Month: January 2009

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RV Packing and Organizing Tips

Second only to Eureka, Peggy McDonald’s RV Packing Tips is a fantastic resource for full-timers trying to organize their couple of hundred square feet into a home! It is chock full of tips from real RVers for making the most out of the little space you have. In my case, I’m not desperate for space, but I’m desperate for ideas to better organize the space I have.

But this great ebook isn’t just about organizing; it is also filled with really useful RV tips. For example, the writers explain how to turn a broken fridge into a fancy icebox, information that I used in my early days on the road when I couldn’t get the fridge to work because of battery issues.

What I like best is the amount of life experience that is expressed in this e-book. The author isn’t afraid of sharing her mishaps so that others can avoid making the same mistakes. At only 12.95$, it’s a bargain, and it once saved my car.

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RV Spice Storage

I bragged about my newly organized pantry on the Escapee’s forum and someone asked me what I do with my spices. It seems that spice storage is a big issue with a lot of RVers for some reason. I don’t have that problem and I think it has to do with my newly acquired philosophy of less is more. I only keep on hand the spices and herbs I use the most. I keep some in a wooden spice rack on the counter, storing them in cute Ikea spice jars:

Spice rack by me, spice jars by Ikea

Spice rack by me, spice jars by Ikea

For the rest, I compartmentalize. The spices for baking go in the baking basket (the one on the right hand side in the middle compartment), and the rest take up about a third of one of the pantry shelves.

Since spices lose their flavour within a year and I’m cooking only for myself, I’ve found it to be more advantageous to buy just what I need of a special spice for a particular meal. It might cost more per ounce, but there’s no waste.

The spices and herbs I keep on hand are:

  • cumin
  • turmeric
  • Ethiopian spice mix
  • lemon pepper seasoning
  • celery salt
  • oregano
  • basil
  • bay leaves
  • cinnamon
  • nutmeg
  • powdered vegetable broth
  • various ‘Mrs. Dash’ varieties, no more than three at a time (currently I have a Southwest mix, garlic, and mixed herbs)
  • salt
  • black pepper

I find that compartmentalizing the spices works great. Everything I need for baking is in one basket, from the cinnamon to the almond extract to the baking powder and vanilla. When I want to bake, I only have three things to pull out; the baking basket, the flour, and the sugar.

So, if you’re having ‘spice issues’, maybe it’s time to go through your collection, get rid of anything you haven’t touched in a year, and try sorting them by use rather than by name.

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Decorating Regrets

Last night, in a fit of pique, I finally remove the side valences in the study:

novalences

I can’t believe what a difference it makes!!!!!!

I can’t wait to remove the top portion, too, but another thing the mobile house taught me is that if I destroy something, I have to fix it. Seeing as the new valances won’t happen for a while now, I’m leaving the top part intact for now, even if that gold trim is blinding.

There is damage under the windows from the brackets and screw holes but that won’t be hard to fix satisfactorily. I’ll wipe down the walls to remove the grime, sand the holes smooth, and then cover them with wood filler. Such a repair is quite common throughout Miranda and is only obvious if you’re staring right at it.

Now, if I could just find some inexpensive blinds to replace the shades, this room will be almost perfect. 🙂

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Making Better Use of Enough Space

Miranda has only a teeny tiny pantry, definitely not big enough for a full-timer who cooks at home! I ended up commandeering the three shallow upper cabinets in the lounge as extra pantry space. It’s enough. I don’t have room to really ‘stock up’ on anything, but I can’t really carry all that much extra weight anyway! When I moved the food from the house into the RV, it was at the last minute. My friend and I just dumped stuff where there was room and I promised myself I’d sort it all out ‘one day.’

Well, that day has come. 🙂

BEFORE

pantry11pantry2pantry3The issues I needed to solve were:

1) Like items were scattered all over;

2) I had no room for the rolls of plastic wrap, wax paper, and aluminum foil;

3) Items I use frequently weren’t accessible.

First step was to clear out the cabinets so I could start with a blank slate:

pantry4

A mere ten minutes later, I got an overwhelming urge to cook.

AFTER

pantry7pantry5pantry6

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Homey Smells

I have to say that the best invention since sliced bread is… the automatic bread maker.

bread

I looooooove my breadmaker. It was received many years ago as a gift from my mother who felt that I’d kneaded enough dough. 🙂 I tend to use it in fits; going for months without without making a loaf, then eating nothing but homemade bread for a long stretch. This morning, I just had to make a fresh loaf! I started the bread around 9 and had a lovely loaf 70 minutes later! My machine has a setting for the ‘rapid bake’, which is what I made this morning, and for normal baking, which takes several hours. Both methods have their pros and cons. I like the rapid bake because a) it’s fast and b) it’s very yeasty, but, as you can see in the picture, it doesn’t always have time to properly bake all the way through. The longer method isn’t as flavourful since it relies on longer rising time rather than tons of yeast, but the crust is nicer.

Another really nice feature of this machine is that it has a timer. You can throw all the ingredients into the baking pan, set the timer, and have a fresh loaf ready for you first thing in the morning or when you get home at night! I love waking up to a fresh loaf in the morning AND fresh coffee thanks to the timer on the coffeemaker. Technology is lovely! Some people I know use the timer on their machine along with a crockpot to have a meal ready when they get home from work.

Nothing makes an RV smell homier than a loaf of fresh baked bread!

I have just one question: did I bring my wire grills for cooling the loaves or did I forget them???