G'day guys and gals.

I'm keen to find out what sort of quick and easy meals can be prepared whilst underway.

If you were going to head off on a week long trip without planning to stop (because you are on a mission), how do you prefer to cook, what sort of meals can be prepared while in not so ideal sailing conditions and how much / what do you pre plan before you leave?
Cryo vac meals??
I have plenty of fridge space, two burner gas rings and oven and a bbq, but I don't see how I can bbq some snags whilst battling the mountainous seas of Bass Strait.

I'm soon to do a similar trip where for various reasons, we are not planning to stop, and I don't want to be limited to feeding the crew bbq flavoured shapes..........

I make a big tray of vegetarian canneloni with feta at home. Its basically. I mix spinach and feta together. Blend it a bit. Stuff that into canneloni tubes. Get a pretty deep tray layer that with the tubes. Cover with canned tomatoes, sprinkle fresh basil and a few olives minced by hand. Make a white sauce (flour,milk i also add parmesan)pour over the lot. Oven for 45 min.
Let it sit til cool.
Once cooled cut into portion sizes and put in containers. Im not a vegetarian but this meal to me is better as one because it just gets better and better over days as the mix gets into everything. I dont even bother to reheat it, its that good. I just take it out of fridge in morning leave it out for a few hours and it it at room temp.itll keep for even longer if you substitute the white sauce fot just parmesan.

Hello NowandZen

forward planning and pre-cooking a heap of things is the best way to go I have found. If you have access to a Cryo-vac appliance, all the better for ensuring longevity of your food in a fridge-only situation!

Meals served in a bowl rather than plate I have found are the preferred option to prevent spillage as well as the fact that, at night on deck, you're generally eating by feel rather than being able to see what you're digging your spoon into.

If seasickness is going to be an issue, cooking smells in a warm galley is sometimes one of the worst triggers. With that in mind, you're looking for dishes which are able to be heated reasonably quickly, served up and the poor soul in the galley able to get out of there without further ado.

Not too much spice or chilli which could aggravate an already precarious belly are factors to be mindful of as well. Not too much salt which may risk dehydration. You can always have condiments on hand in your galley for those who want to add a bit of something to their individual meal.

Okay then. Your red pasta sauces such as Bolognese in preference to your creamier ones which may set off a queasy belly. Stews, casseroles and curries are the go.

Freeze and/or Cryovac your meals. Cryovac is great because of the space-saving benefits as well, before and after use. Small space in your fridge and afterward, all you're left with is a plastic bag to go in the rubbish, rather than a container.

I've found rice freezes well and can be reheated in just a tiny amount of water and oil. Spaghetti/fettucini etc doesn't freeze and reheat well.

Otherwise, to save time I boil my water for rice/pasta in the kettle first then transfer to a pot and put rice/pasta in. Takes less time to boil in the kettle and while the water is in the kettle, there's no danger of it flying around the cabin.

Either have a boat stock of traveller-mugs (with handles) for hot beverages or ask your crew to bring their own. Make a list of how everyone takes their coffee/tea etc. and stick it somewhere in the galley for reference.

If you love good coffee, consider a simple stove-top aluminium espresso pot. Trust me, YOU DO NOT NEED A FANCY PANTS POD MACHINE THINGY to achieve a good cup of coffee.

Let me know if you have any other provisioning questions.

Hope this helps
Kind regards
Trace

I have used Easymeals and freeze dried. They are both ok for the occasional meal but they are horrid if used every night. They all have heaps of preservatives and salt in them and this makes them all taste the same. Spag bol and beef stew and chicken casserole exactly the same, bleaaah.

I reckon freezing a few meals (stew, pasta, casseroles etc) in ice cream containers and have cold meat, chicken and salad stuff that is easy to eat (tomatoes, carrot, corn kernels etc) for hot days.

I do get seasick, if I try new medications (in future I will use the Bova Chemist stuff only). Having rice custard in packs (e.g. le Rice), yogurt and fruit like mandarins, oranges etc is good. These provisions need to be moisture laden, you don't want dry stuff like chips cause the seasick person can't chew or swallow them.

The problem is when you are away for more than 4-5 days, e.g. 11-12 to Lord Howe and return. You can stock up at Lord Howe but the selection is very very limited.

Usually fresh fish or mud crabs

Carry tin stuff too. Great idea about removing the label. They do always come off.

One thing I never carry on the boat

Bananas!

Trek said..



I store a lot of tinned food. I agree with MB about keeping provisions that are wet. You can even get tinned potatoes and cook them using the water from the tin to save the boats water.

But before putting any tins below I write what it is and the use by date on the top, and remove the paper label because they come off any way. Otherwise sooner or later you open whats supposed to be baked beans and its peaches.

