Easy food ideas to stop expensive meals out (1 Viewer)

[Diane1969]

Morning,
I cook all our food from fresh ingredients at home during the week which is time consuming and we normally end up eating out or takeaways at the weekends, as I can't be bothered to cook, ( lazy I know ) anyway the thing is having spent all our money on our van we need to keep the cost down whilst being away and not eat out all the time which is what we normally do whilst away, which ends up really expensive! we want to enjoy the van and not worry about the added cost.
So I'm wondering if any of you lovely people have some easy, tasty meal ideas?
We have an oven, hob and microwave So even if it's a really good quality ready meal I would be grateful .
I have searched the forum for this type of thread but didn't find one so sorry if this has already been covered before

 

[Diane1969]

Good job you never had friends round then.

We do a lot costs an absolute fortune

 

[Diane1969]

That's shocking!!!!!!!!!

(who let a girl near the barbecue...)

As said before double up ideas are great. You already sound like a great cook, can you just simplify some of the stages in recipes you like. I batch freeze cubes of things like fresh blitzed root ginger and chillies, for stir frys curries etc (buy chopped stir fry veg bags, chopped chicken, add some cashews) take the easy squeeze tubes of garlic etc. Saves washing up.
Ready make thai curry sauce mix with can of coconut milk. Microwave rice. Frozen coriander and parsley which I buy in big bunches from the local farm shop, much cheaper than supermarket just empty the bag. I use microwave steam bags to cook fresh veg and salmon steaks, saves washing up. Cheaper cuts of meat in slow cooker.
Take at least a couple place settings of nice plates and glasses, when you are out for the day set yourselves a challenge of finding something simple and inexpensive to bring back for your evening meal, have some spices /rubs with you. I always take a few onions and lemons / limes. I have recipe photo's on my ipad and a little book with favourite recipes in too.

Great advice thanks

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Diane1969]

Assuming we are not talking about weekends and short trips then going shopping is all part of the trip for us! Even a visit to Lidls can have its high points when you find if there is something on special offer or just seeing what vegetables are in season.

I can see the benefit of taking two weeks worth of prepared meals if you are going somewhere remote with no shops but otherwise how boring! Every meal just something defrosted and warmed up. Shopping local and preparing something different is half the fun for us, especially in France and Spain.

What we don't take these days, although we did at first, are cookery books. Now we just search on line although we do have a small folder of printed out favourite recipes.

Sadly we will mainly be weekends as still working, hope to do France next year and have already said we would probably shop daily for fresh produce

 

[DanielFord]

Sadly we will mainly be weekends as still working, hope to do France next year and have already said we would probably shop daily for fresh produce

Most of our trips are weekend outings, stocking up the fridge is part of the fun. There is a little cook book we bought a few years ago, I think it is called "100 one pot recipes" brilliant for the van!

 

[parknride]

As others, when making lasagnes, chilli, etc always double up and freeze in takeaway tubs to fit in freezer. Packets of Ainsley Herriots cous cous very handy.
Take George foreman and extension cable to use at table outside, easier & cleaner than BBQ & great for salmon steaks (any fish chicken or meat) + bowl of salad + cous cous or griddled peppers and onions. Keep it simples.
Do not forget the all important bottle or two of wine

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Diane1969]

As others, when making lasagnes, chilli, etc always double up and freeze in takeaway tubs to fit in freezer. Packets of Ainsley Herriots cous cous very handy.
Take George foreman and extension cable to use at table outside, easier & cleaner than BBQ & great for salmon steaks (any fish chicken or meat) + bowl of salad + cous cous or griddled peppers and onions. Keep it simples.
Do not forget the all important bottle or two of wine

No worries there the wines already in the van along with the beers

 

[Daveo2006]

Corned beef hash

One of my favourites

 

[Daveo2006]

We have written up a menu for the next week away in the lakes as i don't think there is a shop local to Coniston (maybe someone knows of one ) without walking up the main road with the dogs as very narrow. So we just take all ingredients and cook in the motorhome just as we would at home. We are going on somewhere else (not decided yet ) for another week so will write up another menu and stop off at a supermarket enroute.Sometimes we do take stuff cooked at home and reheat. I think a fish and chip van comes to Coniston so will probably cancel out one meal

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[grumps147]

We try to avoid anything that has to boil for a long period giving off lots of steam. Your microwave as has been said is ideal for jacket potatoes and those rice packets. We use the fresher supermarket pasta you get in the chiller cabinets, only takes two minutes in boiling water, but we boil kettle, put this and water in a lidded pan and leave it. A quick warm through gets it hot when ready to dish out. This time of year for lunch we will take pre prepared pea and ham soup. As has been said many times above, pre prepared stew, bolognese, casseroles, curries and chillies. It's uprising how many weekends you can get in without repeating meals.

