So traditional

Because we didn't have a hook-up for water again tonight, it was another of those times when I didn't want to use the cast iron skillet (too hard to clean up without easy H2O access). But my mouth was set on some Homer Simpson pork chops.

Again, I used the little baking pan on the stove, and cooked up some onions and garlic in olive oil, then added the chops to the pan for a bit of browning. Added a bit of the homemade barbecue sauce from the fridge, and popped the meat into the oven.

With sides of frozen peas and instant mashed potatoes (the kind with garlic), the tradition endured. And oh, how good the mix was -- swirling all those peas into the creamy potatoes!

Stir-fry in the oven

Weird, but because we didn't have water hook-up tonight (too much snow here in Lake Tahoe to risk anybody's pipes), it was one of those nights I wasn't prepared to use the cast iron skillet. I really wanted fish in a stir-fry, so the baking pan came out.

After browning up the base vegies (what else, garlic and onions), I added fresh green beans and sliced fish. Chili-oil bamboo shoots and hoi-sin sauce over top were the last additions before it went into the oven. With a big pot of rice (not quite as ginormous
as it looks in the picture) we had ourselves another RV feast.

Quiet and calm

After spending two days at a friend's house (a beautiful spot, tucked into the mountains, alongside a quickly flowing stream) where we'd eaten too much rich food (she'd cooked a turkey as well as a corned beef stew), we both wanted something light this evening.

One of those tetra-pak containers of broth made a good start. And although I'd wanted to put won-tons in the soup, none were to be had, so we made do with some vegie-stuffed ravioli. Bamboo shoots in chili sauce floating on the top of the soup, plus microwave-heated Naan bread, and our little meal seemed just right.

Leftovers, with leftovers

For fun, we ate lunch at a funny little old-fashioned diner. While we were there, sitting at the counter, we heard all about last week's evacuation for the tsunami. While there was some damage here (Orick, CA), things were worse up the coast, where a few die-hard (I'll say) photo-seekers were lost.

But back to the source of the leftovers. Because the lunch was too huge to eat, I took my salad-bar salad home to the fridge. Adding the last half of avocado turned it into a yummy salad for two.

And then there was all that chicken from last night (we'd only eaten the legs, the bird was so big). So, with the chicken and a companion packet of wild rice mix, we had plenty to eat.

And plenty to think about as we continue our route down this wildly beautiful but perilous coast.

Lazy Friday night

Store-bought (pre-cooked) chicken, picked up along the way, accompanied by a junky box of kung-pao mix. The noodle mix got the last of the spinach greens added to it -- the ones that wouldn't fit into the salad bowl. They added a nice touch, seemed to make it taste less 'packaged'.

We do what we do, eh.

Pre-made but yummy

Lazy ribs, the kind that are pre-cooked and come in shrink-wrap. How disgusting-sounding, but how delicious! I added extra barbecue sauce (still have some homemade in a container in the fridge) and a bunch of hot sauce.

The side dish, cheesy scalloped potatoes was enhanced by adding tidbits of fresh broccoli before I baked it.

Both elements of the supper cooked in our little oven, though it did take a bit of juggling to fit them both in.

And of course, a green bowl full of green salad...

Stand-by supper

I'm one of those people who think pasta is one of the four food groups -- a group all its own. I found a tube of pre-ground (almost said pre-chewed) basil, so used to create a pesto for some tortellini from the pantry. No pine nuts, not even my usual substitute of walnuts -- but lucky us, we had ground-up pecans in our 'pesto' for the night.

The green bowl is filled with a big spinach salad, something to round out another supper in The Rattler.

Convenient

Once in a while, it's fun to have something junky and pre-made. Tonight's treat was a packet of crescent rolls, the kind that come in a tube and need to have their little triangles rolled into shape.

I'd found some fresh oysters (big, but nice and juicy) and cooked them up in soy and hot sauces. Served beside a salad, with butter for the buns, it made for a just-right, light supper.

Seaside treats

Camping beside the ocean makes for great opportunities for strolling along the shoreline. Today's walk turned up an array of beautifully fresh seaweeds.

After a day spent out of doors, soup seemed like the right kind of warm-up treat. Hot and sour from a mix in our little pantry, rounded out with fresh peppers, a mixed-up egg, and chopped bits of seaweed made the right kind of supper.

Use it up, Mex it up

Last night's meat-and-veg, mixed up with the leftover rice, made a good filling to stuff into tortillas.

Salsa and some V-8 juice made enough of a sauce to be able to pop these into the oven for a hot supper (and some extra coziness in The Rattler too). Lucky us, we even had the right condiments in the fridge!

Sattahday night mix-up

No post for last night, as were staying at a friend's. But tonight, we're finally across the border and have even had a chance to stop for a few fresh groceries.

There was a bit of cooked pork (kind of a pulled pork, barbecue mix) in the freezer. Cooked up with some fresh veg -- mostly onions and green beans -- it made for a satisfying, seaside meal. Something to go along with a spectacularly big moon.

St. Patrick's Day...

...but where's the green?

Hidden, in the spanokopita. The greens in it are not only the traditional spinach, but a bit of last spring's nettles -- all of this, of course, from the magic freezer.

Accompanying it is the last of our previous night's pasta, mixed up with some chunks of the leftover salmon.

Faith and begorrah, RV-style.

First night, delight!

It helps to have wonderful food in the freezer (yes, we even have a freezer in our little home on wheels!).

So I steamed up a glorious chunk of cold-smoked salmon and made a bit of pasta with a nice oily pesto sauce.

Salad is just a pepper cut up -- but hey, it's fresh.

Back for more suppers

I'd promised that this blog would only run for one year. And it did, for 365 posts in 2009.

But where we're embarking on a whole new adventure (in travel and in eating), it seemed like a good time to start it up again -- at least for a while.

The picture above is the propane-powered stove I'll be cooking on. There's also a microwave (which works if we're hooked up to electricity), and naturally, the Dear Man will be looking after some of our meals on the barbecue.

Unlike the entries on the previous blog, these won't be every night. I won't post if we're visiting friends or if we decide to splurge and eat in a restaurant. It'll just be for those nights when we cook and eat in the RV.

Happy trails!