Recipes – Campanda News

Easy RV Recipes To Make With The Kids

Tom Sperner — Mon, 21 May 2018 15:33:38 +0000

By Liz Wilcox People sometimes don’t realize how rewarding it can be for kids to participate in daily tasks. I think that’s one of the reasons children enjoy camping so much — they get to help out!

These recipes have been tried and tested by my own little family. They’re both kid- and parent-approved!

I love walking around a campground and seeing families working together to get things done. Camping is a real bonding experience for everyone involved — and cooking around your RV site should be no exception. Here are six simple recipes you can make with your kids during your next RV trip, whether you’re RVing in your own rig or an RV rental from Campanda. They’ll get to eat something that they made with their own hands, and you’ll get wholesome family memories to carry you through the teenage years to come!

Breakfast

Bacon & Egg In A Bag

The fact that the paper bag could go up in flames makes this recipe extra exciting for kids. (Photo credit)

Making bacon and eggs in a paper bag may be a little unconventional, but it’s a great way to get the kids involved in breakfast! Here’s what you’ll need:

1 paper bag per person
2 pieces of bacon and 1 egg per person (the fattier the bacon, the better)
Long, strong sticks
Campfire

Here’s what you do: Cut or tear your bacon pieces in half. This can be really fun for the kids! Have them line the pieces of bacon on the bottom of the paper bag. Then crack the egg and empty it into the bag. If your child is anything like mine, they will find this both gross and delightful. Next, the kids can fold the top of the bag down. Do this two or three times. Then you or your older kids poke a hole through the folded (thick) part with your stick. Now comes the cookin’! Have your kids hold the bag over the fire. With younger kids, you may want to help them hold the stick or take turns, as it can take a few minutes to cook the egg thoroughly. Remind them not to stick the bag into the fire or their breakfast will literally be burnt to a crisp. When the bacon and egg is done cooking, you’re able to eat right out of the bag! The bottom of the bag will be hot and greasy, so put it on a plate or set it on the picnic table when you’re ready to eat!

Blueberry and Orange Muffins

This RV recipe is so fun and simple. And you get to make a muffin in an orange! I mean, who doesn’t want to try that?

The hint of orange takes these blueberry muffins next level. (Photo credit)

Here’s what you’ll need:

Blueberry muffin mix and the ingredients listed on the box (likely eggs, milk, water, oil)
Oranges (at least 1 per person)
Aluminum foil
Bowl
Campfire

Here’s what you do: Gather the kids together to make the blueberry muffin mix. This can be done outside for minimum clean up and stress. Let your kids help gather ingredients, pour and stir. See? Everyone can be involved, and if you’re doing this outside you don’t have to worry about too many elbows rubbing. Next, cut all your oranges in half. If you have an older child, you can have them do this while you and the others make the blueberry mix. When oranges are cut, scoop all the fruit into a bowl. Take the orange shells and fill one empty half with blueberry muffin mix (you can hold the orange while your child scoops, or vice versa). Then take the other half and put the orange back together.

Once you’ve wrapped them in foil, just toss these babies in the fire! (Photo credit)

Next, cover the orange with three layers of aluminum foil. Yes, three. This helps prevent burning while cooking. Let your kids help you with this. It could get messy, but remember these RV recipes are supposed to be fun, not Food Network worthy! When you’ve successfully covered the oranges, just (gently) toss them in the fire. Turn the balls over every 60 to 90 seconds (I’d suggest helping younger kids with this using long tongs or a skewer). This process usually takes 10 minutes. When the time is up, unwrap and enjoy! (I recommend eating this with a spoon.) Bonus: You can use the orange you scooped out to make fresh juice. It’s the perfect pairing!

Lunch

When you’re RVing with kids, it can be really hard to wrangle them up for a meal during the middle of the day. After all, there is dirt to play in and trees to climb! I highly recommend keeping things simple. Here is an easy RV recipe that will satisfy big appetites.

Walking Tacos

Like I said, it’s hard to get kids to settle down for lunch. But nothing will rally your little troops better than chips and a taco bar. Here’s what you’ll need:

Individual sized bags of Fritos Corn Chips (one per person)
Hamburger or turkey meat
Toppings for tacos (tomato, lettuce, sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, etc.)

Here’s what you do:

Tacos in a bag — what could be easier? (Photo credit)

This recipe takes just a little preparation. You can do this by yourself or with any interested kids around camp. Just like regular tacos, cook your meat and season it to taste. Your kids can help chop and stir the meat (this is easiest done in the RV kitchen rather than outside). Next, prep your toppings. Cut the tomato, get out the sour cream, etc. Place everything outside on the picnic table. Last, get the Fritos chips and holler out for the kids! Give each a bag and tell them to crunch up the chips with the bag still closed. Once they’re done breaking up the chips, let them choose their toppings from the taco bar. Then have them close up their bag tightly and shake. Voila! Walking taco. Hand those hungry kids a fork and let them eat!