 

[Bluemooner]

Pot Noodle butties thats what you need and even i can cook them

 

[Stealaway]

THREE TIN STEW ------- Always a great fall back.

1 tin stewing steak.
1 tin small potatoes - drained
1 tin mixed vegetables - mostly drained
1 oxo cube - (optional)

Place them all in one pan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring occasionally ---------- Why am I telling you this????
Serve with a baguette or any fresh crusty bread.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[sdc77]

We don't have a microwave or need one but we do have microwave rice which cooks easily in the double skillet. We do use the vans oven and only carry a double skillet and non stick milk pan for most of our cooking. We also have a Mr d's cooker which we almost always use when travelling late. We eat a lot of chicken dishes, local pies (double skillet) and plenty of other meat. We use any old recipes we find online tbh.

 

[Deleted34567]

enjoying this topic.
Some nice ideas popping up.

 

[ojibway]

Like many continental vans, ours only has a stove and a two-burner at that. No oven, no microwave. But we rarely eat out.
Annie likes cooking (so long as she has a glass wine!) and makes a variety of one-pot rice meals but we also have a whole range of foods using fresh produce. If the weather is good we often partly cook outdoors with a little suitcase stove (we also have a Cadac but don't often use it) especially things that leave a lot of cooking smells like onions, fish, steak. Baked potatoes can be done in a double skillet. Pasta can be cooked first, then cook the sauce then add the pasta back to reheat it and serve. All done in one pot! We've even done raclette on one burner having made small baked potatoes (Charlottes) first.
My favourite restaurant?
Chez Annie!
Mike and Annie

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[lorger]

Pot noodles really easy and won't bite into your payload.

We eat freshly prepared food about 99% of the time at home and do the same in the van, we tend to make it simple like stir fry and rice or noodles. Lorraine will normally cut/slice/dice the chicken,beef or what ever we're having the night before to save work in the van.

She will also make homemade soup and stews then freeze them to take away. Or like Chris we will BBQ at every opportunity.

 

[Chockswahay]

I also bake all our bread at home.. that's the only thing I haven't tried in the van, simply because we don't have an oven..it's also a bit messy..

Shame on you Jim............... I showed you the way ................

 

[Chockswahay]

We too rarely eat out (very rarely)

We eat and cook in the van exactly as we would at home but without an electric fan oven. Gas hob, no EHU, just yummy food

We make our own bread too I have said before, it is amazing what can be done with an Omnia (and a Double Skillet if you must)

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Puddleduck]

And for a night off (most of) the cooking our local Lidl has jars of Beef Casserole and Coq au Vin in at the moment and they are very nice..... you just need to heat them and serve.

 

[Jac Sprat]

What double skillets do you recommend?not quite sure what one is - or a Remoska. Please enlighten me!

 

[pappajohn]

I like my meat but that is an unbelievable amount of meat for two!

Agreed......known as "eyes bigger than belly"

2 burgers, 4 chicken portions, 4 kebabs and half whats in the pan....EACH......
50% more than you can eat but your eyes tell you its the correct amount.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[rangi]

500gms Mushrooms
Tagatelle to suit
White wine about 200mls or so

As you must have guessed by now the Size is up to you!

Fry the Mushies When just "it" pour in 200ml white wine
Mean while boil up the Tagiatelli, Wait till the Wine has been reduced by 2/3s
Drain Pasta, Toss in the Mushies and wine sauce, sprinkle with Parasan cheese. Eat with a crusty Bread Roll/bagette/ green salad W H Y

M/H life with just a two burner hob is not just Takeaways, beans on toast! There are hundreds of recipes that can be knocked up in minutes just using a 2 burner hob, I have posted on here several recipes 1/2hour from start to finish 2 pan max, several Just 1 pan meals , so has @JollyRoger
I recently did a Califlower one at home, easy peesy On a 2 burner hob and veggie too.
An oven in a motorhome, to my mind is just a waste of space, if you cant do without your "sunday roast" when travelling, well!??????

