DryCamping~Boondocking~Emergency What food to keep for NO POWER times

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maddog348

maddog348

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Joined
Mar 13, 2009
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970
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Bakersfield,CA
Asked this question on another forum a few days ago and must have worded it poorly because got a lot of "...same as at home..." ~~ "...cook a lot at home put in freezer..." ~~ "bbq more - take expensive meat/shellfish - buy veggies..." ~~ "...use the generator...".

MY QUESTION is in regard to the times you DO NOT plan on happening ~~ the ones that sneak up behind you and bite you on the .... . Fully expect to buy fresh as needed and as opportunity arises.

REASON #1 Have had fridge 'go out' no where near a repair ~ so don't want to put all my eggs in that Basket. ~ALSO~ Blew microwave on 'bad' elec pedestal. Years ago now carry "SurgeGuard".

REASON # 2 Planning a long RoadTrip (3-4 months).  Want to eat and camp as frugally as possible. Expecting to do a lot of dry camping/boondocking to save $$.

Was thinking a moderate supply of dried/dehydrated foodstuffs might be good to carry as back up. Have an exellent source of dehyd beans-veggies-fruit that I have used camping in NatPark in tent/PuP for years. (not the 'Meals in a Bag' you get at the camping store.)

Need to limit amount of 'wet' & 'canned' food.  weight factor ~ very low CCC  Thought dehydrated would provide more food / # and not take up too much space.  Long shelf life ~ just add water ~ cook over campfire ~ etc.etc.

Anyone carry Emergency/Back-up food?? Any thoughts ~ tip ~ hints ~ would be appreciated.    Thanks in Advance,  Kate
 
If you have a propane range top, then most things that can be cooked in the microwave can be cooked on it.  If you also have a propane oven, anything you normally bake can be baked in it.  In other words, with a propane range and oven, you don't really need a microwave and/or convection oven and hence don't need power.  In fact we didn't have even a microwave in our first two motorhomes so we always used the propane oven and range because that's all we had.  I still prefer my propane oven when boondocking because we don't have to turn on the generator which can annoy our neighbors.

As to foodstuffs, I generally carry two of everything I use frequently so that's backup.  Always have lots of cereal.  As long as you have a propane refrigerator you also have all the cold stuff like milk and frozen dinners.  We usually go to the grocery store every few days because we use breakfast foods up pretty fast.  There's almost always at least a small general store nearby where you can get foods, maybe not what you'd prefer, but you won't go hungry either!  As for planning specifically for emergencies, no not really.

ArdraF

 
ArdraF,

Yes we have gotten used to stove top cooking as up before 'genny' hours.  Don't plan to be without the fridge ~however~ had one 'die' out in the no where's and had to use a lot of stuff fast.  Don't want to go there again.    Will be in 'new' territory to us so don't want to be caught unaware.

Just trying to jog this poor old memory.  Thanks ~ TakeCare ~ TravelSafe ~ Kate
 
A good camping equipment store such as REI will have a great selection of dehydrated dinners that you can keep in your RV. We always carried more than a weeks worth as they last a long time in the cabinet. I've always believed an RV was our home emergency backup. :)
 
Maddog,  will you be camping where a campfire is possible?  Cook in a Dutch oven over the fire. I once cooked biscuits and gravy over  a campfire .  I put a grate (old metal refridg shelf) over the logs, put the biscuits on foil and the gravy in a pan.  YUM!!
 
Hey, that's right.  Some people actually use a campfire to cook!  We tend to forget how to do that once we get our nice RVs.  ;)

ArdraF
 
Just keep in mind if you're carrying dehydrated food that you'll need the water to reconstitute, that will add in to your weight factor anyway so you might want to bring some canned.  That is, unless you have an emergency water source. 
We keep our 72 hour emergency kits in the rv.  They have sealed (with a food sealer) granola bars, venison jerky, juice boxes, fritos with bean dip and cheese dip, canned chicken with a tiny mayo jar and crackers, canned fruit, stuff like that.  If you're interested I can list more.  I know it seems heavy but if you don't have water it'll be needed.  We do also keep our emergency stash of water.
 
Mommadana, 

We have a 67 gal water capacity ~~ just don't travel with it full.  We keep track of availability of water where we are headed and fill accordingly.  Think more 'back-up plan' rather than actual emergency.  Expect to be able to find water at most CG's even if don't use their hook-ups.  Even if Wallydocking could run in and buy a gal. or 2.  Most of the plan is to save weight ~ have supply of eats that will keep even if fridge isn't working ~ not have to buy too much at higher $$ at CG stores.

Being in/from EQ country we do have a stash of stuff at the ready incl. water. And know the drill.

