Meal sharing....

[Jim Newell]

Hi,
I was on a fairly well organized 2 week overland trip this past Summer and had some good learnings.
So we had three rigs and agreed each rig will prepare at least two group dinners while we were out there. Otherwise you were on your own for the other meals. We had it set up so no one was preparing the same type of dish as the next one. Pretty organized I thought. Yes maybe but I think we could have gone a lot further with our delegation of meal prep responsibilities.
It seemed every morning we had three coffee perks on the go and generally enough food out at each mealtime to feed twice as many people. Despite our spreadsheets for food inventory, recovery gear and safety gear we still all packed too much stuff. I know...Be Prepared! But to a fault can be counter productive and inefficient.

Any input from others on how you manage inventory on smaller group outings?
Share food? Share gear? Share other resources?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[VCeXpedition]

Quite interesting to think about Jim. I'm looking forward to running the Mojave Road next Spring and have given some thought to just this topic.

I have actually been a part of both types of preparation. One trip we divided among 4 rigs the meal preparation, except lunch on our own, so Breakfast and Dinner were group efforts. I have to say it cut down on the number / poundage of food each of us had to bring and therefore had out during mealtime.

The downside was that one guy, different each meal, spent an inordinate amount of time in preparation. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you notice one of the threads here, someone asked, "what is the order of things after you arrive at camp" or along those lines. I looked specifically with this thought in mind, and there were as many and various responses and there were respondents!

Some like to set up camp first, some crack a cold one, some go exploring / socializing, etc. People eat on different schedules and that's why, when I go, I like to do my own meals - not because I'm anti-social or snobby, but simply because everyone seems to have different priorities and especially different tastes in food, how much they eat, how spicy something is or isn't, how they would have done it differently... I could go on!

I have more recently preferred to just bring enough for a good sized meal for whomever rides in my car or who I'm responsible for, and then travel around and see what others have done. Mostly out of curiosity and to get ideas of what to cook up. And, inevitably, they offer taste tests, and it's usually awesome.

A good balance point that I've done once is to have one night, when the trip is a couple nights or more, where it's decided to have a pot-luck kind of meal where everyone can bring something for more than themselves with the intention of sharing it at a common table. Evokes good conversation, stories, lies, comparisons, gear-talk, you name it!

BTW, I was in Nova Scotia for the first time last December, it was unseasonably warm, but what a beautiful place! I must return!

 

[Jim Newell]

Quite interesting to think about Jim. I'm looking forward to running the Mojave Road next Spring and have given some thought to just this topic.

I have actually been a part of both types of preparation. One trip we divided among 4 rigs the meal preparation, except lunch on our own, so Breakfast and Dinner were group efforts. I have to say it cut down on the number / poundage of food each of us had to bring and therefore had out during mealtime.

The downside was that one guy, different each meal, spent an inordinate amount of time in preparation. Not necessarily a bad thing, but if you notice one of the threads here, someone asked, "what is the order of things after you arrive at camp" or along those lines. I looked specifically with this thought in mind, and there were as many and various responses and there were respondents!

Some like to set up camp first, some crack a cold one, some go exploring / socializing, etc. People eat on different schedules and that's why, when I go, I like to do my own meals - not because I'm anti-social or snobby, but simply because everyone seems to have different priorities and especially different tastes in food, how much they eat, how spicy something is or isn't, how they would have done it differently... I could go on!

I have more recently preferred to just bring enough for a good sized meal for whomever rides in my car or who I'm responsible for, and then travel around and see what others have done. Mostly out of curiosity and to get ideas of what to cook up. And, inevitably, they offer taste tests, and it's usually awesome.

A good balance point that I've done once is to have one night, when the trip is a couple nights or more, where it's decided to have a pot-luck kind of meal where everyone can bring something for more than themselves with the intention of sharing it at a common table. Evokes good conversation, stories, lies, comparisons, gear-talk, you name it!

BTW, I was in Nova Scotia for the first time last December, it was unseasonably warm, but what a beautiful place! I must return!

Thank you for the reply.
I think you are onto something when you talk about a single pot luck night. I guess it will have a lot to do with the number of people and the number of nights.
I also like the idea of Sharing breakfast and dinner and on your own for lunch.

Clearly it is something to be discussed in advance regardless.

Nova Scotia is a great balance of cool people and a chill lifestyle. Although we venture to Florida in December and March:)
I'm glad you enjoyed your time here.
Now you have someone to look up the next time you come up this way.
Jim

 

[Kelly]

I'm a big believer in being self sufficient. That being said, I do get really excited when I find out @Mirek is coming. #PolishSausage ;-)

 

[O.Dfj]

I'm a big believer in being self sufficient. That being said, I do get really excited when I find out @Mirek is coming. #PolishSausage ;-)

Im glad im not the only one that like @Mirek polish sausage lol

 

[VCeXpedition]

Im glad im not the only one that like @Mirek polish sausage lol

I'd "like" this but I'm not sure it's not a metaphor... [emoji15]

 

[O.Dfj]

I'd "like" this but I'm not sure it's not a metaphor... [emoji15]

Lol its not a metaphor

 

[maktruk]

Generally all the groups I wheel with do the same thing: BYO and if you want some, don't be shy. Same goes for booze and other...vices.

There's usually someone (usually me) that is woefully short on foodstuffs so the group all chips in a bit for that individual.

Potlucks, buffet style camp, etc are all awesome, but generally we want to camp and wheel, not cook.

Now, all my excursions are weekend/holiday jaunts. I expect things change with a large group over weeks at a time, as the OP described.