 

[Puddleduck]

A few ideas here as well

Broken Link Removed

 

[pappajohn]

Pot Noodle butties thats what you need and even i can cook them

Lunch break food.
My workmates always took the p/ss when i produced the pot noodle and a couple of bread rolls.....they had never tried them.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[parknride]

We import large tins of good cassoulet on our way back from France. Always have at least one in the van. Vac packed Par baked bread rolls from aldi/lidl take 2 mins to heat up in oven lovely and crispy 5 minute dinner. My gas oven is rubbish in the van. We carry an electric one with a hotplate top.

 

[Chris]

2 slices of bread
1 tin of baked beans

Take 2 slices of bread and lightly toast.

Meanwhile gently cook the beans at a low heat.

Once the toast pops, crank the heat up under the beans.

While all that is going on spread the toast lightly with butter or margarine and place flat on a dinner plate.

Gently pour the hot beans over the toast.

Dust with ground white pepper and enjoy.

One of my specialities

 

[DBK]

What double skillets do you recommend?not quite sure what one is - or a Remoska. Please enlighten me!

A remorska is a sort of slow cooking frying pan come sauce pan. Can't really describe it as I've never used one but those that do like them very much. http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/cheap-ish-remorska-with-free-delivery-from-cz.108226/

A double skillet is another oddity with a large fan club. It can be used to cook things you might otherwise use an oven for. There have been supply problems but I think that has been sorted now. http://www.doubleskillet.com

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DBK]

2 slices of bread
1 tin of baked beans

Take 2 slices of bread and lightly toast.

Meanwhile gently cook the beans at a low heat.

Once the toast pops, crank the heat up under the beans.

While all that is going on spread the toast lightly with butter or margarine and place flat on a dinner plate.

Gently pour the hot beans over the toast.

Dust with ground white pepper and enjoy.

One of my specialities

Food porn, but it really needs to be read out slowly by Joanna Lumley.

 

[rangi]

2 slices of bread
1 tin of baked beans

Take 2 slices of bread and lightly toast.

Meanwhile gently cook the beans at a low heat.

Once the toast pops, crank the heat up under the beans.

While all that is going on spread the toast lightly with butter or margarine and place flat on a dinner plate.

Gently pour the hot beans over the toast.

Dust with ground white pepper and enjoy.

One of my specialities

Welsh Heretic I thought at least you would have had bloody seaweed in there!
OR!
Eeerrmm English Referee parboiled?
OR!
Lucky bounce upside down English heavy cake!?
OR!
Summin from a Somerset Area Pummeled to a juice then wrapt in a RED shirt and buried till Feb. Then served up in a thin WHITE sauce while a Choir sings Bread of heaven at twikkers?

 

[Diane1969]

Agreed......known as "eyes bigger than belly"

2 burgers, 4 chicken portions, 4 kebabs and half whats in the pan....EACH......
50% more than you can eat but your eyes tell you its the correct amount.

It's never all eaten although he does a pretty good job of trying , he just has to have variety , quite a bit of that will go on a plate in fridge before being thrown away ! I hAve started to put my foot down and only allow 2 choices but he's not happy about it

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[sedge]

THREE TIN STEW ------- Always a great fall back.

1 tin stewing steak.
1 tin small potatoes - drained
1 tin mixed vegetables - mostly drained
1 oxo cube - (optional)

Place them all in one pan and slowly bring to the boil, stirring occasionally ---------- Why am I telling you this????
Serve with a baguette or any fresh crusty bread.

ROFLMAO - that has a totally different name in the Chapman family! - "Lazy Tart's Tea" - and has been carried in every caravan motorhome and with every tent, that the Chapman's have ever holidayed in. Except it's usually a tin of carrots!

If you have those tins at the back of the cupboard (in your house as well as your mobile abode) you will never starve, will you?

We just have the same meals as at home - I don't mean if it's Wednesday it's liver - just we have whatever we have, usually cooked from scratch from whatever one purchased at the last food shop, whatever country that was in.

But I do take frozen chilli con carne with us if going for more than a weekend - I line ice cream tubs I've kept for this purpose with clingfilm, chuck the chilli in, freeze it then take the whole thing out of the tub and wrap it closely. Nice flat blocks that fit in the freezer (in the van or house) a treat!

OK so you have to reheat it in the frying pan as none of your saucepans will be big enough - but so what! And just cook a cupful of rice same as you do at home anyway.