Prius Hilton #10: The One with the Food
Hello again. I’m on month five of Prius-living, and still going strong. I believe I’ve been overdue for a blog update though.
The Goal
One of my vanity goals from the beginning was to feel confident that I could comfortably live long-term out of my Prius without all of the conveniences provided by my workplace. By far, the most significant benefit (in this context) I get from my job is the free, healthy food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during the weekdays. Eating out is fine, just not for every meal…
Non-perishables
The obvious first step was to start off with non-perishables. Snacks like chips and nuts are nice and easy, but aren’t primary sources of food. For the times I just need a small “meal”, like post-workout after dinner, I have a stash of protein bars. I’m a big fan of these Clif Bars:
It’s important to store these away from direct sunlight — the chocolate will melt 😑… I keep mine in the pocket on the back side of the passenger seat.
Another quick-n-easy meal I considered was Soylent — a meal replacement drink which comes in powder or pre-made bottle packaging. I’ve actually gone through a few Soylent phases (bottles) in the last couple years. The convenience is great, and I don’t mind the taste. What turned me off of it though, were several bouts of stomach issues which correlated strongly with my Soylent consumption. If I were in a desperate situation though, I would consider going back to it (or another meal replacement). However, I likely would go with the powder format instead since plastic bottles present a problem (explanation in the next section…).
Water
I have a 40 oz Hydro Flask [1] (stainless steel) water bottle which I always carry with me, and fill up whenever I have the chance. However, if I head home early, and therefore spend more time in my car, I sometimes need more than just the 40 oz. Some of the water is used for brushing my teeth, but I also drink a good amount of water in general (around 15 cups / day).
Initially, I kept plastic water bottles in the car as backup. I knew that keeping plastic bottles in hot cars presented a health problem, but I hoped that the cool SF weather and keeping my windows open a crack would mitigate this.
To validate my belief, I ordered a SensorPush device [2] which tracks the temperature and humidity throughout the day and syncs data to an app via bluetooth. I stuck it onto the inside of the roof with the provided adhesive.
I’m pretty happy with the simplicity of the setup and the functionality of the app. The downside is that it’s fairly pricy; it’s essentially a glorified thermometer for $50. I’d recommend looking at cheaper options before purchasing this one, though I’d buy it again myself if I had to do it over.
I was surprised at how hot it got — regularly pushing into the 120s (F). In response, I replaced the plastic water bottles with an additional 40 oz Hydro Flask, rotating usage with my previous one. Now I have 80 oz of water storage which keeps well in heat.
Perishables
The biggest game-changer to the #PriusHilton life has been the addition of an ice cooler. After some research, I decided to go with the 25 Quart Engel roto-molded cooler [3].
The main considerations were:
- Ice Retention: The high-end, roto-molded design is the way to go. This specific cooler promised 10 days of ice retention — but of course you won’t get that in practice, since it depends on things like quality / amount of ice, outside temperature, number of times it’s opened, etc.
- Price: I paid the hefty $160 price tag, since it should last awhile and even a minor decrease in ice replenishing frequency saves a lot of time in the long run. Yeti is the “name-brand” (or at least the original) high-end cooler, but other brands (eg. Engel) perform just as well — if not better — and can cost significantly less.
- Size: I chose the largest size which would fit in the backseat footwell under the head of the bed. It wasn’t quite tall enough on it’s own to support the bed, but that’s not a problem. Just take a measuring tape, figure out how much more height you need, and take a trip to Target and start measuring things which can support a heavy cooler. I ended up getting two small container baskets for a few bucks which prop up the cooler to the perfect height.
The reason I placed in in the footwell was so that I have easy access from the living room (the backseat behind the driver’s seat). Access is covered by the bed, but it’s very easy to prop up the trifold mattress.
As an ice cooler amateur, I started off using bagged ice from Safeway. This has two significant downsides. First, ice cubes have a much shorter lifetime than blocks of ice, since they melt faster. Second, they leave a puddle at the bottom of the cooler which requires draining with every cycle.
After a week of bagged ice, I switched to freezing water in plastic water bottles. These last longer than bagged ice, and they don’t make a mess. Also, it’s “free” since I can just use the freezer at work. The downside is that I wouldn’t be able to do this if I were on a road trip. I’d have to look into if any stores sell blocks of ice, or just bite the bullet and use bagged ice (it’s not the worst thing in the world). Later, I added a top layer of ice in the form of one of those segmented, foldable ice packs.
One of my worries with the cooler was making sure it was at refrigerator temperature levels. I ended up getting a second SensorPush for inside the cooler (wrapped in a Ziploc bag just in case, since it’s not water proof). Now, I know exactly how cold it is inside and can change the ice accordingly. The biggest surprise for me was how much the temperature varies depending on where I put the sensor. If you place it above the top ice pack, it could be 5+ degrees warmer than if it were below it. With my cooler usage, and wanting to stay on the safe side, I change the ice every 3 days. Changing ice bottles / packs is fast and easy.
Here’s a sample of what I consume from the cooler in a typical week:
- cheese wrapped in salami
- yogurt
- baby carrots
- pre-washed fruit
- jam (for pb & j’s)
- sparkling apple cider
- beer
Cooking
With a pseudo-refrigerator operational, being able to cook over a fire was the last piece of the puzzle. Influenced by another Prius-dweller’s video [4], I bought a specific mini butane stove, though I’m going to replace it soon. I couldn’t order butane canisters off of Amazon (location-based shipping restrictions), and Sports Basement didn’t even have them — I had to go to some Chinese hardware store in the Richmond, on advice from one of the employees, in order to get any. Also, the flame is fairly exposed and takes awhile to cook anything when it’s cold and windy. The appeal of this particular model is the small size, but I’m not constrained on storage space at all.
Nevertheless, I have prepared a few quality breakfast meals with it.
I haven’t tried cooking anything other than eggs yet — I think I’d want a larger stove first. Other than that though, I don’t think there’s any logistical reason why I couldn’t stove-cook other dishes.
As far as the kitchen setup, I purchased a really nifty foldable table [5] (pictured above) and a stool [6] (not pictured above). Both of these fit very nicely in the trunk (don’t get the version of the stool with the back-seat — it doesn’t fit well).
Conclusion
Adding the ice cooler definitively improved my quality of life. Always having food available saves time and takes some of the stress away, even if it’s not the healthiest or tastiest option.
Realistically, if I didn’t have food from work, I would still be eating out once a day or so and be happy with the tradeoff. Cooking would likely be reserved for the weekends when I’m not constrained on time. It’s feasible I would meal-prep on the weekends for the coming week, but that would depend heavily on how effective a larger stove would be.
Continue reading:
- [1] Hydro Flask: https://www.hydroflask.com/
- [2] SensorPush: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AEQ9X9I
- [3] Engel Cooler: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0078T3E2M
- [4] Stove video: https://youtu.be/C42CJpp99rI
- [5] Table: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HKCXVWU
- [6] Stool: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00339911O
