Nothing says "time to provision" like a broken fridge :S

10 points to whoever got my Simpsons reference in this blog description ;)

Soooooo many jobs to be prepared for our first ocean passage (from Norfolk, Virginia to Bermuda)…we are so tired. Feeling slightly nauseous, either from fear, stress, lack of restful sleep or a beautiful cocktail of all 3. One such job is provisioning. The first trip was really a bit spontaneous and I grabbed some of the most obvious items but got overwhelmed reeeeaaaallllly fast and decided I needed a much clearer head when approaching this task.

The grocery receipts are longer than the kids - this day the woman at the checkout laughed when it printed. LAUGHED. Also that’s me in the background trying to find places to stash the loot.

AAANNNNDDDDDD guess what? I got back from that first provisioning trip to find that our boat no longer had a functioning fridge! SUPER EFFING DUPER. Freezer works - thank goodness. So Liam and I spent a good amount of time dicing and chopping veggies to put in the freezer (this was the plan but also thank goodness this was the plan)…we did have some items we just needed for the week that had to be cool but we put a block of ice in our kick ass Engel cooler and put in the eggs and some dairy. But SRSLY??? We are less than 2 weeks away from departure and our fridge dies. Now the optimist in me says it’s probably minor and fixable so better to know now than when we are further from help. However, that other voice, which speaks an octave higher, says WE ONLY HAVE 2 WEEKS AND LAST TIME IT TOOK SOMEONE THAT AMOUNT OF TIME TO SHOW UP HERE AND AS MUCH AS I AM A GOOD COOK I’D REALLY BE ABLE TO MAKE BETTER MEALS IF WE HAD A WORKNG FRIDGE NOT TO MENTION WE HAVE THIS LOVELY BOAT AND HAVE PUT IN SO MUCH TIME AND EFFORT IT REALLY PISSES ME OFF TO HAVE TO EAT LIKE WE ARE CAMPING.

Ok rant over. Someone said they will come early next week and I will update you then. Until then we will trip over the cooler and simultaneously be grateful for it.

Pre-provisioning work was a bit of comparison shopping but honestly I’m not patient enough (nor do I have enough time) to run all over Maryland to save a few cents on jarred applesauce…nevertheless I have been thinking about this task for awhile and… — Pre-provisioning work was a bit of comparison shopping but honestly I’m not patient enough (nor do I have enough time) to run all over Maryland to save a few cents on jarred applesauce…nevertheless I have been thinking about this task for awhile and have been on the look-out…

Planning for a family of 5 to eat every day isn’t hard per se but it does require a certain amount of effort (planning, purchasing, producing). Planning for a family of 5 to eat, while at sea, without a soul in sight let alone a grocery store…for weeks, plus 3 additional adult crew, requires some additional effort. To say the least.

I am a bit of an organizing nerd when it comes to lists of stuff. I have written about to-do list several times already. But this planning is some next level sh*t! I’ve learned from others who sail about how they provision but I’ve yet to come across a person who has done it for more than a couple or a couple and a couple of friends. I know they are out there…and I know why I don’t hear them…they are busy provisioning for their hoard.

So here is how I tackled this beast in order to approach trip 2/4:

1) Plan Meals. I started with 15 unique dinners with sides, 12 unique lunches and a wide variety of breakfast options (10 or so), snacks and stuff for Greg when he gets low (he’s a Type 1 Diabetic). Within my family of 5 I do not allow people to opt out of meals they don’t like - I’m kinda cold that way. I make it = you eat it. Now, if someone has a reasonable aversion I won’t put that item in every meal (e.g. Liam doesn’t like mushrooms so we don’t eat a TON of them, the girls don’t like spicy stuff so we dial it down in chilis); however, if someone doesn’t like something that is a staple in the house I subscribe to a “you will learn to like it” attitude. Case in point, Aden CLAIMS she doesn’t like oatmeal….yet eats it every morning almost and about 50% of the time (unconsciously in her innocent way) says “I really like this oatmeal!”. Sometimes I gently remind her that she indeed does like oatmeal (sometimes less gently) and yet EVERY MORNING she protests. What is my point here beside being irritated about Aden saying she doesn’t like oatmeal when she actually does and I can’t understand why she has to put me through this everyday?? My point is that with a few extra people on board I don’t want to force people to eat things they don’t like and therefore have tried to come up with meals that will please everyone but not be boring or stuff I hate to make. Greg’s dad is the real wild card here. Once existing mostly on hamburgers and ice cream, Bill is now on the healthy train (regardless of what he eats he is insanely fit…I hope Greg has inherited his metabolism) but still…I’m not sure how well some of our meals will go over with him, having only recently onboarded things like tofu or cashew milk (that’s to the patient and persistent Diane).

