If your supermarket doesn't carry international foods, especially Indian, you'll have to visit your local Asian market or purchase this stuff online.
Everything in sections 1, 2 and 3 below is vacuum-packed and ready-to-eat. None of it needs to be refrigerated before-hand so these items can easily be stored without worrying about it going bad. Just take a look at the expiration dates stamped on the boxes, they're usually good for a year. Preparation is easy, just plop as many different boil-in pouches that you want into a pot of boiling water and you've got a meal. Or warm up the chicken steaks in a pan on the stove. The Success and MTR rices come in boil-in pouches, some of the others need to be removed from their pouches and cooked.
- Stock up on this stuff (canned and dry goods):
- 1. Chicken, Tuna and Salmon Steaks
2. Indian vegetable dishes
3. Asian, Spanish and Brown Rice
4. Canned Beef, Chicken, Turkey, Tuna and Salmon
5. Canned Vegetables
6. Canned Soups
7. Squashes and Potatoes
8. Pasta/Sauce
9. Bread Crumbs/Stuffing in a Box
10. Seasonings
11. Baking Stuff
12. Bottled Water/Beverages
13. Peanutbutter & Jelly
14. Flat breads
15. Dried Fruit/Nuts/Snacks
16. Parmalat/Powdered Milk
17. Condiments
- 1. Chicken, Tuna and Salmon Steaks
- Bumble Bee Prime Fillet Chicken Breast (Skinless & Boneless) - any flavor. Its pre-cooked so you only need to warm it up. It comes in 3 different flavors: Garlic & Herb - Southwest Seasonings - Barbeque Sauce.
Bumble Bee has Prime Fillet Albacore Tuna Steaks as well. And if you like salmon, stock up on Chicken of the Sea Salmon Steak. It comes in 3 flavors also: Honey Barbecue Glaze - Mandarin Orange Glaze - Roasted Garlic Marinade. Chicken of the Sea also has shrimp available in a pouch.
- Priya Foods Ready-to-Eat - any flavor of Dal, Paneer, Kurma or Curry (or any of their other dishes).
OR
MTR Foods Ready-to-Eat - any flavor of Dal or Paneer (or any of their other dishes).
All of these Indian meals are vacuum-packed and you simply bring a pot of water to a boil and drop the pouches that you want to use into the water. The nice thing about using boil-in pouches is that you can save the hot water for clean-up afterwards.
- There's all kinds of rice from long grain to short, white to brown, slow and quick-cooking. For ease of preparation, the quick-cooking rices are really convenient. Stock up on several different kinds.
MTR Foods rice meals - any style. Jeera Rice is nice and goes well with just about anything.
Knorr Rice Sides - any style.
Lipton Sides Rice - any style
Uncle Ben's Ready Rice - any style
Uncle Ben's Ready Whole-Grain Medley - any style
Success Boil-in-Bag Rice - white, whole grain brown or jasmine
If you prefer the longer cooking rices, try Zatarains. They have different styles that are really good.
- Always carry cans of chicken, tuna and turkey. Pick whichever brands you like and keep them on hand for sandwiches and salads. If you can find it, beef is also available in cans as is salmon.
If you can't find canned beef or salmon, they are available online.
For salmon, try:
silverliningseafood.com, seabear.com, kasilofseafoods.com, tonkaseafoods.com, alaskasmokehouse.com, alaskansmokedsalmon.org, salmonetc.com
For beef, try:
campingsurvival.com, pleasanthillgrain.com, mredepot.com, localharvest.org, theredbarnmarket.com, readymaderesources.com, healthyharvest.com
- Yeah, I know, fresh produce is always best, but it doesn't last very long on a boat. So bring it, but eat it first. As far as canned veggies are concerned, bring what you like. You can't go wrong with any variety of beans. It's nice to have cranberry sauce onboard as well. These aren't canned, but you may want to keep a bag of lentils aboard as well. They're great in soups and a good substitute for canned legumes like kidney beans.
