We presently live in the country about 30 miles from where we do our grocery shopping, so we stock up a lot. We will be testing the RV waters this summer with a 3 week trip. I am so used to stocking up that I'm inclined to buy the food for the whole three weeks at once. For those of you who full-time, how do you decide how much food to buy? Do you plan meals or just have food to choose from? I rarely plan meals since we always have a lot of food available.
NorCal Dan said
10:46 AM May 24, 2011
The amount of food we carry is directly proportional to the distance to the grocery store. The closer we are to the grocery the less we tend to store in the RV. Under normal circumstances we go 2 weeks between shopping trips.
GENECOP said
01:12 PM May 24, 2011
Unless you plan on remote boon docking, don't worry to much about the food, G
Jim01 said
05:46 PM May 24, 2011
Being full-timers, we are limited to the amount of refrigerator/freezer, storage space we have, so we don't stock up too much.
We've never had a problem finding groceries when we needed them. In fact we kind of enjoy going to different stores across the country and finding new items on the shelves that we have never seen or tried before.
Jim
Wildrose Acres said
06:13 PM May 24, 2011
I guess what I'm asking is do you try to have, say, a week's worth of food at all times, or do you just buy enough for a couple of days? We always have enough food for about 3-6 months at a time, but now I am trying to cut way down. I want to get into the practice of not having so much food in the house.
bjoyce said
07:37 PM May 24, 2011
We use a lot of perishables like milk and fresh produce so we go about twice a week to get them. We do not use much canned goods but do use frozen. Only we do not have that much freezer space. We make a lot of meals that feed 6 to 8 so leftovers are a big part of what we have for dinner.
PD CFK said
08:29 PM May 24, 2011
Am sooo interested in info on this subject. Being newbies, the larder was stocked! and we've been lugging it up and down the high ways. Duh! Just today, took most of it out and will re-stock after our Cameo comes back from having a few items taken care of at ExploreUSA, Kyle, Tx. where we bought it. Thanks for posting. Pat K.
janni said
04:15 AM May 25, 2011
This is an interesting topic. I have lived in town and 30 miles out of town in the past so knew how to arrange both. I cannot seem to get the right system for this and have lost some food. I am not big on shopping either so that may explain part of it. Looking forward to suggestions.
Bill Adams said
05:29 AM May 25, 2011
Obviously, due to the limited storage areas and the added expense of hauling unnecessary weight down the road I suspect that there is no RVer who keeps a 3-6 month food supply on board (unless you idea of the end of the World is different than a certain minister). We visit the grocery 2-3 times per week for the fresh necessities and we visit a Sam's/Costco for our meats, seafood, wine and liquor and some bulk paper products. These are meant to last 3-4 weeks before we need to make a return trip.
Wildrose Acres said
06:18 AM May 25, 2011
Thank you, Bill Joyce; that helped. Joyce, when you re-stock, do you plan meals ahead, or do you just buy the same things and eat the same meals week to week? janni, I don't like shopping either which is why I have liked having a lot of food in the house. Bill, I'm glad I don't have to haul my 3-6 months worth of food down the road, but we are 4 years out so that isn't a problem for us right now.
I told my husband that when we go on our three week trip this summer I want to empty the house frig into the camper's frig, so we need to make sure that it (the house frig) doesn't have much in it when we are ready to transfer.
When we vacation I tend to plan meals. Last night I found a two week plan I'd made for a trip with our three children a few years ago. I had it coded and detailed down to the last snack. I don't do any of that when at home, so I'm trying to find the happy middle.
ahoweth said
07:47 AM May 25, 2011
We have been on the road for more than 6 years now and have found that there are grocery stores every where. Finding food has not once been an issue. With space and weight being a consideration. Letting the grocery stores store our food had worked out well. Of course that is just us. I am certain that other folks do it differently.
bjoyce said
09:00 AM May 25, 2011
Wildrose Acres wrote:
Thank you, Bill Joyce; that helped. Joyce, when you re-stock, do you plan meals ahead, or do you just buy the same things and eat the same meals week to week?
Neither of us is a fancy cook but we do know how to make a large number of dinners. Some we make about every two to three weeks, others we might only make every three months. Lunches we repeat a lot, but we normally have 3 to 4 dinners running at once. Both of us cook but I will admit that Diane does more of it than I. We do sometimes make dinners that only last one meal, but not that often any more.
We know people who won't eat leftovers and have to have something freshly made every day. I know one couple that this was OK when they were in a house, mainly because they were still working and they ate out a few times a week. But it contributed to a divorce after a while in an RV since they rarely ate out and the wife did all of the cooking.
Bill Adams said
09:10 AM May 25, 2011
Janet cooks us a new dinner most every night and has for the last 11 years. Obviously, if we are having meatloaf, a crockpot meal or a casserole we will have left-overs but that is much more the exception than the rule. Janet likes cooking and I like eating so things work out very well in that arena. Thank goodness for Food Network and online cookbooks as I get some great meals by a great cook.
Ckerr said
11:56 AM May 25, 2011
This is an interesting thread.
