The fridge is looking bleak, we are out of just about everything! Shopping day and food prep are top priorities! Together Jess and I created a list and drove to town. After a few hours and a couple of stores we gathered all the supplies we need for the upcoming week. Usually, we shop every 7-10 days based on our location. We are currently thirty-five miles from grocery stores, and re-supplying has been relatively easy.
This is not always our typical experience. Curiously some of the largest cities have been the hardest places to re-stock. In Denver, CO, Las Vegas, NV, and Tucson, AZ we often needed to visit four to five stores to locate the products we wanted to purchase. These areas have many grocery stores within a few miles of each other. The items they carry are tied so closely to the communities they serve it seems to create a specialized availability of products.
Smaller communities tend to have less stores and serve a broader clientele allowing for a broader base of items. This saves us time and money and makes it easier for us to keep our fridge full. Because we eat a plant based diet, we have learned to be flexible with our menu planning. I would describe it as, we make a list, buy what we can, and make do with what we find!
Organization
Organization and process provide the tools to turn an arduous task into a simple fun activity. In our restaurant days we served customer orders, while at the same time preparing lunch and dinner specials for service later. As our menu was vast and the amount of specials infinite, everyday was a new to do list. Staying ahead and well stocked was key to us delivering quality meals.
When I entered the restaurant at five in the morning there were a few things I did every day. First, I lit the grills and turned on the equipment. Next I started fifty pounds of potatoes cooking on the stove-top for home-fries and four sheet pans of bacon to be partially pre-cooked in the oven. Then hollandaise sauce and sausage gravy all in a half-hour. At five thirty I would start receiving customer orders and the day would begin in earnest.
The morning routine was specific and consistent from day to day, however everything after that was different. A new plan and work-flow was created everyday. The principles we used then we still use now. These simple steps helped us train new cooks how to run the kitchen like a pro and plan their day. These steps will also help you in your home or RV kitchen. Below is an easy to follow step by step list, which I explain in detail.
- Prepare the prep list.
- Ensure you have all necessary ingredients.
- Decide if any item is a priority.
- How will I manage the equipment I have?
- What tasks can be completed while waiting for other things to cook.
First- Prepare the Prep List
Planning the list is the first step and most important. What ingredients do I have? What do I want to make? Jess and I have some favorite foods which we make on a revolving basis. Because of our active schedule we like having a variety of salads available for quick lunches. Our favorites include potato salad, and bean salads that we make with different flavor profiles.
We also eat many vegetables which we include in most of our meals. Washing and cutting the vegetables all at once saves time and water. This is great when we are boondocking, the more water we save the longer we can boondock. Also having the vegetables pre-cut saves us time when we make meals. An example, think Subway how long would it take to get a sub if they had to cut every vegetable for every person.
We enjoy eating cereal for breakfast, and we prepare several different types of grains. Wheat berry is one of our favorites and it takes twenty-five minutes in the instant pot to cook. We eat it as hot or cold cereal and add lots of deliciousness to it. Bananas, fresh berries, dried coconut, chia seeds, flax seeds, almonds, cashews and various dried fruit if fresh is not available.
We enjoy a variety of dinners making the possibilities of prep day limitless. Today’s list is below.
- Cook homefries
- Cook cereal
- Cook black beans
- Cook garbanzo beans
- Cut onions
- Cut peppers
- Cut jalapeños
- Make potato salad
- Make Vegan tuna salad
- Make Coleslaw
Second- Ensure you Have all Necessary Ingredients
Do I have the ingredients I need to make the items on my list. Do they need to be cut or cooked in any way to make the finished product. Looking at today’s list I know I need to cook potatoes for home fries and potato salad. The first step in cooking the potatoes is peeling and washing them, then dicing and cooking. Prep will take me about fifteen minutes and cooking time about a half an hour.
The Vegan tuna salad requires cooked garbanzo beans, which will take twenty-five minutes in the instant pot, and diced celery. Making the finished product will take an additional thirty minutes. The remaining items on the list are simple and only need to be cut or cooked.
