Planning for a 10 Day Tip

[coldtrev]

Next week we are taking a 10 day trip in our MH. 6 Foot Cubic Fridge and adequate, but not great interior dry food storage. We might have the opportunity half way through to shop for food but this is not guaranteed.

2 Adults and a one year old. Any suggestions on meal plans / packing ideas / or general tips regarding meals.

We try our best to not cook inside and typically use a exterior LP BBQ and Stove. We also are pros at cooking over the fire with assorted cast iron.

[josheaton]

The wife put this together, may help you

RV Checklist: What to pack for an RV Trip | Cook Eat Travel Repeat

[Cmessmore]

Originally Posted by coldtrev

Next week we are taking a 10 day trip in our MH. 6 Foot Cubic Fridge and adequate, but not great interior dry food storage. We might have the opportunity half way through to shop for food but this is not guaranteed.

2 Adults and a one year old. Any suggestions on meal plans / packing ideas / or general tips regarding meals.

We try our best to not cook inside and typically use a exterior LP BBQ and Stove. We also are pros at cooking over the fire with assorted cast iron.

Frittata is good for a one skillet meal. You can chop up leftovers - vegetables, potatoes, meats. Or chop the ingredients ahead of time and have them in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Eggs are very versatile and can be fixed in so many way. They are a staple. Cheese is a good take along item too. Grilled cheese sandwiches, grate some cheese for topping the frittata.

[Sharon455]

Ziplock bags are great for saving room in the pantry since most packaging is wasted space. If you have a vac and seal, try premixing dry ingredients for specific meals, or marinade and seal meats before freezing.

[lbrjet]

10 days without shopping would be tough. We keep our dry foods in a bin on the floor.

[Msokolik]

[QUOTE=coldtrev;1542845]Next week we are taking a 10 day trip in our MH. 6 Foot Cubic Fridge and adequate, but not great interior dry food storage. We might have the opportunity half way through to shop for food but this is not guaranteed.

2 Adults and a one year old. Any suggestions on meal plans / packing ideas / or general tips regarding meals.

We try our best to not cook inside and typically use a exterior LP BBQ and Stove. We also are pros at cooking over the fire with assorted cast iron.[/QUOTE
Trying taking whatever meat and rebag and whatever marinade for BBQ lay flat in the freezer for more storage .
Wraps for sandwiches instead of bread . Try cooking some stuff you can heat up for dinner freeze again in ziplock flat for storage in freezer . Your going to need a bin of dry regardless you ha e a 1 year old.
.

[extxn]

The DW and I are firm believers in the vacuum sealer and have been using one at home for years! Before we go camping, I normally bar-b-que any meats that we'll be consuming. Once the meat is done, we allow it to cool completely, place it on cookie sheets and freeze it. Once frozen, you can portion out how much you want per meal, place in the vacuum seal bags, seal and place back in the freezer. When it's time for the meal, drop the entire bag in a pan of cold water, bring to a boil and allow to boil for 15 to 20 minutes while heating any veggies. Take the bag from the boiling water and cut the bag open, the meat will taste just as if it came off the grill.

If you have any liquid foods (soups, stews, chili), just pre-freeze in a bowl, pop out the frozen liquid and seal as mentioned before. Reheat as mentioned before.
Anything soft (berries, bread, such) should be frozen before sealing, always spread out on cookie sheets to do this.

This is something we constantly do, I often have more than 1 grill fired up at a time when cooking. Also blanch corn on the cob, freeze and vacuum seal with a big chunk of frozen butter. Able to have b-b-q meals with fresh corn on the cob during the winters when -10*F (or lower) up here in the north country.

If all adult members are workers or if a large active family (ball games, school or such), this is also a great time saver trying to feed everyone during a hectic schedule. One weekend of cooking & freezing helps deal with a month of activity.

If properly sealed and frozen solid, the food will last quite an extended period of time and will save space in the freezer compartment. Just label the outside of the bags with a permanent marker as to date processed and what's inside.

Hope this helps everyone.

[markb5900]

All the ideas above are great.
When we take a long trip, I take all our meat and put it in ziplock freezer bags and get to lay "flat" on top of each other and freeze it SOLID in the house before we leave.
Saves a lot of room in your freezer.
As for the other stuff, we use every cabinet we have to store food that isn't being used for something else.
Don't have to store the stuff in the kitchen area. Under the bed, over the couch, etc...

Hope that helps some and have a great trip!

[extxn]

Originally Posted by markb5900

All the ideas above are great.
When we take a long trip, I take all our meat and put it in ziplock freezer bags and get to lay "flat" on top of each other and freeze it SOLID in the house before we leave.
Saves a lot of room in your freezer.
As for the other stuff, we use every cabinet we have to store food that isn't being used for something else.
Don't have to store the stuff in the kitchen area. Under the bed, over the couch, etc...

