RV Cooking Show - Incredible Annapolis and Maryland Steamed Shrimp

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest. We will then send you the stories that are posted each day in an e-mail digest. We use a service called Feedburner for delivery of these emails. You will receive an e-mail from Feedburner after you subscribe and you must click on that email to activate your subscription. Thanks for visiting and enjoy all the information!

RV.Net Blog Admin

Replete with big time history, fantastic food, shopping galore and their trademark City Dock, Annapolis has a lot to offer. What better way to spend a few days than wandering around this small city/big town soaking in the culture, enjoying the clink-clink-clink of sailboat masts and the sparkling blue Chesapeake Bay. This episode of the RV Cooking Show takes you on a fun tour of Annapolis, courtesy of our special RV Cooking Show guest – Annapolitian Mary Jane Eckert. And for all of you dog lovers out there don’t miss Mary’s tip on Annapolis’ premier dog park and beach!

Read more

Healthy Eating: A Few Simple Tips

By Lynn Difley

Are you tired of counting calories, carbohydrates, or sugar in each food item? Do you feel overwhelmed by all the contradictory information about what you should eat and what you should shun? We in America tend to follow the latest food fad, from low fat to low carb in a head-spinning short time.
Despite our obsession with eating healthy, we are growing steadily more obese and the unhealthy risk factors for chronic and life-threatening diseases are increasing. What’s a poor bloke to do?
Eat food. No joke, many of the items on our plates or our Styrofoam boxes are not food items at all, but a mixture of processed non-food items. Consider the ridiculous notion of Atkins bread–bread that has the least amount of what makes a bread a bread.

To make your own choices, follow this practice:

• Don’t eat anything with a list of ingredients you can’t pronounce, or do not recognize.
• Trans fats and high fructose corn syrup are two warning phrases that indicate that the food is far from the way Mother Nature created it.
• Eat food that you have cooked, or could cook.
• Eat food that your grandmother would recognize.

And Another thing

Downsize rather than super size. Our tendency is to listen to the advertisements that tout “less fat” “fewer calories” “low carbohydrates” and then give ourselves open season on the quantity. We are eating 300 more calories than we did in l985. That’s enough to gain a pound about every 11 days. Multiply that by a year, and you will find out why the trousers you bought two years ago have become tight.
A few other tips about overeating:

• Don’t eat in front of the TV, or computer.
• Avoid seconds.
• Shop and eat better quality, not greater quantity.
• A Super anything is not necessarily tasty, as a matter of fact, you may consume three times more calories in your desire to have it taste better.
• The better the quality of food you eat, the less you will need to feel satisfied.
• How about one tiny square of the finest chocolate? It will make you feel like royalty, as you consume it with full awareness and appreciation.

Plants vs Meat

Eat lots of plants. Meat is not the enemy, but the quantity of meat as well as its overemphasis is what causes problems. Small amounts of meat can be used, as in Mediterranean, Asian, Indian, or Mexican cuisine to flavor, rather than be the whole meal. You are not doing your arteries or your waistline any favor when you gobble down a 10 oz steak.
Appreciate your food. No matter what you eat, sit down and savor it. Life is too short not to include the simple joy of eating delicious real food, prepared with love and care, served with joy, and shared with loved ones.

Innovative Rotisserie Campfire Grill

Here is an innovative new product, from JnB Enterprises, that incorporates a motorized rotisserie grill for cooking over an open campfire. The Automatic Chef™ uses two D-size batteries, which provide 15-hours of operation, to slowly rotate a 22-inch diameter stainless steel grate. The whole thing packs-up into its own 19-inch by 25-inch carrying case, for safe storage and easy transportation.

There is nothing better than cooking over an open fire, and the Automatic Chef looks like a great way to free you up from constantly having to turn the food, in order to control the temperature. The height of the grate is adjustable via a stainless steel cable, and the arm extends from 22 to 30-inches to accommodate various fire-pit sizes. The entire assembly swivels on its ground stake, so you can rotate the grate away from the fire when adding or removing food - a nice feature.

