Meal planning and food storage in small spaces

I had someone message me and ask me to do a blog post on how I manage to feed my family while living in this small space. First off, I'll just say that it was not easy. 4 months ago we moved from an averaged size home into a 31 foot camper. I sold, donated, and packed away a huge amount of things. But when I tried to move the remaining kitchen items into the camper, I was in tears because there was no way it would all fit! I had kept only what I absolutely needed. So I proceeded to jam and pile until it kinda fit. However, I soon found out that it was no fun emptying a cupboard for that can of beans way in the back. So I organized and purged several times since them. It's now to the point where everything fits nicely and I don't have to worry about getting a concussion when I open an upper cupboard. It is amazing how my perspective changed and I don't actually need all that extra stuff like I thought! 

Meal planning

I do love to be organized and planning my meals is such a help. I typically plan for 2 weeks at a time. Dinner is the main meal at our house so I have that as our biggest meal. I made a list of food we eat and simply pick meals off of that when I plan. It is split into sections per type of meat so I start with that. Occasionally I throw something new in but we're pretty boring! The sales fliers play a part in this too. I should say that while I meal plan, we don't have the meals on a certain night. I just loosely plan and know what I have ingredients for.

Main dish options. Our meals are planned around meat and eggs :)

Once I have the main dish planned I mostly wing it. We pick up vegetables when they are on sale and keep dry items like beans, pasta, and rice so sides are taken care of. When making a grocery list I check to be sure that I have plenty of these things BUT NOT AN OVER AMOUNT. We are still learning :) . So often Eldon or I grab 2 of something then grin and put 1 back. A year ago I would have argued that it's always cheaper to buy in bulk but not anymore! Because you know what? If you don't have it, you won't eat it, and you certainly won't let it go to waste! It gives me a little thrill to use up things within 2 weeks of purchase instead of a year or two later (seriously, I had so much old food when we moved that it was appalling. And a lot got thrown away because it was just gross and so old. ).

This list mostly helps my sluggish brain when it needs food ideas.

Grocery shopping
We prefer Aldi for several reasons.

 #1 is the fact that their food has a lot less junk in it then other places.

 #2 is that the price is very affordable and usually cheaper then anywhere else.

#3 is that it's not Wal-mart. I do not like that place because I seem to spend WAY to much time and money there.

Second choice is Brookshires or another small grocery store.Typically we all go together. I'm very blessed that my husband enjoys it and patiently waits for me. Plus he can buy food that he wants too so it's a win-win for him. Occasionally I'll take a couple children and go but I much prefer if we all go. I have went alone but I find myself talking to the cart and getting bored :) . There is 6 people in our family, the children are 7, 4.5, 3.5, and 1. Shopping only twice a month is great for us and it saves us money because every time we set foot in the store we spend money we didn't plan on. We do have a small freezer at our home base (my parents in Texas) and I buy meat in bulk from Zaycon Fresh. That saves us a lot of money. And nope, we don't budget or anything. I have no idea how much we spend on food each month. We just spend as little as we can and still eat decent :) . 

Food storageOur freezer is really small. Like, really small. I'm learning how to pack an insane amount of food in it though! Whenever we stop at mom and dads I fill it to the brim with meat from our freezer. I might have nearly broken a toe and certainly thought some bad words more then once when frozen food comes flying out. We haven't been to dads in 3 weeks, as you can tell.

Our freezer, filled with things that aren't normally in there but when you have the space, you tend to fill it up.

The refrigerator is also small. Thankfully there is a dorm size one in the outdoor kitchen. We keep extra milk, produce, eggs, and Gatorade out there.I can't take a picture of it right now because it's hailing. This has taken some major juggling but now that our huge bottles are emptying out we are buying smaller ones and it fits MUCH better. You don't need 5 kinds of salad dressing. Pick one or two and when that's gone, buy another kind. You don't need lemon and lime juice. One or the other, or just use essential oil like I do. You don't need a gallon of water in the fridge. Stick a water bottle in for each person and you can use them for meals as well. Less dishes to wash!

The door. We still have some stuff that I can't wait to be rid of so I can pitch the bottle. Worcestershire sauce, for example.

This fridge is a lot emptier then normal too but I do try to keep it very organized. I have to, or else it just doesn't work. A huge help has been finding square Tupperware containers that fit then use those to maximize efficiency. On the top shelf is a fridgesmart that almost always has carrots and/or celery in it. Butter typically goes on that shelf too. We make our own yogurt and just today I discovered that 1 gallon fits perfectly into the 2 rectangular Tupperware containers on the bottom shelf. I doubt if I need to tell you that I was ecstatic about that. Leftovers always go into rectangular Tupperware containers as well. Anything round allows for to much wasted space!

Now, on to the rest of the kitchen. Some of it still feels disorganized because after a big shopping trip I truly am stashing and cramming but it does straighten out quickly once we eat a few big meals.

Under the sink. The huge cans of oil and vinegar will be replaced with smaller ones some day soon. Extra canned goods, and the pink containers hold the potatoes, onions, and garlic. 

Another cupboard that holds extra cereal, snacky items, and my beautiful pink bowls

The hanging basket helped me feel so organized. The top basket holds bibs and my pills, middle is usually fruit, and the bottom one is bread, tortillas, and chips. We do take it down on travel days so the slide can come in.

My happy cupboard is this one. The modular mates hold all the staples and I keep them filled.  

Meal prep

I still struggle with this one. I prefer to be very efficient and cook in huge batches but it's just not possible. This has probably been one of my biggest (and almost the only) dislike about full-timing. I'm having to follow the recipe instead of doubling or tripling it. Only making enough food for 1 meal! I still try to be efficient though :). For example, if I'm frying meat I'll do as much as I need for all the meals I have planned and freeze it in the amounts I need. If I'm cooking rice for taco salad, I'll double it and have fried rice the next night. We'll grill extra chicken and have quesadillas or soup with the leftovers. Those little things help, believe me! As you can see on the next 2 pictures, my counter space is very limited. I thought about cleaning it up all pretty but then decided to just let you see how it looks in real life :) .

Notice the instant pot. This is the 7 in 1 and I recommend it to everyone. Pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, saute option, and yogurt maker. I use it almost every day.

Often we take the dish drainer off and that gives us a lot more space. Or, I just go over to the table.

When it comes right down to it, the biggest thing we have done is simplify. 

That was one of our goals after all. Dinner last night was hamburgers and hot dogs. Our kind neighbor gave us some strawberries so I whipped up shortcake but that was totally extra. We are okay not having 3-13 different things on the menu (trust me, 13 is not extreme in some places. I've been to Pennsylvania for the holidays!). I still get frustrated when every inch is stacked with dirty dishes and all the dishes seem to be dirty. On the bright side, it takes only 20 min to clean the whole kitchen from top to bottom! We've so enjoyed how the simpler meals make it easier to include the children with meal prep. It makes my heart happy to see Eldon smiling and laughing as he cooks with 4 children all crowded around him in our tiny kitchen. Both of our tolerance levels have grown in huge amounts the last 4 months!

No matter where God has called you to be for this time in your life, remember this :