Did you bring enough food or too little?

Recommendations on how to stock up for your RV weekend trip or if you're on a long-term outing.

Imagine this: You're planning for your RV weekend or your extended/long-term outing and you don't know what to bring, how much, how little, or even how to store it.

So many decisions.....OMG!!

Don't worry. If you're a novice to RV getaways, or on long-term outing, here'a few quick tips and recommendations to ensure you bring the right amount of food for your outing.

Recommendations:

1. If you are traveling in an RV, remember you will most likely have limited space to store your food, supplies and other sundries. With that in mind, only bring what you truly need.

   1. Tip: To save time and space, make yourself a Spice Box that will contain all of your spices that you normally use in cooking (salt, pepper, seasoning salts, seasons for grilling, sugar, etc.). These can easily be stored in a permanent location in your RV. This will reduce what you need to bring with you. But keep it to a minimum. You don't need everything you have at home.

2. Plan ahead and make a list of the meals (including any ingredients for cooking) you'll have not only while at your getaway location but also while you're traveling. This is the best method to ensure you have enough food and snacks for your getaway. Generally, it's a good idea to get a little more than you need just to be on the safe side. Example: if you're making hamburger patties for 4, buy enough for 6. We can't tell you how many times we've heard about vacationers dropping food on the ground during preparation or seen one of their favorite pets drop by for a quick unexpected meal. Or even unexpected guests.

3. If possible, pre-make any meals or snacks at home prior to your travels. It not only will save time but preparation space.

4. Generally, if you are traveling on a Friday it is best to pick up your supplies either Wednesday or Thursday. Give yourself enough time to pre-prepare any meals you'll take with you.

   1. Tip: When you purchase food or other supplies, they may come in large containers or boxes that will make storage difficult. Consider removing any foods and supplies from their original packaging and placing them in smaller zip-lock plastic bags to save space.

5. If you don't have a cooler, definitely consider purchasing a good one.

   1. Tip: If you are purchasing a cooler, try to buy one that can store foods and ice for longer periods of time. The best ones can store ice for up-to 5 days.

   2. Tip: When storing your food in a cooler, place your ice at the bottom of the cooler and your food and drink on top. This way, as the ice melts your food an drink will still remain cold and possibly avoid getting damp from the melted ice if it were on top of your food.

   3. Tip: If possible, and only if you do not have refrigeration in your RV, purchase a second additional cooler that will be for ice and drinks only. This will minimize the number of times you open the food cooler.

6. Purchase your ice for the trip the day of departure.

7. Once you arrive at your getaway location and have setup, if you have a refrigerator it will most likely require time to get cold. In this case, leave all your food and drink in their coolers until the refrigerator is ready. Some foods like meats don't like to be placed in warm-moist enclosed refrigerators. It usually takes a few hours until the chill sets in, and you can load your refrigerator at that time.

Now you know how to pick, pack and store your food and supplies during travel. Here's a few other things to think about.

1. Tip: If you find yourself with too much food, take it home with you and make it a priority to prepare as soon as you can. Not all foods will store for longer periods of time in your refrigerator, so it's best to make them or even give them away if you can.

2. Tip: If you have refrigerator and/or freezer in your RV, try and freeze any uncooked portions of food that were not used. They can be taken home for storage and possibly used again on another getaway. This might not be the best approach but it can save you some time and $$.

3. Tip: Purchase smaller containers of things like Milk, Orange Juice, condiments and other staples that you might need on your getaway. These can easily be returned to your cooler from the refrigerator and stored at home. Recommendation: If you have items that are normally perishable, don't return with them from your trip. Toss them in the garbage and when the time comes purchase new ones for your next getaway (example: Milk, fresh vegetables, bread).

4. Tip: Don't be afraid to purchase canned goods. They have a very long shelf life if not opened and can remaining in storage in your RV until your next trip or when you need to use them (example: baked beans, corn, tuna fish, soups).

5. Tip: Make simple meals. Although it might be easy to prepare and cook at home, some meals don't easily translate to a good experience while on an RV getaway (example: eggs benedict, baking pies/cakes, pizzas)

6. Tip: If you have one available to you, bring/store a crockpot. This can be a life saver when you're not able to grill or make meals outside. And the prep is easy. Just about anything can be made in a crockpot.

7. Tip: When planning your getaway, check your routes for the locations of grocery stores and pantries so you know where to go in case you run out of anything. Nothing worse then planning on making barbecue ribs and forgetting the barbecue sauce.

Hopefully these recommends and tips will help you on your RV getaways. We're love to hear from you on your recommendations as well. So don't forget to comment on this posting and let others know your experiences.

Recommendations: Make a Yummies Food List

For more information on this blog posting or product recommendations, you can reply back to this posting or send your questions to therealrvblog@konvrgence.com.