An adjustable rotisserie grill for campfire cooking; Hop Sing never had it so good!

Happy camping!

A Great RV Add-on For Coffee Lovers

Sitting around a camp fire and drinking coffee just seems to go together.  Then again, for many of us, a good cup of java goes with any surroundings, like while you are driving your motor coach enjoying the scenic countryside.   Or even better, it helps pass the time when sitting in construction traffic. 

So, how do we get that rich fresh coffee flavor in every cup, and do this each and every time you desire?   There is only one way.  Make it fresh each time.  This in itself is not possible with a standard drip coffee machine, and pouring it manually each time may not be a feasible solution either.  The answer may be using a full blown European style café/cappuccino maker.  These units grind the beans, heat the water and fill a cup with the freshest coffee you will find, all in 30 seconds or so.

Having one of these on the counter of your motor coach will provide a delicious hot cup of java, to your taste, at the touch of a button.  No more wasting coffee if you just want one or two cups.  No more drinking or throwing out stale, over heated, bottom of the pot dregs.  Also, making only the exact quantity of cups needed reduces both energy and the fresh water required.       

There are many makes, models and sizes available.  The majority, if not all, that I have seen, are made by European manufacturers like Saeco or Trevi to name two.  These are all capable of also making fancy coffees like cappuccino, latte, etc.  The machines are not cheap.  You can expect to pay anywhere from $450 to $1,000 or more for a unit size suitable for a coach counter top.  You can find them usually in specialty kitchen shops or perhaps even in a large department type store.  My family and I own two, a large Saeco in the house, and a smaller Trevi in the motor coach. 

These coffee machines are relatively heavy in weight and sit on rubber feet, making them ride well on a counter top of a moving coach.  Most, if not all, will not operate on a modified sine wave inverter.  Therefore, if your RV does not have a true sine wave inverter, you will need to be plugged into shore power or have your generator running.

The only drawback, other than the somewhat steep initial cost, is the counter top space it takes up.   But, for the convenience of this great option, it is a small price to pay for a real coffee lover.  Once you have used one, you won’t want to go back.  The pleasure and ease of making a fresh coffee is exceeded only by the exceptionally rich taste.

 

Just Smelling The Coffee   -    Lug_Nut    -   Peter Mercer 

 

 

Seasonal Feasting

Right now the tomatoes are in season, and we came home from the Farmers market with tiny yellow light globes, round red ones, Japanese, heritage in yellow and red stripes, zebra stripes with green and yellow stripes, chocolate colored and dry farmed. Such an abundance of delicious flavors! I will remember this week next January when the only choice is a tasteless pale version, shipped from half the world away.

Eating according to the season is an adventure in taste and has benefits of eating foods at the peak of their season. Seasonal foods offer the most flavor, the biggest nutritional punch, are kindest to your budget, and trigger or establish memories to treasure throughout the year. A hot summer day and the taste of a juicy watermelon, fall vegetables roasted, winter soups that heat up even the coldest of days.

Read more

RV Cooking Show – Key Lime Pie & Key West, Florida

Labor Day may have come and gone but we still have plenty of fabulous camping (and potluck) weather ahead. In my quest for an endless summer I’m delighted to share this episode of the RV Cooking Show – Key Lime Pie & Key West, Florida.

It’s unbelievable how much there is to see and do (or just to enjoy lazing about) on a 4×2 mile island but…there it is. I’ll take you to just a few of my favorites on the island, let you in on a little known National Park, and share much more – including links on my website – www.RVCookingShow.com. We’ll then take our taste buds on a magical tour with this easy and delicious Key Lime Pie recipe – direct from Nellie & Joe’s. I’ve found this to be a potluck winner – if it can make it out of the camper in one piece or at all!

Get the recipe.

