Crispy Pan Fried Gnocchi

Vanlife Eats
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2
Crispy Pan Fried Gnocchi
Gnocchi Recipe

Crispy Pan Fried Gnocchi with a Sweet Bell and Onion Salad

Vanlife Eats
Vegan, Vegetarian
These little crispy dumplings are just the tastiest thing to gnoc up (sorry couldn't resist) in your campervan. Perfectly complimented with the sharpness of a red onion, the sweetness of a bell pepper and a little chilli to spice things up.
4.50 from 4 votes
10 Ingredients or less – One-pan – Quick cook – Stove top meal
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 17 minutes
Course Dinner, Salad
Servings 2 People
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 500 g Gnocchi 1 Pack
  • 1 Red Onion Sliced
  • 1 Red Chilli Finely chopped and seeds removed
  • 1 Red Pepper Sliced
  • 1/2 cup White Wine Or a good splash
  • 1 Garlic Clove Finely chopped
  • 1 Handful Fresh Parsley Chopped
  • tbsp Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1 Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese or vegan cheese to keep it plant based

Instructions
 

  • Heat a skillet pan to a medium heat and add the olive oil and the gnocchi.
  • Finely chop the garlic and the chilli and add to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes.
  • Add the sliced onion, the slice red pepper and pour in the white wine. Season well with salt and pepper.
  • When the wine has evaporated turn each individual piece of gnocchi and throw in the chopped parsley. (keep a little for garnishing)
  • After a further 10 minutes on the heat the gnocchi should have a crisp brown coat on one side and is ready to serve.

Notes

campervan gnocchi recipe campervan gnocchi

Nutrition

Calories: 509kcalCarbohydrates: 102gProtein: 12gFat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 866mgPotassium: 338mgFiber: 8gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 2251IUVitamin C: 116mgCalcium: 87mgIron: 10mg
Keyword gnocchi, italian, summer, vegan, vegetarian
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

How to Cook Grains the Right Way in Your Campervan

Vanlife Eats
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0
How to Cook Grains the Right Way in Your Campervan

When it comes to campervan cooking, no matter what meals you dish up, you need a balanced meal. Grains are the perfect staple that round things out. They can help sop up sauce and keep us full with sustained energy.

As such a staple to many a balanced meal, it’s so important to learn how to cook grains the right way. If you cook them wrong, you wind up with mushy, gritty grains that throw off the whole meal.

Follow this campervan cooking advice and you’ll never have to suffer through overcooked, undercooked, or just plain awful grains again!

Campervan Cooking: Grains Edition

Look below for your favourite grain to eat with your meals and we will guide you on the best technique on how to cook it right.

Barley

As one of the oldest grains on Earth, barley is a little sweet. It has a chewy yet tender texture. You’ve often seen it in soup, which is a great way to use barley, but you can take campervan cooking to the next level by using barley to make a nice side dish of grains for your meal.

Whilst grocery shopping it’s likely that pearled barley is what you’ll find. That’s a good thing since it’s the easiest one to cook. Ideally, you’ll want to soak it in water first to shorten the cooking time though it isn’t necessary. If you do have time to soak it, go for a few hours or let it soak overnight for tomorrow’s meal in your campervan.

Should you have whole-grain barley, you can’t skip soaking it overnight and it will take a bit longer to cook.

For all types, you will use a 1:3 ratio of barley to liquid. Bring it to a boil in water with salt (or use broth if you have it). Once it boils, turn it down to a simmer on your campervan stove and let it cook until it’s tender but has some bite to it. Generally, it will take 30 to 60 minutes.

You can also make it creamy in consistency by slowly adding hot liquid in small amounts while keeping up with the stirring.

Bulgur

In the Middle East, bulgur is widely used. Made from whole wheat berries, it is already cooked and essentially just needs to be rehydrated. It’s ideal for quick and easy campervan cooking.

Bulgur gives you a crunchy yet tender texture and a nice wheaty flavor.

Buying bulgur may cause you to grind to a halt, for there are several types of grinds. Fine or medium will do well on salad or baked items while medium and course grinds hold up for pilaf. Whichever grind you choose, it goes bad quickly so buy a little at a time and use it up quickly.

