Our daughter recently gifted us a one-week subscription to a meal delivery service during one of our months off the road. There are a number of companies doing this now including Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, and Green Chef, just to name a few. With your subscription to one of these services, you get a box once a week filled with all pre-portioned ingredients you’ll need to whip up the accompanying recipes. Tiffany started trying Blue Apron a few months ago after reading rave reviews of the service (http://blueapron.reviews) and thought it would be fun for Rick and me to try.

Rick showing off his new-found chopping skills

When our box arrived on the porch, Rick went to fetch it and out of curiosity, started combing through the contents and reading the recipe cards. Now, it’s rare that I can get Rick in the kitchen to cook with me. He’s typically conveniently dozing on the couch or puttering around in the garage when I start dinner, but magically appears when I go to set it on the table. He’s been done this for the last 35 years, so it doesn’t really bother me, but I was rather excited when he took an interest in this Blue Apron box. We spent three evenings that week cooking up different recipes together. He served as my sous chef, slicing, dicing and stirring his way through the kitchen as best he could. We had a lot of fun cooking and laughing together, and I wondered to myself why we had never done this before. With so much of our year spent in the motorhome, it wouldn’t be practical to order these pre-packaged boxes on a regular basis, but maybe there was another way I could get him more excited about cooking together on the road.

So I started my research, and I think my findings will not only get Rick more engaged in cooking on the road but may give you some RV cooking inspiration too!

1. Get Fired Up

I have yet to meet a man who doesn’t like to grill. We usually just use whatever grills are available at our campsite, which can be downright disgusting. Rick’s birthday is coming up, so I decided to surprise him with a new portable grill to take with us on our summer expedition. Pointers for picking out an RV grill:

• Gas over Charcoal: While we have a charcoal grill at home, these are just too messy for packing up and hauling around in a motorhome. A gas grill eliminates having to deal with messy things like soot and ash.
• Cooking Space: According to one article, you should estimate approximately 100 square inches of grill space per person. So if there’s just two of you, you shouldn’t need anything much bigger than a 200 square foot surface.
• Materials: You want something sturdy, but light weight, that won’t rust with exposure to the elements. Cast iron and stainless are preferred metals for standing up to corrosion.

By the time this gets posted, he’ll already have his gift, so I’ll go ahead and spill the beans. I ended up ordering the Weber Q2200, finding that it was rated well on many RV cooking blogs and had ample cooking space. Now I look forward to evenings outside the RV, with Rick grilling, enjoying happy hour and talking together as we cook.

This Weber grill is sturdy but portable, perfect for all of our road tripping adventures. Credit Weber.com

2. Get the Right Gadgets

We’ve always had nice pots and pans at home, but never invested in good kitchen accessories for our RV. I think having new trinkets and tools aboard will entice Rick to spend more time assisting me in the kitchen. Here are some things I upgraded:

• Cast Iron: I bought a couple of new Lodge cast iron pans that will work for cooking over an open fire. Many places we go, we sit around a campfire at night talking, and I thought Rick might enjoy the challenge of cooking stews and chili over an open flame.
• Grilling Set: Of course to go with his birthday gift, I had to get the man a new grill set. The beautiful and personalized set I picked out from Texas Irons even came in its own case so we can store it easily when not in use.
• French Press: Both of us love a good cup of joe, but our little single-serve counter Keurig just sputtered out its last cup of murky coffee. A French Press is smaller than a conventional coffee maker and this age-old brewing technique greatly improves the coffee’s flavor, making it perfect for breakfast time on the RV.

3. Go Local, Go Fresh

I hope to stop at farmer’s markets every week this summer to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies. Fresh just looks so appealing doesn’t it?!

Perhaps my cooking has gotten a bit stale over the past few decades. Trying out Blue Apron for a week made me realize my cooking is lacking a certain freshness. Rick seemed to really appreciate all the new and natural foods that came in our box. Normally, I keep a lot of canned and non-perishable items in the RV because fridge space is limited and this is easier than going to the grocery store every few days. However, when we hit the road this summer, I’m going to take a new approach. I’ve already mapped out farmer’s markets to stop at along the way, so we can get fresh, local ingredients like corn from Iowa, salmon from the Pacific coast, and black cherries from Montana. A meat and a couple sides are all you need for a healthy and hearty dinner, so I’ll be tossing out my casserole dishes and trading them for new food experiences.

Deb Jennings is a long-time RV enthusiast and one of the founding members of ACCA. She says her favorite thing about RVing is “getting to be outside and smell the fresh air every morning”. Deb and her husband Rick have three grown daughters and love spending their time with their five beautiful grandchildren when they aren’t busy exploring North America in their Class A Winnebago.