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.

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Wildrose Acres wrote:

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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?

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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

Thank you, Froggi; that was very interesting1

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

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!

One thing an RV'r could try for fresh organic greens is sprouting as compact indoor farming. :)