Dinner

Campfire Pizza

Pizza and a bonfire. What could be better? I love making these because it makes dinner the easiest meal of the day.

The kids don’t get to play with fire for this recipe, but they do get to eat pizza!

Here’s what you’ll need:

English muffins
Pizza sauce
Shredded cheese
Toppings (pepperoni, veggies, etc)
Aluminum foil
Campfire with grill or BBQ grill

Here’s what you do: Each kid (and parent) gets their own English muffin. Have the kids split them in half and spread the sauce on both halves. A spoon is easiest to scoop and spread. Then of course comes the cheese and toppings. Put the foil down on the grill and place each kids’ pizzas atop. Cook until golden brown — or until your kids (who will likely be watching these cook like hungry hawks) inform you that dinner is ready!

Messless Camp Burgers

This RV recipe is a bit like the orange blueberry muffins above.

You can put these on a grill, but it’s more fun to just toss ’em in the fire.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Hamburger (or ground turkey)
Seasonings
Favorite burger toppings and condiments
Campfire

Here’s what you do: The aluminum foil makes these easy burgers wonderfully mess-free. Place the patties on the foil, wrap it up and unwrap to eat! First, make your patties like you normally would, but on the tinfoil. You can give each kid their own ball of meat and let them season as they’d like. The kids will love this! Place veggies like onion or peppers on the meat. Encourage your kids to have fun. Maybe they want to smother the burger in barbecue sauce. Go for it, kid. Just make sure it all stays in the foil! When everyone is done, wrap the patties tightly. Make sure they completely covered. You might want to put an extra layer of foil over the first. Then just place your burgers right in the fire. (Yep, just like the muffins.) Cook the patties for about 10 minutes for medium, longer for well-done. Then, unwrap the burger and eat straight from the foil with a fork! Or dress it up with a bun and extra toppings if desired.

Snacks

Fruit Kebob

This one is pretty self-explanatory. The best part about this “recipe”? It’ll keep the kiddos entertained leading up to snack time!

Let the kids help pick out the fruit to get them even more engaged.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Skewers
Assorted fruit (apples, pineapples, grapes, strawberries, and melon are great!)

Here’s what you do: With or without the kids, dice the fruit. If the kids are around but you don’t want them anywhere near the cutting board, have them put the cut up fruit into separate bowls and line them up. Then, hand the kids the skewers and let them have at it! The kids can pick out which fruit combinations they like the best. You might even suggest they try to make a rainbow or other pattern.

Feeling hungry and ready to head to camp to try out one of these RV recipes yourself? Click below to search for RV rentals in your area.

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How To Use Pinterest To Plan Your RV Trip

Tom Sperner — Wed, 09 May 2018 17:04:25 +0000

By Camille Attell

RV trip planning can be fun and exciting. It can also be overwhelming. What should you pack, where should you go, what route should you take? Questions like these are just the beginning of what can feel like a daunting set of tasks. Luckily it’s Pinterest to the rescue!

Keep reading to find out how Pinterest could make your next RV rental even better.

What is Pinterest?

A good “pin” will have a well-crafted description explaining the image.

When Pinterest came onto the scene back in 2010, people used it to search for and save (“pin”) things like recipes and wedding dresses. If you loved scrapbooking then you were guaranteed to love Pinterest even more. It’s like a massive, online vision board with infinite possibilities of ideas.

If you haven’t logged in to Pinterest in a while (or ever) then you might be puzzled when I say that it’s also an amazing tool to plan road trips and vacations. It’s not just for cupcakes anymore!

When you click on a pin it will take you to the source of the content, like a website, where you can get more information.

Why Pinterest Is A Great Tool

Over the years Pinterest has evolved into a search engine. A search engine helps you locate information on the internet. Google is what everyone thinks of as the go-to search engine. But Pinterest is a powerful search engine too, which surprises people because they think it’s a social media platform like Facebook. It isn’t, and that distinction is important for a couple for reasons.

Although it’s a social platform, Pinterest functions like a search engine. That means you can use it to look up information and tips.

For consumers (aka RVers browsing the internet), it’s a place where you can search and find information. For example, let’s say you want to travel to Utah and see national parks. If you type “Utah National Parks,” you’ll to find a wealth of information.

