We love to EAT. We try to offset that with our love of outdoor activities, but the food continues to hold a strong lead in our lives. We love the magical feeling of the first bite as you realize that you have just bitten into something wonderful. We are on a constant quest for good restaurants, spectacular recipes, and of course great campfire meals. It is always so disappointing to waste a meal on something that does not live up to expectations. When we are camping our focus is finding the best outdoor recipes and creations. Everyday cooking can be the same at home or in the camper, but there is really something amazing about outdoor camping meals. Maybe the fun? Maybe more adventurous? Sometimes we go classic with hamburgers and hotdogs and other times we go for the more creative ‘melt in your mouth’ meal. When we go out in the RV, we always bring the Grill, Griddle, and of course the campfire. Here are a couple of our favorite ideas for your next trip. Buffalo Turkey Bleu Cheese Smash Burger We blend ground turkey, Franks Hot Wing Sauce, and Bleu Cheese in a bowl. We create round balls to place on the griddle. Then we smash them down as they cook. Although the exact amount of the ingredients is up to your taste, I have two recommendations. The first is use a strong bleu cheese and the second is to use just enough hot sauce to create the right consistency. If you are looking for heat, you can add more sauce after the burger cooks. We decided to give this a try during our camping trip to Tomoka State Park and I cannot say enough about this burger. Something about the sizzle of the burnt cheese from the griddle seals the deal for me. If you are not a turkey burger fan, I have no doubt this would be good with ground beef. If you use a grill instead of the griddle, make the patty less wet so it does not ‘melt’ through the grill. Chicken with Rice and Vegetables This has become a staple for us when camping. It is easy and we can vary the vegetables and sauce depending on what we feel like at the time. One of our favorite combinations includes, cooking the chicken on the griddle, then adding in the pre-cooked rice, snap peas, peas, carrots, and edamame. When the dish is almost finished, we add the teriyaki sauce. This is always a favorite because it is light, healthy, and tastes griddle good! A variation we use substitutes in orange sauce, peppers, and onions. Griddle Breakfast My favorite breakfast is eggs, ham, and potatoes. My mouth starts watering the second my ears hear the sizzling of the eggs cooking on the flattop. The eggs and ham are self-explanatory and could be substituted for your favorites. My advice on the potatoes is to cut them in small pieces, add peppers and onions, and use Montreal Steak seasoning as the secret ingredient to spice them up a bit. Cornell Chicken If you have not had Cornell Chicken, you need to put this on your list immediately. It is easy, delicious, and has a smell that will waft across the campground creating jealous campers everywhere. This has been a recipe staple in my family my whole life. The chicken marinade is 2C cider vinegar, 1C vegetable oil, 1 egg, 3tbs salt, 1tbs poultry seasoning, and ½tsp ground black pepper for about 3 pounds of chicken. Most recipes will suggest leaving the chicken in the marinade for at least 4 hours and as many as 12 hours. I suggest about 6-8 hours. Grill your chicken low and slow for the best results. This is one of my favorite ways to eat grilled chicken and the simple recipe will wow your friends and family. S’mores Everyone loves S’mores. My favorite is the original gram crackers, Hershey’s chocolate, and a big ‘burnt to a crisp over a campfire’ marshmallow. My husband prefers switching out the traditional chocolate bar for a Reece’s Cup and roasting the marshmallow until golden brown. We have tried chocolate filled marshmallows, different types of chocolate, and anything new we find. We recently had a chef friend suggest we try saltines instead of gram crackers. Now that was a mouth-watering treat that we suggest everyone try. Here is my pro-tip for you - Never end a campfire without a s’mores. In full disclosure, my husband is the cook in this family and the one making these dishes reality. I am a really great taste tester. I hope you try out some of our favorite ideas. We love following fellow RVers on Instagram, Facebook, and you tube videos to find new ideas for cooking outside. It is where some of the best ideas are found!