Happy Travels,
Evanne

Brown Bag Adventures

It’s back to school time and now we full timers rejoice. The weather is still good and the campgrounds are deserted, since all the families have to get back to school. I’m going to celebrate this beautiful fall weather and join the kids in packing a brown bag lunch and take myself on a hike.

It has been years since I fixed my kids brown bag lunches, but I’m so glad to see it is still a practice, particularly with those who care about what goes in their kid’s mouths. Whether you have kids or are a solo, maybe it’s been a while since you put some excitement into your midday meal. I have some ideas to mix and match your standard fare and benefit from the healthy way to eat. If you haven’t made yourself or others a lunch for a long time, here are some ideas for taste treats as well as health building brown bag fillers.

Read more

RV Cooking Show - Black Hills & Trailblazer Chicken

It seems the beautiful Black Hills sum up our nation pretty well. Bison roamed the countryside and provided for the Native Americans, a good chunk of wild west and gold rush history took place in Deadwood and the surrounding area, Gutzon Borglum and his nearly 400 man crew managed the impossible and carved four significant figures into a granite mountain during some of the toughest years in America - the depression, and today the area is an outdoor mecca providing a wide variety of experiences for the RVer (even geocaching!!). Come with me as I explore just a few of the highlights of this sensational area. It is, shall we say, just a taste of what fun can be had there.

I’m also excited to introduce you to a rather unique dish - a recipe I got at a Trailmanor rally when I first hit the road - Trailblazer Chicken. It has 4 ingredients and cooks up to perfection in about 30 minutes. I’ve also tossed in a “RV Kitchen Tip” on handling chicken once you get it home from the grocery. Watch the video below:

Read more

The Kamp Kaddie

On our last camping trip, over the 4th of July weekend, we picked-up a new Coleman 8D Family Size LED Lantern for those nighttime marshmallow roasts. The lantern worked great, but we quickly figured out that the picnic table was not the most efficient place for a light source. Luckily we were deep in the woods of Oregon’s Coast Range, so a tree branch was readily available, but we will need to come up with a better solution and I think I have found it in the Kamp Kaddie, from VacationGadgets.com.

The Kamp Kaddie can be clamped to a table top, or staked into the ground by switching-out the bottom section of the pole. This flexibility is important to me, because football season is right around the corner and our tailgate barbeques take place in a paved parking lot. I have been in many campsites, though, where the picnic table is some distance from the fire ring, so the ability to stake the Kamp Kaddie into the ground will come in handy. The condiment basket is adjustable up-and-down, and could easily double as a soap dish, making the Kamp Kaddie a useful addition to any wash station.

Happy camping!

RV Cooking Show - Oh My Gosh! Grilled Steak in Bend, OR

I’ve loved Bend, Oregon and the central Oregon area for years…even before it was trendy! There’s something about the Juniper scent in the air (which for many years I thought of as pinion pine) and the diversity of things to do from poking around museums to exploring obsidian lava flows to simply being near or even on the Deschutes River. Central Oregon seems to be everything to everyone whether you enjoy an active outdoor RV getaway or prefer to just relax and take in the scenery. Join me as I take you to some of my favorite central Oregon spots and then I have a delightful surprise for you.

You know and I know that nothing says summer like steaks on the grill and that’s exactly what this RV Cooking Show’s episode delivers with the help of my good friend - our guest chef - Chef Doug Miner of Cross Wind Catering. Chef Miner shows us how to add an easy and elegant finish to grilled steak and shares a useful tip on testing for doneness. I think you’re going to like this show!

Visit the RV Cooking Show website (and find more info and links to the beautiful central Oregon area there, too). Print the recipe here and give it a go yourself. I love to hear from you so feel free to drop me a line.

Here’s to a summer full of happy RV travels,

Evanne

PS - Vegetarian viewer Angie loves the show but doesn’t do steak. If that’s you, too, consider substituting meaty portabella mushrooms for the steak. It’ll be just as delicious!!

Next Page »