Easy Eating in your TOY!

[sgtmike]

I mainly use my toy for local camping in the COE, and State Parks..With or without hookups. I have found that if you can find a source for the same MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) that the military use, you are two up on everything..I buy mine at either a military surplus store that have them or buy some when the Commissary at the Air Force Base near me have them on sale. They're not too bad tasting and are really easy to fix. Almost all of them have a self-contained heating compound in them that are easy to use too! Don't get me wrong---I would'nt want to live them all the time (Like I have done when I was in the Service). Be sure that you have some trash bags though---lotsa trash build up with these things.... I also use some of the dehydrated foods that they sell at the Bass Pro or Camping World stores....To keep clean up easier, everything I have in the TOY is stainless steel...Dishes, cups, silverware, and pots and pans..bought all of those things because I hate to eat on plastic or paper... OHHHH forgot to ask--what do you guys do when you're out in your TOY???????

[bufbooth]

We usually eat breakfast and supper in our Toyota, and eat out for lunch.

The usual staple for breakfast is pancakes, we use the kind that you just add water,

that way we can always make it when we do not have milk or eggs. The pancakes get

accompanied by Spam Bacon, which does not need to be refrigerated before using (its

in a sealed can), Wal-Mart stocks both. I used to be able to purchase Canadian bacon

in the can from K-Mart, but I cannot find it anywhere.

I used to be able to purchase power eggs, which amazing enough I could not tell the

difference between fresh eggs when used to make scramble eggs.

Dennis...

[Maineah]

Man I eat like a king! I take every thing! I pack that fridge even ice cream! I do stir fry, eggs and bacon you name it. When it’s nice I cook out side with a propane stove but I do use the MH stove in the morning for breakfast and coffee. You really can do some gourmet meals it never ceases to amaze me as to how much you can get into those small fridges. Yeah I fill the doors and every thing. I don’t cook at home so I try to impress my wife when we go camping with a great meal. I spent a lot of years in a tent then a popup and now I live it up in my little Toyota!

[Kimbo]

MREs are for emergencies. When I camp, I eat good like Maineah said!!

[turtle]

I cook the same meals in the RV as I do at home. I make a few concessions like using uncle ben's converted rice instead of regular rice but outside of that no TV dinners or other quick and easy meals. Fresh meats and veggies.

About the only time I ever eat out is when we are traveling in the RV. Part of the enjoyment of traveling to different parts of the country is experiencing the local ethnic/regional foods.

I always ask "If there were only one place in this area you would be able to eat at and only one dish you could have, where would that be and what would you have?"

We have not eaten out at home in over 6 years (for any meal). When I was a teen I worked in a hospital kitchen, apprenticed in a 2 star restaurant, and ran a couple of fast food places. I learned to cook at a young age and I have not found any place that does as well as I can at home so why bother. When I was real young I always weaseled my way into dinner at friends houses to try different foods (growing up in L.A there was a wide ethnic diversity of food). My "always get invited back to dinner line"......"That was great, I wish my mom could cook this good".... It never failed to garner an invite for every dinner meal after that one.

[comfun1]

Big part of the camping fun is cooking. Breakfast is always done on the stove inside but we may eat outside if it's nice. Lunch and dinner depend where we are and what we're doing. Could be eating out one or both, maybe a sandwich prepared in the camper at noon and night too if on the road. If staying in the same place for a day or two some slow cooked smoked meat over a hardwood fire with beer the whole time waiting for it to finish and not caring if it ever does.

[Ken]

My wife does most of the cooking in our rv and always pre-makes a caserole before we leave and then throws it in the toaster oven for a great meal, we have a microwave instead os a oven so she does everything in a small toater oven. We always cook breakfast outside on an electric skillet and it smells great and the cleanup is so easy.

[bajadulce]

... no TV dinners or other quick and easy meals. Fresh meats and veggies.

Agree.

Big part of the camping fun is cooking. If staying in the same place for a day or two some slow cooked smoked meat over a hardwood fire with beer the whole time waiting for it to finish and not caring if it ever does.

I'm so coming over to your luau.

My wife does most of the cooking in our rv and always pre-makes a caserole before we leave and then throws it in the toaster oven for a great meal

That's sounds really tasty. yum.

Myself, we usually camp miles away from stores and towns and certain vegetables seem to only last about 2 weeks max. And so eventually meals can't always be with the freshest foods, but we definitely try our best. Camp cooking sure takes a lot of creativity that's for sure. You have to be Houdini a lot of the times. My wife is good at this. Myself, I could eat sandwiches noon and night.

