This trip we have enjoyed experimenting with cooking. To cook, we are furnished with a crock pot, electric fry pan, and a single-burner hotplate. First Mom cooked refrigerated biscuits in the electric fry pan, and that has lead us to think of more things we might be able to make in the fry pan that we normally cook in the oven. The other day Jesse made us pigs in blankets (hotdogs with biscuits wrapped around them). Joseph tried his hand at grilled cheese sandwiches, which we usually cook in the electric fry pan.
IÂ had the idea of making chocolate chip cookies in the fry pan so we bought some refrigerated cookie dough. Because of using the electric fry pan, I had to flip the cookies after one side had cooked to get the other side done as well! These cookies were voted better as dough – if you get what the family politely thought of the cooked cookies. Nevertheless, we are working at trying out different things in our crock pot and electric fry pan! Last night for John’s birthday dinner, we had chili cheese dip made in the crockpot served with tortilla chips. Another day we made boxed au gratin potatoes in the crockpot.
Anna
“My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste” (Proverbs 24:13).
Oh, what memories you bring back! We have many days of cooking with an electric fry pan. We used it for making scrambled eggs (breakfast burritos), all kinds of casserole type meals (ground beef, pasta, a sauce) and it worked good for stew.
As our family size got larger, we got a big electric skillet which works wonderful for grilled sandwhiches, pancakes, quesadillas and I can even scramble 20 eggs on it at once.
A couple years ago, someone gave us a table top roaster oven. It really works like an oven! You can bake anything in it that you would in an oven and it is only about double the size of our electric pan fry. It bakes bread, cookies, brownies, turkey, baked potatoes, lasagna…anything!
When we travel, we take the skillet and roaster oven so we can cook on the go 🙂
Love seeing your frequent updates! How good you do at those! You are in our prayers many times each day and I have some surprises for you from some little (and medium and big) ones 🙂
love,
Jaynee
We traveled every summer from CA to Alabama, where my Mom’s family was and often by way of New York to visit my dad’s family too. I remember so well cooking in the camper with my mom. One of favorite things to use was the electric skillet as it was big enough to make all the grilled cheese at one time and pancakes–I still to this day love blueberry pancakes.
I don’t know if you have room or any need for them, but I do have an electric skillet and a small convection oven in my give-away pile. I’d be happy to pass them on to you when you get to Washington.
Blessings, Mrs. Mari
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Mrs. Mari–Thanks so much for the offer! We don’t have the space for the convention oven, and our one fry pan is sufficient. Thank you so much for your generosity–can’t wait to see you!!
–Sarah
I love hearing about your adventures on the road!
Don’t worry about the cookies…I’ll take chocolate chip cookie dough over baked cookies any day!
Elizabeth
How fun!
When we first got our bus, we noticed that the driver’s floor really heated up! So, we would get big cans of refried beans, and leave them there for a few hundred miles, and then open them up, steaming hot!
My dad said that it was once not uncommon to keep a kettle under the hood, near something that got hot (I don’t know engines), and you could cook a chicken or a roast and potatoes by the heat of your engine!
We would second the roaster oven idea by Jaynee. We enjoy a fun casserole with a couple of big cans of baked beans, crushed pineapple, chopped onions and sliced turkey franks.
Praying for you! the K’s
I have experimented some with cooking on the road, too–and have really enjoyed the challenge.
I have a cookbook that actually gives recipes for baking in the crockpot. With its help, I have baked meatloaf, casseroles and even whole-wheat bread in the crockpot–and they turned out delicious! I have three different size crockpots, but when I am baking I usually use my 6-quart oval crockpot and a regular glass breadpan, which you put on two metal canning rings (the rings sit on the bottom of the crockpot). You can do casseroles and all kinds of things this way, as long as the dish you cook in can fit in the crockpot you are using–which may not work that great for your size family, unless you use 2 crock pots. Baked potatoes also bake well in the crockpot (wrapped in foil, stacked on top of one another, with a small amount of water in the bottom of the crock), as do pinto beans which can then be mashed and made into refried beans. I also have a really easy (and delicious) recipe from a friend for crockpot lasagne that I can give you if you are interested, where you don’t even have to pre-cook the pasta. I have several crockpot cookbooks, but the one that has the the theory for baking in a crockpot is called “Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year.” It happens to be all vegetarian recipes (though many of them *taste* like meat recipes), but the theory can be adapted to many recipes.