 

[TreXTerra]

I think the portioning is something that comes with experience, I did the same thing the first time we tried a similar plan.

What worked: Pre-prepping everything before I left. I sliced all my vegetables and meats, packed them in the appropriate marinade, and layered them into the cooler in reverse order of planned use. This took up less space, ensured later meals stayed deep in the cooler and colder, and made prep a simple matter of "assembly" rather than mucking around with slicing and prep work. Easy cooking in "hobo packets" on the fire for dinner.

What Didn't Work: I just brought too damn much food, but it resulted in a great breakfast because we used the leftover vegetables and meat from dinner to go from simple eggs to amazing breakfast burritos with onions, peppers, and steak with some salsa, hot sauce, and a little cheese. It was a great hearty meal to start the day and very easy to eat standing around the fire.

Meals that fit in tortillas are perfect for camping.

 

[Jim Newell]

I think the portioning is something that comes with experience, I did the same thing the first time we tried a similar plan.

What worked: Pre-prepping everything before I left. I sliced all my vegetables and meats, packed them in the appropriate marinade, and layered them into the cooler in reverse order of planned use. This took up less space, ensured later meals stayed deep in the cooler and colder, and made prep a simple matter of "assembly" rather than mucking around with slicing and prep work. Easy cooking in "hobo packets" on the fire for dinner.

What Didn't Work: I just brought too damn much food, but it resulted in a great breakfast because we used the leftover vegetables and meat from dinner to go from simple eggs to amazing breakfast burritos with onions, peppers, and steak with some salsa, hot sauce, and a little cheese. It was a great hearty meal to start the day and very easy to eat standing around the fire.

Meals that fit in tortillas are perfect for camping.

Agreed, preparing in advance is the way to go. We actually cook all our meals and freeze them solid. There is an order to our day to day menu based on how long we think the items will last over the week(s).

I like how you turned "What Didn't Work" into a win:)

Thank you for the input.
Jim

 

[Njtraveler]

In my experience. Some people are good at preparing recover equipment, some at base camp, and some can do the food without over packing. I too was stuck a few times with everyone making coffee and cooking. Part of it all is playing with your new kit. And it's hard to tell someone not to. Especially when no one gets out as much as they would like.

My advice is to go on a few short trips to let everyone get the "new equipment" stuff out of the way. We usually all have the basics from food to gear. But each one of use focuses on one "specialty".
Works wonders on reducing duplicates and breaking/settings camp faster.

 

[Jim Newell]

In my experience. Some people are good at preparing recover equipment, some at base camp, and some can do the food without over packing. I too was stuck a few times with everyone making coffee and cooking. Part of it all is playing with your new kit. And it's hard to tell someone not to. Especially when no one gets out as much as they would like.

My advice is to go on a few short trips to let everyone get the "new equipment" stuff out of the way. We usually all have the basics from food to gear. But each one of use focuses on one "specialty".
Works wonders on reducing duplicates and breaking/settings camp faster.

Agreed.
Well said.
Thanks.

 

[AZ_Overland]

When my family has gone out we normally WAY over pack meals and it's simply because I'm a fat lard that loves to eat. With that said recently my wife(8 months pregnant btw) our 2 year old and myself made a nice 5 day trip in which the last two days we were with several other families. Because of my wife being so pregnant I didn't want her to do much so I literally did everything and all she did was enjoy her books and slept. However the last two days with the group we did assigned meals which would have been great if one family wasn't allergic to basically everything. However some very good healthy meals came from this as well. But going from being completely self sufficient to group camping was for me mentally tough.

I'm a big fan of prepackaging all the meals cutting and assembling the meals in order and freezing anything I'm not using the first two days. Soon I will be vacuum packing the meals in an attempt to make my overall package even smaller. Because we dont drink alcohol we bring tons of water and a few sodas. We freeze our water bottles to keep from buying ice as often as possible and many times also freeze a gallon of water as well.

 

[Jim Newell]

When my family has gone out we normally WAY over pack meals and it's simply because I'm a fat lard that loves to eat. With that said recently my wife(8 months pregnant btw) our 2 year old and myself made a nice 5 day trip in which the last two days we were with several other families. Because of my wife being so pregnant I didn't want her to do much so I literally did everything and all she did was enjoy her books and slept. However the last two days with the group we did assigned meals which would have been great if one family wasn't allergic to basically everything. However some very good healthy meals came from this as well. But going from being completely self sufficient to group camping was for me mentally tough.

I'm a big fan of prepackaging all the meals cutting and assembling the meals in order and freezing anything I'm not using the first two days. Soon I will be vacuum packing the meals in an attempt to make my overall package even smaller. Because we dont drink alcohol we bring tons of water and a few sodas. We freeze our water bottles to keep from buying ice as often as possible and many times also freeze a gallon of water as well.

Yup, agreed all around. Strategic freezing is important for cooler/refrigeration efficiency.
Thanks for your input.
Jim

 

[RideFlyDiveJeep]

The two others and I that usually travel with split up gear. I will carry the kitchen and isopro, one carries snacks and meals, the other carries beverages. Much of everything else is redundant.

 

[Colorado Yeti]

Good discussion here. On shorter trips, I've paired off with another party for a meal to cut down on the prep and clean up time. In our group, some of the folks really like to prep a certain meal (I.e. breakfast day 1) which makes life a big easier and more predictable if you're regularly going out with the same group. I like the thought of prepping/cooking everything beforehand. I bet that saves a lot of time a hassle on the trail.