Losing the battle with ice in my cooler

[rhondaweasley]

So I got an affordable igloo cooler to keep in my car. I don't want to worry about buying a 12 volt fridge until after I successfully save for and move into a van. Right now, I'm loosing the ice battle and I just threw a bunch of food away (waste of money) because the ice was melting faster than I could buy more. I've mostly given up on having fridge foods and sticking with fresh food since I'm mostlyrolling stealth in the city. I have a few can food items, some top ramen (quick heat and eat on my camping stove in the park), and try to have a bag of fruit around the car in my "pantry" container. Should I just give up on having "fridge required to preserve" items and stick with a no-fridge-needed pantry style of food storage (with the exception of things bought day of and eaten right away?) If so, I'd rather gain back the space taken up by the cooler.

 

[LoupGarou]

Until I purchased a Dometic fridge I used a Coleman ice chest. The ice seemed to last longer when I poured it into a plastic bucket placed inside the cooler. The bucket contained the ice and water keeping my food items dry. It would hold two small bags of ice or one large one.

As the ice melted, I’d lift the bucket out, pour off the water and add new ice. The melted ice water was used for washing dishes. It wasn’t the cost of the ice that drove me to purchase the Dometic fridge, but the inconvenience of purchasing the ice.

 

[tripper]

Yes, for stealthing the city just get fresh food. Being in the city you have easy access to fresh foods and supermarkets. I do love ramen though! If you youtube ramen recipes there is a lot of amazing ramen dishes. Eggs store very well unrefrigerated and really add to ramen. A cooler in a car is a nightmare it takes up like 1/4 of the space.

 

[ClassyGlobal]

Fresh foods, shelf stable, heat & eat, shelf stable nut milks (must be consumed soon after opening), low sodium can goods, dry goods are the best way to go, pre-cooked foods foods like precooked rice or pasta lasts for a while...

Getting away from the idea of HOLDING ON (hoarding)to food till you're ready to eat is a habit hard to break. SOME of van/car/mobile life is about living in the moment away from the sticks & bricks mentality of KEEPING things. SOME!!!!! of it!

If you're working, you may try purchasing a handful of reusable cooler/freezer packs from BigLots or ***DollarTree***. Freeze them at work & put them in your cooler to help alleviate some of the liquid issues. Also putting your food in shallow small aluminum baking pans to keep them out of the water.

FWIW

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

I could double the life of my ice by wrapping the ice chest in a sleeping bag and keeping it out of the sun.

 . . . Getting away from the idea of HOLDING ON (hoarding)to food till you're ready to eat is a habit hard to break . . .

It is much more expensive to buy for single meals or single days.  Plus a lot of fresh foods are not available in small packages and it gets expensive fast if you are throwing out spoiled veggies every couple of days.

 

[capt_caveman]

Top ramen recipes really cheap filling food 

 Uncle Beens makes microwave rice packs precooked you can heat them up in a skillet I mix caned corn beef hash,tuna any meat you like  even cream of chicken ,mushroom,potato .
 
I know can food is not the best thing for you but where all trying to make it save money and live are way we need to adjust to are situation and environment .

 

[travlinman and wife]

Shin ramen is a much better nutritional food than regular ramen. It is a bigger bag and has different spice bag. It cost a little bit more but taste much better and is hotter if you like spice foods. But can only be found in some oriential food market.

 

[Groovy2]

I made a insulated shell for my ice chest from polyiso foam board
glued to ice chest using spray foam insulation as glue-
made ice last 3 times longer -

also keep ice in plastic container so food does not get wet -
like others have said - much better -

also there is defiantly colder Ice at different stores
some stores ice will be 30ish degrees( not good)
to some places will be as cold as 8 degrees (much better)

 

[rhondaweasley]

I like all the suggestions of wrapping the cooler in someway and if I wasn't in a car, I wouldn't worry about the footprint increase, but as it is it's taking up a lot of car space and leading to way too much running to the store for ice, I might cut it loose. The only refrigeration I'm sad about losing is cheese and milk. I will eat both daily enough that a few days storage isn't trying to keep them chill super long, but even small packages of cheese/milk are becoming a bother. So I may just hold off on trying to keep even a small amount of refrigerated items for the moment. I love the size of my cooler and anything that would make it bigger would make me unhappy.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Cheese-Whiz and powdered milk!

