Cabin Meal Plan

As planning goes the meal plan for going to our cabins/property is even more important than the usually weekly plan. The closest grocery is about 70 km away and is gas station produce quality. (And I’m not talking the Husky up in Kimberly BC!)

Meal planning for a trip to our cabin just after Cam and I were married was when I first started to better my meal planning skills. There are many factors to take into consideration, beyond not having the ability to pop out for that missing ingredient. No refrigerator, no garden, basic staples…

There isn’t a garden on the property because it hasn’t been able to be regularly maintained since we’ve lived so far. Other family use the property but we all go up at random times. Since we live so much closer now, we may one early spring day put a basic garden in, tend it once or twice and then come to harvest in the fall when it’s the best time to use the property. Lots of planning and work is needed though to keep out all the wild animals.

There is no refrigerator in the cabins since there is no power and we have yet to dig a cellar. If you leave food outside, wildlife like bears may be inclined to help themselves. We can take a cooler but we have to be smart about how we use our food. Obviously ice doesn’t last forever and we need to eat what will spoil soonest first. We try to plan for meals with ingredients that are in little danger of spoiling.

There are basic staples in the cabins but whenever I go I like to take a few to replace. Stale baking powder is as useful as none and spices left too long can be disappointing in flavour. I believe barbecuing is the most common way to cook at our place since many are there to fish and/or don’t do much cooking at home. As many of you know, I don’t eat fish and we don’t eat much meat so cooking is a must. I say that like I’m not looking forward to cooking on that gorgeous wood stove in the main cabin. I learned so much about cooking on a wood stove when I’d volunteer at Fort Steele Heritage town. I really can’t wait to get up there and do some cooking and baking!

So this brings me to what I plan on making for our short trip up to our property:

• Home Made Hashbrown Potatoes and Fried Eggs
• Home Made Apple and Hemp Seed Oatmeal
• Bannock
• Veggie Dogs with Sautéed Onion (ick- but I suppose I’m not the only one who’s tastes matter. Mine will likely be a sautéed onion bunwich.)
• Persian Rice and sautéed tofu
• Roasted Veggies in Phyllo Pastry with Miso Gravy (I’ll finally take a decent picture of this meal)
• Ashram Lentil Soup with Baking Powder Biscuits
• Lemon Pasta with Basil Cilantro Pesto

I’ve premade everything I could, yesterday afternoon: miso gravy, dry bannock and biscuits ingredients, pasta and pesto.

I’m so excited to get up there but I’m also really excited to come home. On the way home, I’m hoping to catch the end of Ali Howard’s Skeena Swim at the North Pacific Cannery and meet Taimarie from Small Wonders at the same time. Can’t wait!