I LOVE to cook and I love to try new things. Ditto on the FoodNetwork and online cookbooks! I also subscribe to a couple of cooking magazines on my Nook. I prefer fresh ingredients so we tend to grocery shop at least once a week. I try not to go more often both for budget and time issues.
I find I need to shop more "opportunistically" when on the road than I did at the house. Reason being is that I used to check the grocery ads and plan a week's worth of meals around the specials. Since I don't find out what is a good price or even available sometimes until I get to the store, I have to plan things on the fly more. I tend to keep the staples on hand so can usually make something out of whatever else I find at the store.
Often I will find a few recipes I want to try and then I make sure I get those ingredients when I go shopping.
One of the interesting things I've found is that Sams Club is often our most reliable source for fresh produce and meat on the road. I'm trying to find more fresh markets / farmers markets as we travel, but the hours they are open often don't work for me.
We find it's hard to keep more than about 1 week's food on board. If we're planning to be moving, I'll do more planning just to make sure we have what we need and don't need to find a store on the road. I'll plan 6 or 7 meals and prepare them based on what feels right that day.
Today I'm making red beans and rice for the first time. Will see what my Cajun Sweetie thinks of it! Nothing like a girl from ND making red beans and rice... lol
-- Edited by Ckerr on Wednesday 25th of May 2011 12:00:02 PM
Froggi said
04:50 PM May 25, 2011
I recently blogged about RV kitchens and had a lot of comments that were interesting...
-- Edited by Froggi on Wednesday 25th of May 2011 04:50:43 PM
Wildrose Acres said
10:34 AM May 28, 2011
Thank you, Froggi; that was very interesting1
Hina said
08:02 PM May 29, 2012
I'm into organic and fresh, plus, I don't have much cabinet space; just one cabinet for food, so I go to Whole Foods 2-3X a week currently. I eat pretty simply, not too much prep. But I have been storing extra bottles of juice, broth, and other non perishables under the sofa, with my shoes I'm also planning an area where I can grow fresh sprouts.
Lately, I've been thinking about "prepping" a little bit, and considering where I could store some emergency provisions and how much I could actually carry. I have been considering a 3-6 month supply of freeze dried and vaccum packed.... I don't have a TV, and that would probably weigh about the same, so I don't think the weight would be an issue. Doesn't hurt to be prepared! I already have 60 gallons of water and solar, why not food?
Jane
Rosie RV Thumper and Dog Dog said
03:05 AM May 30, 2012
Jane, I have been into prepping this year and wonder how it will work with our new home on wheels. I have collected quite a bit of freeze dried meats, veggies and fruit. I was thinking freeze dried carrots, onions and celery would be great to throw into a pot of stew or soup. Some of the things we have will be too bulky or heavy to take so I'll give them to family or friends. I'll have to strike a happy medium. Rosie
MikeH said
06:58 PM Jun 14, 2012
Depends on where we're going for a trip. If it's just down the road we'll take what we need + 1 day worth of food. If it's some place new or we're boondocking we'll pack our engel cooler with everything we can, which is about 2-3 weeks of frozen goods and we'll use our fridge for the perishables, milk, eggs and such.
Hina said
09:41 PM Jun 14, 2012
Hey Rosie/Thumper/Dog, also consider lentils, good protein, takes less time and energy to cook than beans, you can sprout them, and you can grow them. Sun dried tomatoes come in handy for all kinds of stuff too.
We have a good organic grocery up here with lots and lots of dried goods, including the dried soup veggies, and I've been thinking maybe I should get one of those home vaccum packers and doing it myself. If anyone is ever driving through Sonoma county CA on the way to the beach camps and Wine Country, stop at Andy's Market in Sebastopol. The locally grown organics are the best!
Terry and Jo said
05:46 AM Jun 15, 2012
Just as a thought, when out on the roads and in areas away from cities, one might have difficulty finding organic and natural food stores. For instance, Oklahoma has a sum total of 2 Whole Foods stores in the entire state.
Terry
Hina said
01:47 PM Jun 15, 2012
One thing an RV'r could try for fresh organic greens is sprouting as compact indoor farming. :)
MikeH said
05:54 PM Jun 15, 2012
Terry and Jo wrote:
Just as a thought, when out on the roads and in areas away from cities, one might have difficulty finding organic and natural food stores. For instance, Oklahoma has a sum total of 2 Whole Foods stores in the entire state.
Terry
I'm sure that every state has at least one farmers market where you can buy organics.
We presently live in the country about 30 miles from where we do our grocery shopping, so we stock up a lot. We will be testing the RV waters this summer with a 3 week trip. I am so used to stocking up that I'm inclined to buy the food for the whole three weeks at once. For those of you who full-time, how do you decide how much food to buy? Do you plan meals or just have food to choose from? I rarely plan meals since we always have a lot of food available.
Being full-timers, we are limited to the amount of refrigerator/freezer, storage space we have, so we don't stock up too much.
We've never had a problem finding groceries when we needed them. In fact we kind of enjoy going to different stores across the country and finding new items on the shelves that we have never seen or tried before.
