Van Life Food Prep

Traveling from the east coast out west and living in a van for a month at a time, I’ve learned what works for us food preparation wise.

Eating healthy is very important to my husband and I. During our month long trips we were able to eat very single meal in our van. The most we ordered out was the occasional gold milk latte or cappuccino. We did of course go grocery shopping during this time but the biggest life-saver was having meals ready that were healthy, quick, and to prepare.

We plan our trips around hiking so we definitely need to prepare for and recover from our active days with healthy, nutrient-dense meals.

Some information that may be helpful before I get into the food details is that our van is equipped with:

• An induction cooktop

• An Isotherm refrigerator

• A small freezer

• We don’t have a microwave so we heat reheat everything on our cooktop

Here are a few of the things that we pack…

Cooked and Frozen before trip:

I cannot overemphasize the joy of having a side vegetable with dinner each night. We turned our summer vegetable harvest into a complete meal along with a protein. But, even if you don’t have a garden, you can prepare your vegetables before you leave and have them ready to heat up while on the road.

Some of our favorite combinations to freeze as two serving size portions:

• Roasted beets

• Sautéed peppers and onions - these are great to add with fried eggs

• Shredded carrot salad with dressing

• Cubed and sautéed eggplant

• Cherry tomatoes

• Frozen soup - I love this golden lentil soup recipe

• Chicken breast and sautéed leeks

• Turkey meatballs - adjusted from this burger recipe

• Ground turkey and sautéed leeks

• Zucchini bread and carrot bread

Pantry Items

• Olives

• Nut Butter - love Ground Up

• Pumpkins seeds & Nuts

• Granola

• Oat bars

• Oatmeal packs

• Muesli

• Maya Kaimal rice packs and TruRoots

• Seven Sundays cereal

• Canned tuna and salmon

Refrigerator & Freezer Items

• Yogurt

• Sliced Turkey

• Cheese

• Eggs

• Butter

• Milk

• Ezekiel bread

Things we buy on the road:

• Bananas

• Avocado

• While in a state like CA, we buy fresh oranges any chance we get

• Spinach/Greens

• Restock on snacks, yogurt and eggs, chicken

Food preparation beforehand is key for feeling good on the road and not having to worry about where to find healthy food.

Thanks to Awol Adventure Rigs for outfitting us with the van of our dreams!