For content creators (bloggers, companies, etc.) it’s a useful platform to share your content and drive traffic back to your site. Let’s say you’re a travel blogger who writes articles about national parks: If you write one about Utah and make a great visual pin, there’s a good chance that your pin (and therefore your article) could be found in a search.

How To Use Pinterest To Plan An RV Trip

So how exactly do you use Pinterest to plan a vacation? To get started, you’ll need set up a profile on Pinterest. This will enable you to set up “boards” where you can organize all the pins you collect. Think of boards like file folders or different pages in a scrapbook, each with its own category.

You can use Pinterest to search for travel inspiration and discover amazing destinations.

Here’s how a board works: Using the Utah national parks example, you would create a board called “Utah Travel Board.” Then, you’d search for terms that fit the type of trip you’re planning, such as:

Utah National Parks
Utah driving routes
Hiking in Utah
Utah RV Parks

After you’ve collected a bunch of images and resources about your destination, you can then search for other helpful information. For example, if you want ideas about what to pack, you could search for terms like “RV travel checklist,” “hiking gear” or “packing for RVing.”

You can find tons of RV resources on Pinterest, like helpful checklists and packing tips.

You can even look for awesome camping recipes by searching terms like “RV recipes,” “camping recipes,” “food for camping” and so on.

As you discover new pins, you can keep adding them to your board. Over time you’ll collect a wide range of pins that you can refer to as you plan — all in one place!

(As a side note, Utah has some truly awesome National Parks. Check out this article for my favorite hikes while RVing, including Bryce Canyon in Utah.)

Using Pinterest Long-Term

You can also create multiple boards for different categories. For example, if you plan to take multiple trips, you could categorize your boards. This could mean one for each destination, or you could set up boards like this:

North America Travel
Route Planning
RV Parks
RV Gear
RV Cooking & Recipes

This way, whenever you plan a new trip, you can consult your boards and look at the pins that relate to that trip. You can check out how I’ve organized my own RV Pinterest boards here.

Think of boards as folders. These can be organized however you want, and one pin can be put in multiple folders for cross-categorization.

Over time you’ll build a great resource for trip planning. Your account becomes like a resource library and you become a part of the Pinterest information-sharing community (you can also set your boards to “private” if you’re feeling secretive about your travel plans).

In short, Pinterest is a wonderful way to plan an RV trip. It’s easy to use and fun too! The next time you plan a trip, consider using Pinterest as a source of helpful information.

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6 Quick And Easy RV Meals

Tom Sperner — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 19:01:37 +0000

By Camille Attell

When you think of camping, the meals you imagine cooking are probably things like hot dogs or oatmeal for convenience. But one of the awesome things about RV camping is that you have so many more options for making delicious meals. Many RV models even have full kitchens, enabling you to create almost any meal you want.

Even though my RV has a full kitchen, I like to keep things quick and simple. Here are six fun and easy RV meals that I have personally prepared in my RV:

Tasty Turkey Tacos
Lemon Pepper Salmon With Zucchini
Basil, Egg And Sausage Breakfast Casserole
Savory Chicken And Rice
In-A-Pinch-Pizza
Sweet Potato And Beef Delight

Tasty Turkey Tacos

Tacos are so easy to make and are great for RV travel. I keep a package of corn tortillas on hand and usually have simple ingredients like tomatoes, onions and cilantro in the fridge. You can do so much with so few ingredients!

You can swap out the turkey for black beans or rice to make this dish vegetarian. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey
Corn tortillas
2 diced tomatoes
½ sliced purple onion
1 bunch cilantro
1 tablespoon Mexican spice mix (you can find this at most major grocery stores)
Optional: Cheese, salsa and sour cream

To Prepare:

Fry the turkey with the spice mix in a pan on a medium flame. While the turkey is cooking dice the tomatoes and onions, and chop the cilantro.

After the turkey is cooked through (no pink) drain the juice. Lay the tortillas right on top of the turkey and cover for two minutes to warm them.

Remove the tortillas and place the turkey and other ingredients on top. So easy and delicious!

Lemon Pepper Salmon With Zucchini

I didn’t start liking salmon until I was 24. I was backpacking through New Zealand when a wrong turn led me to a fish house (yuck!). Fish wasn’t my thing, but I was also ready to chew my arm off from hunger after a long hike. So I decided on an order of salmon to keep me going.

The thing is, salmon can be a “fishy” tasting fish in other dishes — but wow was that salmon tasty! I loved how tender, light and fresh it was. It became an instant favorite.

Now, I make it all the time in our RV because it’s easy and healthy. Here’s how:

Ingredients:

Two fillets of salmon
1 – 2 zucchini
Sliced lemon
½ tablespoon of olive oil
A few sprinkles of salt, pepper and garlic powder

To Prepare:

Coat the salmon with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Lay the lemon slices on the salmon.