Third- Decide if any Item is a Priority
Third, does a particular item have a priority? In my restaurant scenario hollandaise sauce is a priority, because I wouldn’t want to disappoint customers and not have any when we opened. On today’s list cereal is a priority because I am hungry and it’s what’s for breakfast.
This prioritizing helps organize the order which it will be the most efficient to complete this week’s prep list. If I was making a cake, I would want to allow time for the cake to cool before frosting. The same is true for the vegan tuna salad and potato salad, I prefer the garbanzo beans and potatoes to be cool before adding the mayonnaise (Helman’s sells a delicious plant-based mayonnaise). Therefore, prioritizing cooking the beans and potatoes first to allow for cooling time is also a priority.
Fourth-How do I Manage my Equipment
Fourth, will specific utensils or cooking equipment be necessary for the food preparation? Today the instant pot will get a workout. I will be cooking black beans to use in quesadillas, burritos, and as a side dish. Dried wheat berries to enjoy as hot or cold cereal. Finally, garbanzo beans which will become the vegan “tuna” salad. These items will be cooked individually in our 3-quart insta pot.
We determined the cooking order today would be to cook cereal first, next I will cook the garbanzo beans so they can cool, and lastly the black beans. I could cook the potatoes in the instant pot as well, however it will be more efficient to boil potatoes simultaneously on the grill or stove top. Thus saving an hour of additional cooking time.
It’s also important to think through the cleaning and serving options. When we are boondocking water is a precious resource. I think through my plan and attempt to minimize water usage by utilizing mixing bowls for similar products. Vegan tuna salad and potato salad have similar ingredients and I often make one and the immediately make the next, then wash the bowl. Black beans make the most mess in the instant pot, if I can cook them last clean-up is easier
In addition, our instant pot seconds as a food warmer, if I was attending a campground chili event I would bring the chili in the instant pot. Therefore I would cook all the other items first and the chili last. Once the chili is done, I can use the warming feature of the instant pot to keep it warm until the event.
Finally- What Tasks can be Completed While Things Cook
Finally, what task can be done while waiting for others to cook? Today I have several vegetables to wash and dice. The vegetables can be prepared anyway you want. We like diced for our purposes, because we put them in a variety of meals. In the restaurant scenario we served homemade onion rings, because we only wanted the perfect outer rings to be used for onion rings, we were left with many smaller rings in the middle. We simply diced these onions and used them on the line.
Preparing food is about using the food when it’s at its best quality, as well as planning how to use every part of the food. A good example of this is broccoli, I make a fresh broccoli salad where I only use the florets. I use the stems in soups or in cooked meals like broccoli mac and cheese, which gives them a chance to soften up and taste delicious.
Today’s Plan
Today’s plan is simple. It should take about three hours to cut, cook, prepare and cool, including coffee and breakfast. The picnic tables at the park are a great place to “work”. Because I’m currently in a cast, sitting at the table is much easier than standing on one leg in the kitchen. Jess set me up with everything I needed. She started cereal in the instant pot while I peeled potatoes. As soon as the potatoes were peeled she started them cooking on the Coleman propane stove.
I moved on to cutting vegetables while I was enjoying my second cup of coffee. Celery for potato salad and vegan tuna salad. Then I moved on to diced onions, I typically fill two of the smaller containers which based on the size of the onions is usually 2-3 onions. While I was working outside Jess made the cole slaw in the RV. Cole slaw is primarily cabbage and it contains a lot of water, when we first mix it, there is too much volume to fit into our large containers. After sitting it begins to reduce in size and fits perfectly.
Next I diced the peppers and jalapeños, after I removed the seeds. One small container of each. Typically two large peppers fill the container, and eight to ten jalapeños. This amount will last us 5-7 days. Additionally, we buy other vegetables that we add to many meals as we cook them. As I was finishing up, Jess announced breakfast, which we enjoyed outside at the table. She had started the garbanzo beans before we ate and they were done by the end of our meal. After we ate, she started the black beans and made the vegan tuna salad.
The Finished Products
The finished products coleslaw, potato salad, vegan tuna salad, and black beans. In just a few hours we were done and had many nutritious and delicious meals for the next several days. As many of you know I am not a big recipe kind of person but I will do my best. Remember, the most important thing in cooking is to prepare food you enjoy with ingredients you love. I’m not a fan of raw onions and do not put them in any cold food, if you like them they could be added to all of these salads.
