Home Cookin' with the Van

I like food. Food is good. I reward and nourish myself with good food because I work and play hard. Being a vandweller, you need good food because you live a robust lifestyle. I'm not a master chef, just a bachelor (again!), that knows how to prepare basic comfort foods. As usual, I try to streamline and simplify the process of procuring, storing and processing food when vandwelling.

To understand the way I deal with food, you need to understand a little about my lifestyle and network. Sometimes I live in the city, sometimes in the country; I pick up groceries after work several times a week. I usually only store about 2+ days of fresh food; things like coffee, sugar, cooking oils, granola, I'll usually have a few weeks worth on board. Workdays, I eat something light for breakie, something light for lunch, and a fair dinner at night. Weekends, I eat a brunch type meal and a full dinner.

During the weekdays, I'll usually have dinner at a friend's place 1 or 2 nights, maybe a casual dinner at a reasonable diner. On the weekend, I'll probably have dinner and/or brunch at my folks' or friends. That leaves me with about 5 breakies, 5 lunches (if working full-time) and about 3-4 dinners for the average week, that I prepare, store and devour around the van. That schedule is key to understanding my lightweight setup.

I don't cook inside the van. Why? I lived in a very small apartment (bachelor size) once, around 300 square feet. Although it had a very good ventilation hood, the cooking smell and grease (if I fried or grilled and definitely, no cajun!!!) would permeate the place. I had to be careful to balance the style/amount of cooking in the apartment, so it would remain clean and fresh. I like to do the same with my van, which in minuscule in size. Also, boiling water on the stove (tea, soups, etc.) would steam it up.

I live in a temperate rain forest on coastal British Columbia, Canada. Although it snows little here, it rains ( a lot!!!) for the cooler months of the year (Oct. to Apr.). So the relative humidity outside will hover between 70% to 100% all the time. Condensation, mildew and mold need to be respected and controlled. So, you don't want to introduce any extra moisture inside your van during this period; I just want to ventilate and heat sufficiently to be healthy. Using propane inside, for unvented cooking or heating, is a unwanted source of humidity.

So, I tailgate cook and dine. My Aerostar rear hatch flips up and provides a small porch roof for rain shelter. Sometimes I slip a small tarp on top and drape it over one side for wind cover. I use a small table for cooking and eating on, and the back cover area is my pantry and outdoor cantina. I have a curtain across the back hatch opening, so cooking smells, grease and too much outdoor moisture drift inside the van. Sometimes I eat outside, sometime inside. Depends. The weather also affects what I will cook or eat, but more on that later.

For now, I use the basic Coleman two-burner propane stove. I have a bulk 5-gallon tank with gauge and safety regulator, and I use a hand held sniffer for safety. I have a backup small disposable 1lb propane cylinder if I run out while cooking; it hasn't happened yet. Simple cooking gear, one medium saucepan (pot) with vegie steamer insert, two smallish pans (one cast iron, one T-fal nonstick, w/ lids), some odds and sods and there you are. Basic spices, oils, cooking/cleaning/eating things, one medium size cooler (uses ice), simple, simple, simple.

For breakie around the van, usually I just boil some water for coffee and cleanup. Sometimes hot cereal. In the city, I stop at the quiet end of urban parks, staying away from people so I don't get disturbed too much. When the weather starts turning nasty, I try to find places that have wind breaks around them; some parks have covered barbecue pits or gazebos. Since the temperature here rarely goes below freezing in the winter, the average winter daily high is around 5 -10 degrees C or 40 - 50 degrees F, so it's pretty mild. I can eat/cook quite easily outside for 10 months of the year. It's only when the winds are very high, or it's absolutely teeming with rain or really cold, that I go into hibernation mode.

Lunches for work are a simple affair, essentially cold plates of veggies, cheese and meats or sandwiches; sometimes I eat the same for dinner. Dinners, I eat hearty soups and stews; I prepare pan 'fried, roasted, seared' meats, poultry and fish. I'll steam some vegies or make an accompanying salad, depends what I got in the cooler. I prepare/eat small portions of boneless cuts of meat, which cook very quickly. Maybe a stirfry over rice, tacos or a hamburger. I like easy, fast and nutritious meals. As I mentioned earlier, I don't store much, so I always eat fresh food. Plain Jane. Simple.

For the two coldest months of the year, I still do the breakie thing, but dinner becomes more challenging. I'll eat dinners quite often at my friends'/folks' place. I'll splurge and use a reasonable diner/pub maybe two evenings a week, or just create a cold plate (very easy). Even during the coldest months here, there are lots of days I can still cook outside; I'll just eat inside the van. I dress appropriately for the weather and I'm not really cold. With long johns, gloves, boots, wool toque and a vest, you are quite warm around freezing temps., when out of the wind and rain. Of course, I am a Crazy Canuck, but I don't live in an igloo. Not yet. 'Tho, it would be neat to check it out one day. Bon Appetite!!!