Whether you’re living out of a van or driving the family minivan, this blog has something for you! We will cover various cooking methods and easy meal ideas, from camping to road-tripping, and everything in between. You’ll also hear from Jesse and Max, who live out of a 1985 Volkswagen Vanagon with their adorable puppy, Lola.
Where to start?
Are you going on a weekend camping trip with the family? Traveling cross-country in the family minivan or deciding whether to take up van life? You’re in the right place! Cooking on the road can be stressful at first, but it’s the key to eating nutritiously while roadtripping and camping. If you’re new here, go ahead and read our first blog of the Travel with Azure series,5 Tips for How to Meal Plan, Prep, and Pack with Azure this Summer. Here you can find a list of easy, nutritious meals to make while traveling, and find resources on how to plan and prepare food for the road.
A warm welcome to Jesse and Max!
This summer, I’ve been extremely blessed to spend some time with Jesse and Max, close friends of mine, who have been on the road for over a year with their perfectly adorable puppy, Lola. Jesse and Max live a health-conscious, active lifestyle on the road and have a lot to share with us about their experiences eating whole foods while living out of their van. So without further ado, let’s get into it!
How do you try to stay healthy on the road?
Jesse: It took a while to get to a healthy point. The temptation to eat out is always there, but the biggest challenge is avoiding buying all of our groceries from a supermarket chain; it’s just so easy to buy everything at once. After sourcing our food from locally grown, organic markets around the country, we honestly can’t bring ourselves to get our vegetables from a supermarket anymore—the quality of food just doesn’t compare to locally grown produce! It took us a while to get into the rhythm of buying locally, but I don’t think we could ever go back to buying our veggies from the grocery store.
Max: It can be difficult to find organic whole foods while on the road, largely because local food isn’t usually advertised or distributed very well. We’re fairly particular with what we buy, and we’ll go out of our way to source healthy food if we know where to get it. We consistently work to find local growers' markets in the areas where we are traveling.
What cooking gear do you use?
Jesse: We like to keep it light! We only use a few basic kitchen items, since the space in our van is quite limited. We use a two-burner propane stove along with:
- Two cast-iron pans
- One stainless steel pot
- Instant Pot
- Electric kettle
- Aeropress coffee maker
- Tea filter
We make all of our meals using only this cooking equipment.
How do you usually plan and shop for food while traveling?
Jesse: There’s a limiting factor when it comes to planning and shopping for food in the van, because we don't have a lot of space. We always try to eat as locally and fresh as possible by shopping for fruits and veggies at local farmers’ markets. We base our meals on the fruits and veggies we pick up from local markets, and then add a protein and starch to the meals to add nutrients. I like to meal plan after going shopping because the meals I make depend on what I find at the local markets.
What are your favorite meals to cook in the van?
Max: For breakfast, we enjoy making pancakes using pancake mix in a sandwich-sized bag; you just need water, and you can add an egg if you want. We cut a hole in the sandwich bag and squeeze the batter straight onto the cast-iron pan. We also like to make oatmeal with fruit or yogurt. We prefer buying food that has a dual purpose and can be used for different meals.
For lunch, we often make sandwiches because they’re easy to prepare and only require simple ingredients.
For dinner, we eat lots of stir-fries and curries because they’re easy to make, one-pot meals, centered around the local vegetables we buy. We like making Mexican skillet meals using ground beef and taco seasoning, in our cast-iron pan, along with peppers, onions, and rice from the Instant Pot. Of course, we also make basic spaghetti and sauce for when we’re feeling lazy and need a quick, easy meal in a jiffy. We use a lot of eggs in our cooking as well, since they are multi-purpose and high in protein.
What are your go-to snacks?
Jesse: Our favorite snack is what we call cowboy caviar! It’s a hearty salsa made from beans, corn, and a jar of yummy salsa. We always keep a bag of tortilla chips on hand for the salsa.
