Cooking Aboard
This is Libbey with my first blog post, about time!
We have a propane stove with one burner and a grill, a 48 quart cooler, two 20 quart dry food storage tubs and 12 quart spice/bread storage tub.
Cooking utensils are 2 medium and one small sauce pan, a frying pan and 2 twenty-two ounce french press coffee mugs. We also have plates, bowls, cups and glasses (all plastic) and eating utensils (service for 4) and cooking utensils. We also have a collapsible stove top oven and 2 square baking pans but I haven't used them very much yet)
Because we have limited cooler space and are using ice which starts to melt immediately and is usually completely gone in 1-3 days, this is a major factor in food selection and recipes. Block ice last at least twice as long as cube ice, but is only occasionally available.
For the first 2 days after we grocery shop we eat pretty much what we do at home. Steak, chicken, pork or fish grilled, sauteed, or stir fry with fresh veggies or a salad. One major difference is when we are on the boat I cook all the meat/poultry/fish within 24 hours and store it cooked so we don't have to worry about spoilage. So night one we might have hamburgers, I'll cook 4, we'll have 2 for dinner and 2 will go in the cooler and get crumbed into a spaghetti or chili for night 3 and maybe some will be used as an ingredient to added a lunch time canned soup or quesadilla. On night 2 we might grill a couple pounds of chicken, we eat some for dinner and put the rest in the cooler to be used as dinner on night 4, a chicken curry or stir fry and some for lunch in a sandwich or salad.
Unless we have bought more ice all the cooked meat/poultry will be used by day 4. Because ice is readily available at most marinas we can usually keep fresh food cold for as long as we need to. It is often harder to get to a grocery store that has fresh food and is a bit of a balancing act, how much to buy that we can use before it spoils and/or will fit in the cooler.
Because the ice in the cooler is always melting all too often there is water sloshing around in the cooler so keeping items from becoming water logged is an issue. The screw top 1 quart plastic jars are much better than the snap on lids at keeping water out food stored in the cooler. We also buy food items in what I call “hermetically sealed” plastic packaging, block cheese, feta, cooked turkey or pork sausage and sandwich meat. After opening I store them in the screw top plastic tubs.
Of course not all the fresh food needs refrigeration. Onions and potatoes don't need refrigeration and last for weeks. Carrots, turnip, cabbage easily last a week plus with with no refrigeration. Tomatoes peppers, zucchini and mushrooms are also pretty durable and will usually also last for a week if they are kept a bit cool. I try to select at least some fresh fruit that doesn't need refrigeration and doesn't bruise easily, (oranges and pineapple are great). We eat the banana and peaches first before they become bruised mush.
Though we hope to get to a grocery store once every 7 0 10 days, it doesn't always work out. Weather delays, very rural marina, with the advertised grocery store being a gas station mini mart which has lots of soda, beer and chips with a few canned goods and maybe sandwich meat and cheese or a “Dollar General” which has a larger selection of canned goods, and frozen pizzas but no fresh fruit, veggies or meat. Even when we do get to a grocery store the veggie/fruit section is sometimes is very small with limited selection, so we always have canned and dried items on board for weeks that can be turned into a meal when the major grocery store resupply is delayed.
Below are some of our “not much fresh food on board” recipes.
Curry couscous
1 cup couscous
1 1/3 cup water
1 bullion cube (chicken or vegetable)
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ cup peanuts ½ cup raisins
Bring water to boil, add bouillon and raisins. When returns to boil turn off heat. Let sit 10 minutes?, til raisins are soft. Bring back to boil, add peanuts and couscous. Turn off heat let sit until water is absorbed. Fluff and serve.
Optional: Honey and/or hot sauce to taste
Substitute: Pecans, cranberries and Moroccan spice
Add: Left over cooked chicken to make a main dish
Chickpea salad
1 can chickpeas (rinsed)
Ham (canned will work) and/or green or calamari olives (feta is great in this salad if you have it)
Sweet onion and/or sweet peppers (red, yellow or orange) and/or cucumbers and/or cauliflower and/or Tomato (chopped fairly small)
Dressing: Olive oil and vinegar or Italian or Cesar dressing
Let marinade in dressing 10 – 15 minutes before serving.
Black bean salad
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1-2 cans mandarin orange (in juice not syrup) Reserve ¼ cup of juice
½ cup pecans (chopped but not too fine)
½ cup sweet peppers (chopped fairly small)
¼ red or sweet onion
1 tbs olive oil
¼ cup of the mandarin juice (or orange juice if you have it)
1 tsp hot sauce
If you have it add cold cooked chicken.
Quesadilla
2 Whole wheat soft burrito or taco shell
Cheese (cheddar, pepper jack) any kind that will melt
Hot sauce
Optional
Left over cooked chicken (cut up small)
Ham (canned is fine)
Peppers (cut up thin)
Put shell in fry pan (med/low heat)
Break ¼ cup cheese into small pieces (or shred) sprinkle on shell
Add ¼ cup chicken, ham or peppers
Cover with second shell
As cheese melts, use spatula to press the shells together
Keep checking the bottom to make sure it doesn't burn (3 – 5 minutes?)
