One of the questions I get asked a lot is “What do you guys eat when you are living in an RV”? The funny thing is we eat pretty much the same things we ate when we lived in a house. Our RV has a convection oven/microwave unit and we have a gas range. That is pretty much all I need to make our food. Yes I miss our large stove from back home but I was never that big of a cook to begin with!
When we lived in our house I would grocery shop once every 2 weeks – with all 4 kids – with a cart that was over flowing by the time we were done – I never understood why the carts weren’t bigger?? Don’t they want you to buy more?? I was lucky if everything that I had put in the cart made it to the check out line!
Now I shop once a week. Since there is NO WAY that groceries for 2 weeks would fit in the RV – however I am determined to challenge that and see if we can change that down the road. But in the meantime we have to hit up the grocery store once a week.
I usually take all 4 kids with me. Yes you read that right I take all 4 kid under the age of 8 with me to the grocery store. I do this for a couple of reasons. 1 – it is good for them to learn about their food and where it comes from and 2 – I don’t want to waste the time we have all together when Craig is home on grocery shopping and I DEFINITELY do not want to waste any of my time away from the kids on grocery shopping! When I have time for myself I want to read a book or get a pedicure or something along those lines!
Here is how grocery shopping works with 4 kids:
1 – We get to the store and everyone has to argue over who is going to sit where in the cart. Ok 5 minutes later everyone is situated in their spot – and then 5 minutes after that everyone is out of the cart . . .Knox and I have the conversation every time before we go into the store about how he isn’t going to run away from the cart. Because if he does then he has to get buckled in. He looks at me with his big eyes and says “Mommy I walk next to the cart not run.” He is getting better. . . sometimes.
2 – I hear the following phrases multiple times throughout the store: Wow you have your hands full! You have lot’s of helpers! Are they all yours?!!
3 – Usually only a few pieces of produce are thrown around or end up on the floor by the time we leave the produce center . . . Knox stop putting that in your mouth . . .
4 – We then hit the diaper and toilet paper aisle. And they are off! They are either trying to see who can climb to the highest on the toilet paper piles or trying to hide behind it on the shelf. I just keep walking and they normally catch up – and usually pick up any mess they made or else I have to go back and put the tp and paper towel back where it belongs.
5 – The candy aisle – they all get to pick out their own bag of candy – off of the cheap candy wall (the non-brand name). Carson usually knows what he wants right away, Knox – I can usually point him in the right direction – no buddy you aren’t going to like the circus peanuts (whatever those orange peanut things are), Melia is hit or miss – sometimes she knows what she wants other times she needs help, then Cannon never knows what he wants – Carson what are you getting? Ok I will get that too, wait maybe not. Cue Carson – Cannon here get this (the candy he really likes . . .), after doing this for a while Cannon finally decides and then we have to go pay for their candy – so they can do the checkout themselves. So we go to the self checkout line and everyone scans theirs and puts it in a bag and we pay for it so they can eat it now.
6 – FAST mode – everyone has candy – they are happy – Knox is in the cart – ok go as fast as I can to get as much done as I can before they finish – and GO!!
7 – I get asked about 10 times are we done yet – not yet – and NO Mommy doesn’t want to be here either . . . I am trying to hurry.
8 – We make it to the frozen area and everyone starts eating the ice out of the ice chests with the frozen food in them. Is this gross – YES it is gross – does it keep them happy – Yes so I am ok with it. Germs build up your immune system right?!
9 – Carson go get Knox, Melia go get Knox, Cannon go get Knox, Keep your hands to yourself, I can’t see you, everyone come by the cart, can you pick up that box that fell out of the cart . . .
10 – Ok we are done! Oh crap I forgot to get something on the other end of the store – everyone let’s go! I am going to go fast! Keep up!!
11 – Ok really we are done now let’s go check out – Are you F’n kidding me!! All the lines are 2 or more carts deep. Stay in your seat, stop grabbing all the candy, no we aren’t going to get anymore candy – remember you already got some, where did you find that ball? Ok let’s play catch, look out for everyone else, ok almost our turn . . . FINALLY
12 – Paper or plastic – whatever is faster – I just need to get out of here!
13 – Don’t run out the door it is a parking lot! Ok everyone in the car! Hmm . . . where are the groceries going to go I have 5 bags in here with ipads, clothes, blankets, water bottles, etc and the stroller in the back . . . pile it in! Don’t anyone move or all the groceries will fall out!
14 – Finally done! Wait no I’m not! I have to put it all away when I get home – and that involves Tetris level skills.
Oh I love grocery shopping . . . But honestly the kids really do an amazing job at the store! They are very helpful and entertaining while we are shopping. If I ever do go by myself it just seems boring compared to what I am use to!
