What to eat? Extended stay.

[Terry McDonald]

My wife and I just did our first longish stay. I’m retired and she will be in a few months. We camped 9 days over new years and discovered that had been cooking out of the freezer mostly in our prior trips (and this one also, an external cooler and nights in the teens got us through it.). This doesn’t seem to be the way to go, especially for boon docking. What does everyone pack and eat for extended trips? I’m a pretty good cook so I am looking for inexpensive and trying to save space as there is never enough in an Rv.

[Stephen C Keller]

If you do a search on Google for Camping Recipe and should get many ideas. I have been collecting them and even saved some websites.  here are a few sites:

The Chuckwagon – Western Recipes

,  http://www.dutchovendude.com/recipes.php  ,

http://www.aussiecampovenforum.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

[Terry McDonald]

Stephen, I checked those sites and they have some good stuff. But what I am mostly looking for are suggested menus, like what to eat for a week. Do you eat cereal for breakfast every day, sandwiches for lunch, soup for supper on Monday, Mac&Cheese and salad on Tuesday, spaghetti on Wednesday, hamburgers with chips on Thursday, fish tacos on Friday, etc.

 

I am good on any particular dish but I need an idea or something to start with. Do most people use canned food for the bulk of their meals, or dried foods, rice, potatoes, couscous, other pasta as the staple item of their menus.

 

I use an induction cook top as well as the propane stove and grill. I recently got one of the new fancy pressure cookers. It is a generic from Walmart, I don’t like paying the up charge to have Insta-Pot printed on the device. I’ve used a old fashion pressure cooker for years but mostly for cooking meat and not one pot meals.

 

I haven’t much experience with camp ovens, Dutch or propane, (CampChef). The RV oven won’t keep the pilot lit and you have to lay on the floor to light the damn thing. So far I have been using a counter top oven with good results. It sits in the alcove that originally housed the old CRT type TVs.

Thanks

[Stephen C Keller]

Well posted the sites so maybe it would also add something to thought. Wife and I don’t eat really regularly so we may eat breakfast, something for lunch (something small like a sandwich) then something for supper or we just skip to something small for lunch or just not eat till supper. So to set a menu is hard for me to come up with. We change so much we even have a hard time setting something up. We do make use of left overs so what we have left from one night we will either eat for lunch or supper. We do take hot dogs, hamburger, pork and beef ribs or chops, corn on the cob, potatoes and anything else we think of. Also we do have canned veggies and take some fresh to nibble on during the day. We lean more to light side of meals anymore so even soft tacos come with us as we can make many different things out of them. Sorry, wish I could be more help.

[Bob and Lynda Roberts]

Hi Terry,

My wife and I eat just about the same way when traveling with our camper as we do at home, using the same recipes. This is the cheapest and healthiest way to go. We used to have a camp trailer with plenty of room, but have recently switched to a short truck camper for more mobility, so we don’t have much space. We do have a 5 cubic foot refrigerator with a freezer, and a little storage space here and there. Even if we decide to stay in one place without moving 4 or 5 days, we can manage just fine with fresh vegetables, fresh meat, cereal, fruit, milk, and a few cans under the seat or some frozen vegetables/meat in the freezer. Keep in mind that many items do not require refrigeration – potatoes, oranges, and other items sold at groceries stores in the non-refrigerated section. Unfortunately, you cannot buy bargains on sale or in large quantities, and stock up, so food costs will go up at least a little.

Out exploring or boondocking longer periods of time, it is usually not far to some kind of mini-market where essentials can be found. A quick trip to town or village provides some relief from those monotonous snow-covered peaks reflected in clear mountain lakes, or brilliant red sunsets over the desert.

Water or power may be more of a limiting issue. We try to stop at a full hookup RV campground to flush, fill, and wash at least every 4 or 5 days, but could get by longer if necessary. (You need solar or a generator to go longer than that anyway and our solar/generator resources are small).

It is great that you are going to be able enjoy your retirement through RVing.  Just jump in and have fun!

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