Jim
Joyce, when you re-stock, do you plan meals ahead, or do you just buy the same things and eat the same meals week to week?
janni, I don't like shopping either which is why I have liked having a lot of food in the house.
Bill, I'm glad I don't have to haul my 3-6 months worth of food down the road, but we are 4 years out so that isn't a problem for us right now.
I told my husband that when we go on our three week trip this summer I want to empty the house frig into the camper's frig, so we need to make sure that it (the house frig) doesn't have much in it when we are ready to transfer.
When we vacation I tend to plan meals. Last night I found a two week plan I'd made for a trip with our three children a few years ago. I had it coded and detailed down to the last snack. I don't do any of that when at home, so I'm trying to find the happy middle.
We have been on the road for more than 6 years now and have found that there are grocery stores every where. Finding food has not once been an issue. With space and weight being a consideration. Letting the grocery stores store our food had worked out well. Of course that is just us. I am certain that other folks do it differently.
Neither of us is a fancy cook but we do know how to make a large number of dinners. Some we make about every two to three weeks, others we might only make every three months. Lunches we repeat a lot, but we normally have 3 to 4 dinners running at once. Both of us cook but I will admit that Diane does more of it than I. We do sometimes make dinners that only last one meal, but not that often any more.
We know people who won't eat leftovers and have to have something freshly made every day. I know one couple that this was OK when they were in a house, mainly because they were still working and they ate out a few times a week. But it contributed to a divorce after a while in an RV since they rarely ate out and the wife did all of the cooking.
This is an interesting thread.
I LOVE to cook and I love to try new things. Ditto on the FoodNetwork and online cookbooks! I also subscribe to a couple of cooking magazines on my Nook. I prefer fresh ingredients so we tend to grocery shop at least once a week. I try not to go more often both for budget and time issues.
I find I need to shop more "opportunistically" when on the road than I did at the house. Reason being is that I used to check the grocery ads and plan a week's worth of meals around the specials. Since I don't find out what is a good price or even available sometimes until I get to the store, I have to plan things on the fly more. I tend to keep the staples on hand so can usually make something out of whatever else I find at the store.
Often I will find a few recipes I want to try and then I make sure I get those ingredients when I go shopping.
One of the interesting things I've found is that Sams Club is often our most reliable source for fresh produce and meat on the road. I'm trying to find more fresh markets / farmers markets as we travel, but the hours they are open often don't work for me.
We find it's hard to keep more than about 1 week's food on board. If we're planning to be moving, I'll do more planning just to make sure we have what we need and don't need to find a store on the road. I'll plan 6 or 7 meals and prepare them based on what feels right that day.
Today I'm making red beans and rice for the first time. Will see what my Cajun Sweetie thinks of it! Nothing like a girl from ND making red beans and rice... lol
-- Edited by Ckerr on Wednesday 25th of May 2011 12:00:02 PM
I recently blogged about RV kitchens and had a lot of comments that were interesting...
http://2takinga5th.blogspot.com/2011/05/rv-kitchens.html
-- Edited by Froggi on Wednesday 25th of May 2011 04:50:43 PM
I'm into organic and fresh, plus, I don't have much cabinet space; just one cabinet for food, so I go to Whole Foods 2-3X a week currently. I eat pretty simply, not too much prep. But I have been storing extra bottles of juice, broth, and other non perishables under the sofa, with my shoes
I'm also planning an area where I can grow fresh sprouts.
Lately, I've been thinking about "prepping" a little bit, and considering where I could store some emergency provisions
and how much I could actually carry. I have been considering a 3-6 month supply of freeze dried and vaccum packed.... I don't have a TV, and that would probably weigh about the same, so I don't think the weight would be an issue. Doesn't hurt to be prepared! I already have 60 gallons of water and solar, why not food?
Jane
Jane,
I have been into prepping this year and wonder how it will work with our new home on wheels. I have collected quite a bit of freeze dried meats, veggies and fruit. I was thinking freeze dried carrots, onions and celery would be great to throw into a pot of stew or soup. Some of the things we have will be too bulky or heavy to take so I'll give them to family or friends. I'll have to strike a happy medium.
Rosie
Depends on where we're going for a trip. If it's just down the road we'll take what we need + 1 day worth of food.
If it's some place new or we're boondocking we'll pack our engel cooler with everything we can, which is about 2-3 weeks of frozen goods and we'll use our fridge for the perishables, milk, eggs and such.
Hey Rosie/Thumper/Dog, also consider lentils, good protein, takes less time and energy to cook than beans, you can sprout them, and you can grow them. Sun dried tomatoes come in handy for all kinds of stuff too.
We have a good organic grocery up here with lots and lots of dried goods, including the dried soup veggies, and I've been thinking maybe I should get one of those home vaccum packers and doing it myself. If anyone is ever driving through Sonoma county CA on the way to the beach camps and Wine Country, stop at Andy's Market in Sebastopol. The locally grown organics are the best!
Just as a thought, when out on the roads and in areas away from cities, one might have difficulty finding organic and natural food stores. For instance, Oklahoma has a sum total of 2 Whole Foods stores in the entire state.
Terry
I'm sure that every state has at least one farmers market where you can buy organics.