same reason people choose to live in Venice, Italy when it is literally sinking straight into the ocean. The culture, history, and lifestyle that are unique to New Orleans cannot be experienced anywhere else on the planet. It's a fantastic place to live and I'll gladly endure an adventuresome week without power every now and then to live in a place that is so wonderful the rest of the time. :)

If you have any movie (available in Redbox) or book suggestions to help keep me busy, please share! Hopefully we'll be back in business soon!

XOXO
Beth

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posted by Beth M @ 9:30 AM  

26 Comments:

  • At September 1, 2012 at 9:49 AM , Blogger Lauren {Adventures in Flip Flops} said...

    Thinking of you! I'm in Houston, so we've got our fair share of Hurricane stories, but it still is a bummer when you have no power! I really hate when people ask, "why do you live in a place with {insert natural disaster here}?" Everywhere is prone to *something* and I know how to handle a Hurricane. Earthquake? Not so much.

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 9:55 AM , Blogger Jules said...

    wishing you all the best! admire your optimism. book recs: the immortal life of henrietta lacks (non-fiction, super-fascinating) and the fault in our stars by john green (it's ya, but pretty incredible). good luck!

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 10:03 AM , Blogger Rebecca said...

    I check out your blog every day and enjoy the food you prepare and share with everyone.... In your part of the country have you ever considered learing how to can?
    You can do it in small batches and when the power goes that chicken stock and marinara sauce and even the beans would be there to use when the power comes back...

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 10:23 AM , Anonymous Muriah said...

    I thought that I lived in a place pretty free of disasters- then we had wildfires ALL SUMMER. You choose where you love to live and deal with its baggage.

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 10:27 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    test

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 10:36 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

    Man on the Ledge is a really good movie. Me personally, I would just have a a marathon of The Big Bang Theory :D Good luck to you!

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 10:36 AM , Blogger Cari said...

    I really enjoyed Divergent by Veronica Roth, if you liked the Hunger Games then you'll like it.

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 10:40 AM , Blogger Maggie said...

    Read Gone Girl - it will definitely keep you interested!

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 10:53 AM , Blogger kcli said...

    "Catfish" is a strange/interesting redbox documentary definitely worth watching! (Don't even try to figure out the title, it's not clear until the last 10 minutes). I've never thought about loosing freezer contents (along with property/life - ugh!)...but as long as you are safe and so are your loved ones that's all that counts. Thanks for keeping us posted!

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 10:55 AM , Blogger Aldebrana said...

    This might help too ;)
    http://www.thekitchn.com/sriracha-in-my-beer-yes-please-the-cocky-rooster-175369

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 11:02 AM , Anonymous Diana said...

    Hi Beth, I live in California and we get the same "but you have earthquakes there!" comments, but for the rest of the time when the earth isn't shaking, it's great. For reading, I enjoyed "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" trilogy (a bit violent) or a completely different but fun story "Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind". And just think - with a newly cleaned out refrigerator, you have so much space to cook up a storm when your power is returned! (Pun unintended...)

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 11:03 AM , Blogger Aine Scannell said...

    Beth................. sorry to hear about your power-cut situation. What a pain having to chuck away all that stuff from your freezer !!
    Perhaps you might like to have a look at my art portfolio to entertain yourself.
    http://www.ainescannell.com
    I made some of that corriander and lime rice last weekend and it was absolutely gorgeous !! Thanks for the recipe.

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 11:44 AM , Blogger Mary-Liz Murray said...

    Losing all of your refrigerated goods is no small trauma! Not to minimize severe damage of course. Glad to see you are safe and in good spirits. Here are some things at RedBox I really enjoyed.

    The Expendables - I'm not a huge action movie fan but this is a lot of fun, violent yes, but funny, and really cool to see all the action stars in one place.

    21 Jump Street - Better than I expected, lots of fun, and Channing Tatum!

    The Artist - It's just good.

    John Carter - No seriously.

    Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (ok maybe I do like action movies?) Tom Cruise got his sense of humor back and Jeremy Renner is just a great actor to watch.

    The Muppets Movie: Not AS good as the classic muppets, but a fun watch.

    Downton Abbey.
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    Young Adult
    A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas (Christmas in September? Why not!)
    Moneyball

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 1:42 PM , Anonymous Kalli said...

