Organising food storage in the van (1 Viewer)

[Jac Sprat]

I'd like your advice!
I'm now cooking much more adventurously since starting travelling perhaps due to extra free time being retired (also being vegan means a lot more ingredients) and I find I need to carry a lot more products .
I'm getting fed up of losing things or not knowing where an item is.
I use double wrapped plastic bags as they snag on edges for groups of food products and these are stuffed two in each pull out long drawer and two or three in the high cupboards . These are grouped by :
Flours and grains
Nuts and dried fruits
Seeds and pulses
Pasta oats
You get the idea.
I thought bags were a good idea as things can be piled on top of things but I find I just lose them .
Veggies and fresh fruit are in the shower in a big bag in a wash basket
Cereals and biscuits etc are high up in cupboards
Tins and sauces vinegars etc are stacked around the bags in the pull out drawers.
Overflow stuff and extra supplies are also kept in a box in the garage.
Hubby suggests I keep lists of what's in each
Anyone got any good suggestions instead of just buying less food?

 

[Jac Sprat]

Life's too short for keeping lists of what's in bags.

 

[ABZSteve]

I like the fact that you are using the traditional "stap it in" method of storage No need for lists if you get little stickers and name each bag; no, not George or Mildred, nuts, fruits etc

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[DBK]

All our dried stuff is in Tupperware boxes of various sizes, the smaller ones stack on top of each other. We always have a few tins in the bottom of a cupboard or under the bed. Fresh stuff like salads goes in the 'fridge or electric cool box but we don't normally carry more than about three days worth of perishables as they are too bulky. We probably have enough pasta and pizza flour for a week or more.
They have shops where we generally go.

 

[Jac Sprat]

Haha that's a cue for a funny story. I asked my husband a few months ago when we set off for a name for the little pouch as you come in the door on the left for keys etc under the coat hooks. I says we need a name so we can refer to it. I can't keep saying the pocket by the door under the coats.
He says OK - Dorothy.
So it is called Dorothy.
Where's my specs
I last saw them in Dorothy
It has actually caught on!

 

[Shrimp]

We full time & I love cooking, I have a small crate under the 'settee' with my larder-tins/jars etc-because they're heavy!
My dry goods are in cupboards over sink/cooker in small plastic open top 'boxes' and some bags.
My veg is in a plastic box with snap-down lid in the shower, box goes outside under van when parked-box has holes in lid!
Fruit-apples, oranges,pears are in bags that hang in the shower, bags are the special ones you can get for potatoes/onions with a blackout lining.

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[Minxy]

Forget bags as they are a pain to rummage around to find the right one! What about the tubs that takeaways come in, they vary in depth so just use as necessary (may need multiple ones for lots of the same item but it means when empty you can stack them inside each other so take less room), you can stand them on top of each other or instead on end so you can see what's in them when you open the drawer without having to lift out the whole lot to retrieve the one you want. Another alternative is the taller type containers but they take up more room and also can't be efficiently stacked when empty.

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[chaser]

We store as little as possible, prefer going out to local shops every couple of days and buying fresh, and we are mostly on Aires not camp sites, for us any long term stuff is mainly tins.

 

[Minxy]

We store as little as possible, prefer going out to local shops every couple of days and buying fresh, and we are mostly on Aires not camp sites, for us any long term stuff is mainly tins.

Not so easy for a vegan though especially in some places where the stock in supermarkets is limited and/or they are few and far between. We like getting fresh stuff/bargains in the shops but it can become a bit of an 'obsession' if you're not careful ... hubby loves supermarkets especially those that give 30% discounts on short use by date items so I have to remind him we're on holiday ... the ONLY good thing that has come with having a smaller fridge is that he can't get so much in so it limits his shopping!!!!

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[peterc10]

We are not vegans, but most of the fresh fruit and veg we carry goes in the fridge. Much prefer the fresh variety to the dried or tinned stuff, but we do keep some of that as emergency supplies. Some of those supplies have done over 10,000 miles!

 

[Minxy]

We are not vegans, but most of the fresh fruit and veg we carry goes in the fridge. Much prefer the fresh variety to the dried or tinned stuff, but we do keep some of that as emergency supplies. Some of those supplies have done over 10,000 miles!

10,000 miles that's nowt ... some of our supplies have been in our vans for years and at least 40,000 miles ... must stop hubby going in supermarkets when away!!!

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

We store as little as possible, prefer going out to local shops every couple of days and buying fresh, and we are mostly on Aires not camp sites, for us any long term stuff is mainly tins.

I work to a similar system but for a different reason.
I have a small PVC with minimal storage space. I hate clutter around me and like the OP get uptight when I can't lay my hands on something I know I have - somewhere.
My solution is one, small, dedicated food storage area, a box that slides in and out of a floor level locker - that's it - when it's full that's as much food as I carry - and it's all in one place.
I quickly learnt to carry only things that I use/need.

Motorhome food storage has it's own version of Parkinson's Law - The larder expands so as to fill the space available for it's use.

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[Lot lover]

Top shelf of our tall cupboard next to wardrobe - opposite fridge, hob and m/wave (French van so no cooker or grill) - holds most of our non-fridged food using s/h sorbet tubs for rice, n types of pasta, oats etc., eggs in their carton, a few tins e.g. potatoes, sweetcorn.
Olive oil, soy sauce etc in a lower cupboard in a drawer with a shelf of pre-cut holes. This also holds overflow stock of "medicinal" whisky/brandy, red wine as there's space for only 3 bottles in central table leg.
Fridge as full as poss as is freezer compartment.
Box wine goes wherever there is space.
Drinking water can be a problem, we had no idea how much we would absorb when driving in hot weather. In cab we have a couple of TdeF type bidons with main stock in a jerry can in one of the outside lockers, this could hold 15 litres but usually carry far less.
Fruit and some veg lives in a basket on shower floor while we are travelling.
2016 is our first year as motorhomers so we are very much still learning. We try to carry enough stocks of fresh stuff for 3 days or so, a balance between not wanting to go shopping too often and not carrying unwanted stuff.
But we soon learned that the downside of having loads of cupboard space can be that you carry too much "stuff".