- Stock up on a variety of canned soups but try to avoid products that require the addition of water. Everything, including the water, should be in the can. You may also want to include a few cans of chicken, beef and vegetable broth.
This is contrary to what I just stated, but you'll want to have a supply of condensed cream soups as well. You can't go wrong with Cream of Chicken, Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Celery soups. They can be used to make gravies and sauces for other dishes.
- Squashes like Acorn and Butternut, even small pumpkins, last seemingly forever (up to 3 months) and don't need refrigeration. Potatoes, yams and sweet potatoes will last a month as well if you can find a cool, dry place to store them (that's the hard part).
- Pasta is pretty much a convenience food by default since it doesn't need refrigeration. Purchase your favorite pastas and sauces and prepare it just as you would at home. Substitute the meat you'd usually use with chicken. You can use either canned or vacuum-packed chicken. You may also want to stock a couple cans of tomato sauce and paste as well as a package of sun-dried tomatoes.
You may also want to carry pasta products that are ready to heat and serve like:
Knorr Pasta Sides - any style
- Stuffing.....this is a quick and easy side dish. Add a can of turkey or chicken directly to the stuffing while it's heating on the stove. Heat up a can of green beans, open a can of cranberry sauce, and you've got a meal.
- Don't forget to bring the salt and pepper and whatever herbs/spices you like to cook with. But not too many, just your favorites, cuz you'll be running out of room to stow them. (I recommend that you install a couple sets of spice clips).
Fresh garlic and onions will both last a long time if they're stored where they can get good air circulation. It wouldn't hurt to have a can of dried onions as well.
Sun-dried tomatoes are great too, but get them WITHOUT oil. If they're packed in oil they'll have to be kept refrigerated. And even though the label on the container of sun-dried tomatoes without oil will say to "Refrigerate after opening", they don't need it.
- You probably won't be doing too much baking, but you may want to have some biscuit mix aboard like BisQuick or Jiffy. Store it in a plastic container. Cut the directions off the side of the box and store it in the container with the mix. Splenda is easier to store than sugar since it is available in resealable zip lock bags. It also comes in different flavors, so be sure you're just getting regular Splenda. There's brown sugar Splenda as well.
- Bring as much bottled water as you've got room to stow. Don't forget to leave room for canned sodas and beer.
- Don't leave home without it.
- Loaves of bread tend to get moldy rather quickly onboard. Stock up on tortillas (whole grain), Italian flatbread and pita bread instead. They last alot longer and are healthier to boot. Make sure you squeeze ALL of the air out of the bag when you reseal it.
- Raisins and dried cherries or cranberries make great additions to salads. They're great for snacking as well. The same goes for nuts. Bring your favorite bags of snacks and be sure to carry resealable zip locking bags, plastic containers or bag clips to keep the contents of open packages fresh.
- Fresh milk sours quickly. If you enjoy milk in your morning coffe, keep small packages of Parmalat onboard -- the small 8 oz. boxes, not the big ones. Why? Because once they're open, you'll have to get them into the ice box and they're hard to reseal, so you'll need a plastic container. Make sure you use up the open stuff right away. You'll still have "fresh" unopened boxes waiting in the wings. Or make your own milk from powder. Only make what you're going to use in a day or 2.
If you've got kids, bring some chocolate milk mix. They may not like to drink the plain Parmalat, but they'll drink it with chocolate.
- Even though you'll see "Refrigerate after opening" on the labels of condiments, many don't need to be refrigerated right away. Purchase small bottles or jars of condiments so that if it does go bad, you won't be losing a whole quart of the stuff. The trick is to keep both the contents of the jars, and the jars themselves, clean. So don't let any ketchup that splooges out onto the rim of the bottle remain there, you've got to wipe that stuff off. Use a bit of clean paper towel, not your finger. And don't let any knife or spoon that's come in contact with food go back into the condiment jar. (Squeeze bottles eliminate this problem.)
Anyway, you'll want to keep small jars of mayo, ketchup, mustard and salsa on hand.
Hope this helps,
Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay