Four days of great meals without refrigeration — you can eat surprisingly well!
While I’ve gone without refrigeration or even a cooler for four months on two different occasions, it was only after a number of shorter trial runs where I refined my techniques and recipes. Success on shorter trips convinced us that we could do longer trips.
To give you ideas for good meals without refrigeration and how I use the most perishable items first, here are our actual meals from a 4-day trip.
Breakfasts
All Days: Cold cereal with milk or soy milk, juice and coffee. Other options:
- Oatmeal – add some dried fruit and nuts if desired
- Fried, boiled or scrambled eggs
- Pre-cooked bacon
- Toast or bagels (peanut butter or jam optional)
- Yogurt with dried fruit, nuts and/or granola
You can get regular milk, soy milk and almond milk in boxes that do not require refrigeration until they are opened. Get the small boxes designed for kids’ school lunches and you’ll use it all up on a bowl of cereal.
Lunches
Day One: Couscous Salad – couscous, onion, cucumber, green pepper, tomato, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and a touch of sugar (I make it pretty much the same way I do Pasta or Rice Salad — couscous just cooks a lot faster), individual cups of applesauce.
Day Two: Ham Salad Wraps – a can of ham, diced onion, a sliced tomato, some Napa cabbage and some mayonnaise, all wrapped in tortillas. Tortillas are a good alternative to bread for “sandwiches” as they don’t get squashed and they’re far less likely to mold. Oranges.
Day Three: Vegetable Salad a la Que Tal – can of green beans, some extra pasta that I cooked for dinner the night before, small can of corn (drained), onion, tomato, dried fruit, marinated artichoke hearts (use the oil from the jar instead of adding oil), dash of sugar and balsamic vinegar.
Day Four: Snack Lunch – A small jar of peanut butter and box of Wheat Thins, a bag of nuts, a bag of dried fruit, one of carrots (also good with the peanut butter) and a little bag of olives.
Dinners
Day One: Tacos and a Tossed Salad – use a can of roast beef and drain/rinse the gravy off, shred the meat and heat it up with spices or a packet of taco seasoning. Serve with tortillas, salsa, diced onion, green pepper and sour cream made from non-refrigerated ingredients (note: you won’t need a full batch of sour cream, so reserve some for the tacos and use the rest with your favorite dip mix to make an appetizer). Tossed salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, black olives and a vinaigrette dressing. Lettuce doesn’t last well without refrigeration, so we’ll use it the first night.
Day Two: Chicken, Apricots & Almonds over Couscous – a can of chicken breast, dried apricots, whole almonds, a little flour, honey and cinnamon, plus the couscous. Drain liquid from the chicken breast into a pan and mix in about 2 teaspoons of flour, a dash of cinnamon and a generous spoonful of honey. Bring it all to a boil and add the apricots. Simmer five minutes, then turn the burner off and add chicken and almonds, mixing very gently. Let sit 3 to 5 minutes to warm through. While this is cooking, make couscous according to package directions. Serve chicken mixture over couscous.
Optional extra: Pan-Roasted Veggies – use a tablespoon of oil or butter and saute a bunch of mixed vegetables with a dash of salt and pepper or Mrs. Dash. Our favorite veggies depend on what looks good at the market but will often include zucchini or summer squash, onion quarters, baby carrots and mushrooms.
Special Treat: Chocolate-Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies.
Day Three: Pasta Supreme – Saute a can of shrimp or ham, onion chunks and a (drained) can of mushrooms (or fresh if you have them) with some garlic and Italian seasoning. Add a small jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil and a small (drained) can of sliced black olives. At the same time, cook pasta. Toss it all together and serve.
Day Four: Chili, Corn Bread and Coleslaw – Make the chili with one can each of (drained) roast beef, kidney beans, and diced tomatoes, plus some diced onions and green peppers and a variety of spices. Make cornbread from a box mix. Coleslaw, made from chopped cabbage, a can of pineapple tidbits, a handful of peanuts and mayonnaise. Cabbage lasts almost forever without refrigeration, so it’s a good way to have something fresh towards the end of the trip.
Simplify meal prep on board with proven strategies for provisioning, maximizing fridge space, and cooking delicious meals aboard your boat.