There’s no soaking time needed with Bulgar. To cook bulgur in your campervan, all you need to do is boil salted water and pour it over a heat-safe bowl filled with bulgur. The ratio here is 1:2 for bulger to water. It will absorb this liquid and become fluffy in 15 to 60 minutes, depending on the coarseness you’ve chosen. Drain any excess liquid from it once the bulgur has a tender texture and let it rest so it dries out a bit more.

Wheat Berries

Nutty with a delightful texture, wheat berries are a tasty grain to cook in your campervan. They can be tan to reddish-brown. Some are hard while others are soft. You can use either one though the soft wheatberries will cook much faster.

You don’t have to but toasting the dry wheatberries briefly in a skillet for a few minutes will increase their flavor. Regardless, you’ll need to soak the grains whether they’ve been toasted or you get them straight out of the bag. This should be done for a few hours or even better, overnight, which will reduce your cooking time.

The ratio for wheatberries and liquid is 1:6. You’ll bring it to a boil and let it simmer to a tender yet chewy texture. Expect the cooking time to be somewhere between 25 and 50 minutes when soaked. If you don’t soak them, they’ll take anywhere from 50 to 80 minutes. One important thing about wheat berries is they split and get mushy when you cook them too long so keep checking your wheatberries after 25 minutes.

Farro

This ancient grain is nutty, firm, and chewy all at once. It’s a type of wheat though it looks more like barley. Hailing from Italy, it can turn your campervan cooking into an alfresco Italian kitchen.

Farro is one of the easiest grains to cook on a campervan stove. Simply simmer your whole-grain farro to salted water in a 1:5 ratio until it has a nice chewy bite without being hard. Drain excess water away afterward. It cooks in 15 to 30 minutes when you don’t soak it, making it one of the shortest cooking times for grains on the go.

Rice

Nearly one half of the population of the world depends on rice as a staple. This grass seed is another easy grain for campervan cooking. You will want to choose rice that looks bright without being too yellowish. Texture matters too as the rice shouldn’t break when it’s not cooked. If it breaks easily, it’s not fresh.

White rice cooks best with a ratio of 1:2 with rice and water. Make sure if you double it that you’re using a large enough pot with a tight-fitting lid.

Bring water to a boil on your campervan stove, seasoning it with salt first and then add the water. Let the rice get back to a boil first, then reduce heat and cover the pot. You want to keep it at a nice simmer.

If you make a cup of rice, it will take about 17 minutes. When it’s cooked, let it sit and absorb the liquid, then fluff it with a fork.

Couscous

Another campervan staple food that you probably have in your van cupboard already. It goes with just about everything and is the easiest thing to cook in your campervan.

Is couscous a grain? Couscous is often referred to as a type of pasta as it is made from semolina but it’s actually made from crushed durum wheat semolina which is a slightly different type of semolina that is used to make pasta. Technically it’s not really a grain but it is often treated and cooked the same way.

The three different types of couscous are Moroccan, Israeli and Lebanese. The smallest being Moroccan and the largest being Lebanese.

The best way to cook couscous is to bring a pan of water (or broth) to the boil, stir in the couscous, season with salt and then turn off the heat, cover the pan and leave for about 5 minutes until the couscous is soft and fluffs up with a fork.

The amount of water required to cook couscous is 1 part couscous to 1.5 part water or broth. (1:1.5).

Final Tips on How to Cook Grains in Your Campervan

Remember, the fresher the grains, the better. Buy only what you need and stow it in airtight containers out of direct sunlight. This will make them last on your journeys near and far and provide plenty of nourishing grains for every meal.

Having couscous onboard will give you a quick easy carbohydrate to serve with just about anything. Add herbs and spices to transform your dish in to a variety of cusines all around the globe.

Rolo Overload Brownies – Omnia Style.

Vanlife Eats
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Rolo Overload Brownies – Omnia Style.

Rolo Overload Brownies - Omnia Style.