RV Kitchens can be everything you need when you have the right RV Kitchen essentials. There are so many RV specific recipes and handy space saving tools available to fulltime travelers. Most consider the kitchen one of the most important spaces in their RV. Don’t let the compact space fool you! You can find items that have duel purpose and a small countertop footprint to keep your RV kitchen in order. When choosing what to include in an RV’s kitchen, limit yourself by asking the following questions: “can I live without it?” and “is there a more versatile item that can fill this purpose?” Following these guidelines ensures you have what you need without taking up space with things that you don’t. These are the things I consider essential for the kitchen. Pots and Pans Pots and pans are something that you just can’t do without. But, instead of a full set, choose one or two in sizes that you use most often. Perhaps, merely a skillet and three lidded pans in a range of sizes to accommodate your needs. Choose, preferably, a small set that nests one within the other or even a set of collapsible ones. When they are collapsed and stacked, they are easily stored out of the way to make room for other kitchen essentials. These are fairly easy to find. The outdoor section of any camping store has an array of collapsible wares, as does eBay and Amazon. Related Read: Some of my favorite kitchen tools for the RV Crockpot One of my favorite inventions is the crockpot, also known as the slow cooker. Raised partly on Midwestern potlucks, I’ve seen buffet-style receptions served almost entirely from rows of crockpots. That said, they are extremely handy. You can cook a complete, one-pot meal at your convenience with just a little bit of planning. This is why I consider this to be an RV kitchen essential. Related Read: Slow Cooker Recipes for the RV It takes up less space than other meal preparation methods, so it’s space efficient. It allows you to assemble the ingredients, turn it on, and walk away, so it’s time-efficient. Since it basically consists of one pot and a lid, it’s easy to clean, allowing you to conserve water. Plus, there are so many recipes! Even things that you wouldn’t think could be cooked in a crockpot, with a bit of adaptation, can be. This means that if you really want to minimize, with a good crockpot you may not even need the aforementioned pots and pans, but I digress. Place-settings Another essential for your kitchen is a set of dinnerware, flatware, and “glassware”. Using disposable versions may be handy, but it can get expensive, it fills up your trash, and it isn’t terribly environmentally friendly. Consider, instead, keeping one place-setting for each resident and just washing them after every use. You can always keep some disposable ones on hand for entertaining. Additional Tips Consider using picnic-ware; it’s usually smaller and takes up less space. Use plastic. It is less likely to break in transit. Use lidded cereal/soup bowls to double as containers for leftovers. A Swiss army knife serves many purposes, in the kitchen and out. Organizers Dividers, hangers, and racks—a good system of organizers can benefit every kitchen. Plus, with the limited space, RV galleys require even more coordination than most. Adding racks and drawer organizers makes the most of the interior of your cabinets and reduces the amount of counter space you are using. With utensils, spices, ingredients, and cleaning supplies, etc. the area can quickly become chaotic, especially during travel. In fact, one of the most important but perhaps least obvious reasons to invest in a decent organizational system is to reduce the shifting while your RV is in motion and eliminate things falling out or breaking. There are many products available that keep your dishes and other supplies secure while traveling. Just check out the kitchen section of any RV or camping store. Basically, if it works in a boat, it’ll work in your RV. Vinegar and Baking Soda There are many products on the market that solve niche problems. Really, the only things you need are baking soda and vinegar. These are inexpensive options that can be used for a multitude of things. Diluting vinegar with water creates a great disinfectant and anti-fungal agent that is also a glass and mirror cleaner. It removes pesticides from produce and can be used to soften and add shine to your hair, as well. Baking soda scrubs stains out of porcelain, whitens grout, freshens the refrigerator, and can be used as an inexpensive and effective toothpaste. It can even put out grease fires. In Conclusion Due to the restrictive size of the space, it is important that each item provides the “most bang for its buck”. In other words, it should perform several important functions or one absolutely necessary one while taking up as little space as possible. What is important to have in an RV’s kitchen, however, is highly subjective. So, make a list of what you think is important and pare it down to its essentials. Then add a crockpot.

Traveling with your must have RV Kitchen accessories will make all the difference in enjoying your RV Kitchen and your adventures! There are so many wonderful RV friendly recipes you can enjoy on the road. Having tools that are both multifunctional and space saving goes a long way in keeping your RV clutter free. We all know that when it comes to motorhomes, space can be an issue-particularly in the kitchen. So here are a few RV must-haves for those who need their kitchen to be as clutter-free as possible. Buy Collapsible & Stackable First off, let’s talk stackable. If it’s space you’re after, then stackable items such as bowls and measuring spoons are the way to go. Check out these brightly colored nesting mixing bowls and measuring cups. You really get a lot of bang for the buck and the cheerful pop of color would brighten up any kitchen as an added bonus. Now, let’s talk collapsible. Or in this case, foldable. This folding dish rack draining board from Amazon is a personal favorite. After washing your dishes, you can set the dish rack over the sink for the dishes to dry. This way, it takes up no room on the countertops and keeps your counter clean. When it’s no longer in use, you can fold it flat and store it elsewhere. Collapsible colanders and collapsible kettles will also make a big difference in saving space within your RV kitchen. Kitchen Hangers Over the cabinet hangers, command hooks, suction hooks, and shoe organizers can all help to make better use of the limited space in an RV kitchen. And while this has nothing to do with kitchen hangers, you should also install sliding cutting boards for the sake of convenience. Go Magnetic RV kitchen organization includes a variety of space saving steps. This next item will simplify your RV lifestyle and is a must-have in the kitchen: magnetic kitchen supply holders. You can buy a magnetic bar for knives, scissors, and a magnetic tray to hold spice jars. It simplifies cooking and frees up counter space. These can be found online for very reasonable prices. RV Cooking Your space constraints may intimidate you when it comes to preparing large, family-sized meals. But don’t let them! You can still prepare healthy, hearty and tasty meals the whole family can enjoy. There are many places, including RVingUSA.com where you can find great recipes that are geared towards RV and camping life.