Suggestions for long trip

pturtle wrote:
Hi all! We will be on the road for 23 days this fall and want to save some jingle by making most of our meals. We will eat an occasional lunch out (can't go to New England and not have chowder and lobster). We thought we would take frozen chili and soups along for some suppers but would love to hear your suggestions for a little variety. The more we can pre-make the better.

Thanks for your help!

Pat and Kathy

When we are on the road, many times before we leave we cook up a big batch of spaghetti with meat sauce. We slop it all into a one gallon freezer bag or other plastic container, and stick it into the RV fridge. It makes three, quick and easy dinners for the two of us while on the road. :C

Of course, if ya don't like spaghetti . . . . . :S

Bring a few pounds of frozen, browned hamburger. This gives a lot of flexibility. I'm a fan of the frozen chicken cordon bleu at Sam's Club. Buy a 1/2 dozen boxes of Rice-O-Roni or Zartarans Jambayla mix or their Dirty Rice. Bring a crock pot for casseroles, stews and any meat.

We love some jumbo franks from our local meat market. Cook them on the grill at home and freeze them in the food saver vacuum seal pouches. Being frozen, helps the coolers, don't have a fridge, a bunch. The FoodSaver is new us and we are now trying several things to cook and freeze. The beauty is that we can heat the package in the microwave and we're done! After a long day, especially of driving, you can get really worn out and still have a great meal.

Skillet meals are easy--not the ones in the box but some you make from scratch. You can prepare the meat ahead of time and freeze it for various dishes.

I like ground beef + dirty rice + gravy.

One-Pot Southwest Chicken and Rice freezes well, too. Easy to divide for a small family or double for a larger crowd.

Skillet Chili Mac is great too.

Multi use stuff. Hamburger buns can be used for chicken sandwiches, sloppy joes, and burgers. Tortillas for quesadillas and chili, and burritos.
Premake sloppy joe meat, unfreeze, add some cheddar cheese, a side of fresh fruit, and you are good to go.
Same with chicken breasts. Cook a dozen or so, then you can unfreeze and use for a fresh salad, chop for chicken salad and quesadillas or use whole on a chicken sandwich.
Make some marinara sauce, freeze it, and use it with pasta and fresh shrimp from the Coast.
All pretty easy and fast.
Have a great trip.... Don't forget to let the hubby share the cooking on the bbq!

One way we save time and money for breakfast is to cook up a large batch of biscuits and sausage gravy. It's very easy to portion out individual servings and heat them in the microwave on a paper plate.

Super_Dave wrote:
Bring a few pounds of frozen, browned hamburger. This gives a lot of flexibility. I'm a fan of the frozen chicken cordon bleu at Sam's Club. Buy a 1/2 dozen boxes of Rice-O-Roni or Zartarans Jambayla mix or their Dirty Rice. Bring a crock pot for casseroles, stews and any meat.

I have to warn you: if you try Super Dave's recipes you're going to gain 10 lbs! Look in the archives if you want proof.

Pre-make a few hot dishes (casseroles) and tuck them into large zip loc bags.
Just reheat and add a quick salad, vegetable and bread.

All great ideas. Don't forget the roasted chickens you can pick up at local grocery stores. Their salad bars will give you a nice meal with that chicken.

You can freeze lasagnes and other casseroles. Or you can buy a lasagne/other casseroles in the local grocery freezer section to make that night. We hit farm stands for fresh fruit and veg too. Part of the adventure is eating local and finding local specialties in shops. We found a terrific meat market in one town. On the way back to camp we found fresh corn and tomatoes at the local farm stand. We ate too well that night :w

I've compiled menu ideas & simple camping recipes on cards and slipped them in an old photo album. I've highlighted the ingredients so I can quickly scan over it to see if I need to add anything to my grocery store list.