Couple clarifications, I said we had a $43 wheat grinder from Amazon, which we do, but also mentioned home grain mills - these are electronic, so will grind the wheat more quickly and can make a very fine flour, but Wonder Mill (which was recommended to me by several people) or similar would be ballpark $300 - 350. Someone else told me that in the past "Magic Mill" used to the best and he used it - he found a couple for more like $100 on e-bay. And about the protein kids will need, yes, the link I gave is fine, but in addition to protein, they need enough total calories to not be hungry, and rather than counting calories, just have enough of various foods on hands, that they won't be. If kids like fig bars, which I liked as a kid, and still do - fruit, fiber, a little sweetness - healthy snack that helps to fill them up. Popcorn is healthy and will keep forever, but have some oil and salt on hand.
But you mentioned what if there is no power. Multiple options. Some have gasoline powered generators - but - the way things are going, if things are bad, will we have gasoline? No drilling, no pipeline, what could go wrong? Think instead about a solar generator, which would be a "power station" plus solar panels - many of these were designed portable so that you can take it with you on camping trips, or use at home. Portable solar panels on your deck connected to your portable power station, produces electricity. Fridge and microwave can be plugged into the power station or whatever you want, depending on the wattage of the device. The Delta line at EcoFlow is what you want, various prices depending on how many watts you will get out of it. Their most powerful one can be paired with an extra battery and can plug into your house circuits (or maybe with additional add-ons depending on what you need to power in your house). You have to buy the solar panels and also the power staton - Delta, Delta Max, Delta Pro - different ones in that line. Google EcoFlow and look carefully, talk to customer service if you have questions, before you decide. Some companies have solar panels that are not water-proof or water resistant - well, you need it in the winter and it may rain while the panels are set up, or if there is snow on the ground - I want waterproof, and EcoFlow's panels are either "waterproof" or water resistant, and I think EcoFlow is overall the best with many options. Because of cost, you may have to decide that you're not going to be able to power "everything" but you'll make sure you have enough to power at least... one thing or another. I have no expectation of being able to use my full stove / oven, but microwave doesn't use as much power; have not checked out our toaster oven yet, but we may use that, and I hope to keep the fridge going. In winter, we live in southeast, and it does get cold here but not as cold as in the north - I am thinking maybe a space heater in one bedroom. I didn't buy enough power to do everything - but we could probably manage. We do have a fireplace and there are relatively inexpensive woodstoves that would make cooking easier in a no-electricity situation plus help with heat, but that requires wood. We bought a tiny "camp stove" from 4Patriots that will burn sticks and leaves and make a good flame that will boil water, to make spaghetti - or any one-pan meals. You can go to 4Patriots and look for their little camp stove. We may have electricity with rolling blackouts at times, it may be that it is not totally no power, but good to prepare in some way. The other thing to consider - there are various solar companies that will put solar panels on your roof and connect you with the local power company - when you produce more power than you use, you can sell your electricity to the power company and get credit on your bill. There is a charge for the solar panels, so the extra electricity goes toward paying that off. These panels are expensive and can be like 25K-60K, but you don't pay it because you are paying almost nothing for your electricity and the extra you produce pays it down automatically. So, theoretically, it's an almost free system and your whole house is powered - I wanted to own my own system even though what I bought was limited - I don't know if I made the right decision or not - it does power everything, though what happens if the power company or solar company becomes insolvent? In normal times, you wouldn't think of the power company going out of business, but... these are strange times. I own my own little system, it's mine and it's portable.
Couple clarifications, I said we had a $43 wheat grinder from Amazon, which we do, but also mentioned home grain mills - these are electronic, so will grind the wheat more quickly and can make a very fine flour, but Wonder Mill (which was recommended to me by several people) or similar would be ballpark $300 - 350. Someone else told me that in the past "Magic Mill" used to the best and he used it - he found a couple for more like $100 on e-bay. And about the protein kids will need, yes, the link I gave is fine, but in addition to protein, they need enough total calories to not be hungry, and rather than counting calories, just have enough of various foods on hands, that they won't be. If kids like fig bars, which I liked as a kid, and still do - fruit, fiber, a little sweetness - healthy snack that helps to fill them up. Popcorn is healthy and will keep forever, but have some oil and salt on hand.
But you mentioned what if there is no power. Multiple options. Some have gasoline powered generators - but - the way things are going, if things are bad, will we have gasoline? No drilling, no pipeline, what could go wrong? Think instead about a solar generator, which would be a "power station" plus solar panels - many of these were designed portable so that you can take it with you on camping trips, or use at home. Portable solar panels on your deck connected to your portable power station, produces electricity. Fridge and microwave can be plugged into the power station or whatever you want, depending on the wattage of the device. The Delta line at EcoFlow is what you want, various prices depending on how many watts you will get out of it. Their most powerful one can be paired with an extra battery and can plug into your house circuits (or maybe with additional add-ons depending on what you need to power in your house). You have to buy the solar panels and also the power staton - Delta, Delta Max, Delta Pro - different ones in that line. Google EcoFlow and look carefully, talk to customer service if you have questions, before you decide. Some companies have solar panels that are not water-proof or water resistant - well, you need it in the winter and it may rain while the panels are set up, or if there is snow on the ground - I want waterproof, and EcoFlow's panels are either "waterproof" or water resistant, and I think EcoFlow is overall the best with many options. Because of cost, you may have to decide that you're not going to be able to power "everything" but you'll make sure you have enough to power at least... one thing or another. I have no expectation of being able to use my full stove / oven, but microwave doesn't use as much power; have not checked out our toaster oven yet, but we may use that, and I hope to keep the fridge going. In winter, we live in southeast, and it does get cold here but not as cold as in the north - I am thinking maybe a space heater in one bedroom. I didn't buy enough power to do everything - but we could probably manage. We do have a fireplace and there are relatively inexpensive woodstoves that would make cooking easier in a no-electricity situation plus help with heat, but that requires wood. We bought a tiny "camp stove" from 4Patriots that will burn sticks and leaves and make a good flame that will boil water, to make spaghetti - or any one-pan meals. You can go to 4Patriots and look for their little camp stove. We may have electricity with rolling blackouts at times, it may be that it is not totally no power, but good to prepare in some way. The other thing to consider - there are various solar companies that will put solar panels on your roof and connect you with the local power company - when you produce more power than you use, you can sell your electricity to the power company and get credit on your bill. There is a charge for the solar panels, so the extra electricity goes toward paying that off. These panels are expensive and can be like 25K-60K, but you don't pay it because you are paying almost nothing for your electricity and the extra you produce pays it down automatically. So, theoretically, it's an almost free system and your whole house is powered - I wanted to own my own system even though what I bought was limited - I don't know if I made the right decision or not - it does power everything, though what happens if the power company or solar company becomes insolvent? In normal times, you wouldn't think of the power company going out of business, but... these are strange times. I own my own little system, it's mine and it's portable.