Friday, August 29, 2025

RV Travel, Camping & Great Meals

Copyright Janet Groene. Donate in support of the six free Groene blogs with a voluntary subscription. Send $10 once a year via Paypal to janetgroene at yahoo.com/ Thank you!


                          Camp Labor Day and Later: Everybody EATS! 


 Janet Groene's Thumbnail Recipes are two-part time savers in which some ingredients are measured and packed ahead of time to complete later on a busy day when camping, glamping, RV-ing or backpacking. Make your own "helpers" and mixes to save money, take control of ingredients and travel lighter. 

THUMBNAIL RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Cupcake “Helper” 

In a zip-top bag place 1 ½ c. biscuit mix, ½ c. sugar, 1 t. apple pie spice, 1/4 c. nonfat dry milk.  Seal bag. In camp mix  2 T. oil or  soft  butter, ½ c. water, 1 t. flavoring e.g. vanilla or almond. Add helper. Optional: 1/3 c, chopped nuts, dried fruit, mini chocolate chips.. Bake 12-15 minutes at 350 F.  Makes 12 cupcakes or one 8 X 8 X 2-inch  pan.


CAMPING & RV RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Slow Cooker Chicken with Wine

This is my shortcut way to make a French classic. You’ll  need only chunks of French bread to complete the menu. 


1 stick butter

1 teaspoon powdered chicken bouillon

6 meaty portions skinless chicken 

Flour, salt,  pepper

1 teaspoon crumbled dried thyme

2 medium onions, diced

2 or 3 medium plum tomatoes, diced and drained

8-ounce can sliced mushrooms, drained

2 cups dry red or white wine

While butter melts in the slow cooker, shake the chicken pieces in a bag with flour, salt, pepper and thyme. Discard bag and excess flour mixture.

Nestle chicken pieces in melted butter and turn over once. Sprinkle with powdered bouillon. Cover with onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. Drizzle wine gently over all. Cover and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 3-4 hours. Place a piece of chicken in each shallow soup plate and divide sauce among the servings. Pass the French bread.

Cook’s note: Minced parsley is a nice finishing touch. 

Dutch oven method: Assemble as above in a Dutch oven. Cover and cook over low/medium heat 1-2 hours in well-started coals until chicken is tender,


TAILGATE RECIPES  OF THE WEEK

Viking Meatball Sandwiches


Large bag fully cooked  meatballs, thawed

2 cans condensed cream of mushroom soup

2 teaspoons Better Than Beef bouillon

12-ounce can evaporated milk

½ cup beer or water

1 ½ cups sour cream

1 ½ teaspoons dried dillweed


Whisk together soups, milk, bouillon, beer or water, sour cream and dillweed.   Place this sauce  alternately in a pot or slow cooker with the meatballs, ending with  layer of the sauce. Heat long and slow. 

Use tongs to remove meatballs to buns and cover with sauce. Mealballs can also be served on toothpicks with the sauce a a dip.



COOKING ABOARD YOUR RV

    For yourself or a gift,  Janet Groene's timeless RV cookbook is packed with shortcuts, tips and 270 easy, delicious recipes to cook inside the camper or outside on the campfire, camp stove or grill.  

https://amzn.to/3nNndWY 




Reuben Rolls



2 cans corned beef

16-ounce package sauerkraut, drained and rinsed

1 cup mayonnaise

8-ounces Swiss cheese, shredded

8 ounces another mild cheese such as Cheddar or Provolone, shredded.

Buttered buns  


Scrape excess fat off corned beef and put in a slow cooker or Dutch oven. Break up corned beef. Dot with mayonnaise and well-drained kraut.  Roughly mix in cheeses and cook on cook over low heat until cheese melts. Stir to mix well and to break up corned beef further. Keep warm and fluid, stirring every hour or so..Using tongs, fill buns and serve warm. Serves 10-12. 




LIFESAVER SAUCE OF THE WEEK

 Apple Butter Sauce

Camp cooking is not an exact science.  Is your ham steak burnt on the edges? Pancakes turned out tough?  Biscuits went stale?  No time to make a fancy dessert? Save the day with a cover-up sauce. 


Large jar  (4-6 cups) unsweetened  applesauce

1 stick butter (no substitutes) 

1 teaspoon browning sauce such as Kitchen Bouquet or Jamaican Grace Browning

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/3 cup dark brown sugar (or more to taste)  

1 teaspoon apple pie spice or plain cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon  ground cloves

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring applesauce, browning sauce and butter to a low boil. Reduce heat to simmer. Mix 1/3 cup sugar, spices and cornstarch together and stir  into hot applesauce.  Heat, stirring until it thickens. . Remove from heat and add vanilla. If more sugar is needed, stir in another tablespoon of two of brown sugar until it dissolves. 

