The Most Basic Essential Foods

[troymclure]

Also heres a link to a website with a list of provisions they use every 12 weeks. Atom Voyages | Recipes and Provisioning for Cruising Sailboats There is some recipes and general tips on the website as well as a table listing all their provisions. Good crusing website as well.

[s/v Beth]

Question- did we answer the OP or smother him under pancakes and syrup? (homemade of course)

[edsailing]

What about ONIONS!

[Roaring Girl]

You can also carry salt and use that to preserve fresh veggies. We've just discovered how to make Korean kimchee which uses salt, chilli, rice wine vinegar, garlic and sesame seeds to preserve uncooked veg and tastes fab.

Also you can make other strong sauces to use with whatever you have. Malaysian laksa paste uses chilli, ginger, dried shrimp etc and can then be mixed with cocnut milk (which you can buy dried very cheaply) for a soup with absolutely anything - cabbage, shrimp, eggs. All of which you can either pick up cheaply, or have kept just to the point of edibility!

So a bit of cooking nous and good use of (cheap, low volume) herbs/salts etc can make more expensive/bulky goods go a lot further.

[David_Old_Jersey]

I am finding this Forum very useful, including on the basic / low cost / boat style food.

Cooking Forums & Community

Albeit I haven't quite got to where I am aiming...........

[sailorboy1]

How about BEER!! Best way to keep grains.

[Pblais]

How about BEER!! Best way to keep grains.

No need to suffer while aboard. Eating and drinking take on new meaning aboard ship. Best to celebrate the basic things in life to get in touch with your inner self. Eating poorly is bad enough but a drink to moderation is something to treasure too. A lot to be said about being well fed, healthy, kicking back with a cold one (or warm one as you culture dictates).

The goal is not to live poorly. You can do that on land easy enough. There are many people living on the edge with next to nothing that would say it's not that great a lifestyle. eat as well as you can would be my advice. You can eat well and it can be inexpensive and healthy. Learning how has it's own rewards.

My wife grew up knowing what was for dinner by the day of the week. To this day it has changed how she looks at food. Food is a blessing and you can search the world over finding out how other people define it. When you understand what they eat you only have to understand what they drink to be in tune with cultures unlike your own and be invited to party wherever you may land.

[s/v Beth]

Originally Posted by Pblais

The goal is not to live poorly. You can do that on land easy enough. There are many people living on the edge with next to nothing that would say it's not that great a lifestyle. eat as well as you can would be my advice. You can eat well and it can be inexpensive and healthy. Learning how has it's own rewards.

That sentence sums up all knowledge on this subject.
You can eat well and it can be inexpensive and healthy.
All I can say is ditto.

[Curmudgeon]

lemon pepper is essential, and lot's of it.

[s/v Jedi]

I would take potatoes off that list and only buy them when you find nice ones locally. Rice and (dried) beans keep much better and can be found almost anywhere. Put onions on the list instead because there's no cooking without onions.

What is not on the list is canned stuff: tuna, ham, Argentinian corned beef, vegetables and even potatoes. What we use a lot is refried beans (also for soups!) and salsa.

herbs & spices crucial list: peppercorns with grinder, dried chili flakes, chili powder, paprika, salt (best use course kosher salt and a ceramic grinder when you need fine salt so you never have to keep fine salt dry), cilantro, Italian seasoning, Mexican seasoning, your favorite BBQ/steak seasoning (Weber!), granulated garlic, curry.
Optional: oregano, thyme, cinnamon, cumin seeds, parsley.

Stock: we always have some chicken stock in cans but what you can keep for a long time is the cubes. You can find chicken cubes/powder everywhere but beef and vegetable are hard to find. We carry a large quantity of fish stock cubes because we only found that in one place yet (and use it for fish chowders/stews all the time).

Tubes: mayonnaise, ketchup and ansjovis paste. When you use tubes you don't contaminate the contents like with a jar and it'll last much longer. Use ansjovis paste instead of salt for pasta's or you can use it from cans when you mash it.

Crackers: essential but available everywhere. You can buy tins that last a decade.

There's so much more than I second the suggestion to make a more organized approach to this.

cheers,
Nick.

[Ofer]

Thank you everyone for your reply!

TroyMClure,S/V Jedi, I appreciate the detailed information.

My cruising will start in California and continue on to south America. I'll probably spend the majority of time in Mexico adapting to the new way of life.

UPDATED LIST.

Flour
yeast
baking powder
powdered milk....Is non fat ok?
eggs
coffee
coffee creamer
Tea.....for sure
sugar
rice
oil....olive oil only is ok? can I cook and fry with olive oil?
Vinegar....which one? rice etc. can I carry only one type?
pasta
Tomato paste
grated Parmesan cheese
fresh Garlic
fresh onion
potatoes...buy only when available
assorted beans
assorted nuts.
pop corn
canned tuna.....I have a problem carrying sea food while living at sea.
Dried salami
Pancake mix and syrup
Instant mashed potatoes
veg stock
assorted crackers and pretzels
Ketchup
Mustard(or powdered mustard)
Soy sauce
wasabi(in powdered horseradish form)



Herbs and spices:
salt (kosher.. stay dry)
Pepper
Lemon pepper
peppercorns
dried chili flakes
chili powder
paprika,
dry cilantro
granulated garlic
Garlic powder....do I need both
onion powder
cumin


I am trying to carry very few of canned items due to extra weight of liquids and the can itself.

[s/v Beth]

Now it starts getting fun. Nonfat milk is fine (it will last longer) If it tastes good to you...Yes you can cook with olive oil- but it is a bit expensive. If your going to fry stuff you may want cheaper vege oil. I like olive oil because I like the taste...I use Balsamic Vinegar for the same reason...Are we seeing a trend here? Get what tastes good! BTW- where is your beans for sprouting? And a bottle of clorox- your going to love that in Mexico.
I would still recommend what was said above- plan a few weeks worth of meals so you know how much to get of everything.

[s/v Jedi]

Also, don't worry because you can get everything in Central & South America. Potatoes were invented here ;-)

About the weight of cans: how much fresh water are you going to carry with you? Do you have a watermaker? If not and your tankage is limited, remember that a can of stock needs no or less added water for that soup. It doesn't really matter if you carry that weight in your water tank or jerry jug or in the form of cans.
The empty cans you toss overboard when you are off shore (but not the ones with plastic inner liner). Garbage management is a whole different thing here. Only near big cities you find some form of garbage collection, for the rest it's up to you and other cruisers who've been there for some time will explain where and how is the best way to deal with it. Don't believe these boat-boys telling you they take care of it for you for a couple of dollars because they will toss it out their boat around the corner.

Ah, you're gonna need cream of coconut canned (not the sweetened one, the type for cooking ;-)

cheers,
Nick.

[Kindle]

Someone may have already suggested this--but cabbage is a wonderful "boat" food. It keeps for weeks with out refrigeration if stored properly and can be used in place of lettuce in salads, sandwiches, fish tacos etc.

[malovich]

jerky of any type