Max: I like to keep it simple with a bag of trail mix, nuts, and chocolate chips.
What are some cooking hacks you'd give to others living or traveling on the road?
Jesse: Dialing in on the proportions of how much food to make is one of the most useful tactics we’ve learned while living in the van. It’s challenging to clean up and store food in such a small space, but if we consume all the food we prepare, the cleanup is significantly easier and faster. It takes trial and error, but being able to dial in the amount of food to cook has been a game-changer! It also helps reduce waste when we eat all of the food we cook.
Max: Eating healthy while traveling can be challenging at first, but I want to tell people that it doesn't have to be perfect. When we first started, we weren’t doing a great job with food selection and cooking, but we’ve learned a great deal as the months have passed. Just keep experimenting and find what works for you. For us, it was all about finding the right cooking gear to make cooking more efficient. That’s why we decided to buy a pressure cooker, which maintains heat and uses less energy. Switching from stainless steel to cast-iron pans has made all the difference when it comes to cleaning. As long as the pan is seasoned, all you need to do is clean the skillet with water.
Any favorite memories or places you’ve cooked a meal while traveling?
Max: Cooking squash over the fire!
Jesse: I remember when we were driving over the Flora-Bama line, and the campsite we were heading to was closed. We were scrambling to find a place to sleep for the night, and it was pretty stressful. In the end, we wound up parking the van outside a Cracker Barrel for the night, which was far from ideal. After a long, tough day, I made a chicken stir-fry with fresh veggies over rice. It was one of the first meals in the van that we thought was a quality meal done right! It turned the night around and made all the difference. The situation was uncomfortable in every other way, but we found comfort in our cooking on the road.
This fall…
Jesse and Max are looking forward to resuming their cross-country travels with Lola. They’re currently taking a break from roadtripping and spending the summer with Jesse’s parents, brothers Eli and Charlie, and me in Williamsport, PA. You can follow their journey and read more about them on their blog, The Honest Adventures of Max and Jesse.
Bonus: Azure favorites for cooking and camping
Canned Goods
Packing canned goods is a great place to start, especially if you don’t have refrigeration or a cooler during your travels. You can find a wide variety of canned goods, including corn (GY0343), chickpeas (GY709), green beans (GY0337), black beans (GY0355), and various other beans, as well as fruit (GY1390), soups (GY924), and sweet potatoes (GY370) at Azure. We also sell tuna in both cans (GY0306) and pouches (GY0315) for your convenience. Bringing canned goods along with you is one of the easiest ways to add protein or veggies to your meals with no work or preparation involved.
Castile Soaps (HB2240)
Castile soap, like this 2-oz travel-sized one from Azure, is a great option for travel because it’s multipurpose and biodegradable. You can use it for body wash, shampoo, hand soap, and washing dishes, among other uses. Check out our new AzureWell Castile shampoo bars (HB1964) and bar soap (HB1940)!
100% Biodegradable Bamboo & Sugar Cane Toilet Paper (NF1315)
This toilet paper is 100% biodegradable, making it an excellent option to bring with you on camping trips.
Camping Cooking Equipment
My family likes to take an old camp stove with us when we go on camping trips in rural PA. Azure offers an extensive selection of camping gear, like this Electricity Generating Wood Burning Camp Stove (OG017) and this Portable Grill & Firepit, Small Flatpack (OG002). We also offer other products to make your camping experience more comfortable, which you can check out on our website.
See ya on the road!
I promise you, cooking on the road can be just as simple as you want it to be—as always, eating healthy takes intentionality, but Azure is here to help guide you along the way and introduce you to products that make cooking on the road easier for you and your whole family!
Looking for more travel advice? Read Parts 1, 2, and 3 of our Travel with Azure Series to learn more!
Travel with Azure Series, Part 1: 5 Tips for How to Meal Plan, Prep, and Pack with Azure this Summer
Travel with Azure Series, Part 3: A Guide to Traveling with Allergies