If you’re a real foodie like Jim and I are, be aware that gourmet cooking in an RV can be a challenge. Not impossible (especially if your rig is large), but as we have discovered, making our favorite recipes while living with an RV kitchen requires some patience and creativity.
It’s simple; in a rig our size, there isn’t enough room to carry all of the spices, appliances and utilities that one needs to prepare certain foods. Since hitting the road, we have had some interesting times in the kitchen;
- Once, we fried some fish, and nearly burnt down the RV. The smell also lasted quite a while.
- We tried to make our favorite falafel, and later Indian food, but doing so stank up everything in the rig for days.
- Recently I thought I’d make homemade pesto. After I got the basil prepped, I remembered that a food processor for this recipe is key, and we don’t have one. I chopped for at least an hour, gave up, and almost threw the basil out, until Jim’s patience and chopping expertise saved the day. And his creativity; see the Marge Simpson resemblance in the photo?
- We have often gotten better results from packaged products, for the amount of time and effort dedicated to making a recipe from scratch.
Without the right tools and space, making many of our favorite recipes just can’t be done. However, this doesn’t mean we have to get a big enough rig to carry them all, with a big enough range and bigger fridge, and storage, and more, and more. No, we’ll stick with simplicity, and the occasional Knorr spice packet.
When it comes to RV cooking, remember, you can make what you like . . but you might make big mess too.
Or, you can find decent prepackaged foods and preparations, without packing along all the ingredients, utensils and resulting extra weight just to make them once and a while.
Remember, it’s great living with less, to get more out of life!
Ive seen you guyz cook up gourmet meals on a pack stove so don’t gimme this our kitchen is too small crap 😉
And if you cook outside you will not smell up the place for days >:D
Uhhh… you could call our journey the Trader Joe’s Tour. We’re always on the lookout for the next one. It’s the only place where packaged foods are more than just packaged foods.
Ahhh yes…the kitchen. I, unlike you, decided that my food processor was a must have 🙂 I have a miniature one that I LOVE. I use it to make hummus. You should check it out…Target has them. Very small footprint 🙂 I sacrificed a few other things to make room for more kitchen goodies. And it’s funny, because I rarely cook (we’re always eating at someone’s house)…but I love having it when I need it.
We have also resorted to more packaged foods…which pains me, but I figure it’s only for a “season”. I just try to make sure it’s organic packaged food 🙂 If you come across a Trader Joe’s in your travels…be sure to check the frozen appetizer section for little goat cheese and caramelized onion tarts and raspberry/goat cheese rolls (wrapped in phylo dough). We are staying with some friends who live on a boat…and she made these little things in her little boat oven. They rocked my world.
When we downsized for the RV, we had to pick our “stuff” carefully. Four place settings, one big kitchen knife, one wooden spoon, one spatula, etc. Same went for clothing. At first it seemed like there was no way we could live with so few possessions, but now our lives are so much easier with so much less crap to think about. I love it!
And hey, congrats again on the new digs (you had us worried!) and getting a good night’s sleep again (after the caffeine wears off).
What Jim said.. goes for us too, as you two know. We’re in an apartment now that’s basically the size of an RV, and loving it. Hard to cook though. The kitchen is tiny, so I can relate to this post.
What a coincidence that today’s Weekend America targeted the Consumer’s Dilemma, asking What are your ideas for getting more (fill in the blank) by using less (fill in the blank)?
Personally, I’m willing to get more quality out of life by giving up the need to have so much more stuff. How ’bout you?