Recipes on the Road - Burgers

"How do you cook? You must eat out for every meal. Doesn't that get expensive?"
~Everyone I know (all of my friends and family have asked questions like this since we moved into the RV)

I'll have a series of posts for different meals, but the straight answer is, "No, I actually cook more than I did living in an apartment." This was actually one of my worries about moving into an RV so I feel like I put more effort into making sure I prepare most meals to prove myself wrong.

I've learned to be resourceful with cooking since our oven is smaller and we don't have so many dishes to cook with. I like to eat pretty healthy and I hate spending a ton of money or time on meals. One thing that really helps me is to have a few go-to meals. I always include fresh produce of some kind. It's way easier and faster to just cut up some fruit or veggies and eat them fresh, and you get every single piece of nutrition rather than cooking it all out.

Tonight, we've got some spicy burgers with watermelon on the side. Serve with what ever bread you like or no bun at all. This will make about 4 burgers so we can have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Spicy Deluxe Turkey Burgers

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup oats
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 jalapeno (include seeds if you like it spicy)
• 1/4 large onion, minced
• 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix it all together and fry with a bit of coconut oil for a few minutes each side or you can grill them if you have a grill available. I like to make the patties skinnier than a usual burger. That way the meat cooks faster, but the cheese doesn't melt all over the place as much.

Tiny Houses - Are They Worth It?

Tiny Houses are super cute and they're good for some uses, but terrible for others.

Wikipedia defines the small house movement (also known as the "tiny house movement") as "the architectural and social movement that advocates living simply in small homes." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_house_movement

http://tinyhousetalk.com/traveling-in-a-tiny-house/

I'm totally in to the small, simple lifestyle, but I don't understand why people would want a tiny house to travel in. Think about it. What's the difference between a tiny house and an RV? They both have beds, bathrooms, kitchens, living spaces, and they're both on wheels. But I wouldn't really call a tiny house portable compared to RVs. Check these guys out.


Why not just get an RV? When you're traveling and sleeping in your vehicle on the road, you don't necessarily want to stand out in a tiny home. Too much attention can get you kicked out of places where you might not actually be allowed to be sleeping in your vehicle. You'll also save a ton of money by purchasing a used RV rather than building a tiny home and supplying a tow vehicle. Gas mileage in an aerodynamic RV will be way better than towing a heavier tiny house.

I know it sounds like I'm hating on the Tiny House idea, but I actually love it besides the mobile part. Living in a small house and having a simple life would be my goal. If you're not going to be constantly on the road, find a piece of land that you can build your tiny home on and you'll have more land for a garden or for playing and relaxing outside.

Portland has surged forward faster than most areas with the Tiny House movement. I was actually there a few weeks ago and found this...

This is Caravan - The Tiny House Hotel. I think it's a great way to capitalize off the trend, and give people the excitement and experience of staying in a real Tiny House. I drove by early in the morning so I didn't have a chance to check out any of the houses, but I love the concept.

I'm all about living a simple life and I think downsizing your square footage is a great way to do it. "Over the last 40 years, the average home has increased in size by more than 1,000 square feet, from an average size of 1,660 square feet in 1973 (earliest year available from Census) to 2,679 square feet last year."

 - http://www.aei-ideas.org/2014/02/todays-new-homes-are-1000-square-feet-larger-than-in-1973-and-the-living-space-per-person-has-doubled-over-last-40-years/

I love the idea of the Tiny House, but for now, the RV is working perfectly for us. I think once we're ready to settle down I'd love to build my own tiny home secured to my own piece of land with plumbing and electricity like a regular house (but obviously smaller and cuter).

Dealing with heat and humidity

We've had some unusually hot and humid days in San Diego the past week or so. It doesn't cool down at night, there's no breeze, and not a cloud in the sky for a bit of shade. Dealing with this heat in the RV doesn't feel much different than dealing with the heat in our old apartment. The one big thing that makes it hard is not having quiet electricity. What I mean by this, is that we have to turn the noisy generator on to run the AC or, like we would in the apartment, turn on a fan. I wouldn't say our generator is extremely loud, but it definitely draws more attention that wanted when parking on neighborhood streets all night. To deal with the heat at night, we've been sleeping separately. One up on the loft bed, and one down on the fold out couch. It sucks, but sleeping next to each other generates way too much body heat for now.

We don't have too much trouble keeping cool during the day. Just like when we lived in the apartment, we didn't spend too much time just sitting at home. It's easy to keep cool by spending the even just a few hours of the day at the bookstore, at the bar watching football, or at the pool.

Eating habits have to change during a head wave like this too. There's no chance of turning on the oven or stove and we don't want to spend too much money on restaurants so we had to think of some delicious, no cook meals. Fresh and frozen fruit with a bit of greek yogurt make amazing meal-replacement smoothies. Or we'll cut up some cucumber and tomato, toss it with a bit of olive oil and lemon and snack on that.With heat like this, you're appetite isn't roaring anyway.

Summer is winding down, but make sure to stay cool in what we hope is the last heat wave of the summer. We're ready for some cool rain.