Special Edition: Consumables.

OK, maybe you’re curious (then again, maybe you’re not) what I eat (and drink) when I’m on these photo excursions and living out of a campervan.  Basically, I try to follow a few simple rules.

DIY (Do It Yourself).  I don’t think I have ever eaten at a restaurant or gotten take-out while renting a campervan.  Not only do I like the challenge of preparing my own food on such trips, but I’m cheap!  Plus going to a restaurant takes extra time that I usual don’t have (take out might be OK if it’s the right food, like wings!)

Keep it simple & buy minimal.  While I like to cook, I don’t want to do anything too fancy considering the cookware, utensils, spices, etc. may be limited, and I don’t have lot of time.  But I do like have a decent dinner with some kind of protein and vegetable.  Breakfast and lunch tend to be much simpler since I am on the go and may not have a lot of time to prepare something.  In the past (not this trip), this may even mean a snack or trail bar.  Bottom line you need to be careful not to buy too much while at the same time stopping at the grocery every day (which may not even be close by).  Despite this, I usually end up throwing some things away or leaving for the next renter (if non-perishable).

Sometimes there are things left by previous renters, like this can Nalley Original Chili.  Of course some of it may not be worth eating, but canned items are generally safe (though I always check the date)

Minimize refrigerables.  While I have always had an electric “refrigerator”, they are essentially just a small cooler, so space is limited.  Thus, I try to use it only for what I would consider essentials, like meat (especially brats and sausage), veggies, cheese, eggs, and leftovers (if I have any).  Speaking of eggs, usually I get fresh eggs and hard boil several.  But on this trip I found at Safeway (the big food chain out here) packages of 6 pre-hard boiled eggs (yes, I know that’s redundant), so I got these this time.

Be flexible & creative.  Again, because I may not have everything I might need to cook a certain dish, I might have to get a little creative with ingredients.  It doesn’t always work, but once in a while a “miracle” occurs.  In the end, it’s (usually) edible and nourishing.

Brats with cooked mini-carrots and sauteed mushrooms

Pan-fried rockfish with caramalized carrot and onion slivers and a side of butter braised mini-portabellas topped with white cheddar cheese...on a plastic plate!  The rockfish, which is local, was excellent...I actually did it twice.

Peanut Butter.  Need I say anything more?

Don’t be afraid of the Dollar Store.  Sometimes you can find a lot of what you need at the various dollar stores, such as canned food, Spam (yes, I like Spam), condiments, spices, water, snacks (see below) and even eggs.  It's also a good place for things like paper towels, storage bags and other non-food items I might need.  But, you need to be careful.  Sometimes you get what you pay for!!

Snacks.  Hey, this is a road trip, dude!  You gotta have snacks!  My “go to’s” are nuts, beef sticks, and pork rinds (or better yet, pork cracklins).

Tillamook, in my expert opinion, makes some of the best commercial meat sticks you can buy at a gas station.  These are the ones in the yellow box where you use tongs to get the beef sticks out (though now they are all individually packaged, likely due to COVID).  These are made in Oregon (in Tillamook of course), and I actually drove by the factory.  Alas, the outlet store was closed.😢

Beer.  Are you blind?  Those of you who know me know that I love craft beer, especially IPAs, and I like to try the local brews to the extent they are available.  After a long day hiking, driving  and taking pictures, a cold IPA is amazing!  And a beer is great when cooking.  

A beer while working on the blog post!

At the Yachats Brewing Company.  Virtually every town and city along the coast has a brewery.  This is the only one (regrettably) that I had some extra time to visit.  The Pacific Northwest, and Oregon in particular, is known for its craft beer.  Everything I tried was excellent!