A glimpse of my master list…doesn’t looks to awesome but it actually is :P

2) Identify Required Ingredients. This was a bit of a pain since I usually free-ball it in the kitchen / galley. I have a loose plan or inspiration for dinner, combine that with what I have around me, and then go for it. Identifying the required ingredients for these meals actually required me to think each item through in advance and even look up a few recipes. I must admit I feel a bit of pressure to make GOOD food since we have 3 additional crew who will be hungry (provided they aren’t seasick). I usually make good food but not every meal is a home run…so rather than taking a chance with a free-balling chickpea coconut curry and have it tasting a bit muddy, I looked up a few recipes to ensure I don’t miss something that would make it extra special :) I stopped short of actual recipes though - I don’t like anyone telling me what to do, even in print. I also want to keep things simple, and quick, and preferably not using multiple pots and pans. When it came to snacks there was also the texture and caloric density to consider. I didn’t want crunchy stuff to get stale, didn’t want stuff that would take up too much room for a one-time-use (e.g. bags of chips are a hard no) but did want snacks that would be rich, flavourful and satisfying when you want to (or need) grab something in between meals. Liz (biz partner and buddy) was a huge help with the snack ideas as she tapped into her elevated-camping-as-an-adult-who-doesn’t-want-to-eat-hotdogs knowledge.

The result of trip 2/4…avoiding fridge items on this trip given the…ahem…lack of fridge :S

3) Combine Required Ingredients into Master List and (eliminate duplicates). Pretty self-explanatory except there are 2 problems with this step. 1) I don’t have a sense of volume when I see “eggs” listed 4 times and 2) the Master List of Required Ingredients doesn’t reconcile with stuff I already have (e.g. like the huge jar of smoked paprika Diane gave me, or the 33lbs of oatmeal we brought back from Canada) so in order to do this step properly we had to do an inventory alongside this required list. Liam was helpful with this and in this step we also started to rearrange stuff a bit…such as moving cans into the bilge after having written their contents on the lid with Sharpie Markers and taking off the labels. In terms of the volume problem, I think I am going to wing it a bit…I have a sense of how much of “x” I will need for the meals that require “x'“…I also have a sense of how much space I have to work with on the boat….both of those with dictate volume. I had “almond milk” down on the list, I bought 15 cartons of almond milk…we will likely use them all but I don’t currently have a plan for 15 cartons of almond milk…I also didn’t have room for 40 cartons of almond milk if we wanted to eat something other than overnight oats. The other thing this step lacks is anything else we might want that isn’t a formal breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack ingredient…the one-offs, the random items like peppermint tea, mouthwash, tampons, paper towel and white vinegar for cleaning.

The wonderful Diane made a special trip (at a last minute request) to Sport Chek when I realized these sport chews and sport gels were MUCH less expensive in Canada. These are very useful when Greg is low since they are high in sugar, taste good (a… — The wonderful Diane made a special trip (at a last minute request) to Sport Chek when I realized these sport chews and sport gels were MUCH less expensive in Canada. These are very useful when Greg is low since they are high in sugar, taste good (as in not too sweet, easy to swallow when you feel like sh*t, are quickly absorbed and are super portable. He has other things he uses as well but these are awesome.

So the reality is that provisioning is a combination of my Master List and also going to the stores that have stuff….and buying stuff as I walk up and down the aisles and decide if that item would be useful or important. It’s not a perfect science. At least not this time…if all goes well I hope I have years of provisioning ahead of me and I will have it down to a level of precision such as: 34.5 cans of chickpeas, 13 red peppers, 25lbs of flour, 2.5 lbs of green lentils…and 4.5L of Sailor Jerry ;)

We are officially done 2/4 trips (i’m anticipating 4 at least) and here’s to hoping that by the time we do #3 our fridge is back in action.