RV COOKING 101: Chicken Soup with Dumplings

My stomach has not been too keen on all the spicy and acidic foods we have been eating lately. Tomato soup with pepper jack cheese. Homemade chili beans, which I made a little too spicy for my taste. Lazy man’s chile rellenos. And salsa, salsa, salsa on everything else. I was on a hot kick, and now I am paying for it. Chicken soup is just the remedy the doctor ordered.

CHICKEN SOUP WITH DUMPLINGS

Boil half a chicken with a generous amount of chopped carrots, celery, onions, and garlic. Add salt, pepper, and thyme to taste. When the chicken starts to fall off the bones, add some whole kernel corn and beans (frozen or canned). Mix up some Bisquick dumplings according to the directions on the box, except you can substitute sour cream for part of the milk. I used gluten-free Bisquick. Simmer with the lid on for at least half an hour, and then enjoy.

RV COOKING 101: Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I made meatballs last week and froze them, planning ahead for once. I chose to make them from ground turkey, using a simple meatloaf recipe. After forming them into balls, I individually froze them on a cookie sheet before placing them in a Ziploc bag. You could also choose to buy already prepared and frozen meatballs.

After thawing the meatballs today, I rolled them in flour (I used rice flour since I have to choose gluten free). Then I placed them in a hot skillet with a little oil. To the pan, I added one cup sliced carrots and one sliced red bell pepper. After the meatballs were browned on all sides, I added one cup of pineapple tidbits plus some of the juice, a cup of chicken broth (left over from making the tomato soup), a cup of the tomato puree (set aside before making the tomato soup), and half a cup of my favorite BBQ sauce. Simmer until most of the liquid is evaporated. Serve over rice, and another easy dinner is served.

With the leftover rice and pineapple tidbits, I made a tasty after dinner treat. I also added the rest of the can of evaporated milk from when I made the tomato soup, some fresh blackberries we picked up the other day, and agave nectar; and a simple dessert was born.

A friend joined us for dinner.

RV COOKING 101: Roasted Tomato Soup

Preparing healthy, homemade meals in an RV or while camping really isn’t that difficult. You should be able to prepare the same kinds of meals you are used to at home, but you might have to use a little more imagination or ingenuity to get the job done, being short on space and all. Menu planning is highly important, in order to take advantage of what little refrigerator and storage space there is available in an RV. What I mean is, make ingredients overlap. If there are leftovers, make sure you can use them at another meal or in another dish. My great aunt used to make her end-of-the week pot of minestrone, which was basically all the leftovers from the week thrown into a soup pot. I tried my best to not go over to her house on minestrone day. Today’s cooks can be more creative. Leftover meat from tacos can be used in an omelet, on a salad, or in quesadillas. Roasted chicken can be made into a chicken salad or put into a casserole. You get the idea.

And now, on to our first recipe.

ROASTED TOMATO SOUP

What do you do when you discover your tomato plants are loaded right before you leave? Bring that luscious fruit along, of course.

Cut the tomatoes in halves or quarters and place cut side down in a roasting pan. Cut up some carrots and celery and add to the pan. Drizzle generously with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add chopped basil and oregano leaves (I used dried but you can use fresh if you have it). Add salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 300 degrees for about one and one-half hours, stirring every half hour.

Once the carrots are soft and the tomatoes have turned to mush (a rather technical term, I know), take them out of the oven to cool slightly. If you are brave, you can puree them in the blender immediately, but I have fears of forgetting the lid and being scalded as hot tomatoes fly everywhere (not to mention the mess I would have to clean up after such a fiasco).

Pour the pureed tomatoes into a soup pot and thin with either chicken stock or vegetable stock. Add some evaporated milk if you prefer creamy tomato soup (I know I do). Adjust the flavor to your taste, reheat, and dinner is served.

We added some Tillamook Pepper Jack cheese to ours. Delish!