I've done well with the 36 packs of Energizer Alkaline AA's that home depot sells. been using them for a few years now, but I rotate those, buy a new pack once or twice a year and put those in storage and give the old ones to the kids to burn away in toys.

I use eneloops for most things myself and have bought a half dozen packs to have for emergancy use. I have a pair of chargers, both of which can run from 12v so instead of running a generator I can put them in a car and charge that way (or remove the car battery and biring it in the garage and use an alagator clip on socket to power them). this gives a good recharge system that could last days before having to start a car to top off its battery.