Flip, cook for a few more minutes
Banana Curry
Large onion, sliced
2 bananas, sliced
½ cup vegetable or chicken bullion
½ cup unsalted peanuts
1 tbs curry powder
1 cup on cooked rice
Saute onion until soft, add banana and curry powder cook for a few minutes til bananas are soft, add bullion and peanuts, bring to simmer, cook for a few minutes. Stir in cooked rice and serve.
Chili
1 large onion (chopped)
1 cooked hamburger, (left over from previous meal) or 1 can prepared no bean chili
1 can beans drained (pinto, kidney or back beans)
1 can diced tomato (any kind, I like the spiced ones with onion and garlic, or the chili ready)
1 large pepper, chopped (if you have it)
1 can corn (drained) or 1 cup cooked rice
Chili powder, cumin and hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion and pepper until they begin to soften, add chili powder and cumin, saute for another minute, add crumbled cooked hamburger (or can of prepared chili) , tomato and beans bring to a simmer. Add corn or cooked rice and hot sauce to taste. It is ready to serve.
Spaghetti
1 can stewed or diced tomato (spiced with onion and garlic if you can find them)
1 med onion, sliced and/or 1 large pepper, diced
1 cooked hamburger, crumbled or 3-4 ounces hard salami, diced
1 tbs Italian herbs
Spaghetti or any pasta (enough for 2)
Cook pasta, drain and put aside
Saute onion and green pepper, til the begin to soften, add crumbled cooked hamburger or salami,, cook for a few minutes, add canned tomato bring to a simmer, add Italian seasoning. Stir. Serve over the spaghetti.
Corned Beef Hash
1 large onion – diced
2 med potato – diced
½ can corned beef – break into small pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion and potato in a little oil for a few minutes, add corned beef, cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until potato and onion are done. Works for breakfast or dinner.
Fish Hash
Same recipe as above but cook onions and potatoes until done, add left over cooked fish, stir gently, serve.
Bouchard's Buckwheat Ploy Mix
Great mix because all you need to add is water. Ploys are an Arcadian crepe/pancake. We like them for breakfast topped with fresh or dried fruit and/or nuts.
Pasta Salad
Cooked pasta
Hard salami or pepperoni
Canned artichoke (drained)
Olives (pitted, any kind)
Tomato and/or cucumber (if you have them)
Dressing, oil and vinegar with Italian herbs or any salad dressing.
This is Libbey with my first blog post, about time!
We have a propane stove with one burner and a grill, a 48 quart cooler, two 20 quart dry food storage tubs and 12 quart spice/bread storage tub.
Cooking utensils are 2 medium and one small sauce pan, a frying pan and 2 twenty-two ounce french press coffee mugs. We also have plates, bowls, cups and glasses (all plastic) and eating utensils (service for 4) and cooking utensils. We also have a collapsible stove top oven and 2 square baking pans but I haven't used them very much yet)
Because we have limited cooler space and are using ice which starts to melt immediately and is usually completely gone in 1-3 days, this is a major factor in food selection and recipes. Block ice last at least twice as long as cube ice, but is only occasionally available.
For the first 2 days after we grocery shop we eat pretty much what we do at home. Steak, chicken, pork or fish grilled, sauteed, or stir fry with fresh veggies or a salad. One major difference is when we are on the boat I cook all the meat/poultry/fish within 24 hours and store it cooked so we don't have to worry about spoilage. So night one we might have hamburgers, I'll cook 4, we'll have 2 for dinner and 2 will go in the cooler and get crumbed into a spaghetti or chili for night 3 and maybe some will be used as an ingredient to added a lunch time canned soup or quesadilla. On night 2 we might grill a couple pounds of chicken, we eat some for dinner and put the rest in the cooler to be used as dinner on night 4, a chicken curry or stir fry and some for lunch in a sandwich or salad.
Unless we have bought more ice all the cooked meat/poultry will be used by day 4. Because ice is readily available at most marinas we can usually keep fresh food cold for as long as we need to. It is often harder to get to a grocery store that has fresh food and is a bit of a balancing act, how much to buy that we can use before it spoils and/or will fit in the cooler.
Because the ice in the cooler is always melting all too often there is water sloshing around in the cooler so keeping items from becoming water logged is an issue. The screw top 1 quart plastic jars are much better than the snap on lids at keeping water out food stored in the cooler. We also buy food items in what I call “hermetically sealed” plastic packaging, block cheese, feta, cooked turkey or pork sausage and sandwich meat. After opening I store them in the screw top plastic tubs.
Of course not all the fresh food needs refrigeration. Onions and potatoes don't need refrigeration and last for weeks. Carrots, turnip, cabbage easily last a week plus with with no refrigeration. Tomatoes peppers, zucchini and mushrooms are also pretty durable and will usually also last for a week if they are kept a bit cool. I try to select at least some fresh fruit that doesn't need refrigeration and doesn't bruise easily, (oranges and pineapple are great). We eat the banana and peaches first before they become bruised mush.