I had a flat mate years ago who removed a dish of diced pears and peaches from the fridge .
Started eating diced pears and peaches for Breakfast one morning he got over half way through it and then realized it was diced potatoes and carrots . I never forget the look on his face after he realized

Thanks FreeRadical.
I'll get the missus onto it.......

2 minute noodles and throw in those little tins of flavoured tuna.

Not the healthiest but only takes boiling the kettle. Quick and easy.

get a couple of small thermoses for tea, coffee, soup. Good for solo night watch etc.

cisco said..

I am currently putting together an emergency food pack in case I have to take my yacht down river given that the Burnett River is on flood watch.

Meusli, powdered milk, tinned Heinz beef stew, tuna, sardines, baked beans, Cup-a -Soups but I am wondering what to have to make up the "bread" component.

Any suggestions??

Drop by safe way and buy there frozen small bread rolls ( some times for sale not frozen) take some aluminum foil with you and wrap the rolls in foil and place on the exhaust system or close to it.
Used warm up a feed now and then driving from Tenant Creek to Alice that way

The wrap type breads are ok, they keep well in the re-sealable packs. Can be used for breakfast, lunch (wraps), & with dinner to soak up sauces etc.

Trying not to refrigerate is my aim, saving power and food is the result.
Home made biltong is one of the easily munchable ones. Also good for soup supplement etc.
(If one is keen to make some, l can give you the recepie).
Csabai sausage dried out properly!!! not in their ****ty moist vacuum pack! Hung up in a dry cabinet, not refrigerated, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, Hungarian sausages or salamis smoked and dried properly are absolute tops for a quick cold meal with pickled gherkins and fresh damper. The damper is easy to make if you got an oven. Or crackers of some sort.
Bread otherwise is from the ltalian bakery. Sourdough does last a week and dries out, does not get mouldy if kept dry. If dried out it is very good with soups (some call it croutons, the animal). Instant soup, cuppa soup, chinko noodles are for a quicky.
All breads are holy if eaten warm with honey, just out of the owen. It does not have to be fresh just rejuvenated.
Sauerkraut is very easily kept as it does not spoil easily.
Rice preferred to pasta. Pasta is not for freezing! Rice is.
Cous cous is fool proof and takes as long to make as to boil the kettle. Toss in a bit of green like mini carrots, peas, mushrooms from a can and presto. Devil it with chopped biltong or died sausage, salami and one is fed like a king.
Cheese is also king as it does not spoil. You can always scrape the outside off if mouldy but most cheeses are mouldy anyway. Less fat less problems. Get real parmiggana (parmesan) in a block, it is like a rock, keep it dry it lasts for years.
Nuts of all kind are good munching tucker. Walnuts spoil whoever in a few months.
Eggs are kept on the boat in their paper trays but smeared with vaseline (petroleum jelly) individually to make them airtight and they last a fair while too. No fridge!
Milk is either powdered milk or condensed. Condensed milk is a complete meal eaten with bread or crackers.
I am not talking about canned food, it has been mentioned regularly, anyway. Baked beans and all kinds of vegies are the go as wel as tuna, sardines etc...
Fresh onions of different kinds, purple, brown, garlic make indifferent food interesting or just edible.
l am not a fan of pre cooked meals as they are too labour intensive, they spoil and can carry salmonella and other nasties.
Coffee, teas of all variety are a necessity. Nescafe is the go on my boat, if one likes coffee. 4 big spoonful of coffee and a bit of water will make one last a watch on his feet.
Sweet bikkies as milk arrowroot, scotchfinger with nutella, mmmmmmm.
Peanut butter, the old yeasty thing vegemite is always in the cupoard.
Fruit is good, like them a lot. Apples, pears last for months, oranges are good too. Lemon, lime you need for your cocktails anyway and they last as well.

And there is absolutely positively nothing is wrong with bananas aboard!

If you like your spritz like some l know, instead of beer, get a soda stream. It makes up to 80 litres of sodawater.
Bottles of medicinal vines and spirits are for the first aid cabinet , and are also Iitem of utmost necessity!
I am sure l left out a lot but this will do.

No matter how much l scribble about food, noone could beat french toast! And that is a fact.

Enjoy you mails! Bon appetite! Mahlzeit!

Guitz said.

The other day when I was in the boat yard I found out why bananas where a no no on sailing ships back in the day.......they give off a gass that ripens the other fruit so your fresh fruit won't last as long when stowed with bananas! Aaar!

All fruits give off Ethylene just that bananas give of more. Other common fruits to be wary of include apples, apricots, avocado, honeydew melon, peaches, pears plus there are others.
Ethylene production is exponential, the hotter it gets, the more gas is released and the faster your fruit will ripen.

To slow the ripening period keep it cool in a well ventilated place.