Hi
Just wondering if anyone has come up with meals suitable for solo's.I haven't started my trip yet,wont be until early 2010 when i pack up and take of to wherever i want.In my yet to be decided 20' caravan with shower toilet and everything else i need towed by a yet to be decided vehicle.Patrol or Cruiser ?

I imagine i will get sick and tired of the old hamburgers sausage sandwich etc real fast.I don't intend to buy take away's as i will be staying in remote and isolated areas..But i cant seem to find recipe books catering for cooking for singles.Would like to be able to cook meals which freeze or store well so i can take care of a couple of night's worth of meals in one cooking session.

Is it worth having a bread maker?I have never seen one in the flesh.They seem to have taken a very quick nose dive in popularity.If you live in a city i cant the sense in one,but out in the bush are they worth having?

Naughty.

Double posting.

Smack your hand.

However....

Consider loading your vehicle with the minimum amount of 'specific purpose' gear that is possible.

Space and weight are critical so, the less stuff that you lumber yourself with, the happier you will be.

The KISS (keep it simple, stoopid) principle is most applicable to traveling.

It seems that most 'first timers' on the "Big Island Tour" find themselves off-loading more stuff at the charity shops than they ever purchase from them.

I have just returned from a trip from Toowoomba QLD (home) to the Great Ocean Rd.  I have a Mazda Micro Motorhome which has a fridge and very small freezer. I intended doing some free camping and I knew it would be cold in that part of Aust to cook outside - ie Aug/Sept.
Before my trip I made several different casseroles and cryvacced them.  This way they last in the fridge for several weeks.  This turned out to be a great idea as I only had to warm up the meal after a day of driving.
Cryvaccs sell for approx $150 from places like Good Guys, Retravision.  Well worth the money for many future trips.

Kay.

Stefan. did you come to any resolution about breadmaker. Have recenly spoken with grey nomad brother in WA who tells me loaf of bread is more than $7.00, so we are hoping take take our breadmaker, but open to suggestions.

Hi Dunmowin & others,

Seems Stephan hasn't been here for a while but if you're still around, Hi,

I wouldn't be without my breadmaker, not just to save money (which it does) but also for the quality and taste of the bread. (The results of this are obvious in the form of a "spare tyre" around my midriff!) It does require 240v power to operate it but if free camping a "genny" of 1kva or higher will handle this, or save the bread making to when power is available. Buying a generator just to operate a bread maker would not make much economic sense however.

I "home brew" my own pre-mix but there are many pre-mixes available and I've found Lauke mixes to be about the pick of them, based on limited experience with "bought" pre-mixes however. I neither bake nor buy white bread as it's had all the natural flavour and nutrition removed from it. The only exception is occasionally I'll bake a specialty bread such as garlic or sweet corn where the recipe contains more white than wholemeal flour.

I buy 500 gram packs of dried yeast and put some in a jar (I've read that metal lids and containers are not suitable, not sure why) and keep it in the fridge and the rest of the pack in the freezer.

If new to bread baking, start with pre-mixes to get a "feel" for it. Follow the instructions that come with the breadmaker rather than those on the pre-mix pack. Weigh the major ingredients (including the water - 1 mil of water = 1 gram, 1 cup flour = 150 grams approx) rather than using measuring cups as it gives you much tighter control over the ratio of flour to water.

Seeing this is a recipe forum I guess I'd better give a recipe so here's my "home brew" bread pre-mix

1. Use good quality proper baker's flour...."plain" flour is not suitable. You may have to buy this in 25 kilo bags from a flour wholesaler, I split with a mate so I use up the flour before it goes stale. Yes, flour does go stale but can be deep frozen to last indefinitely. I use "Centurion" "Gold Award" white flour and "Centurion" "90/10" wholemeal flour.

2. I blend the two flours, about a quarter to a third white, the rest wm.

3. To each kilo of flour add....2 tsps salt, 2 generous heaped tsps bread improver, 1/4 cup full cream powdered milk. .... mix thoroughly.

4. .... baking a loaf, use a digital scale and tare the scale with the empty pan on it, add to the pan in the following order 230 gms water, 1 tsp brown sugar (optional), 30 gms veg oil. .... re-tare the scale and add on top of the water 400 gms pre-mix, 1 tsp good quality yeast on top of the flour, don't mix anything, the machine will do that.

As different flours and machines behave differently you may have to adjust the water slightly to get best results, note any changes for next time and make only small adjustments, say 5 grams at a time. It's surprising the difference small adjustments can make and is the reason I weigh rather than measure the mix, this tip was given to me by a professional sourdough baker, and descendant of the original Arnott family, from Morpeth NSW.

Jim

PS: Gluten free mixes are available for people with coeliac disease but check the breadmaker is suitable if this applies.

-- Edited by jimricho on Saturday 22nd of May 2010 07:40:55 AM

it is a bit scary when posters "have not been around for a while" Jimricho, do you actually travel with a bread maker?

Dunmowin wrote:

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it is a bit scary when posters "have not been around for a while"

Jimricho, do you actually travel with a bread maker?

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Sure do.  I have an old one that I keep in the van.  I mix up a batch of pre-mix to take with me, also some extra (white) flour to add to the pre-mix in case I do a variation on the "standard" recipe.  I rarely buy any bread, especially that supermarket crap.  From time to time I do buy sandwiches, even in a sandwich bar it's sometimes difficult to get wholemeal and have to settle for multigrain which is only white "bread" with bird seed added.  I conceed that some old-time bakers do make a nice crusty loaf but these are becoming few and far between.  To prove I'm not on a health kick I admit to buying more than the occasional pie or sausage roll when out on the road (and sometimes at home too)

Jim

 

Cool you have convinced me not to relegate it to the garage sale pile

I too am looking for solo cooking ideas. Curcumstances prevent me having a fridge, so I rely on a good esky, and packet and tinned stuff. My favourite is savoury mince. I use cup-a-soup for flavouring, a bit of water, and a small tin of mixed veg or 3 bean mix. But I'd like more suggestions. I use a 2 burner gas stove and like the KISS principle.

The Aust. Womens Weekly has a couple of cookbooks (both in their mini & full size versions ) about cooking for two, also their Cafe Favorates and Cafe Food are ideal for cooking for one.
most of the recipes you can freeze half for later, if no freezer then grab hold of one of
them mini vacum sealers from Big W , they are  quite cheap and operate on mains or their own batteries ---- food can last for ages in the sealed bag.

check out EBay for out of print issuses

Cheers
Coyotte

-- Edited by coyotte on Monday 9th of August 2010 09:22:33 PM

the edit did not work
what it was about was AWW Cafe series, both full size and mini, they are  ideal for cooking for one ---- one only serving

cheers

Coyotte

Thanks, they sound perfect. I'll have a look for them.