Fuel for the Body.

healthy Eating Is both A Necessity and enjoyable

Meal Planning (Quicklinks)

Use Your Calendar

Make A List

Cooking for Two

Healthy Recipes

Shop Local

Meals While Traveling

Small Appliances

On some days it seems like we get up from one meal and begin thinking about what we’re having at the next meal. Food has always been an important part of our lives, and Tracy loves to cook.

She also loves cookbooks. But cookbooks take a lot of storage and weight. One of the sacrifices she made when we went full-time was to give up a complete set of Southern Living cookbooks.

Thankfully, technology has helped solve that problem.

So what are the tools we use for meal planning?

Use your calendar to see where you’ll be overnighting and where you’ll be stationary for a while. We really don’t like shopping every day for supplies, so we’ll make a meal plan with a list and stock up with about a week’s worth of supplies.

We don’t like being out on the road and in short supply of food options, so we try to make sure we have enough food to at least get us to our next destination. We find that if we haven’t planned, we’ll spend more at restaurants and fast food places.

It’s much easier to go shopping after you’re unhooked and well-fed, so plan on getting to your destination, unhook, enjoy your afternoon or evening meal and then go shopping, or wait until the morning.

We believe a shopping list is the single most important part of meal planning. We spend far less money and stay on track when we make and use a shopping list.

Make your meal plan; make a list of all necessary ingredients, make sure you’re not hungry, and then go shopping.

There are creative ways to stay on track with shopping lists, like using the grocery pick-up services now available at most stores. Make a list while traveling and submit the grocery order to a store at your destination, and by the time you get there your order is ready and you have your groceries without having to even go in the store.

Using a shopping list tends to help avoid carrying a lot of expired items or things that looked good when we bought them but were never used.

Cooking for two can be a challenge no matter what your living situation is. We typically cook meals with a mindset of re-purposing leftovers so we can use them in another meal. We always have gallon zip-lock bags on hand for leftovers.

We don’t cook many casseroles because they usually makes large quantities. We have friends who cook casseroles and freeze the portions in gallon zip-locks.

Costco and Sam’s Club are not our preferred shopping destinations for food, mainly because the quantities are large and we don’t have the storage. There are some items that we can buy in large quantity and then divide into smaller portions and freeze for later use.

We try to make healthy eating a priority as we travel by avoiding sweets, junk food, and fast food. Most every meal is well balanced with a meat, vegetable, and salad, and we drink a lot of water instead of sodas.

We use real butter instead of margarine, and olive oil instead of vegetable oil.

We don’t use a lot of processed foods, preferring fresh or frozen foods rather than canned goods.

Some of the best meat and produce we’ve found has been at local markets and farmer’s markets. We keep our eye out for fresh, local fruit and vegetables.

Prices at local markets may be a little higher than the big box superstores, and we recognize that. But there is also something to be said for supporting the more localized economy through the mom-and-pop stores. It would be a shame if all the fun local stores dried up because they couldn’t compete with the big box stores.

And…we are pro Walmart. Being from Arkansas, we remember the early 1980’s when Walmart was the best store in town where you got great prices. Walmart started as a mom-and-pop operation and grew into the megastore corporation it has become, but it’s the ultimate great American success story built on a vision from Sam Walton. We don’t have a problem with both/and instead of either/or, so we use Walmart and local stores.

There are some items that it just makes sense to stock up on at the big box. Chicken breasts, ground beef, and steaks can be bought in quantity and then broken into smaller portions and frozen.

Our Redwood is laid out so that one side of our residential fridge can be opened with the slides in. Before we leave, we make sure that the bread, mustard, mayonnaise, meat and drinks are accessible without opening the slide.

Our typical travel day includes:

• One pot of coffee, divided into two travel mugs for the road.

• A simple breakfast snack of cheese toast or Belvita breakfast biscuits.

• A snack of nuts or travel mix.

• A sandwich lunch made of deli meat and chips.

By planning this type of travel meal, we avoid fast food stops and junk food on the road, and we’re ready for dinner by the time we arrive at our destination and get set up.

Here are what we have found to be essential small appliances to carry on the road:

• Food Processor (small 4-cup)

• Blender

• Insta-Pot. Doubles as a crock pot and pressure cooker.

• Toaster

• Electric Skillet

• Coffee Maker

• Charcoal Grill (table-top)

With these appliances, we have found that life is every bit as convenient as when we lived in a home.

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