Long Life food

mildred

Guest
Morning all!

Most of our wild camping has been impromptu - we've been out later in the afternoon than planned, spotted a nice place and set up for the night. Whilst the drinks making kit is always on board, sometimes there's only a tin of macaroni cheese and pot noodles with which to make an evening meal for two. And nothing for breakfast :(

I started reading the various post-apocalyptic "we're three meals and 72 hours away from anarchy and the end of civilisation as we know it" fora ( Though apparently MI5 reckon it's four meals - We Brits must be more resilient than our Colonial friends :p ). All very interesting but more about vast stashes of rice and beef jerky than something to rustle up a tasty meal of an evening for two, brekkers the next day - and why not lunch too?

I've come up with my list, but wonder if others have taken a similar, methodical, approach - with a list of stuff that's always in the van that won't go off if left in for a few weeks? I'd be interested to know what others do...

I managed to find a couple of tins of processed cheese in a local Tesco - but they don't have any more - anybody know of a supply?

What about powdered egg? The wartime type - not the fitness/bodybuilder powder which is lots of other things besides fried eggs, or the baking "dried eggs" which are whites rather than whole eggs. Anybody seen this anywhere?
 
Hi Mildred,
welcome to the site.
We carry the packet soups always, to save on weight, but the rest is usualy fresh produce. We have some canned foods for emergency use.
My days of using powdered egg are long gone, had enough to sink a battle ship in the Army:D But everyone to their own dietry needs, and as long as you have your wine cabinet stocked, that's the main thing:cool:

Happy Camping:)
 
Food!

Our van is always stocked with food.Although We take fresh food when We know that We will stop out overnight,We could manage a few days anyway.
Tinned food is obvious,also dried pasta,noodles and rice.Part baked bread will keep a few weeks.Individual packets of cereal will keep better than a large pack if You don't use them every week.Potatoes and onions have a lot longer life than the supermarkets like us to think.
 
Army rations

If you are into army 24 hr or ten man ration packs they can be found on ebay quite cheaply if divide individual meals by price!

Most camping shops will do the self heating and foil food packs that are more survival food, if that's what your looking for!
 
Can I recommend you try the pre-steamed rice that is packed in foil-packets. The one we use is by 'Tilda', its a basmati. Two days ago I dragged one out of the emergency rations, the packet was purchased last year and still had two years to run to the use-by date.

You just stir-fry the rice into whatever you have prepared. It really-really is very good.

Richard.
 
Hi Mildred,
we do exactly the same as yourself, go out for the day and then stay out longer, so end up staying over!!! :eek: I'm afraid that we always carry a week's supply of food and clothing with us. :confused: Just have a look what is in your kitchen cupboards. In our van we have:- drinks, (hot & cold), sweet & sour chicken, potatoes, corned beef, tuna, bacon grill, easy onions, sliced mushrooms, goulash, ham, bratwurst, sliced beef in gravy and soups, all tinned. :D As well as packets of rice, mash and biscuits, we also carry various tins of fruit, rice pudding, custard and evap milk. It is not a problem, nowadays, to pick a loaf and milk up at the many shops and supermarkets that are open at all hours! :D :D This takes care of all our meals throughout the day, from a hot meal (in winter) to toast or a cooked breakfast and a sandwich for lunch. if you don't fancy cooking you can dine out quite cheaply (2 meals from £4-50) :eek: at Morrisons or Tesco. :rolleyes: The same goes for breakfast. Just use your imagination and keep looking for unusual foods when you are out then you will feel that you are being treated, if you have something different than at home!! :cool: :cool:

JIM!!
 
We tend to pack the fridge before we go, lots of bacon , sausage etc.. but always loads of packets of soup and noodles etc.. Alos bread and milf for a few days - yu can always chuck it away if it goes off, You can never have enough booze on board and a variety at that.

When come across an Asda or Tesco's its majic because you can then get anything you may have forgotten...

Craig
 
Hi Mildred,
My suggestion is you can never have enough Pies, Steak and Kidney, Meat and Potato, Pork, New Potato, and for dessert Apple pies, Rhubarb, Blackcurrant, and for a hint of extremism possibly Bakewell tart. But there again I am from up north.
Bob
 
Some fabulous ideas from you, 'inventive-lot'. I'm carrying far to much tinned stuff, (just my opinion) the problem is, tinned-stuff is to some extent irreplaceable, in this case. I'm sure we can all manage without 'tinned-stuff' at home but its soo-useful and safe.