Though we hope to get to a grocery store once every 7 0 10 days, it doesn't always work out. Weather delays, very rural marina, with the advertised grocery store being a gas station mini mart which has lots of soda, beer and chips with a few canned goods and maybe sandwich meat and cheese or a “Dollar General” which has a larger selection of canned goods, and frozen pizzas but no fresh fruit, veggies or meat. Even when we do get to a grocery store the veggie/fruit section is sometimes is very small with limited selection, so we always have canned and dried items on board for weeks that can be turned into a meal when the major grocery store resupply is delayed.
Below are some of our “not much fresh food on board” recipes.
Curry couscous
1 cup couscous
1 1/3 cup water
1 bullion cube (chicken or vegetable)
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ cup peanuts ½ cup raisins
Bring water to boil, add bouillon and raisins. When returns to boil turn off heat. Let sit 10 minutes?, til raisins are soft. Bring back to boil, add peanuts and couscous. Turn off heat let sit until water is absorbed. Fluff and serve.
Optional: Honey and/or hot sauce to taste
Substitute: Pecans, cranberries and Moroccan spice
Add: Left over cooked chicken to make a main dish
Chickpea salad
1 can chickpeas (rinsed)
Ham (canned will work) and/or green or calamari olives (feta is great in this salad if you have it)
Sweet onion and/or sweet peppers (red, yellow or orange) and/or cucumbers and/or cauliflower and/or Tomato (chopped fairly small)
Dressing: Olive oil and vinegar or Italian or Cesar dressing
Let marinade in dressing 10 – 15 minutes before serving.
Black bean salad
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1-2 cans mandarin orange (in juice not syrup) Reserve ¼ cup of juice
½ cup pecans (chopped but not too fine)
½ cup sweet peppers (chopped fairly small)
¼ red or sweet onion
1 tbs olive oil
¼ cup of the mandarin juice (or orange juice if you have it)
1 tsp hot sauce
If you have it add cold cooked chicken.
Quesadilla
2 Whole wheat soft burrito or taco shell
Cheese (cheddar, pepper jack) any kind that will melt
Hot sauce
Optional
Left over cooked chicken (cut up small)
Ham (canned is fine)
Peppers (cut up thin)
Put shell in fry pan (med/low heat)
Break ¼ cup cheese into small pieces (or shred) sprinkle on shell
Add ¼ cup chicken, ham or peppers
Cover with second shell
As cheese melts, use spatula to press the shells together
Keep checking the bottom to make sure it doesn't burn (3 – 5 minutes?)
Flip, cook for a few more minutes
Banana Curry
Large onion, sliced
2 bananas, sliced
½ cup vegetable or chicken bullion
½ cup unsalted peanuts
1 tbs curry powder
1 cup on cooked rice
Saute onion until soft, add banana and curry powder cook for a few minutes til bananas are soft, add bullion and peanuts, bring to simmer, cook for a few minutes. Stir in cooked rice and serve.
Chili
1 large onion (chopped)
1 cooked hamburger, (left over from previous meal) or 1 can prepared no bean chili
1 can beans drained (pinto, kidney or back beans)
1 can diced tomato (any kind, I like the spiced ones with onion and garlic, or the chili ready)
1 large pepper, chopped (if you have it)
1 can corn (drained) or 1 cup cooked rice
Chili powder, cumin and hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion and pepper until they begin to soften, add chili powder and cumin, saute for another minute, add crumbled cooked hamburger (or can of prepared chili) , tomato and beans bring to a simmer. Add corn or cooked rice and hot sauce to taste. It is ready to serve.
Spaghetti
1 can stewed or diced tomato (spiced with onion and garlic if you can find them)
1 med onion, sliced and/or 1 large pepper, diced
1 cooked hamburger, crumbled or 3-4 ounces hard salami, diced
1 tbs Italian herbs
Spaghetti or any pasta (enough for 2)
Cook pasta, drain and put aside
Saute onion and green pepper, til the begin to soften, add crumbled cooked hamburger or salami,, cook for a few minutes, add canned tomato bring to a simmer, add Italian seasoning. Stir. Serve over the spaghetti.
Corned Beef Hash
1 large onion – diced
2 med potato – diced
½ can corned beef – break into small pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
Saute onion and potato in a little oil for a few minutes, add corned beef, cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until potato and onion are done. Works for breakfast or dinner.
Fish Hash
Same recipe as above but cook onions and potatoes until done, add left over cooked fish, stir gently, serve.
Bouchard's Buckwheat Ploy Mix
Great mix because all you need to add is water. Ploys are an Arcadian crepe/pancake. We like them for breakfast topped with fresh or dried fruit and/or nuts.
Pasta Salad
Cooked pasta
Hard salami or pepperoni
Canned artichoke (drained)
Olives (pitted, any kind)
Tomato and/or cucumber (if you have them)
Dressing, oil and vinegar with Italian herbs or any salad dressing.
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