FOOD & DRINK:

 

Don’t carry too much food onboard.

Rice & pasta can be light to carry and perfect for emergencies. Tins of food weigh proportionately more. Buy as much produce as possible locally.

Carry powdered and concentrated drink mixes and reconstitute them in re-usable containers. Don’t carry bottled juices and tins of drink, as you’re transporting what is essentially water.

Long-life (UHT) milk in cardboard cartons leaves less waste than a plastic bottle. Powdered milk leaves the least of all. The secret to making it palatable is to mix it 2-3 hours before drinking it. Because protein is reluctant to combine with water (steeping time). In addition to thoroughly chilling, this time is needed to eliminate the chalky texture of reconstituted milk.

For the past couple of years we have got in to the rather bad habit of buying bottled drinking water. I take great care to ensure the fresh water tank is clean before each trip, and I don't overfill it thus allowing me to continually top up with fresh local water on the way round. Coupled with this we have an in-line charcoal filter to the cold water tap in the kitchen. So it's quite unneccesary. I think it started out with my drinking it when we were 'on the road' to avoid any risk of an upset tummy en-route being the only driver, then it spread to drinking it all of the time. I may have to wean us off this habit as there's nothing wrong with the water onboard.

To save weight we buy beer locally, after all it all taste pretty much like chilled pee, but up until now I have tended to buy our (my!) wine in three or five litre boxes to save weight and space. The only trouble is the selection of wines that are boxed is very limited and seems to be aimed at the bottom end of the market. It future I'm going to drink less, but better quality, and try buying that locally as well.

Where possible, buy or repackage spreadable items such as peanut butter, margarine, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, marmalade and jam in to squeeze containers. It’s more sanitary to squeeze them onto the bread, and you won’t have to wash extra spreaders and spoons.

Decant drinks, sauces etc from heavy glass bottles (which can break) to plastic ones.

Buy plastic egg boxes. Buy eggs in bulk and carry them safely in these reusable containers. 

 READY MEALS

Can be carried to be used for convenience. 

www.bistro-express.co.uk 

www.lookwhatwefound.co.uk 

www.sachetsandmore.com

TINNED FOOD

Most tinned food is cooked after it is canned and sealed, which locks in nutrients and gives the contents of the can its long shelf life. The canning process itself is the preservative; it does not need artificial preservatives.

Canned food can sometimes be high in salt (study the contents labels on the cans). This is not added for preserving the food but for flavour. With food such as vegetables they can be placed in a strainer and rinsed with fresh water to remove much of the salt.

Because most canned food is cooked after sealing it is not necessary to cook it again for a long period. Add the contents to the meal at the last stages of recipe.

Keep cans in cool dry places.

Don’t buy cans past their sell by dates, and avoid rusted, dented or swelling cans.

Rotate the cans in the cupboard so that the oldest is used first.

After opening the can, remove leftover food and store in an air-tight container in a fridge, or buy packs of plastic lids which fit on top of openned cans.

Take a look at the Canned Food UK website: www.cannedfood.co.uk 

 

BE AWARE: 

The risk of getting mice in the motorhome is greatly increased when there is food onboard. We make sure everything is packaged in such a way that rodents can neither smell food nor get to it. The rubbish bag is dumped every night and replaced with a clean one. At the end of each trip the vehicle is stripped of food and cupboards cleaned thoroughly. 

Getting mice in your vehicle's wiring can prove very expensive. the riskiest time of year is springtime when they are not only looking for food but bedding for a nest. Keep an eye out for 'nibble' damage to things like loo rolls or cloth. There may also be signs of mouse droppings around. These pests can squeeze in anywhere. 

You can't sit down and reason with them, they have to be killed. Don't set traps inside the vehicle. If you didn't have resident mice onboard you soon will have. Set traps outside the vehicle. If mice are in the vehicle they'll smell the bait and leave to find the source. 

I use an electric trap positioned just under the vehicle, which somehow seems more humane. When one is dispatched you can just tip the trap on its end and the mouse will drop out, a bit like a burial at sea, then rebait it. 

Up until now I've found a few sunflower hearts as bait works well, unless mice in our area are vegetarian.