Our two-week RVing menu - plus tips when meal planning for large groups
Earlier this summer we took off on a two-week RVing trip through the Northern Rockies region of the US. The whole trip was with my parents and little sister in their own RV. We stopped at seven campgrounds along a 2,000+ mile route exploring National Parks.
We all enjoy trying local foods while we travel, but with COVID-19 ever-present, we decided it would be best to keep our eating out to a minimum. For ease of getting on the road, most breakfasts were separate with the exception of a few. Lunches were a little tricky because they needed to be on the road when our RV was pulled into a rest stop. Since we do enjoy eating dinner together, we made that a priority, and with my parents being keto and keto-ish, as well as my own family being EXTREMELY picky we needed dinners that would be easily adaptable to different dietary needs and desires.
This is an actual cut and paste of the menu we planned - I was in charge of planning this whole trip so the extra information added in was to help make sure everyone was on the same page, plus some extra info for you, if you happen to be planning for several groups.
TIPS:
I like to pre-prep a lot of our food at home and put it in the RV freezer so it’s easy to thaw, heat, and eat as we go.
While preparing food at camp, make extras for another meal. For example, we make double the pancakes and keep them in the freezer for another meal. We also double our taco dinners for later because we love tacos.
Keep things simple when planning group meals - assign each couple/family their own part of the meal to take care of - main item, side dish(es), salad, or dessert. Everyone brings their own drinks, plates, and flatware.
Put groups in charge of the item they are pickiest about - for this reason my parents were in charge of the main item for most meals. Typically a protein because they are keto. Plus, my group gets cranky about too many veggies so I usually have to prepare extra sides like mashed potatoes or macaroni and cheese.
When we aren’t familiar with an area we are traveling to we usually rely on Yelp to help us find a popular spot to eat. We rarely eat at chain restaurants as we appreciate local flavors.
Pay attention to how far you’re traveling and whether or not you’ll want to cook once you arrive at camp. That would be a good time for leftovers or exploring the new town and eating out or grabbing to-go.
Sunday, June 21 - Home to Buffalo, WY
Breakfast - muffins, yogurt, & strawberries (very early start - on the road)
Lunch - club sandwiches, Chex mix, & baby carrots (on the road)
Dinner - smash burgers (on the Blackstone) with chips and salad
Monday, June 22 - Buffalo, WY to Billings, MT (Grocery Day)
Breakfast - pancakes (on the Blackstone), eggs, bacon, & strawberries
Lunch - cold Hawaiian ham sliders & grapes (on the road)
Dinner - out to eat in Billings - we ended up at Montana Brewing Company, it was good
Tuesday, June 23 - Billings, MT to West Glacier, MT
Breakfast - breakfast burritos (pre-made at home) or yogurt & muffins
Lunch - hot dogs, chips, & watermelon - this was the plan, but then we saw Panda Express right by the gas station and the craving took over
Dinner - grilled steak, garlic parmesan green beans, & salad (macaroni and cheese for the picky people)
Wednesday, June 24 - West Glacier
Breakfast - Lazy Bear Cafe - little restaurant at the campground, very good and huge portions
Lunch - PB&J, string cheese, & apples (easy picnic while visiting Glacier National Park)
Dinner - giant meatballs (pre-made at home), basil parmesan orzo, & steamed broccoli
Thursday, June 25 - West Glacier
Breakfast - homemade egg mc muffins (pre-made at home) & grapes
Lunch - chicken soft tacos (made in the Instant Pot at camp) & watermelon
Dinner - surf & turf, baked potatoes, & strawberry shortcake for dessert
Friday, June 26 - West Glacier, MT to Gallatin, MT
Breakfast - oatmeal/cereal and bananas (needed easy cleanup during packing up)
Lunch - BBQ turkey sandwiches, chips, & baby carrots (on the road)
Dinner - baked ziti with extra Italian sausage, salad, & garlic bread
Saturday, June 27 - Gallatin, MT (Grocery Day)
Breakfast - Y.O.Y.O. (you’re on your own) - we went separate ways this morning for different activities so it was grab and go for most everyone. My sister, my kids, and I ended up in Big Sky, MT. They grabbed to-go items from Blue Moon Bakery and I had a breakfast burrito from Caliber Coffee that I still dream about. It was life-changing.
Lunch - lunch in Bozeman - we ate at Backcountry Burger Bar, highly recommend.
Dinner - ground beef soft tacos, rice, & black beans (or taco salad for keto people)
Sunday, June 28 - Gallatin, MT to West Yellowstone, MT
Breakfast - our plan was to eat at the campground, but the cafe was still closed due to COVID, luckily we had picked up several small loaves of local banana bread, blueberry bread, and lemon bread at a recent stop so we had those with some fruit and warmed up bacon.
Lunch - hot dogs, chips, & watermelon (at the next camp, because we didn’t have to travel far)
Dinner - grilled pork tenderloin, rice pilaf & garlic parmesan green beans
Monday, June 29 - West Yellowstone, MT
Breakfast - homemade egg mc muffins (pre-made at home) & oranges
Lunch - charcuterie-style picnic (in Yellowstone National Park)
Dinner - eat out in West Yellowstone - we had Beartooth Barbecue, so good. I loved their grits!
Tuesday, June 30 - West Yellowstone, MT to Moran, WY (small grocery stop)
Breakfast - pancakes (on the Blackstone), bacon, eggs, & blueberries
Lunch - bagels with cream cheese & apples (on the road)
Dinner - steak kabobs and (Instant Pot) corn on the cob
Wednesday, July 1 - Moran, WY
Breakfast - breakfast bowls & oranges
Lunch - eating out in Jackson, WY (commonly known as Jackson Hole) - we ate at Pinky G’s Pizzeria, it was very good, but hard for me to recommend because the service was exceptionally horrible. I hope it was due to COVID, go at your own risk.
Dinner - we had planned to eat out because we expected to be running low on food, but the opposite was true, we still had a ton of food in our fridges so we went back to the campground and made up a random smorgasbord.
Thursday, July 2 - Moran, WY to Laramie, WY
Breakfast - cereal/oatmeal & bananas
Lunch - PB&J, goldfish crackers, string cheese, & grapes (on the road)
Dinner - no plans - we ordered to-go from a Mexican restaurant, it was not good
Friday, July 3 - Laramie, WY to Home
Breakfast - whatever is left in the RV - oatmeal, bagels, cereal, yogurt, etc.
Lunch - if you’ve seen any of my other meal plans you know that we like to time DoorDash so we have food waiting for us when we get home. It was necessary for trips like this when your fridge is empty. Freezer meals in your home fridge are also a great idea, especially if you get sick of restaurant meals easily.
As you can see we pre-planned a few grocery stops along the way in the larger cities. I chose to do this because we really appreciate fresh fruits and vegetables on a regular basis, plus we watch our raw meat very closely especially when traveling like this, so we don’t buy too much at a time. I think we did a fairly good job sticking to our menu plan. And everyone enjoyed what we planned, except for my pickiest child, of course. The only thing I would change if we were to do it again would be to get more creative with our lunches, sandwiches got boring pretty fast when combined with lots of burgers.
