Low power usage meals

[Bootsie]

We prepared for several days of cold and being in the house; I planned some nice warm meals, to bake bread, etc.  We also had some foods to eat if we lost power.

I did NOT plan on needing to conserve energy to the extent we are and I did NOT plan on having house guests because we we have power.  These are young, athletic people in their 20's.  Yesterday we went through much of our fresh fruit and veggies, bread, and things that didn't need to be cooked.   I am debating over what is really the lowest power usage--cooking something in the instapot that cooks quickly but must heat up, using the crock pot, using the oven to cook more at a time (and provide some heat to the house).  

We do have a gas grill, but I am not looking forward to going out to use it--and every time we open the doors we are letting hot air out..  Any ideas/suggestions?

 

[fairfarmhand]

I'd think Instant pot if you're just cooking, but if you want to cook/add a bit of extra heat to the house, oven.

 

[Carrie12345]

Angel hair pasta. And you can get away with not waiting for a rolling boil.

Ive never actually checked the wattages of crock pots and instant pots, but I remember an electric oven is BIG time power hungry. At least, it sure seemed it when trying to calculate generator loads.

[regentrude]

To compare crock pot and insta pot:
Look at the Wattage on your appliance label, then multiply with estimated cook time. That's the amount of energy used.

Electric oven will use a ton, so probably the least economical option.

But I would not overthink, since the biggest power users in your home are heaters, hot water heater and fridge, and their energy consumption will far exceed wat you use cooking in a small appliance.

Thin pasta, couscous, quinoa cook fast. Instant rice. But again, with an insta pot you can quick cook anything

ETA: If there is a chance of power outage, choose the insta pot. You don't want to end with a half cooked crockpot meal when the power goes out.

Edited February 16, 2021 by regentrude

[RegGuheert]

I bought a bunch of trail mix at a salvage grocery store a couple of weeks ago because it was affordable and tasty.  I eat that as a meal occasionally.  In fact, I just had some for lunch!

[Bootsie]

54 minutes ago, regentrude said:

To compare crock pot and insta pot:
Look at the Wattage on your appliance label, then multiply with estimated cook time. That's the amount of energy used.

Electric oven will use a ton, so probably the least economical option.

But I would not overthink, since the biggest power users in your home are heaters, hot water heater and fridge, and their energy consumption will far exceed wat you use cooking in a small appliance.

Thin pasta, couscous, quinoa cook fast. Instant rice. But again, with an insta pot you can quick cook anything

ETA: If there is a chance of power outage, choose the insta pot. You don't want to end with a half cooked crockpot meal when the power goes out.

Thanks!  WHY can't my husband with a couple of physic degrees tell me that???  (He says he always had bad profs when it came to electricity).  

Yes, I am afraid to start cooking anything for fear that the power will go out.  

[BusyMom5]

We had a big power outage for 7 days once, and I am scarred for life! 

Breakfast foods- sausage patties, bacon, pancakes, eggs, french toast! I have 120 eggs in my fridge right now in case of emergency.  If you have a plug-in skillet or wok, those are good.   Other meals I can think of that are fast- cubed chicken or beef, rice, and stir fry; tacos (if you have the other stuff), anything you can just heat up in a skillet is good IMO.  Try to thaw your meat out to reduce cooking time, and cook something that is fast, not a slow simmer (which I know is what I want when ti's snowing out).  If you bought up canned stuff for Covid, now's a good time to use it.  I did do a roast in the InstaPot yesterday- we aren't on roaming blackouts yet, so I cooked 2 roasts, lol!  We do have left-overs!  

We've got all our lights out if there is sunlight in the rooms.  We shut off extra heaters and put blankets around drafty doors.  Windows covered in rooms we are not in.  I really hope we do not loose electricity.  For those who are facing long outages, you have my sympathy!  

[Bootsie]

41 minutes ago, BusyMom5 said:

We had a big power outage for 7 days once, and I am scarred for life! 