Now that I have the food what am I going to do with it? Here is an example of our meal plan for this week:
Thursday
Dinner: Out at Peanut Butter and Jam Concert (either Pizza or Noodles)
Friday:
Our Breakfast: Cereal (From Forks over Knives – Oats, Shredded Wheat Cereal, Uncle Sam’s Cereal, Grape Nuts, Ground Flax Seed, Raisins, and Almond Milk)
Coffee – Cameron’s Organic with Coconut Milk creamer or organic Hazelnut milk creamer
Kids: Organic Cereal – Cascadian Farm and/or Fruit
Our Lunch: Smoothie (Kale, Almond Milk, Chai Seeds, Coconut Oil, Almond Butter, and a Banana) and a Salad (Organic mixed greens, cucumber, sesame seeds, almonds, homemade salad dressing. Craig also has an Organic/Vegetarian/Gluten Free frozen burrito and I sometimes have this instead of the smoothie and salad.
Kids: Organic Hot Dogs and Apples
Snack: Bunny Crackers and fruit
Dinner:
Our Dinner: Gluten Free Pasta with broccoli (usually frozen that I steam in the microwave) with seasoning and/or pasta sauce
Kids: Pasta with shredded organic cheese, cantaloupe, cooked carrots
Saturday:
Breakfast: Make Pancakes from scratch with Pure Maple Syrup and fruit and scrambled eggs
Our Lunch: Smoothie (Kale, Almond Milk, Chai Seeds, Coconut Oil, Almond Butter, and a Banana) and a Salad (Organic mixed greens, cucumber, sesame seeds, almonds, homemade salad dressing. Craig also has an Organic/Vegetarian/Gluten Free frozen burrito and I sometimes have this instead of the smoothie and salad.
Kids: Peanut Butter and Jelly, Apples, Yogurt
Snack and Dinner: Out at the Renaissance Faire
Sunday:
Breakfast: Donuts with Cindy Bear!
Our Lunch: Smoothie (Kale, Almond Milk, Chai Seeds, Coconut Oil, Almond Butter, and a Banana) and a Salad (Organic mixed greens, cucumber, sesame seeds, almonds, homemade salad dressing. Craig also has an Organic/Vegetarian/Gluten Free frozen burrito and I sometimes have this instead of the smoothie and salad.
Kids: Cashews, Yogurt, Cantaloupe, Strawberries
Snack: Veggie Straws
Dinner:
Our Dinner: ToFurkey Hot Dogs (Vegetarian hot dogs) Stir Fried with Peppers and Mushrooms.
Kids: Chicken Nuggets, Fruit (oranges, blueberries, strawberries), Peas
Monday:
Breakfast:
Our Breakfast: Cereal (From Forks over Knives – Oats, Shredded Wheat Cereal, Uncle Sam’s Cereal, Grape Nuts, Ground Flax Seed, Raisins, and Almond Milk)
Coffee – Cameron’s Organic with Coconut Milk creamer or organic Hazelnut milk creamer
Kids: Organic Cereal – Cascadian Farm and/or Fruit
Our Lunch: Smoothie (Kale, Almond Milk, Chai Seeds, Coconut Oil, Almond Butter, and a Banana) and a Salad (Organic mixed greens, cucumber, sesame seeds, almonds, homemade salad dressing. Craig also has an Organic/Vegetarian/Gluten Free frozen burrito and I sometimes have this instead of the smoothie and salad.
Kids: Organic Mac and Cheese and Apples
Snack: Yogurt
Dinner (same as night before – we make enough for 2 nights):
Our Dinner: ToFurkey Hot Dogs (Vegetarian hot dogs) Stir Fried with Peppers and Mushrooms and steamed rice.
Kids: Chicken Nuggets, Fruit (oranges, blueberries, strawberries), Peas
Tuesday:
Breakfast:
Our Breakfast: Cereal (From Forks over Knives – Oats, Shredded Wheat Cereal, Uncle Sam’s Cereal, Grape Nuts, Ground Flax Seed, Raisins, and Almond Milk)
Coffee – Cameron’s Organic with Coconut Milk creamer or organic Hazelnut milk creamer
Kids: Organic Cereal – Cascadian Farm and/or Fruit
Our Lunch: Go out to lunch (usually noodles for mac and cheese)
Snack: Yogurt and chips or bunny crackers
Dinner
Gluten Free Pasta with broccoli (usually frozen that I steam in the microwave) with seasoning and/or pasta sauce
Kids: Pasta with shredded organic cheese, cantaloupe, cooked carrots
Wednesday:
Our Breakfast: Cereal (From Forks over Knives – Oats, Shredded Wheat Cereal, Uncle Sam’s Cereal, Grape Nuts, Ground Flax Seed, Raisins, and Almond Milk)
Coffee – Cameron’s Organic with Coconut Milk creamer or organic Hazelnut milk creamer
Kids: Organic Cereal – Cascadian Farm and/or Fruit
Our Lunch: Smoothie (Kale, Almond Milk, Chai Seeds, Coconut Oil, Almond Butter, and a Banana) and a Salad (Organic mixed greens, cucumber, sesame seeds, slivered almonds, homemade salad dressing. Craig also has an Organic/Vegetarian/Gluten Free frozen burrito and I sometimes have this instead of the smoothie and salad.
