The food thing

One thing I love about vandwelling is that it’s all about solving problems creatively. Sometimes it takes me awhile, though. Like, a LONG while.

I had this big fantasy before I started out: I would get healthy.

I would get in shape by doing fun things like hiking! And canoeing! And, what the heck, mountain climbing!

Just to make sure, I would get a dog who would be my personal trainer!

And I would get skinny at last by having green smoothies every day, made with my solar-powered blender!

Well, one thing came true: I got a dog

Scout makes me walk twice a day but not very far, and then she naps. We both nap quite a bit, actually, which is awesome but not very aerobic.

Food has been much more of a problem than I ever imagined. Not that it’s hard to find, not by a long shot. Fast food, convenience food, supermarkets, delis, restaurants — the temptations are everywhere you go. Since you’re out in the world instead of safely tucked away in a sticks & bricks, they are always in your face.

And because cooking is more complicated in a van, it is all too easy to give in and head for the nearest Carl’s Jr. again… and what the hell, order that chocolate malt. Just this one time.

I have gained back all the weight I lost before I started out two years ago. Worse, I’ve been feeling like crap, just like I did back then. I’ve had sugar-triggered headaches almost every day that I’ve fought off with too much aspirin, caffeine, and yes, more sugar.

Stock photo of a green smoothie for you to look at because the one shot I thought to take isn’t very pretty.

I tried everything I could think of, except the one thing I know that works for me: green smoothies. They are how I lost that weight to begin with, because they kill sugar/carb craving in its tracks. Back then, I filled up so much on leafy greens and fruit that there just wasn’t room for burgers, fries, and chocolate malts.

Not only that, I regained the good health that I thought I’d lost forever.

But once I got on the road, the power required by the blender was just too much for my house battery, solar panel, and inverter.

Then, a very generous friend loaned me a high-powered inverter that seemed to solve the problem — except by then, I was deep in the throes of carb addiction.

Everything involved with green smoothies felt like too much work, from finding organic produce in small-town America to keeping it fresh in the cooler to cleaning it (and the blender) without a sink or running water in the van. And even with that high-powered inverter, I didn’t feel confident that my 100-watt solar panel could consistently feed enough sunlight into it for the blender.

“Soon,” I told myself, not very convincingly. Eventually, ‘soon’ turned to ‘later.’ ‘Later’ turned to ‘forgotten.’

I got tired of buying ice for the cooler and watching my expensive organic produce go bad while day after day, I found myself back at Carl’s Jr. So I gave up altogether.

Hitting bottom

Flash forward: there is nothing like pain for motivation. The headaches were almost nonstop. Nothing I tried got rid of them. I was desperate for relief.

That’s when I remembered green smoothies. The same old questions popped up, of course.

“But– but what about power? What about organic produce? What about clean-up?”

This time, I had answers.

• A few months ago, my son’s mechanic friend hooked up my house battery to the van’s starter battery, along with something called an isolator, that charges the house battery when the engine is running. I could just turn on the engine for a few minutes while I ran the blender. Problem solved
• Turns out organic produce is available in most of the markets I’ve shopped in since I hit the road. It’s not always the best quality, though, so for a back-up I can invest in freeze-dried organic fruits and veggies online.
• Not only that, I can sprout my own greens — which, believe it or not, are even more nutritious than organic leafy greens. Problem solved
• But the final stumbling block, the complications of peeling and cutting and blending and clean-up, all inside the confines of this van that is not set up for food prep, had me stumped. Problem not solved — yet

So a few days ago, I decided to try making a green smoothie in the van as an experiment, to find out exactly how much of a hassle it really is. Thinking of it as an experiment instead of a New Rule to Live By melted my resistance.

What the hell, might as well try it, right?

I searched the web and found a great green smoothies blog with lots of recipes (and bought their book.) More than the recipes, I needed the motivation and encouragement to get back on track.

I went to a health food store and bought spinach, a mango, a cucumber, and some basil. (Luckily, I am in a big city where it’s easy to find organic produce. When I head back to the desert, I’ll be prepared with the freeze-dried kind.) I picked up a bag of ice too, and put the cooler back in business.

The inverter is in the back behind the bed, next to the battery, on two very short cables. The blender has a very short cord. So I set up the blender motor on top of the inverter and plugged it in.

Then, I gathered everything I would need — blender cup, knife, flexible silicone cutting board, ingredients, dishpan — and put them all in a sturdy plastic basket, creating an easily stowed smoothie ‘kit’ that would make the whole operation much simpler in the future.

I cut up the fruit, packed the blender with spinach, and turned on the van’s engine.

I made a smoothie

See? Not pretty.

It was neither as hard as expected nor as delicious — I added too much water. But otherwise, it was a total success, and clean-up was easy.

I have made two more smoothies since then, refining the process as I went along, and they tasted fantastic. I haven’t wanted a burger, fries, or a chocolate malt.

And today? I woke up without any trace of a headache. I feel good.

No excuses now — the smoothie kit is ready. I can do this wherever I go. So long, Carl’s Jr.!