We just got back from a month-long road trip to Alaska. Because we were using our mini-van as our very own RV, I was determined to keep costs and supplies low. My hubby built a raised bed for the back of the van and we stored everything we needed in bins underneath or in storage bins on a hitch rack. It was awesome!
Because we were on vacation, I also wanted to keep cooking/clean-up to a minimum. The only cooking supplies we brought was our backpacking stove, backpacking mess kit and a coffee pot for boiling water. That was it.
Did I also mention that I HATE doing dishes? So, not washing out nasty pots and pans was not an option.
I adore my
boil in bag cooking method for camping but we didn't have cooler space for that much food. (It works better for shorter trips)
What to do???
Backpacking food...
Thankfully, Pinterest had lots of ideas for homemade backpacking meals that were easy to make and only needed boiling water.
I tried 9 different recipes (from various blogs or made up myself). It took a while to put them all together but it was totally worth it!
All we needed to do was boil some water, pour it in the bag, seal it up and wait 10 minutes. That was it!
Most of them were rice and chicken variations. It did get a little old after a while. We also found that the recipes were way too much for just one person. So we added some side dishes (like fruit cups and/or bread and dessert) and just shared.
I'm posting links to the recipes we liked at the bottom of this post.
The ones that used pasta just didn't work. I used some rice noodles and some more expensive fancy pasta that cooked quickly, but neither really worked. The pasta never got done. In order to make them work, I had to add water and then boil the bag in water. It took a lot more time (and water) and never was really that great. The Korean beef noodles using ramen, were our exception. They were pretty tasty and worth the extra effort on the road.
For breakfast, I made up individual servings of my
homemade instant oatmeal in pint-sized freezer zipper bags. Just pour in boiling water, stir and eat. So easy and so much better than the store bought stuff!
I had also brought some canned veggies, instant potatoes and heat and serve meats. All I did was use freezer zipper bags to heat things in a pot of boiling water. Worked GREAT! No clean up!
I know I said I hate doing dishes but we didn't want to use disposable tableware that took up space and makes for tons of garbage. So, I did have to wash our plates, bowls and silverware after every meal. But that was it.
Easy peasy!
Recipe Links:
Fried Rice
Fiesta Rice
Curry Rice
Apricot Cous Cous
Cranberry Chicken Stuffing
Korean Beef & Noodles
