Being new to this caravanning malarky, I could do with a bit of help with regard to food/cooking etc. There mostly just two of us going in the caravan, so far on our two trips out we have been a bit disorganised with the food/shopping side of things. To stop the hassle of having to go the supermarket on arriving at site in future,which is a pain as I can't find my way round quick enough as they are all different layouts and hubby has to stay with the dog in the car. I'd like to pick your'e brains as to what to take with us, what will keep on journey etc and what we can keep in the van ready for next time. We have also just purchased a safari chef 2 so any ideas for what to use that for, apart from BBQ would be great.
Can I put milk, butter etc in fridge, will it stay cool on journey, usually an hour?
Hi,
we are relatively new to this caravanning malarkey as well, having been tenters previously.
if you pre chill things in your house fridge before putting them in the caravan fridge they will be fine for several hours. Alternatively you can pre - chill the caravan fridge prior to your journey (use the gas setting if you've no EHU facility). Another trick we found is to fill a couple of empty milk cartons with water, freeze them at home, and put them in the caravan fridge to cool it down.
For our meal on arrival at the site we cook something at home and put in the plastic containers that take-away meals come in then it's just a case of heating them through.
The safari chef is a great piece of kit - we bought the roasting dish for it and have cooked loads of great "all in one" meals with it.
As Kelper said ,if you have a link to cool the fridge as you travel things are much easier ,if not there is currently a thread on coolboxes(worth a look).
My wife's an American ,so we normally take a precooked meatloaf with us (great fried next time round).
What a lot of people do is make a lead that connects with your household supply and start cooling the fridge before you go(assuming the van is at home) (just remember to switch to car when you take off).
Lots of people including us take precooked curries,pasta dishes and the like.If you are only an hours travelling ,why not warm up the oven before you go and buy a ready cooked chicken from Waitrose ,Tescos or whoever ,must be one of them near you. Chuck it in the warm oven (remembering to turn oven and gas off) .Bit of salad ,and cold potatoes and bosh!,eating like Henry 8th on your campground.
Tinned goods are always a cheerful standby with a bit of imagination.
Thats the joy of what we all do ,we all learn from each other.
Best wishes,
Greg
Totaly agree with Gregs post.
We plug our van in at home a couple of days before we go away.
Then do a shop in our usual supermarket and get the esentials, milk, butter cheese, beer ,wine, sausages baccon and anything else you may need when you get to site.
My wife usually does a chilli or a pasta meal for us to have on the first night or we do our research on the local area where we are going and find a chippy
AS ABOVE , HOOK UP AT HOME TO CHILL THE FRIDGE ,TWO DAYS SEEMS A BIT EXTREME ..6=8 HOURS WOULD BE PLENTY.....FOR A TRAVELLING TIME OF ONLY ONE HOUR I WOULDN'T BOTHER WITH THAT ..JUST PUT A COUPLE OF THE BLKUE FREEXZER BLOCKS IN THE FRIDGE ...LOAD UP YOUR CHILLED FOOD AND ALL WILL BE WELL
For a 2 day weekend,usually over an hours drive, I do a macaroni cheese chilled for Friday night. In the freezer home made mash and mince dish or spag and peas and oven chips. All these are a standby if there's no decent shops around. Bread and eggs I usually store in the oven for travelling.
Freeze something at home (spag bol) to put in the fridge just before you leave. You can then put milk/butter etc in it. The car's electrics will power it providing you turn the fridge control to battery. Fresh food travels in the car in an old fashioned cool box with a bottle of frozen milk or water. Cereal, bread and tins in the car.
We don't like to over pack the van.
I also have a safari Chef 2 and use it all the time when camping - just got back from 3 weeks in France. Got it because, having previously been 20+ years a tenter I missed the outside camp-kitchen and al-fresco cooking.
It can be turned to just about anything, from Full English on the griddle to the obvious BBQs. Stir frys and pasta dishes cook well in the lid.
Dried food staples, biscuits, rice, pasta, tea, coffee, can all be left safely in the van as can condiments such as ketchup. Crisps and snacks can also be stockpiled.
My 'van in in storage, so I'll generally put the fridge on gas then return later with stuff to stock it with, which means less hassle on the set-off day.
If your fridge isn't powered by the car when travelling, then a few hours without power is fine, but I'd still recommend pre-cooling.
Oops, nearly forgot - Gin can be happily stored in the 'van
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Topic: Food Ideas travelling/storing
