There are ways to help save space with groceries and also save time when cooking. When planning out your meals for your trip, consider what recipes and meals have common ingredients. That reduces the amount of wasted food you might have as well as reduce the amount of space needed in your cabinets. Here are a few tips to keeping yourself organized and to help spend your time doing what you really want!

1. Plan out your meals with common ingredients

• Consider choosing a themed meal plan for your trip, such as Italian or Mexican, to help reduce the need for countless spices or ingredients
• If one recipe calls for half of a tomato, try finding another recipe that uses half, to eliminate any wasted produce

2. Do your prep work at home

• Chop your produce ahead of time at home to reduce the time spent prepping at the campsite
• Put your chopped produce into reusable, stackable containers so you save space in your cabinets and fridge, and don’t need to worry about produce rolling around
• Brown meat ahead of time when using meats like ground beef or stew meat and put into reusable containers as well
• Another great example of prepping meals at home is Mason Jar Salads.  Click here for a great recipe on our blog.

3. Prepare some make-ahead meals

• Some recipes work great to freeze, like chili, which can be completely prepared at home and frozen. Just take it out the morning of and it will be thawed and ready to warm up for supper
• Find our recipe here for Great Outdoors Chinese Take-out as another great option to make ahead.

4. Get everyone involved

• Turn mealtimes into an activity for the family and get everyone involved in setting up, preparing and cooking
• Find a task for everyone to do for mealtimes and cleanup, and let the fun begin!