Hope that helps get some more creative juices flowing. 🙂 It certainly is a blessing to find joy, and not drudgery, in being in the kitchen. 🙂
Jackie
I’ve read that you can bake a cake in a crock pot, though I’ve never tried it! There have been times when we have been without an oven or range, and it truly is amazing how well things can be cooked with a little creativity (and trial…and error, lol). Enjoy the experimentation!
Love your new blog look, by the way!
Grace,
Mae
Have you tried Welsh Cakes? They are cooked on a griddle and very easy to make.
We always have them for Sunday tea spread with butter and strawberry jam 🙂
Philippa
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We haven’t tried Welsh Cakes. Thanks for the suggestion!
I’m not familiar with roaster ovens; another suggestion would be a toaster oven or convection oven for your baking needs. We used to take a pot and hot plate when we travelled (we didn’t bake things, though) , but these days a lot of motels will not let you cook in your room. We have also cooked outside on a small propane stove, or plugged in our hot plate and set it outside the door when the motel didn’t have indoor hallways.
You could do the meatball dish with the frozen meatballs, grape jelly, and spaghetti in your skillet. I have a recipe for porcupine meatballs that we had used; if I can find it, I’ll post it here. It was very good.
We have been enjoying the pictures and descriptions of your current trip, and pray the Lord will bless richly as you minister, and bring many to Himself.
Correction–the meatball dish had frozen meatballs, grape jelly, and chili or tomoto sauce, not spaghetti! Where is my brain this morning? Must be because I haven’t had breakfast yet. LOL
Ooooh! Love this post!! !!! Learning to cook for a large family while on the road is a whole new fun challenge. We will be taking our family of eight out to Yellow Stone for first time in June. We will be cooking in our camper for two weeks. So I just love ya’lls willingness to let us see how ya’ll are cheerfully tackling the challenge! Love the pictures and the daily updates when you travel! I have followed this blog since it’s inception, and it is always such an encouragement! Your transparency is a blessing. Praying as ya’ll ‘move across the map!’ Your information has such urgency in these troubled times, may hearts be open and willing!
Sincerely, Tracy in GA
I so enjoy hearing about your travels and all that the Lord is doing in and through your family.
Try a toaster oven. We use one in the summer because it’s just too hot in Texas to turn on the oven.
We bake EVERYTHING in it and it turns out great!
You might try a toaster oven. Small cookie sheets are available at kitchen specialty shops. Good luck!
I was just going to say you ought to buy a toaster oven, but I see I’m not the only one who thought of this! I used to work at a photography studio and when we were busy we used to make chocolate chip cookies in a toaster oven for those who were waiting. It worked quite well! We photographers would rotate as to who had “cookie duty.” I love reading about “life on the bus.” Keep up the good work! 🙂
I found it!
Porcupine Balls (4 servings)
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 t. salt
2/3 c. uncooked instant rice
1 T. cooking oil
1/2 c. catsup (ketchup)
1/4 c. grape jelly
Mix beef, salt, and rice. Lightly form into golf-ball-size balls. Heat oil in skillet and brown meatballs, turning evenly. Mix catsup, jelly, and 1/2 c. water. Pour over browned meatballs. Cover and cook over low heat for 25 minutes.
Here’s another:
Burger Dogs (4 servings)
1/2 lb. ground beef
4 hot dogs split the long way
4 oz. can tomato sauce
Grease to brown ground beef
4 sliced hot dog buns
Brown ground beef in a heavy skillet. Add weiners, tomato sauce, and 1 T. water. Cook about 15 minutes.
And another:
One Pot Hamburger Meals
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 can condensed tomato soup
Salt to taste
Brown ground beef, add other ingredients and simmer:
*Camper’s spaghetti – add one 16 oz. can of spaghetti
*Spanish rice – small package of instant rice added while base is browning
*Macaroni and cheese – 1/2 lb. of macaroni and cheese cooked separately
*Hunter’s stew – add two 10.5 oz. cans condensed vegetable soup
*Squaw Corn – add one 16 oz. can whole kernel corn and 1/2 lb. diced or
shredded cheese
And another:
Quick Stew (4 servings)
1 lb. ground beef
2 10.5 oz cans condensed vegetable soup (undiluted)
1/4 stick margarine or 4 T. cooking oil
Form beef into golf-ball-size balls. Brown well in margarine. Transfer to kettle. Pour soup over; heat thoroughly.
And lastly, a dessert:
Magic Lemon Pudding
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 T. lemon juice
Crushed graham crackers, vanilla wafers, etc.
Mix milk and juice. Mix in a few handfuls of crushed cookies.
Enjoy!
—- Thanks so much, it sounds yummy! Sarah