Especially when you are pregnant.
We often hear church authorities tell us to build a 2 year supply of food storage. I think having food storage is an excellent idea. If tough times hit (a natural disaster, a loss of job, etc.), you will be able to survive because you have built up a food storage. That in itself is a wonderful reason to have a fully stocked pantry. Now, don't get me wrong, I have enough food that I could survive for awhile if I needed to. Not 2 years, but I'm young and still trying to build up my food storage. However, one important aspect of pantry stocking I realized this weekend is variety. You aren't going to want to eat the same foods over and over again even if you are in disaster, so it is good to have a variety of things. Okay, I'm sure you are all wondering where this wonderful post is going. I had to give a little background before I could start my story and let you know of another really important reason to keep your pantries fully stocked. That reason being..Pregnancy Cravings.
Friday night I had some cravings for Easter Sweettarts and a sharp cheddar cheeseball. Daniel had the car at work, so I didn't really have a way to obtain them. I contemplated walking to the store, alone, in the dark, to go buy some, but quickly realized that wasn't a good idea. My logical side was working pretty well that night and I told myself it was just a silly craving and would likely pass fairly soon. Even though I would still like to find some Easter Sweettarts, the immediate need for them passed within a few hours and I was fine. What happened on Saturday was a different story.
Once again, Daniel had the car at work. Even though I had cravings the night before, I didn't think much of it. Daniel couldn't ride the train Saturday nights since it doesn't run Sunday mornings when he gets off work. I haven't had too many cravings anyway, so striking two nights in a row would be rare. I thought I would be perfectly fine without the car.
About half an hour after Daniel left I started feeling like I wanted to bake something. I couldn't really put my finger on it for awhile, but then it hit me: Homemade Gingersnaps! I started to look up a recipe online when I came to sad realization. I had no ginger, and no molasses. I don't know why I don't have any ginger. I want to use it in things all the time. I often go to my spice rack while making Asian-inspired dishes looking for ginger, only to come out empty handed, wondering why I haven't bought any yet. Molasses is somewhat understandable. Not a whole ton of people have molasses, but still, variety people, variety. I was quite disappointed by my realizations and started to think of other cookies I could make.
NO other cookies sounded good, not a single one. I browsed recipes about an hour trying to find something that I would be okay with, but nothing. I text my brothers to see if they would bring me ginger and molasses (they will usually bring me things if I ask, they are great that way), but they were both busy. I thought maybe my friend Savanna would have them, but then I remembered that she was in the same position as me. Her husband was at work with the car. I didn't know what to do anymore, so I broke down crying. Not just little tears here and there, full blown sobs. My logical side wasn't really working for me at all that night. I kept browsing recipes, through my tears, hoping some other cookie, somewhere, would be good enough.
After I calmed down a little and I e-mailed Daniel about my predicament. His suggestions were everything I had already tried. Ask my brothers and Savanna for the ingredients. After telling him I had already tried. he told me to make another kind of cookie. I started crying again. I didn't want any other kind of cookie. Why couldn't anyone understand that? I moped around for a few hours waiting for a molasses miracle, but one never came. At this point I decided I might as well make another kind of cookie. It would at least be better than nothing. I asked Daniel what kind of cookies he would like and he suggested chocolate. I mournfully made some chocolate cookies. When they were done, I ate about 4, and I started to feel much better. Hmmm...maybe I should have just done that in the first place.
The moral of the story here is this: keep a fully stocked pantry. You never know when ginger and molasses will become (what seems to be at the time) a life or death situation. Needless to say, they are both on my grocery list for my next shopping trip.
