Completely cupboard stored meal ideas

[nickthefox]

I want to try and go a week or so without using the fridge or freezer and try out what it would be like if we lost power for so long.

does anyone have any ideas?

Do you mean you use a camping stove or similar or will all your meals be cold?

How are you going to cook?

What about corned beef hash with tinned potatoes and baked beans

I was thinking of a trial before going camping with our small bucket bbq and a kelly kettle?

beans and toast, but the bread is a problem!
Soup and bread again.
jacket potatoes could be on the fire for an hour?

We don't have a car atm so once we get to destination we would be stuck with what we brought for the week.

It might be a good exercise to see just how much we rely on daily conveniences. We live a 5 min walk from 3 supermarkets and a 10 min walk from another so don't ever have to go without.

I can't imagine going camping and taking enough food for a week plus all the gear without a car. Is there a shop near your campsite? Are you being supplied with tent/sleeping bags/ towels etc?

Crackers instead of bread. Fruit will last for a few days so eat it at the beginning of your trip.
Primula spread, eggs, pepperamis and smoked pork sausage do not need to be refrigerated. Corned beef and ham are available tinned.
Juice boxes, cereal bars, UHT milk, tea bags.
Pot noodle, smash, instant soup, couscous.
Tinned or pouch meals will be difficult to barbecue: are you planning to leave the grille off and use the coals to cook on? If so tinned stew, beans, chilli, curry etc.

It's a lot of planning & carrying stuff... but there are some great tinned "meals" available that can be subsidised with pasta, couscous and tinned veg.
I would however worry about the salt content of some of the tinned stuff if eating exclusively.

The idea is to get taxi with gear, and stay put for the week.

I like watching the videos of the men going to build their little shelters and cooking on ipen fire with pot hanging down, making stews and broths etc but you need to start somewhere with children

Potato sachet things & veggie sausages & beans
spaghetti with stired through sauce
faihitas/premade chilli & taco shells
its quite difficult to think of only store cupboard meals..
one of those spice packs where you add vegetables/tofu to make a curry & microwave rice warmed up in a frying pan
fried eggs soffrito sauce & rice (Arborio type)

One of my standby meals is wholemeal pasta with a sauce made of tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, bottled capers and chorizo (which keeps in the cupboard for at least three months).

Get Jack Monroe's Tin Can Cook. Or look on her website. All shelf stable recipes. And cheap. Regardless of what you think of her, these are good recipes

Packet cous cous, just add boiling water, add tinned tuna and sweetcorn. Could also add tomatoes, red onion and peppers which should last a while without being refrigerated.

Curry:
Tin or jar of curry sauce.
Tin carrots
Tin peas
Tin of beans. ( Kidney, chickpeas)
Tinned potatoes.

For four you would need two tins of curry or a jar.

For lightness cous cous is great.

Dried fruit is good as you only need 30g per serving. Goes in porridge cous cous, curry, on breakfast etc.

Tinned chicken in white sauce with tinned sweetcorn.

I am a bit worried about the weight of food you would be carrying.

Try dried milk powder?

Dried mash with dried herbs or spices.

I suggest trying stuff at home first.

Have you tried dried milk powder? The full fat stuff is definitely tolerable in hot drinks such as hot chocolate, or if you'd use milk in cooking. It tastes slightly UHT but has the benefit that you can use as little or much as you need, a tin lasts ages once open. And probably works out cheaper in the long run. Definitely lighter to carry. (I sometimes think it tastes slightly like Nestlé milkybar!)

You will be hard pushed to take your own tent, camping paraphernalia plus the children and food in a taxi!

Have you booked a site or contemplating a glamping style option to experiment with? That would be possible in a taxi.

Just to give a point of reference. We take two cars. One car literally just has the tent, cooking facilities plus a roof box. The other car has 4 of the passengers, plus the clothing etc, tables, etc and they're both filled to the rafters.
Though that is for 2 adults and 4 children. But tbh, I even if we only took two children, we'd still need the same amount realistically with minimal reduction for their clothing!

Swedish cracker bread instead of bread.

You can make toast in a dry frying pan.

I often make nasi goreng as a storecupboard heavy meal - but it could be completely storecupboard if you wanted.

Normally, I use leftover cooked rice (from the day before or that I have frozen), leftover cooked chicken, frozen or fresh prawns, an onion, garlic, carrot, mushrooms (whatever other veggies need using up that work in stir fry type dishes), frozen peas, tin tuna, small tin corn, curry powder.

Carrot, onion and garlic are all long life veg that don't need a fridge. A pepper will certainly last a few days outside the fridge but maybe not a week, mushrooms for a shorter time. A sachet of microwave rice does work well. As well as tinned tuna and corn, tinned prawns are fine (I've used those a few times). (I often use the tinned tuna in oil, and drain the oil into the pan to use for cooking the dish as an extra dash of flavour and thriftiness combined). And curry powder.

Packets of dried pasta with powdered sauce (like Knorr Pastaria, and others) are light weight but useful. They only need to add water and perhaps a nob of butter for richness, as long as you have a cooking ring to use. I sometimes toss in things like diced salami to add some interest (cured meats are preserved to not need refrigeration like raw or cooked meats do, so could be used for later in the week).

Others have mentioned couscous which only needs boiling water and seasoning, but no direct cooking involved.

I've made camping pancakes in a plastic milk carton before, weighing out the dry ingredients at home and marking where the milk should come to on the bottle - pour the milk in to the bottle when on camp, put the lid on and shake well, then pour onto the pan. You could experiment with using dried milk powder in the mix, so you only need to add water.

Eggs also last well without a fridge. French toast is a great breakfast meal when camping if you have bread, and it can be as the loaf is getting a little stale. But eggs are very very versatile generally.

Also, in terms of your camping trip, check with the site in advance as they may have a small shop onsite or close by to get some fresh items during the week.

Watched a Doug & Stacey video about making ghee. Which is shelf stable. I can buy it locally but I might make some

Chicken and ham pasta.

condensed chicken soup, chop up a small tin of cooked ham and stir into cooked pasta. Use milk (uht) or pasta water to loosen.

Pasta arrabiata (tinned tomatoes with garlic, anchovies, chilli flakes, and capers), eggs and chorizo, chilli (tinned beans or mince, tinned tomatoes, dried mixed chilies, coffee powder, mop up with flatbread), tuna pasta with sweet corn or other tinned veg, pasta with garlic oil and chilli. Salt and pepper helps everything, and Parmesan can be stored without a fridge.

Oh and curries with tinned veg and lentils, just make a spice mix before you leave. Thai curry paste and coconut milk with tinned veg, etc.

Did a six week camping trip round America in my 20s with limited access to shops.

Things that worked well: quick cook rice and pasta, pasta sauces, instant rice type meals, tinned chilli etc, soup, tuna, tinned veg, hot dogs, jacket potatoes, instant porridge sachets for breakfast, mini brioche as don't need butter, biscuits, crisps, dried fruit, hot chocolate.

You could try salting your meat.

Fry bread! Embrace your inner cowpoke.