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 every meal in our van. We did however, pull over for the occasional cappuccino and gold milk latte treats. We also picked up groceries to restock our fridge with items like milk, yogurt, eggs, and cheese. During this time but the biggest life-saver was having meals ready that were quick, easy, and healthy to prepare.

Our trips are designed 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 (We don’t have a microwave so we heat reheat everything on our cooktop)

• An Isotherm refrigerator

• A small chest freezer

Here are a few of the things 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. Even if you don’t have a garden, you can buy and prepare your vegetables before you leave so that you 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

• 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 and oatmeal

• Canned tuna and salmon

Refrigerator & Freezer Items

• Yogurt

• Sliced Turkey

• Cheese

• Eggs

• Butter

• Milk

• Ezekiel bread

Things we buy on the road:

• Bananas

• Bread

• Avocado

• While in a state like CA, we buy local fruit 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!