    Go get the movie "Bernie" from Redbox - it just came out on DVD and it's hilarious and morbid and a true story. And Jack Black sings gospel music throughout-it's great.

    Good luck with the storm, hope you have power back soon.

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 2:21 PM , Anonymous Cooking on a Dime said...

    Best of luck to you. Now go get that Big Gulp.

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 2:52 PM , Blogger --rock over london said...

    Aine--shameless plugging. Tisk tisk.

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 3:03 PM , Blogger Jenna Bird said...

    Now would be a great time to explore the freebie books that come up on Amazon through their Kindle reader app. There's a lot of public domain stuff, but also a lot of promotions giving out free stuff - usually from small presses or independent authors. Nab them, give a few pages for them to hook you... and if you don't like them, no sweat, you didn't pay anything for them but the time it took to figure out if it was worth continuing.

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 4:39 PM , Blogger Simon Sacco said...

    Swamplandia. Fantastic Swampy coming of age story.

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 7:32 PM , Blogger Marianne said...

    Keeping you in our thoughts and prayers, I lived through many hurricanes in Texas, lived just south of Galveston for many years. My husband died the day after Hurricane Ike hit, I was in SC to see our son at college. I know what you are going through! As for New Orleans, I love that city, a person has to have either lived there or visited every summer of their lives to understand the feeling, the vibe of being there. Nothing like it in the world! I envy you being able to live there, I've done my time with the hurricane areas, I'm up in the cool mountains in N.E. Georgia now! Please take care, hope you have some relief and the power back on soon!!!!

     

  • At September 1, 2012 at 8:14 PM , Blogger Catherine said...

    You are amazing. Our new fridges freezer died and I lost everything and Oh did I whine. No more. Love your blog and positive attitude. Praying for power, cooler temps to come your way soon.

     

  • At September 2, 2012 at 7:50 AM , Anonymous janmaus said...

    Lived through many hurricanes and tropical storms during decades in South Florida, although they seem to have been spared recently--and you have all of my sympathy, particluarly since I remember well what a heat pump a hurricane is.

    I love hurricane books myself--some of my faves: Tin Roof Blowdown, by James Lee Burke; Storm Season, by Carl Hiaasen (or anything else by Hiaasen); Second Wind, by Dick Francis; High Wind in Jamaica, by Richard Hughes; and a new one, The Emerald Storm, by William Dietrich. I also second Swamplandia, mentioned above--it has a storm, too.

     

  • At September 2, 2012 at 9:31 AM , Blogger Erika said...

    I live in Chalmette so I can definitely sympathize. I had to do a fridge clean-out too but the freezer was still OK. I hope your power comes back on soon!

     

  • At September 2, 2012 at 10:12 AM , Blogger LMI said...

    I second anything by Carl Hiassen in a hurricane, although I think the book might be Stormy Weather? I just went 5 days without power after the recent derecho (SW Virginia) and went several days without in MS after Katrina. I feel for you with throwing out the refrigerator contents; been there, done that. AND I grew up in Florida on the Gulf Coast, so that question, "how can you live there???" is very familiar. Simple answer. IT'S HOME.It's where my life is. That is enough. Next question.

    Point is: Disasters and unforeseen events happen anywhere. Some areas are more prone that others, but the truth is, bad things happen in the North (blizzard and floods and the random attacks/black-outs in urban centers); the South (hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, etc.-and this year, political conventions); the Mid-West (floods and tornadoes); the West (blizzards, sandstorms, droughts, wildfires); the PNM (volcanoes, wildfires, and tsunamis); and California (earthquakes, storms, wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.)

    I love your blog, have learned so much from it, and can't wait for you to get back cooking:-)

     

  • At September 2, 2012 at 12:33 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Glad to hear you are safe!!!!!!!!!

     

  • At September 8, 2012 at 10:19 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

    New Punjabi Movies This is very cool love this amazing things pipo!

     

  • At September 8, 2012 at 11:26 PM , Anonymous Michelle said...

    New Orleans is fantastic! I have lots of friends in the city. We were without power during Gustav as well for 6 days and it was HOT! Luckily Isaac decided it liked eastern LA and western MS better than Cenla so we hardly got anything but a few days of light rain and an extra long Labor Day weekend. Glad to see you have power again!

     

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