Kids: Lunch with my parents
Snack: Yogurt and chips or bunny crackers
Dinner
Everyone: Frozen Cheese Pizza
Thursday:
Grocery Shopping day so I have breakfast and lunch but dinner will be part of next weeks menu.
Our Breakfast: Cereal (From Forks over Knives – Oats, Shredded Wheat Cereal, Uncle Sam’s Cereal, Grape Nuts, Ground Flax Seed, Raisins, and Almond Milk)
Coffee – Cameron’s Organic with Coconut Milk creamer or organic Hazelnut milk creamer
Kids: Organic Cereal – Cascadian Farm and/or Fruit
Our Lunch: Smoothie (Kale, Almond Milk, Chai Seeds, Coconut Oil, Almond Butter, and a Banana) and a Salad (Organic mixed greens, cucumber, sesame seeds, almonds, homemade salad dressing. Craig also has an Organic/Vegetarian/Gluten Free frozen burrito and I sometimes have this instead of the smoothie and salad.
Kids: Organic Hot Dogs and Apples
This bill was just under $240. Which I am OK with. My goal is to get it at $200 per week!
On another note my husband and I are Vegetarian’s so we don’t get a lot of meat.
My top 5 tips for meal planning and grocery shopping for your family:
1 – Whenever you are making dinner make sure to make enough for the following night – that way you only have to cook every other night! If you add in going out to dinner once a week that means you are only cooking dinner 3 times for the whole week!
2 – Pick staple foods and then make small adjustments. For Craig and I is usually either Rice or Noodles and then a vegetable and some seasoning or sauce – pretty simple yet healthy and still has a variety of flavor options!
3 – Don’t purchase off of what is on sale – but be really happy when the things you normally buy are on sale! I think sale items lead to too many impulse buys!
4 – Stick to your meal plan as much as possible! And if for some reason something comes up and you eat out or somewhere else – just remember to bump the meal for that night over to the next week – so you aren’t wasting your food and it helps save money on the next trip!
5 – Allow yourself one or two impulse buys – but try not to do more then that! It adds up fast!!
6 – Try to shop mainly in the outside aisles of the store (produce, refrigerated, bread,etc) because as soon as you hit the inside aisle you are going to be getting into a lot of the processed, expensive, and impulse buying foods!
And then we have candy and usually stop to get ice cream multiple times a week and will potentially make another stop to get candy. My kids love sweets!
So that is what we eat in our RV! Not a lot of campfire food – just too much work at this point! It is all about keeping it easy, simple, and as healthy as we can!
She loves being outside and exploring new places which is all made better when doing it with family and friends!
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I’m am SO happy I found your blog & this post. It is exactly what I needed to read. Am yearning to take my family (me, toddler son, 2 cats & 3 dogs) on the road but have a hard time managing meals at home (vegan) & wondered how the heck I’m going to do it on the road. Thank you for this!! Will be perusing your site for further inspiration. 😊🌻
It is totally possible! An RV is like an apartment on wheels. We have friends who are Vegan and have been living in their 5th wheel for over 2 years!
Hi Bryanna! Thanks for your reply. 🙂 Do you have any posts about what it’s like travelling with your dogs. For example, do you have any difficulty finding time for their exercise or offleash outings? Or trouble finding places that let you stay with dogs? What about their food (is it a challenge finding it in new towns or do you feed them what you eat)? I would love any insight you have. Two of my dogs are older & slower but one is only 5. Do you come across others with their dogs? What about cats? Anyway, if you have any posts regarding the pets, I’d love to read them. Your blog has been SO helpful & inspiring about travelling with kids & being on the road. Thanks so much!
I don’t have any posts on traveling with pets yet. There are dog parks all over the place so finding one of those is usually pretty easy. A lot of the RV parks have a small dog park area too. Having labs we haven’t had many issues with finding places that allow dogs. I think there is been about a handful of times we weren’t able to go to an RV park/Campground because no dogs were allowed. We have had to pay extra for them a few times but normally only a $1 a day per dog. When we decided to go full time we switched them over to Pedigree – a brand we knew we could find at Walmart and most places. I would have rather kept going with the more natural food from our local pet store – but that would have been close to impossible with the traveling – especially since we move so often (every week or 2). Lots of people – especially retired couples have dogs or cats. So we see a lot of them at the RV parks/campgrounds. My sister was traveling with 4 kids – now they have 2. My Mom and Dad travel with 1 dog and 2 cats. I wrote this guest post about traveling with dogs if you want to check it out: http://www.ytravelblog.com/traveling-with-dogs/ Let me know if you have any other questions. Glad the blog has been helpful!