Put the salmon in an oven-safe baking dish and cover or wrap in foil (you can put it on the BBQ too). Lay sliced zucchini around the salmon. Cook for 12 minutes at 350°F.

I like my salmon tender, but if you like yours more cooked through, aim for 15 to 18 minutes in the oven.

Basil, Egg And Sausage Breakfast Casserole

I like protein in the morning. A bowl of oatmeal is something I’ll turn to in a pinch, but a meal with eggs is way more my speed.

That’s why I love this super simple one-dish egg casserole. I throw all the ingredients in a dish and out pops the magical and delicious breakfast of my RV dreams. This is a great dish to share with friends — just double or triple the recipe.

Here’s how you make it for two:

Ingredients:

8-oz can (or 1 cup) of diced potatoes
2 sausage links of your choice
4 eggs
½ diced onion
1 bunch basil
Salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder
Cilantro or basil for garnish
Optional: Top with diced tomatoes

To Prepare:

In an oven-safe baking dish, sprinkle the potatoes and sausage with half of the spices. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes to warm them up.

Then mix in the eggs and sprinkle the remaining spices. Cook for an additional 10 minutes, or until the eggs reach your desired consistency (I like mine a little soft).

Remove from the oven and garnish with cilantro or basil (and tomatoes if desired) and serve with salsa.

Savory Chicken And Rice

I could eat chicken and rice for just about every meal. Not only is it delicious and healthy, it’s also so easy to make! One of the best things about a dish like this is that you can make it so many ways: tomato, tomatillo or a simple broth-based dish are all great options.

This one is my go-to recipe because I often have what I need on hand — like rice, cans of tomato sauce and tomato paste. It can also feed a family of four in less than 30 minutes using a single pot, leaving you with more family time outside. Talk about efficiency!

Ingredients:

4 meaty chicken thighs (skin on or off according to preference)
1 cup rice
1 16-oz can of tomato sauce
1 16-oz can of diced tomatoes
3-oz can of tomato paste
1 cup water
Chopped veggies of your choice (onions, mushrooms, zucchini, etc.)
Italian spice mix

To Prepare:

Simply mix everything together in an oven-safe baking dish and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350°F. It doesn’t get any easier.

In-A-Pinch Pizza

This is the recipe I almost didn’t discover. It was invented by necessity when we barely had any food left in the RV and were far from the nearest grocery store. (To avoid finding yourself in the same situation, I encourage you to keep staple ingredients on hand, like dry-goods and frozen items that you can use a pinch.)

Here’s the pizza I invented that turned out to be off-the-charts amazing!

Ingredients:

Dry-packaged mini pizza crusts
1 Tbsp pesto spread or tomato paste
1 Tsp Italian seasoning
1 cut hot dogs and 1 strip bacon (this was all I had but any protein will do)
½ Sliced yellow pepper and sliced mushrooms (or veggies of your choice)
Optional: Avocado (I would have preferred cheese but didn’t have any)

To Prepare

Spread the pesto on the pizza. Layer the other ingredients — except for the avocado — and sprinkle on the seasoning.

Bake according to the pizza package (I baked this one for 12 minutes). Remove from oven and add the avocado.

Trust me, this dish is way better than it sounds!

Sweet Potato And Beef Delight

This is another meal that I invented from very few ingredients. Again, I was lucky to have a some dry goods on hand and I was able to come up with a well-balanced meal with protein and starch.

This has become one of my favorite things to eat in our RV — and it’s reasonably healthy too!

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato, thinly sliced
1 lb ground beef
½ diced onion
1 6-oz can of tomato paste
1 bunch cilantro
1 Tbsp of Salt, pepper, paprika and chili powder mixed

To Prepare:

Roast the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet for 15-20 minutes at 400°F or until crisp. In the meantime, sauté the onion for two minutes on medium heat or until translucent.

Add the ground beef on medium heat and fry until no longer pink. Drain the juice. Add the tomato paste and spices and mix together for a few minutes until cooked through.

Place the beef on the sweet potatoes and garnish with cilantro. If the sweet potatoes are crispy enough, you can use them like chips to scoop the meat.

The Big Secret About RV Cooking

You may have noticed that I use many of the same ingredients in my meals. Staples like tomato sauce and paste, onions, rice, potatoes and ground meats go a long way toward creating all kinds of delicious meals.

This not only makes cooking easier, it make storage easier and will save you money at the store — all important things for making your RV travels more enjoyable.

I hope you find these RV meals as easy and fun to make as I do!

Put these recipes to the test on your next RV trip! Click the link below to rent an RV on Campanda:

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