10 Tips For RV Meal Planning
June has finally arrived! The rain is falling, the grass is getting green and the leaves are coming back. In a few short weeks (18 school days to be exact, but who’s counting?) school will be out and the highways will be filled with RV’s making the mass exodus to the great outdoors.
We’ve been camping in an RV with our 1, 2 and now 4 kids for the past 8 years and although it’s a lot of work, it’s worth every moment of prep that I do to enjoy those long summer days in the lake and evenings by the fire.
To start off my camping/RVing series I have compiled a list of tips for meal planning and prep. (Recipes to come!)
- Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan. I can’t stress this enough. Just like at home, if you plan your meals ahead of time you will have less waste and more space in your fridge/freezer. Almost anything you’d eat camping can be prepped ahead of time. Even your baked goods should be baked, bagged and frozen.
- Cereal is the single greatest invention in the world. It travels well, can be used as a snack and keeping a few varieties on hand make for a different breakfast everyday.
- Pilsbury Cinnamon Buns are made for camping. They come in a tube. They don’t take up a lot of space in the fridge. Save on clean-up and buy a 3/pack of disposable 9×9 foil baking pans and bake them in your RV oven. No oven? No problem. They can be baked in a BBQ over indirect heat or wrap the entire baking pan in heavy foil and cook in the hot coals in the fire pit.
- Pre-make waffles and pancakes. Make a stack of homemade pancakes and waffles, cool, portion in ziplock baggies and freeze. Pull them out and pop them in the toaster and voila! Leggo my eggo! No measuring, no mixing, no mess. Don’t forget the maple syrup!
- Pre-cut veggies. Avoid the added expense of buying pre-cut veggies and cut your own. Broccoli, carrots, peppers and cauliflower. Keep them separate. Add a moist paper towel to the ziplock bag to keep them crisp. The baggies will take up way less space in your fridge drawers too.
- Pre-marinated meat packs are perfect for camping. My favorite brand is MarcAngelo. Easy to freeze and quick to thaw and they come in a variety of choices like pork tenderloin, beef kabobs or chicken breasts. The air tight packaging stacks easily in the freezer and clean up quick. I always buy a tenderloin and the kabobs. Served over a salad or with a side of quinoa and corn on the cob. Yum!
- Must have burgers. It’s not camping if you don’t have burgers. Pre-make all your raw burger patties and freeze. I make bigger ones for grown ups and slider sized ones for the kids. I use Press And Seal wrap to freeze 2 big patties or 4 little patties at a time while keeping them from freezing together. Then I put them all in a large ziplock bag. Then I can take out the exact amount of patties I need.
- Eat at a local joint. If you’re camp site is near a town, as most are, plan a night to check out the local spots. Summer is often high season for many popular camping destinations which means that the local restaurants are brimming with fresh food and sunny patios. Take a night off cooking and find a little spot to get pizza or chinese, then go walk thru town to find the local ice cream shop for dessert. Better yet, if you have your bikes and it’s not too far, ride into town for dinner…can you say guilt free dining?
- Bring the slow cooker. And you thought your slow cooker was only for winter? No way. If you have the space, bring a small/medium slow cooker and cut down on the amount of time your stove is on. The last thing you want to do on a sweltering summer evening is turn on the stove top. Pre-make chill, spaghetti sauce or meatballs and freeze them. If you spray the inside of the plastic container with a cooking spray before hand, the frozen meal will slide out in a brick, right into the slow cooker. Set it and forget it.
- Shop local. Find out if the area you’re going to is known for a specific produce or item like wine or meat and shop local. If you’re going to be in fruit country, check online for the harvest times. Cherries, peaches, apples, pears. No need to bring it from home if you can pick it straight from the tree yourself. Buy james and jellies straight from the people that make them. Buy honey direct from the bee keeper. Look for local farmers markets.
Got any great tips you want to share? Tell me about it.
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Now THAT is a handy list. I always get overwhelmed and bring too much mayo and not enough actual food.
What a great post and blog! I love these tips..I never knew the cinnamon role one, going to try that one.
Samara Bressette-Lay recently posted..Just Another Manic Sunday!
Great tips! Never thought to bring my slow cooker. Nothing better than coming home from a day at the beach and supper is almost ready!
Ok, I don’t have an RV, BUT these tips are still totally helpful for meal planning in general. And I agree with you 1000%, cereal is a parent’s best friends. We hardly ever eat it for breakfast but it’s the easiest on-the-go snack.
I used to go camping with the kids, and I totally agree – planning ahead is really the key. It’s no fun fussing while you’re camping – keeping it simple is the best.
Dani @ lifeovereasy recently posted..Outdoor Meditation Space
All sound very good. The slowcooker might work wonders.
As for the waffle and pancakes, at my home, sadly they do not taste very good the next day 🙁
Mama and the City recently posted..Who The Heck Is Lynda?
Peek Frean Chocolate Digestive Cookies make the best s’mores. Pop a toasted marshmallow between two cookies and voila! You didn’t hear that from a Nutritionist! 😉 Karen@NourishWithKaren
Great ideas, thanks! I don’t RV meal plan but our family goes out on the boat alot so it’s sorta the same thing. One of my “famous” breakfasts is putting frozen hashbrowns in a ziploc with diced onion and cut up kulbasa. I just heat some veg oil in the pan and then toss my mixed breakfast into the pan – it’s sooo good (and the frozen hashbrowns help keep the cooler cold too)!
Inspire Me Heather recently posted..{how to} make textured paint with sand
Oooo, you could do a boat meal planning post! I’d love that!
We used to eat a lot of cereal when camping. It was the only time my parents would buy those mini boxes… fun for kids to have “special” food when camping
The mini multi pack!!! Who doesn’t love those from when we were kids.
Great idea on the crock pot! We did a lot of camping in our day (2 adult children now) and for breakfast we always pre-boiled our sausages and froze them. Frozen food also helps to keep things cool in your cooler if you are not in an RV or trailer! Thanks for sharing!
Donna @ dh-designs recently posted..An Inspirational Series!
Great tips! You just reminded me to put crock pot on the list for our cabin trip this summer 🙂
Heather Nolan recently posted..Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Bread Pudding
Oh I dare to dream of a cabin and yes I would put my slow cooker and my “nice” summer clothes in in. Enjoy!
Very helpful! Thank you for sharing these tips. Never thought slow cooker could be helpful in RVing.
Sarah recently posted..The Ultimate Guide to Recreational Vehicles: Campervans, Motorhomes, and 4WD Campers
Thanks for your visit! I couldn’t live without my slow cooker in my RV. I’ve also started packing my Vitamix blender for my daily smoothies.
The amazing post. It’s really very helpful and great post for RVing. Thank you for shear a great informative article.
Thx 4 sharing. Loved it.
This is amazing tip.It’s a really amazing and helpful tip. Thank you for share helpful and informative post.
You can cook your own food when traveling with an rv. There are accessories you can attach to your rv for you to cook.
When you are planning a road trip, you obviously know the time you are to leave, all the stopovers and when you will be back. It is important to consider flexibility and have much freedom for your trip than even air travel cannot.
This is really helpful when traveling with an RV. Knowing the right food to have can help a lot. It is also nice to have the right tools to even prepare food when traveling.