Heartfelt Reflections: Stories of Love, Loss, and Growth
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Feta Orzo Salad
Just an amazing summer cold dish, full of fresh/raw ingredients prepared in absolutely no time. The main ingredient is orzo, which is basically pasta in the shape of rice, which pairs perfectly with the vinaigrette & fresh veggies.
One-pot Jollof Rice
Though this is by no means a Chilean recipe, it was the rice dish we made the most in Chile by far, as it uses ingredients which are easy to find all over the country, and only requires one pan.
It’s also delicious cold, so we always make double portions, to avoid having to worry about lunch the next day.
Cook Free Couscous Salad
Couscous is readily available throughout Chile, and is also the only carbohydrate I know of that doesn’t need to be heated. This comes in handy if you’re looking to save on gas, or if you don’t have a cooker.
Mushroom Stroganoff
I use to make this one all the time back home, when I fancied something creamy and comforting. Here however, fresh mushrooms aren’t so easy to find, plus they aren’t cheap either.
If you’re in the south at the right time of year, you may be able to get your hands on some cheap wild mushrooms in the markets. The ones you want are the impressive Loyo mushrooms, from the porcini family.
For the most part, we ended up using tinned mushrooms. I won’t try and claim that these are the real thing, however they do have the advantage of being cheap, easy to find, and of course, lasting forever.
By all means, use fresh if you can, but if not don’t be afraid to give these a go, you may be surprised.
All the other ingredients for this recipe are also long life, so you can think about this one in the supermarket, and then forget about it till a rainy day.
Llajua Hot Sauce
This is pretty much the hot sauce that you’ll see on every table. It’s dead simple, fresh and delicious.
It is made with huacatay leaves, a Bolivian herb with quite a unique flavour.
Traditionally this sauce is made with a special hand blender, that gives the sauce a chunky blended texture. However, I was shown it can also be made with a grater.
Van-Made Pesto
The best simple and authentic pesto sauce. Use as a spread in a sandwich, a dressing for a salad or as a rich sauce for your pasta.
Southwest Salad with Sweet and Spicy Chicken
This has been a go-to meal for years for us, and it has translated really well into Vanlife.
I was playing with seasonings one night as I cooked chicken to put in a salad for dinner, and I loved the sweet and savoury heat it added to our salad!
The tortilla chips and Ranch really compliment the flavors of this dish.
You can modify this salad to your own tastes!
Perhaps you’re not a broccoli fan, or you hate black beans. That’s fine!
The beauty of a salad is you can toss it together your own way! Play with it, and have fun!
If you don’t have all of the ingredients, use what you do have! I often make a simplified version with no black beans, corn, tomato, or avocado-just a simple salad with chicken and tortilla chips on top.
Guacamole loaded Sweet Potatoes
I never would have thought of combining sweet potatoes and guacamole until I saw the idea on Pinterest! The flavors pair together really well, and we love this meal! It’s quick and easy to make on a week night after work. And it’s quite filling, especially with a salad. But, I will sometimes serve it with a side of quinoa, as well.
Creamy Chicken and Corn Chowder
This soup is pure comfort food, and perfect for a cold night in the van! I love making a big pot of soup, and having the leftovers the next night. I always serve this soup with homemade garlic toast, which I make by toasting bread slices in a pan, buttering them, and sprinkling them with Garlic Salt. Bon Appétit!
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
This is our absolute favorite cookie recipe! I made it all the time in the early years of our marriage, before we left for Vanlife. And I was delighted to learn that I could make cookies on a propane stove top with a covered pan!
If you are like us, and don’t have an oven in your van, you will need a lidded pan to make these cookies. It creates an oven effect on your stove top. If you don’t have a pan lid, perhaps you could try a dinner plate!
If you have an electric mixer, you would be fine just using softened butter. I melt my butter to make mixing easier. I didn’t bring my hand mixer, since we boondock most of the time, and rely completely on our solar panels and battery bank. Fellow boondockers, I know you understand!
Easy Pizza Dough
I have been using this pizza dough recipe for years! I’ve tried new dough recipes since, but I always come back to this one. It is so simple and always turns out great!
Imagine my delight when I realized I could make homemade pizza on our propane stove top in the van!
When I photographed this recipe, it was during the COVID-19 quarantine, so the grocery store was out of organic all-purpose flour. I tried making it with organic quinoa flour, instead. I didn’t realize quinoa flour is like a whole wheat flour. That’s why the crust has a darker color. I do NOT recommend using a non-white flour with this recipe! The quinoa flour made the dough difficult to work with, and the crust too crumbly. Plus, the flavor was blah at best. This recipe works best with white flour, and turns out ah-mazing every time with it!
Make pizza in the van yourself (Non-Omnia-edition)
Since we are two huge pizza fanatics, this was the ultimate criteria for our vanlife. If we can’t make a pizza without an oven or Omnia, then we would be forced to let our dream of vanlife die. But we wanted to travel so badly!
So we sat down, tinkered and finally developed a really cool recipe, which we would like to share with you. And we can now rightly say, especially since we now have an Omnia, that we stick to the pan-pizza method. It is the best pizza you can make in a van!
If you want, you can watch our pan pizza tutorial on YouTube in advance (german, English subs are following):
About
Ethan Caldwell
REFLECTIVE BLOGGER
Ethan Caldwell shares thoughtful insights and reflections on life, culture, and personal growth. His work explores the intersections of creativity and experience, offering readers unique perspectives.
Paris, France
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