Mid-Life Cruising! says
These are some great meal ideas … thanks!
Grace says
What an excellent information. Have everything , details , ideas, recipes. Thank you 🙋🏼♀️👍😁
Stephanie Donaton Weber on Facebook says
This is good for hut trips too!
Mike Lewis on Facebook says
Isn’t thunder snow great? !!!
Mike Lewis on Facebook says
I thought you guys were down south.
The Boat Galley on Facebook says
Unfortunately, I’m in Illinois right now . . . no thunder right now, but it’s forecast for later today. Right now, we’re in the “gap” between the first (minor) wave and the second (nasty) one coming this afternoon. Hoping we don’t lose power and internet!
The Boat Galley on Facebook says
Got the thundersnow now!! Just had a HUGE boom right nearby. No subtle start to this . . .
Mike Lewis on Facebook says
We are just east of St. Louis in Illinois. The scary thing is we didn’t get the break yet.It started snowing this morning and hasn’t stopped yet!!!
The Boat Galley on Facebook says
My husband spent most of his life in the St. Louis and Granite City area, sailed at Alton then at Carlyle . . . we’re just north of Effingham now.
Mike Lewis on Facebook says
No kidding! Was at Carlyle for years before moving to Alton Marina (about 3 years ago) to get our boat ready for the great escape. btw: Ordered and received “The Boat Galley” a couple of weeks ago (bought through your link to Amazon, of course).
The Boat Galley on Facebook says
Small world! Hope you enjoy the book and thanks for using the link!
Jules says
Some friends and I are headed up to a rustic cabin with no refrigerator for a very long weekend and I was totally stuck on how to have anything other than peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Thanks for the tips!
Mick says
Great info. What a good start for the tent camping foray to the Austin Formula One race in a tent for 6 days on the 10th turn with NO electricity. Your ideas will make life considerably easier. THANKS!!
Marcie Trantham says
Hash, topped with egg, clam linguine. Canned chix do lots, tuna …pasta salads, pasta with capers etc. etc etc. go on line and google recipes.
lynn says
Awesome ideas to keep some stuff on hand when the power goes out too!
Thanks!
Anne Ellingsen says
I love your creativity when it comes to meals
The Boat Galley says
Thanks!
Barbara Garter says
Love this. Thank you!
Carol Strong says
Thank you-so helpful! I like to prep extra food while cooking and use for next meals.
Albert J K III says
The soy milk for cereal….. I use apple juice.
(Capt Krunch, Cinnamon Life…..)
Byn Always says
We just did a provisioning run for three months and we have no refrigeration. I hope we did well. I’m almost afraid to read your post for great kick myself for missing important stuff! :/
The Boat Galley says
You’ll be fine. Whatever you forget, you can get along the way — or get creative without.
Jodie deling says
Your article says with out refrigeration but yogurt, milk, both need refrigerators or coolers. So. Thank you but let’s try to be less misleading
Carolyn Shearlock says
Don’t really think I was being misleading. First, the trip I described had a cooler. But it would all be possible without one — believe me, I’ve done it many times.
Boxed milk does not need to be refrigerated until opened — so if you have a cooler, great. Otherwise, you can get it in single-serve boxes. Yogurt can be made each day with a bit from the previous day’s batch if you don’t have a cooler to put a larger batch in. I do both with and without coolers. Take a look at these posts:
Boxed milk
Milk with No Refrigeration
Make Your Own Yogurt
and, of course, you can check out Storing Food without Refrigeration
Julie says
Thank you for sharing this!
Zina Tibbs says
Thanks, we have an off grid cabin and we struggle with packing ice, heavy coolers etc. Nice to have some alternatives.
Yessica Sanchez says
Wow…so pleasantly surprised with all of this fantastic info and ideas. We are part time glamours but I am always interested in learning new ways of doing things without all of our expected comforts. I just want to keep reading!!!
Yessica Sanchez says
Autocorrect strikes again…
What I wanted to say is that we are “glampers” but you never know when you will have to do without the usual comforts.
Sharon says
I’m a new prepper and never thought about this. I’m so glad I came across this today. Thank you so much for sharing.