TakeCare ~ TravelSafe ~ HaveFun ~ Kate
 
When packing to save weight and have a safe and stable food supply you cannot beat a old sea going sailor. I spent 25 years (Summers) on a sail boat without refrigeration, or shore power. Just the engine charging the battery.
Packing food was a big concern, not for you as much. We bought 50 pound bags of rice, beans, and long lasting fruits. Became a Vegetarian as meat was to difficult to dry and store. Lots of food stuff in a supermarket are dry and can be repacked in vacuum seal bags and kept for a long time.
All that said I am staying close to land and fresh food from now on, but there are several good books by world sailors on storing and preparing food with little or no power.
Good Luck in your travels,
Jim
 
ok-
My suggestions since you'd have water covered...where do you travel?  We have been solar cooking in the back yard for a few years.  As long as there's a bit of sun you can make some awesome meals if you still want heat.  http://solarcooking.org/plans/cookit.htm this one is our favorite portable.  It's cardboard which makes it light but you have to keep it out of the sun.  On a sunny day (8o degrees or up) you can have food completely cooked in an hour, or if it's not so hot but there's a little sun, you can warm water to use for your dehydrated type meals or "grill" a cheese sandwich.  Cooking eggs is a snap.  Chicken cooks quickly.  You can even bake bread if you wanted to go extreme.  It would be a good thing to have around if your fridge went out too and you had to use up your food in there. 
I've tried several varieties of dehydrated meals and they're not my favorite at all.  But, they're good emergency food.  Watch the expirations cause if they've been sitting in an RV that ever gets hot they'll go bad much faster.  I just tried a 4 year old granola that was mylar sealed and it was nasty upon nasty.  I am not veg. but for a dehydrated meal I like vegetarian best.  Dehydrated beans and rice seem to taste great, not a fan of dehydrated meats. 
If you're willing to rotate every 6 months you could go the instant powdered milk and cereal route.  Top it with some freeze dried fruit and it would be good. 
Instant mashed potatoes would be good and easy.  I'd pair them with canned chicken and shredded cheese, freeze dried fruit.
If you are going to buy instant bagged meals I'd suggest freeze dried over dehydrated most of the time.  You can eat freeze dried easily without letting it set or cooking it for long. 
http://beprepared.com here's a place that seems to have good prices on anything emergency.  I've heard good things about Mountain House brand.
 
We boondock about 85% of the time and use milk that comes in a carton.  We use Parmalet 2% and will last for months on the shelf. once it is opened, it has to be refrigated.  We get it at WalMart usually on isle 8.

Bill Dane
99 Allure











 
I guess I don't see the need  and we don't carry any emergency food supplies, as such.
If the fridge and generator both went out, we would still have some food to eat (including the fresh stuff in the fridge that we needed to get rid of anyway)  for an evening or so from our regular supplies and we are never so far from civilization that we could not buy what we needed within 24 hours.  The LP gas stove still works plus we have the BBQ grill as back-up. Water in the tank, even if only 10 gallons or so. Battery power for at least one night too.

When we were touring in Alaska we did carry a bit more dry/unrefrigerated foods, though. A store wasn't always quite so handy there.
 
Porky, have you ever heard of the comedian Stephen Wright - you'd love him.  Your pun reminded me of him.  Go rent one of his videos.  He's the funniest comedian I've ever heard.
 
Porky  ~~ My supplier is out ~~ Do you have another source ~~ THANX  ;D ;D ;D

Gary ~~  Getting a few more 'instructionals' than anticipated  ~~  Trying to save a few $$ on food by carrying a moderate supply of dried/dehydrated  ~~  no CCC for canned overstock & already have the dehyd.food  ~~  Sorta wanted to know if anyone else carried dry 'reserves'  (as maybe you did on trip tp AK).

Bill  ~~  At home we use (Costco) soy milk ~ comes in qt.s ~ long shelf life 'tii opened ~ will carry some ~ BUT ~ to heavy to carry 3mo worth.  Will check on the Parmalet 2% as know there are Wallys everywhere. Thank You

Mommadana  ~~ see  'Planning a Meander' in 'Destiations,RV Parks,Routes'  ~~ Won't be too far from civilization for too long atta time ~~ Trying for economy on that trip.  Thanks for the link it is already one of several 'go to' places on my supply list.

TakeCare ~~ TravelSafe  ~~ HaveFun ~~ Kate 
 
I think I could be gone a month and still eat well.  I don't know why, have never been hungry in my life or lacked for the money to buy food but I'm the same at home.  I have a stockpile that would last for months.  I guess I think Armageddon is around the corner or something. :-[ Hubby actually laughs at me at times.  But I have packed the motorhome in the same manner.  However, I didn't pack any steaks of shrimp or anything like that, left those home. 

But I can make bean soup, pizza, eggs and gravy, bake cakes, cookies, mashed potatoes, you name it.  Also have bacon, sausage, lunchmeat, all kinds of veggies, fresh veggies, pizza pockets and egg rolls for daughter. Fish sticks for us too, chicken, hamburger, fresh ground pork, a frozen pizza, not sure what else is in the freezer or fridge.  What can I say. :-X 
 
http://www.campingsurvival.com/mreskits.html

(No recommendation on the products for sale at the site above -- just an example of what is available.)

MREs.  About the only thing that will do what you are asking, apart from tins of rice, pasta, canned goods (yes, same as you use at home) and dried/smoked meats like jerky or all beef sausage (make sure that they are the type that do not need refrigeration). 
 
Our fridge went out once and after throwing away all the jars of ketchup, mayo and other condiments that got warm, we now carry the travel size packets of everything including jelly packets, they don't need to be kept cold.  Saves tons of room too.  We only order what we need for each camping trip and get free shipping.  The place is online, its called "rvcampstuff"  They ship pretty fast, have lots of good travel sized products.
 
In an RV with a generator and batteries and propane remember the fridge will still work.

However there are many meals now days that sit on the shelf in the supermarket All these keep without refrigeration

However most of 'em are LOADED with salt, and occasionally other things on the American Heart Assn or American Diabetes Assn, DO NOT EAT list.  (In short,,, all the GOOD stuff)
 
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