Caravan, camping and holiday cookery

Stephen_Leak

Admittedly, it's only me, but what I've done is to take some of my normal batch-cooked meal portions from the freezer. Even over 4 nights, the last one has been perfectly OK in the caravan fridge. Measure out suitable portions of rice and pasta to go with them and take those along too.

I usually heat them up in the microwave at home, so was temporarily fazed when I got a rather old caravan without one. I just got out a second saucepan and did them the old-fashioned way.

System

Although we dont have it too bad in our caravan, i try to cook as many 'normal' meals as possible (except that i wont do mashed potatoes:D ) but if you want a two burner meal. I tend to boil my potatoes and my frozen vegetables in two different saucepans and drop the packets of frozen cod in butter sauce in with them when the veggies are coming up to boil. Birds Eye beef slices work just as well too.

lil_me

Just been reading with much interest as we've just got our first tourer, will keep reading through for ideas etc. I do feel a little spoilt as we have an oven, grill and hob but space and power for anything else is limited. Think I will go for the from freezer HM bolognese on the first night.

Olliebeak

For anybody going to a caravan and using their own car, I would double check with the company as to whether or not they have microwaves in them. If they don't then just put your own in the boot of your car. They don't take up all that much space!

I found out last year that the place where we go, will provide a microwave IF you ask them to (had never thought to be that cheeky before!).

And don't forget that if there are large supermarkets close to the sites, they will STILL have whoopsies and may even have cooked chickens. We discovered freshly cooked roast potatoes/barbecued ribs/cooked sausages in our holiday supermarket (Morrisons).

champys

Oh I love seeing this thread coming back, it means the holiday season is here! I mealplan and cook pretty much as usual in 'the van' - although we had to settle for one without oven and grill (seems quite rare in France to have this), I took advice from this thread and invested in a Remoska. Between the Remoska, the pressure cooker, and of course a small barbecue, we can cook almost anything.

Olliebeak

When I was 14 (with two younger sisters and a younger brother), mum and dad bought a camper-van with a two ring burner/grill. The pressure cooker and the chip pan always went with on holiday with us! Of course back then, mid 60's, the chip pan contained solid lard - so no danger of spilt cooking oil :rolleyes: . We also had another two-ring burner in the tent awning (if needed) and a small primus stove that only ever boiled the kettle!

Mum used to buy a whole tinned chicken (in jelly - think they were done by Princes) - don't know how she made it feed us all though !

Paulie'sGirl

*bump*

Help!!

We're going camping in the Dales tomorrow night for a long weekend, and the forecast is rain...

Any experienced campers with tips to help us?

I've packed the emergency packet soup, the playing cards, and extra sachets for hot drinks...

But I need ideas for 1) replacements for the planned BBQs 2) things to do so we don't spend all weekend on a tour of CAMRA pubs (not that that's a bad thing, its just not very MSE) and 3) how to keep warm/dry? sounds odd, but i bet its cold in a tent in the rain?

Thanks guys!!!

PGxx

Olliebeak

How many of you are going on this camping trip?

It's amazing how warm a tent can become - especially if there's a couple of you inside there. The tent fabric isn't porous so you will need to keep something slightly open for ventilation - even if it's raining. I would recommend possibly sleeping with socks on - I find that if my feet are warm, then the rest of me is ok. Those 'slipper socks' with the little rubbery bits on the soles are ideal for inside a tent - and make sure that all shoes are stored in the porch/awning/just inside the door area.

Not sure about replacements for planned bbq's - not really a bbq person - don't like smokey-flavoured/charred food - but you may find a local supermarket that does bbq chickens/sausages/ribs etc and serve with packets of savoury rice/couscous.

We used to take all kinds of travel games. My kids had a couple of books where all the pages opened up to produce playing boards for different games. For anybody who likes word-games, there is always travel scrabble (magnetic board and letters) and Boggle - just don't forget the pencils and paper.

And there is always 'I spy' - it's amazing how inventive you can become with what you can 'spy'. Two of our favourites were 'd-m-o-t-w' - dead midges on the window! and 'd-m-f-i-c-o-t-w' - dead midges floating in condensation on the window!!

Maybe a book that you've not been able to find time to read. Those puzzle books are also an essential part of any holiday that we go on. We just leave them on the table in the caravan - with a ruling that you never finish what somebody else has started!!!!! Even the daily papers usually have a puzzle page in them.

Paulie'sGirl

Hi Ollie,

Its just the two of us, OH and I.

We're not too old or silly to camp (23 and 42, you'd've thought we'd've learned...) so I-Spy should be in our grasp! We can easily while away an evening playing cards, and forget to do the washing up LOL, so that should keep us entertained. As you said, we love the crossword and sudoku etc in the paper.

I'm glad you think the tent will be warm. It has vents built in, so that should air the humidity issues? Obviously, if all else fails we can go back to bed and play cards etc there, but makes for a pretty pants weekend LOL

Will pack a novel each, thanks for the tip.

On the food front, I wasn't really looking for a direct replacement, although that's an excellent idea. JUst that since we're going tomorrow its too late to create meals to take with us (which would've been my first idea, a chilli, a veg curry, a pot roast etc). I have no experience of cooking in the rain on one gas ring, so was hoping for some simple meal ideas.?

If all else fails, we'll decamp to that real ale pub and drink Black Sheep til we forget about the rain!!!

PGxx

donny-gal

Hi
Done all sorts of camping/caravanning and still have a tourer, with 3 rings (1's electric so unless on hook up it's just 3) grill and an over so luxury now. Like Hilstep on Page1 we used to take the "emergency meal" also known as "five minute dinner" with us for if we arrived late and just needed food, or if travelling through France just turn the gas on in a services and cook. This comprised of a tin of stewing steak/s&k/mince in gravy emptied into a large pan, add a tin of new potatoes (drained), and either a tin of peas & a tin of carrots (drained), or a tin of mixed veg (drain) or a tin of baked beans. Depending on the numbers eating depended on the size of the potato tin, and if necessary 2 tins of beans could be added to bulk out. French crusty bread would also be available depending on how "starving" we all were. If we go away any distance or other than a weekend, the ingredients for this are always in the 'van. Look up the cups of coffee/chocolate in Poundland which you just add hot water to make a warm drink. Boil the kettle once and fill a flask if you are limited for rings. Have cereal bars or bread and jam (crusty bread and nice French Jam) for breakfast and keep the Fry up for a Brunch or the evening meal, bulking out with hash browns or just fried potatoes. Cooking does warm the tent/caravan up. Unless the weather is exceptionally warm, something prepared at home and taken in a sealed container to warm up will warm up nicely.

You can bring the cooker just under the canopy to keep dry while cooking as long as it is safely away from the tent edges. You will find that you with two in a tent the vents may not be sufficient to avoid condensation.
DG