This post is the first of a series of helpful hints and hacks for van-living. We ourselves are just learning this lifestyle and would love to hear your ideas. Got a van life hack? Comment below or contact us.
After a month on the road, Dan and I have learned a few things. One of them is: cleaning up after a fancy meal doesn’t work so well in a van. Another is skimping on filling, nutritious meals is a coward’s way out. Our budget (such as it is) doesn’t allow for dining out very often. So we’ve been working to simplify our meal prep while enjoying a variety healthy, delicious meals.
Enter the bag salad!
At home, I went to local farm stands, bought seasonal veggies and made salads from scratch, the dressing too. But now that we are on the road, we can’t always find fresh veggies, let alone locally grown ones, and our fridge space is limited. But we are not salad snobs. Bag salad more than fills this gap.
By “bag salad” I mean the instant, themed salads found in the vegetable aisle of any grocery store. $3-$4 gets us one full-on healthy(ish) meal!
We dress up our bag salads with whatever fresh ingredients and proteins we have. The “Southwest” variety is awesome with fresh avocado, salsa, green or jalapeno peppers, black beans and chopped cilantro.
Or add apple and broccoli to the “Sweet Kale” chopped salad kit. If you are so inclined, grill chicken or fish on the campfire and add them to your bag salad… or throw in some tuna.
Don’t like the sugar-added packaged dressing that comes with these “kits”? Use your own oil and vinegar. So easy. So healthy. So filling! And there’s only a few bowls to clean.
On a road trip, camping or van-living? Consider the lowly bag salad. It is a money/hassle saving hack we use at least twice a week.