We make three different types coleslaw regular, dill, and cranberry nut. All three variations can be made plant-based by using the vegan mayonnaise.
Regular Coleslaw
- One bag pre-cut coleslaw mix
- 1 C mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp sugar or sweetener
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- Salt and Pepper to taste
The rule of thumb for Coleslaw dressing is equal parts vinegar to sweetener. Again adjust to your taste, mix all of the wet ingredients together before adding to shredded vegetables. It is easy to make adjustments to flavor before adding the vegetables. The shredded cabbage will release liquid over time adding more liquid to the mixture, so if it’s a little dry at first don’t fear it will balance out in a couple of hours.
Cranberry Nut Coleslaw
- One bag pre-cut coleslaw mix
- 1 C mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 1/3 C craisins
- 1/3 C chopped almond (or nuts of your choice)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Again, I mix all the wet ingredients first and adjust flavor, notice I did not add sweetener this is a personal choice. Crasins are packed with flavor and sugar. Then add the dry ingredients and mix well.
Dill Coleslaw
- One bag pre-cut Coleslaw mix
- 1 C mayonnaises
- 1/4 C dill juice from pickle jar in fridge
- 1 Tbsp dill weed (not the same as dill seed)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
One bag of standard pre-cut coleslaw yields approximately 4-6 individual servings. There is a plant-based fish product we eat occasionally and love the dill coleslaw with it.
Plant-based Potato Salad
- 4 C cooked potatoes
- 1 C mayonnaise
- 1 Tsp celery salt
- Salt and Pepper to taste (remember celery salt is salt based)
This volume will provide 4-6 individual servings. The restaurant standards allow a seven day shelf life with proper cooling and holding temperatures. We prefer less and try to eat within five days.
Vegan Tuna Salad
- 1 C dried garbanzo beans cooked (We use our instant pot, with 2 1/2 C water, 25 minutes, slow release)
- 1 C mayonnaise
- 1 C diced celery
- 1 Tsp celery salt
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Allow the garbanzo beans to cool and smash with a rolling pin or chop in a food processor. Do not finely mash, leave a variety of chunks. This variation of texture helps the end product feel like you’re eating tuna salad. Once mashed mix all ingredients together. Amazingly, this salad has no reason to taste like tuna salad but it does. The celery salt, pepper and texture do the trick.
Cereal
We make many types of grains for cereal. Barley and wheat berries are our favorite. Wheat berries contain more protein than most other grains and are delicious.
- 1 1/2 C wheat berries (we purchase from Natural Grocer)
- 3 3/4 C water
Cook in the instant pot for 25 minutes with slow release. This amount yields six individual servings. We add lots of goodies, fruit, nuts, and almond milk. We enjoy hot or cold.
Black Beans
Black beans are a staple, we use them in many ways. Mexican food is one of our favorites and would eat it every day. Of course we do not, but it would be fine by me.
- 1 C dry black beans
- 2 1/2 C water
- 1/2 C diced onions
- 1/2 C diced peppers
- 1/2 C diced jalapeños
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- 1 Tsp onion powder
- 1 Tsp garlic powder
- Few dashes hot sauce of your choice
- Salt and Pepper
We cook for 25 minutes in the insta pot, with slow release setting. The yield of this batch is 6-8 servings based on how we are using the finished product. Burritos hold a little more than quesadillas, we often add any extra beans to nachos or taco salad.
A Happy Refrigerator
A well-stocked refrigerator at the end of a few hours is the reward of prep day. We eat the majority of our meals at home and rarely go out to eat. Eating out is difficult when you choose to eat a plant-based diet and sometimes impossible. There are only a few restaurants who offer vegetarian options beyond a salad and even fewer who offer plant-based options.
We are thankful we have the knowledge and ability to turn quality ingredients into healthy meals. Planning and organization, are key to simple and efficient food prep. Follow a few simple steps, make whatever food your family likes, and enjoy the “fruits of your labor” until it’s time to do it all over again. If you are interested in a video about this topic see our food prep video. Live Simple Live Happy.