I'm always on the lookout for 'packet-stuff'.

My van has a slide-out storage unit that is perfect for 'tinned-stuff' anything of a similar width, unfortunately the price you pay for 'luxury A-Class' (To be aspired to) doesn't cover the cost of creating quality furniture that is robust enough to continue doing its job. Its all very convenient but the slide-out does a lot of clunking when we travel and quite frankly I don't think it can cope with the weight of 'tinned-stuff' so I have to re-house it all in an under-seat locker. I don't think a cupboard with a hinged door is safe and strong enough.

Where do you lot store your 'tinned-stuff'

Richard.
 
***** said:
I also keep the heavy stuff as far away from the rear overhang as possible to keep the real axle from a weight overload
Click to expand...

I only have under-seat lockers that are suitable, our main bed is a pull-down. The under-seat lockers are both in-board of axles and of course, low-down.

Seems all motor-homers are boozers, last year I was showing a couple round our van because they had never seen a 6 metre Burstner Elegance. I lifted the seating to uncover the lockers and one locker was half-full of beers and wine with a little room made for camping hardwear. I think this couple may have been unusual because she was shocked though he had a glint and a smile in his eyes. (Secret boozer)

From the experiences I had since then I figure motor-homers will run out of anything but always have a drink for the evenings.

Yes ?

Richard.
 
Thanks for the various suggestions - managed to get some of the tastier "Ethnic" ration packs at a reasonable price - these coupled with UHT milk, tinned fruit, biscuits in individual wrappers, part-baked baguettes (The LIDL ones have a particularly long life compared with others), pate, Boil-in-bag rice with a couple of tinned "mains" and a good stack of beverage packets should set up us just nicely ..
 
mobile shop

I would,nt mind camping alongside you Jimmnliz. If my supplys run low, i,ll visit your mobile groceries van (sorry! m/home),happy travels buddie.
 
We have Beanfeast and Sosmix which is a dried soya protein. We're not veggies but this kind of stuff keeps for ages. I wrote some notes on food years ago for youngsters on Duke of Ediburgh expeditions and it is useful for us. I was stuck out in Wales years ago with a Heinz sponge pudding and a tin of pilchards-but I was young and foolish,we learn by our mistakes. Rat packs are a good idea,but you can buy the majority of the items from the supermarket.
 
.

give the local takaway /delivery shop a call...:D...taint-ard :rolleyes:.. save you carrying anything :)

regards:eek:
aj
 
We always go away for a minimum of 3 months at a time. We stock up fully for the full 3 months on dried foods. The meat in the frige last about 10 days before we have to restock. Fresh veg, fruit and bread are thingswe purchase every few days or when ever we need it.Sometimes at the end of trip we might have to buy certain dried stuff, if we indulge too much on our tummies. Dried stuff: Milk (long life) sugar, soups, mushrooms, noodles, Butter, coffee etc:
 
Forgive me , this is a warning, But in my opinion there is no need whatsoever to skimp on good wholesome food on camping trips...Has a full timer this is a subject pretty close to my heart.

Tinned food is great when you are really stuck but with the proximity of supermarkets ,general markets there is really no need to lose out on good tucker.

Has other posters have suggested the shelf life of vegetables is far beyond that that supermarkets (under pressure) propogate. Onions and garlic a prime example and btw did I mention tomotaoes ?

Cooked meats ,salamis Chorizos also have quite a durable shelf life. IMHO where a lot of people fail to make their food imaginitive is the lack of herbs.
Of course dried Oregano and herbs de Provence are great friends in making fayre tasty.And even their fresh counterparts supplemented by parsley mint and basil will last a few days.

Shellfish and fresh fish have a limited shelf life followed by chicken and pork ...game and beef are a little more robust and will last a few day possibly a fortnight.!!

This of course provides 101 recipes so things dont get too repetitive. Let me share an example cooked this weekend.

Paella cooked outside on a coleman stove.

038.jpg


I admit that the shellfish were sourced on the day of cooking other than that ..everything else is from the store cupboard. Casparra rice herbs fresh and dried , smoked meats etc.

Hopefully you get my point it is still possible to eat well in Le camping car.


Channa
 
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