 

[Madcaravanner]

We tend to pack slightly differently to when we started preferring as much fresh food as possible including seeds pulses and pasta
So we keep some emergency supplies in tins in a low level cupboard
Flour etc is kept in clip lock boxes as we found that those take away boxes break after being opened a few times plus we do not use a take away anymore (I do a better Chinese meal and lower calorie)
So the largest container is flour I mean 200g of plain flour and 2 eggs equals pasta for two people and takes up around 75% less space than dried pasta

Plus we buy locally as much as possible only taking really unobtainable items with us (Bacon) so stocking the van soon to be motorhome is only done for three to four days max which means we have more payload for essentials (Cameras Drone batteries for all of them) and Steph's TV

 

[rb62]

One of the reasons SWMBO loves the pull out larder in our Pilote! only one item deep so she can see everything at a glance.(in winter mode at the moment)Likes it so much we're having one in our kitchen when it gets refitted in January!

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[Jac Sprat]

Thanks that is helpful.
I may need to sacrifice the under couch space to tubs and packets etc but the dog will have to be chucked off it every time as that's his bed haha

 

[Jac Sprat]

I have just moved our laundry bags to on top of the bunk beds to free up space in the shower.
It's true you need more as a vegan that you don't know if you will find ie nuts seeds and pulses . I tend to buy big bags of dry goods at markets which don't fit into plastic boxes too well .

 

[Stretto Boy]

We have plenty of different sizes of plastic storage boxes, which we get from the shop where everything is a £. Much easier to label than bags and more of a challenge for the mice if we are slow to move our food stocks out when the colder weather arrives around October.

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[Three Legs]

I'd like your advice!
I'm now cooking much more adventurously since starting travelling perhaps due to extra free time being retired (also being vegan means a lot more ingredients) and I find I need to carry a lot more products .
I'm getting fed up of losing things or not knowing where an item is.
I use double wrapped plastic bags as they snag on edges for groups of food products and these are stuffed two in each pull out long drawer and two or three in the high cupboards . These are grouped by :
Flours and grains
Nuts and dried fruits
Seeds and pulses
Pasta oats
You get the idea.
I thought bags were a good idea as things can be piled on top of things but I find I just lose them .
Veggies and fresh fruit are in the shower in a big bag in a wash basket
Cereals and biscuits etc are high up in cupboards
Tins and sauces vinegars etc are stacked around the bags in the pull out drawers.
Overflow stuff and extra supplies are also kept in a box in the garage.
Hubby suggests I keep lists of what's in each
Anyone got any good suggestions instead of just buying less food?

 

[Badknee]

Spice jars, sauce bottles, soya etc etc kept in empty ice cream tubs in cupboards.
Tins low down but we don't have many.
Lots in door pockets of fridge.

 

[rangi]

Shop fresh every day/2days , keep "iron Rations" Instant Noodles, tin Plum Toms and tin Chopped Toms, tin stewed Steak, Baked Beans for emergencies.

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[Just smiffy]

Look.... plenty of room for some chick peas....

 

[scotzsue]

When we take my boys we are catering for 2 vegans 1 galactosaemia and 2 carnivores. we have 2 shelves over the fridge freezer (we had the microwave removed as we rarely use the one at home) cut down milc containers are good, beg form dairy using friends and put them through a dishwasher. Depending on size you can get a couple of bags of dried stuff in. Have noticed over the last year that more non animal product foods are available, but if you think they can be expensive in the uk you might get a shock across the channel. I also store some fruit and veg in the shower when we travel. along with a 5L water. We have had the present van just under 2 years, still experimenting wth food storage.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

Don't forget the Frey Bentos pies, to put at the bottom, They should be alright for Vegans as there is no meat in them.

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[mercianman]

We have no need for storage as our kids are on a "seefood" diet.

 

[ABZSteve]

Look.... plenty of room for some chick peas....

View attachment 137874

Just enough for breakfast I see

 

[Reallyretired]

We take loads of food and the bits to go with it and usually bring most of it back. I was putting a few things in that SWMBO had bought for our trip next week to Spain/France. We have beef gravy, chicken gravy, pork gravy and two different sorts of lamb gravy also ketchup, HP sauce Worcester sauce, soy sauce, chilli sauce, just about every dried herb known to man. We're trying to find the sun so will be hopefully mainly eating salad and I rarely eat meat anyway apart from occasional chicken, and breakfast bacon of course.

I'm afraid if there is storage SWMBO will fill it. I absolutely refuse to allow anything except shower gel, shampoo and that stuff you spray the shower with, to be kept in the shower though. It drives me mad if I have to move anything in order to use something else.
I did manage to negotiate leaving the washing machine behind, replacing it with a cold box for beer etc. We can always stop on a site to do the washing.

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[sdc77]

We have a small cupboard with tins .. microwave rice .. noodles etc in..
Other than that we buy for a few days at a time.
We do have a couple of breakfast cerials that we like .. but they are in their boxes in another cupboard. Some stuff in the freezer and the fridge stays full ish.