Breakfast foods- sausage patties, bacon, pancakes, eggs, french toast! I have 120 eggs in my fridge right now in case of emergency.  If you have a plug-in skillet or wok, those are good.   Other meals I can think of that are fast- cubed chicken or beef, rice, and stir fry; tacos (if you have the other stuff), anything you can just heat up in a skillet is good IMO.  Try to thaw your meat out to reduce cooking time, and cook something that is fast, not a slow simmer (which I know is what I want when ti's snowing out).  If you bought up canned stuff for Covid, now's a good time to use it.  I did do a roast in the InstaPot yesterday- we aren't on roaming blackouts yet, so I cooked 2 roasts, lol!  We do have left-overs!  

!  

Yeah, we don't get snowy, icy days very often.  I am usually trying to make sure that I DON"T heat up the kitchen while cooking.  Now the weather is really making me want to cook some of those slow simmered goodies--and it is Mardi Gras--so a gumbo and a King's Cake would be delicious

[J-rap]

I doubt this is what you're looking for, but I happened to see an article on these and almost ordered one myself!  It's like a slow cooker but for areas with little or no electricity.  You do need to cook the food for 15 minutes or so to get it going (on a stove or over an open fire), but then you transfer it to the Wonderbag and it continues to cook it for you for up to 12 hours.  They also have some good-looking recipes on their site!

https://www.wonderbagworld.com/about

 

[Farrar]

A grocery store roast chicken uses very little of your electricity. Of course, that presupposes that you can get there, it's in stock, etc. But honestly, I think I might be thinking along those lines for some meals if you can.

[Bootsie]

3 minutes ago, Farrar said:

A grocery store roast chicken uses very little of your electricity. Of course, that presupposes that you can get there, it's in stock, etc. But honestly, I think I might be thinking along those lines for some meals if you can.

Yesterday, the grocery store closest to me had now power and was closed down.  Today was supposed to be sunnier and warmer but it is messy and I am not going to venture out to see if a store happens to be open.  We have plenty of food in the freezer and on the shelf, I just don't want the power to go out in the middle of fixing something. 

[Arcadia]

4 hours ago, Bootsie said:

.   I am debating over what is really the lowest power usage--cooking something in the instapot that cooks quickly but must heat up, using the crock pot, using the oven to cook more at a time (and provide some heat to the house).  

Instant pot < ninja air fryer < crockpot < oven 

if I am worried about pending power outages, I would use my air fryer because that’s the shortest cooking time. I would also use my microwave because it has the fastest cooking time.

I do use the gas stove during power outages. Just need to light a match to spark the gas. 

3 hours ago, RegGuheert said:

I bought a bunch of trail mix at a salvage grocery store a couple of weeks ago because it was affordable and tasty.  I eat that as a meal occasionally.  In fact, I just had some for lunch!

Cliff bars used to be our go to survival food for long road trips and power outages. 

[Bootsie]

22 minutes ago, Dreamergal said:

 

Like most Texans I think you may have a meat bank  chest freezer so may I suggest handing the youngsters the contents and asking them to grill. You could be on standby in an advisory role. 

Yes, we do have food in the freezer and at some point may send some out to use the grill.  I have been trying to minimize opening the doors and going in and out.  

I just realized that we have a butane camp burner that we can use if power goes out 🙂

[Ausmumof3]

Stir fry was specifically developed to be low fuel consumption food so that could be a good option if you have a wok.  

[prairiewindmomma]

Our best option is to use a gas stove burner. Our oven draws 2400 w. Our microwave draws 1100. Our instant pot draws 1000W.

[Acadie]

Loaded nachos.

If you can get out to the store later, I like to keep cans of seasoned refried beans on hand for power outages. With tortilla chips, fruit and veg that's a meal for us. 

Frozen pizza can be cooked on a grill or in a toaster oven if the size is right (or you can cut it to fit).

Tuna with oil & vinegar on crackers. Canned chicken mixed with a very generous amount of Red Hot sauce served with tortilla chips (this may sound sketch but is surprisingly good). 

When we have a storm and I think the power might go out, I take some fruit and veg out of the fridge and set it on the counter so I won't have to open the fridge and risk spoiling everything else in the fridge.