 

[wasanah2]

Cheese-Whiz and powdered milk!

Oh man, that cheese-whiz is habit forming.  I love that stuff.   Crackers are just an excuse to eat it.

What did they do in the old days to make cheese, like before refrigeration?  I was watching a documentary on Mongolians and they dry their cheese in thick slices on top of their yurts.  They don't use rennet to make it but they use kefir, and I don't know what that is.   They just toss it on the roof and hopefully some birds don't come and feast on it.  Then they pack it away and soak it a bit before using.  I suppose it gets pretty dry up on the roof.  The link is to a pic of what the slices look like.  There's no refrigeration used in the entire process.

http://mongolian-tours.com/mn/images/tours/food3.jpg

Now Mongolians are primo at nomadic living.  If they can make cheese and keep it, I bet you could find out how they do it.

 

[wasanah2]

Getting away from the idea of HOLDING ON (hoarding)to food till you're ready to eat is a habit hard to break.  SOME of van/car/mobile life is about living in the moment away from the sticks & bricks mentality of KEEPING things.  SOME!!!!! of it!

Now THAT is profound.

 

[regis101]

Personally, Rhonda, I think you answered your own question. Don't worry about the cooler.
You'll be healthier with the hunter/gatherer mentality.

 

[Beeps and eats]

If you don't have refrigeration your better off keeping it simple. Buy just enough for a meal if it needs to be cooled. And don't forget to look at canned fish, and meats.
They aren't as tasty but you are getting protein and that's important. Also fruits and vegetables store well. And there's healthy snack foods in bags that keep.
I have adopted a European shopping habbit. Buy the meals for the day and a little something to snack on and as long as you are city dwelling it's actually great!
Your not stuck eating leftovers! And you can eat what you have a taste for.
Hope this helps. Good luck a shopping.
Beeps.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

 

[tx2sturgis]

 Crackers are just an excuse to eat it.

Now THAT is profound....pardon me while I go raid the pantry....

 

[Almost There]

No one has mentioned finding a source of block ice rather than using the cubes.

A block of ice may cost a bit more but will last 3 to 40 times longer than ice cubes.

If you absolutely can't find a source for block ice buy the cubes but do NOT drop them to break them up. Let them be a 'block' of ice. Grab the oldest bag in the freezer because it's likely to be 'more frozen' than the new stuff.

Also shop around and test various stores ice. A lot of the freezers are kept at a temperature that barely keeps the ice frozen, find the one that keeps the ice hard.

I second keeping the ice in a plastic container so that you can keep the food from floating. Leave the ice cold water in the container until you must empty it or risk overflow! The cold water helps keep more ice from melting.

 

[MrNoodly]

Getting away from the idea of HOLDING ON (hoarding)to food till you're ready to eat is a habit hard to break

In a lot of cultures they go to the market daily. Sure, they keep a few staple items around, but they don't stockpile.

 

[Dingfelder]

Can you eat fresh morning and night and have stockpile type food for your other meals and snacks?

I mean, if you buy veggies for dinner and also enough to include in a breakfast, what you buy probably won't have gone bad by the time breakfast comes around.

 

[bullfrog]

The lodge where I'm at doesn't mind if you get a gallon bag of ice from their ice machine. Some places that sell fountain drinks will let you fill your drink cup for free if you buy a sandwich. I have used cupons for Subway and for $5 gotten a 12" sandwich and enough ice to keep 1/2 of it cold for a second meal. Maybe a smaller better insulated cooler would work better for you?

 

[ClassyGlobal]

Block ice is a good idea @Almost There!!! Also keeping loose ice in larger SEALED bag won't eliminate condensate but minimize swimming/ruined food or again sealed reusable freeze packs -

Someone mentioned canned meats! My dad used to sauté mackerel/salmon w/ onions & potatoes/rice. Never knew it was canned 'til I was grown, walking down a grocery aisle. SUPER YUMMMY low cost, quick, easy & no fridge meal.