Spoon warm over grilled ham,  fried Spam, pork chops or chicken , pancakes, toaster waffles,. shortcakes, split  biscuits or buttered sweet potatoes.  Makes 4-6 cups sauce. 


    For tips on getting the most nutrition into your emergency food locker, see Survival Food Handbook.  It's a guide to stocking an emergency pantry in a small space such as a camper, RV,  boat or cabin with the most food value per inch, per ounce and per dollar using familiar, affordable supermarket staples. Paperback or ebook.     http://amzn.to/1WdYqbe

 


BONUS RECIPE

East Indies Avocado Salad For Two


1 cup cooked rice

½ teaspoon curry powder

Small can deviled ham

1 teaspoon candied ginger, cut in fine pieces

1/2 cup finely diced hard salami 

Medium green sweet pepper, diced

Medium banana, diced

Medium avocado

Salad cream or squeeze mayo

Shredded coconut

Mix curry and deviled ham into cooked rice, then fold in ginger, salami, diced pepper and banana. Spoon onto plates and surround with slices of avocado. Drizzle lightly with a creamy dressing and sprinkle lightly with coconut. Serve at once. 

Cook’s note: If you have instant rice on hand, this is a good use for it. Add 1 cup hot water to 1 cup instant rice. Cover and let stand 8-9 minutes until until it’s tender.




 Do you dream of living and traveling in a complete home on wheels? Living Aboard Your RV, 4th Edition by Janet Groene & Gordon Groene is a total guide to the full-time life on wheels. Should you sell the house or rent it out? Downsize possessions or put them in storage? Too young to retire? See the chapter on ways to make a living anywhere. Kids on board? We cover home schooling and also an exit strategy if and when the time comes to settle down. Order at any book store or let Amazon gift wrap and ship it for you.  https://amzn.to/29XFEkq 



Campground Potluck Recipe of the Week



Dude Ranch Potatoes

12 small red potatoes, scrubbed 

1/4 cup water

8-ounce carton sour cream

1 can condensed cream of potato soup

1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix


Put potatoes and water in a slow cooker or heavy pot.  Whisk sour cream, ranch mix and cream soup and pour over potatoes. In a slow cooker, cook 7-8 hours on Low or 3 1/2-4 hours on High. Carefully stir and serve. On the stove top or grill, use a heavy pot with a heavy lid. Cook over low-medium heat until potatoes are tender. (More water may be needed.) 



Love Sea Travel? Discover Yacht Yenta Cozy Mysteries


People are dying in Okecoochie County FL, but nobody can guess how the deaths are connected. Meet Farley Halladay, a salt-cured sailboat widow who has an online charterboat booking business. She dodges a wayward sister, cares for an old Navy SEAL veteran who was her late husband’s mentor and wrangles  a large circle of wacky friends. She cooks, copes and solves crimes in this unusual cozy mystery series.  Check your favorite e-book seller for all formats or go to Kindle,   https://amzn.to/3bB5XPh   


Bonus points: Throughout the books, Farley shares shortcut recipes from the days when she was a charterboat cook. 


VEGETARIAN RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Brown Rice and Red Beans

Chop the vegetables in very small dice so they take a secondary role to the plump beans and rice. 


2 cans red beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups water

1 vegetable bouillon cube

8-ounce can tomato sauce 

Small green pepper, diced

Large carrot, peeled and chopped

Medium onion, diced

2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

1 cup uncooked brown rice

Optional: hot sauce

Put everything but the rice in a pot and bring to a low boil. Stir in brown rice. Cover, reduce heat and cook over low fire 35-40 minutes until rice is tender. Adjust seasonings. Pass the hot sauce. Serves 6. 



The latest in the Yacht Yenta cozy mystery e-books brings widow Farley Halladay closer to the answer of her husband's death. 


Read the six cozies in any order as Farley copes, cooks and solves crimes with the help of her wacky cast of characters. Laugh at her frailties; cry with her as she grieves her husband's unexplained death. Find the books on Google Play and other ebook formats and also on  Kindle,   https://amzn.to/3wcf6ao



See more of Janet Groene's recipes for camping and boating at https://boatcook.blogspot.com 





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