If the power goes out and there is no more natural gas or electricity available to use as cooking power then you still have lots of other ways to make your family hot meals.
One way is to use a propane barbecue or a barbecue that uses charcoal briquets. The key here is to keep the barbecue and briquets dry. If your barbecue is not in a covered area you may have to make a bit of a roof or a windbreak to use it. You can protect it by putting up a heavy tarp overhead but make sure it is high enough that it does not catch fire.
Liquid fuel camping stoves use either propane or liquid fuel such as white gas or Coleman fuel. These are handy and not too expensive. Be sure that you do not use them indoors either because there is risk of explosion.
Many people have invested in a wood burning stove. These can be practical, economical and wonderful to have in an emergency. You can use the top of the stove as a cook-top for boiling water and making hot meals in an emergency.
If your home has a fireplace then you can use it for cooking. Keep a grill or rack on hand so that you can cook any perishables in there if you have to. You can purchase a camp grill that can be set inside a fireplace at most outdoor stores.
You can also buy “pocket stoves”. These are sterno canned heat or cans with solid heat tabs. You can also buy little cooing tables that use white gas or Coleman fuel. You need to be very cautious when using solid heat tabs or sterno as the flame cannot always be seen.
You can also get something called a JetBoil Flash Cooking system. This is a unit that boils two cups of liquid quickly. It comes with a pot you insert inside so that you can boil or fry a small meal inside it. It runs on compressed gas.
It is also helpful to have thermoses on hand. Sometimes in emergency situations you do not always have enough fuel to keep a heat source for cooking going on forever. One way to conserve fuel is to store food in thermoses so that it keeps warm for many hours. This way you can keep beverages and meals warm enough to enjoy over the course of a day and save your fuel for other needs.