Hope that helps some and have a great trip!

Yep, the ziplock bags help if you're doing just what you'll need for the weekend or a specific time frame. With the vacuum sealer, you take out all the air, reason for pre-freezing (to keep the juices) and anything will last for over 12 months without any freezer burn. Still stacks nice & flat too.
Just installed another storage area today so the DW will be happier ~ LOL!!

[CampingGator]

Great ideas everyone.

I have almost all our pantry food in plastic bins with lids. I have a shoe size bin where I keep the most common spices I use. It I have a recipe that calls for a mixture of spices, I measure them out and put in baggies to take with us. Refrigerated condiments are moved from the fridge in the house or portioned into a small container if too big. Saves money this way. I keep flour, sugar, pancake baking mix, and similar in plastic bins that stay in the camper.

We are heading out next week and taking two grandchildren with us. I sat down with them the other day and got meal suggestions from them because I want them to enjoy eating on the trip and I want to minimize complaints. Here are some of their ideas, as well as mine.

Biscuits and sausage gravy, cereal and fruit (will buy the small individual boxes so everyone is happy with the options), and bacon and eggs. I love to make a sweet potato hash with cubed sweet potatoes, onion, chicken sausage with apples and Gouda cheese (or similar), cut into pieces (cut them small for your little one so they don't become a choking hazard), salt and pepper to taste. I cook on the grill or stove in a cast iron skillet with a little oil. This is very filling and tasty. The kids don't like sweet potatoes, so I will use white potatoes instead. Pancakes with chocolate chips.

Ham and cheese sliders, sweet and sour cucumbers and onions. Great recipes for the sliders are available on Pinterest.

Macaroni Salad made with elbow macaroni, tuna (will use chicken instead for my granddaughter), chopped onion, mayo or Miracle Whip, salt and pepper to taste, and frozen peas. Cook the macaroni and drain. Run under cold water to cool. Mix with the ingredients. The frozen peas will thaw and cool it down nicely. We have always taken this on picnics to the hall field, the beach, etc. I serve it in solo cups. It's easy to keep in a container in the cooler.

The kids want steak shish kabobs with mushrooms and other veggies. Grandson loves Green Goddess dressing with it. Grilled chicken, roasted potatoes, and green beans for another night.

Potato packets - sliced potatoes, sliced onion, green pepper if you like, salt and pepper to taste, wrapped in foil and cooked on the grill. Be sure not to burn the potatoes. When cooked, remove from the grill, open the packets, and put some sliced cheddar cheese on top of the veggies. Loosely close the foil and allow the cheese to melt. Great vegetarian dinner, or serve with London Broil or steak, grilled chicken, etc.

Thanks for the packing ideas above. I think I will marinate the meats before we leave and then put that with the meat in a freezer bag and freeze prior to the trip.

I always keep a crock pot and electric skillet in the camper. You can even cook soup in a pot that is placed in the skillet with a water bath. When we camped in our pop up years ago I used the electric skillet outside for everything.

Well, my mouth is watering and I need to go prepare dinner. Have a wonderful vacation!

[extxn]

Dang CampingGator ~ that menu sounds awesome, I could go for some of that, any of it to be specific! Great ideal to include the young ones on ideals.

The DW & I love southern white gravy but it's such a pain to make just for 2. We found the jar of McCormick's gravy mix at the store and cut the stock recipe in half for us. When we aren't that hungry, frozen breaded chicken strips with a baked potato and country gravy always hits the spot and is quick to fix.

If anyone is interested, look for the packet of McCormick's Pulled Pork or B-B-Q ribs for slow cookers (crock pots). Absolutely great what you can do with a 2 1/2 lb. pork roast and a couple of ingredients! Make it up, freeze it and save for pulled pork sandwiches.

[Wolverine 1945]

We could never pack enough Ice to last us 10 days,,,
even if we took our Ice maker with us !!!

[oldsmasma]

DH and I do not pull a toad. We routinely set up in one of our wonderful Provincial Parks for 10 -12 days without leaving to reprovision. Like others I batch cook and freeze items in efficiently packable containers. Sweet and sour meatballs, meat sauce, Swiss steak, chili, can all be reheated in a small crock pot. A small roast in the crock pot is wonderful on a rainy day. A couple of frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts, a couple of small steaks and pork chops give lots of options. Throw in pancake mix, eggs, bacon and some frozen hash brown patties along with some canned tuna and we could last 3 weeks. A bag of fresh corn picked up roadside along with a basket of local tomatoes cover off vegetables. I also carry store bought frozen bread dough that defrosts overnight and bakes up in 30 minutes. I always have room in the fridge for a small container of ice cream too. Even one of those boxes of pizza fixings can be jazzed up and cooked over the fire. Have fun!