[kayakken]

I am a old motorcycle camper and as such I still have a mind for simplisaty

small fire

favorite can of prepaired food

open can set next to fire and turn when the bubbles start

stir and enjoy

but I have made all kinds of stuff in my in my toy from purple chiKen to plop on a plate

Ken & Maggie

[Rader85]

I like the fact that a lot of people comment on doing some actual cooking in the rig. Pancakes and Spam-bacon actually sounds pretty good - I might have that for lunch today:) Ice cream? Right on! I'll give it a try...

On the quick and easy side, Mountain House is a brand of camping meals that are a snap to make (just add boiling water) and usually serve two people. Surprisingly, they are very good and tend to keep me filled up when hiking or doing something active for hours at a time.

* For the sake of those around you, I suggest staying away from the "Ghost Town Bean Chili" prior to hitting the rack:)

Cheers,

Aaron

[craige]

I have been making sweet potatoe hash browns with eggs for breakfast. Sweet potatoes are very cheap, last a long time, and can take the abuse of driving around on rough roads. All other meals are similar to at home.

[86rader]

will cook inside when there isn't another option or time is short, but, EVERYTHING tastes better when burnt uhhh i mean cooked over a wood fire. bacon and eggs over a fire is great. cook bacon first, then drown eggs in bacon fat.

good thing i don't eat like that at home. i'd be dead by now.

have heard good things about the 12 volt crock pots. anyone ever try one. sure would be nice to have a nice stew smelling up the inside of your rig during a long drive, ready to eat as soon as you stop for the day.

baking cookies driving down the road is fun too.

[wetboy]

I highly recommend pressure cookers if you do extended time out on the road. It has cut my propane use by 2/3!

The healthy foods like Rice, beans, steel-cut oatmeal...all cook in 5-12 minutes instead of an hour. My roasts cook 3 times as fast, and are sooo much more juicy. Veggies are great too. I'm still learning new recipes, and as a full-timer, my propane budget is thanking me!

They even have some baking recipes using it like a Dutch Oven, so that's next on the list. Mmmmm, fresh bread!

If you do try it, go with the newer style cookers like Fagor, not the old cheapie rattle top ones. They are annoying, and fail quickly in regular use. Good luck!

[Sunrading Arkansas]

For our long trip, my wife made about 2 weeks worth of dinners and froze them. When we left we stuffed the Dometic freezer full and put the rest in the fridge. Then used a 2 qt. crockpot in the sink hooked up to the inverter to reheat the meals as we drove. We ate basically the same as we do at our house (or better), and by augmenting the frozen meals with the occasional restaurant we stretched those meals for close to 3 weeks. Cheap and delicious.

[waiter]

Pat, we do the same thing, Chili Mac (from Rudy's hot dog of course), other various foods are frozen into meal size zip lock bags. then they can be thawed either in boiling water or in the microwave.

Our version of "roughing it" is no microwave oven. :-)

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[Derek up North]

'Roughing it' is driving a vehicle too big for the Drive-through window!

[Bob C]

We eat the same thing on the road as at home. My wife and I are both very good cooks. We leave home with some meals frozen and eat them when we feel like it. If we have our kids and grandkids along, they always want tacos that first night of any trip.

Sometimes we cook up a nice rib eye, twice baked potatoes, sauted mushrooms, fresh veggies and "take and bake" bread for supper. If we have neighbors in the campground, they almost always comment on the smells from our camp.

We seldom eat in the RV unless it is really cold, raining, or snowing. I use a Coleman 2 burner stove for most of my cooking and supplement is with a one burner Coleman. I have a good set of stainless steel pans and a couple of cast iron skillets that stay in the RV. I can't stand cooking in cheap aluminum pots. We also have good quality stainless utensils and nice plastic plates. We pack pretty lite in other ways and will carry some extra weight to be able to cook well.

[Maineah]

We eat the same thing on the road as at home. My wife and I are both very good cooks. We leave home with some meals frozen and eat them when we feel like it. If we have our kids and grandkids along, they always want tacos that first night of any trip.

Sometimes we cook up a nice rib eye, twice baked potatoes, sauted mushrooms, fresh veggies and "take and bake" bread for supper. If we have neighbors in the campground, they almost always comment on the smells from our camp.

We seldom eat in the RV unless it is really cold, raining, or snowing. I use a Coleman 2 burner stove for most of my cooking and supplement is with a one burner Coleman. I have a good set of stainless steel pans and a couple of cast iron skillets that stay in the RV. I can't stand cooking in cheap aluminum pots. We also have good quality stainless utensils and nice plastic plates. We pack pretty lite in other ways and will carry some extra weight to be able to cook well.

I could not agree more I'm not the house cook but I'm the camper cook! I'm not organized enough to do things ahead of time but I do bring fresh food and good old red meat. I too cook outside (even in the dark with a good flash light). I don't eat prepared food at home and won't on the road. The camper in the north east in the summer is generally the best place to eat it frees up both hands to eat instead of one to swat bugs.