Vegetarian
After giving up chocolate for lent I knew I wanted to bake something super indulgent super chocolatey for Easter Hence the Omnia style rolo brownies were born. As if a chocolate brownie wasn't indulgent enough this is jam packed full of rolos and covered in a delicious toffee sauce. Dark chocolate gives this recipe a real richness so even if you are not a fan of dark chocolate, don't substitute as you won't get the same result and it doesn't taste of dark chocolate. *Please note you will need a freezer for this recipe*
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Course Baking, Dessert
Servings 8
Diet Vegetarian

Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 7 Rolls of Rolos
  • 200 g Dark Chocolate
  • 200 g Unsalted Butter
  • 3 Large eggs
  • 1.25 cup Light brown sugar
  • 0.75 cup Plain flour
  • 0.5 cup Cocoa powder
  • 0.5 cup Chocolate chunks
  • Toffee sauce

Instructions
 

  • Place your Rolos in the freezer. They will need to freeze for a couple of hours at least.
  • Melt the dark chocolate & butter in a bowl over simmering hot water. Or if you only have 1 bowl like us then melt it in a saucepan ensuring it doesn't burn. You may need to keep taking it off the heat
  • In your bowl mix together the eggs and brown sugar and whisk, whisk, whisk. You will see the mixture become paler and it should increase in volume.
  • Once the melted chocolate mixture has cooled, fold this into your egg mixture.
  • Next fold in the flour & cocoa powder.
  • Finally get those frozen rolos out and get them in your mixture.
  • You can add the chocolate chunks into the mixture if you would like or sprinkle on the top before baking as we did.
  • Place the mixture into the Omnia Oven, we used the silicon insert to make sure it didn't stick.
  • Smooth the mixture out and add chocolate chunks over the top.
    Omnia rolo brownies
  • Place the lid on the Omnia and cook over a low flame for 40 minutes. The centre will not look cooked but it will firm up when cooling. This can also be cooked in a conventional oven at 180c for 25-30 minutes.
  • Leave to cool in the mould for a couple of hours. Turn onto a plate and then load up with the toffee sauce. Enjoy with a cup of tea!

Nutrition

Calories: 604kcalCarbohydrates: 64gProtein: 7gFat: 38gSaturated Fat: 22gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 117mgSodium: 46mgPotassium: 408mgFiber: 6gSugar: 44gVitamin A: 729IUCalcium: 77mgIron: 5mg
Keyword Baking, Cake, chocolate, dessert, omnia, stove top, vegetarian
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Mobilvetta Muffilvetta

Motorhominglife
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1
Mobilvetta Muffilvetta

Mobilvetta Muffilvetta

@motorhominglife
Meat Based
The best Deli Sandwich this side of New Orleans. Named after our Italian Motorhome.
5 from 1 vote
Family friendly - One-pan
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 40 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Lunch
Servings 2
Diet Meat Based

Equipment

  • Fridge

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Crusty Loaf
  • 4 Slices Emmental Cheese
  • 1 Gherkin
  • 4 slices Salami
  • 4 slices Ham
  • 4 slices Mortadella
  • 1 Tomato
  • 4 Fresh Herbs
  • 2 tbsp Virgin Olive Oil
  • 4 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
  • 1 ball Mozzarella
  • 1 tsp Honey
  • 1 pinch Pollen
  • 1 Red Onion
  • 1 Clove Garlic
  • 12 Olives (Black or Green)
  • Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • 1/4 Green Pepper
  • 1/4 Red Pepper
  • 1 Carrot
  • 4 Pepper Balls

Instructions
 

For the pickle

  • Grate the Carrot. Chop the olives into quarters. Finely chop the red onion. Finely slice Green Pepper. Finely slice Red Pepper. Slice Pepper Balls. All goes into one bowl.
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar. 1 tspn honey. Sprinkle of pollen. Put the white wine vinegar in a small pan along with the honey, heat gently until the honey dissolves. Add and stir into the pickle mixture along with the pollen. Set aside.

For the drizzle

  • Finely chop the bunches of assorted herbs. Mix them with the tbsp of olive oil, crushed garlic clove, black pepper and sea salt. Making them into a paste. Set aside.

For the muffilvetta

  • Buy a Crusty loaf. (or similar)
  • Cut in half, long ways Take the middle out and give the middle to the birds.
  • Lets fill it:-Slice the tomato, mozzarella and gherkin, Line the bread bowls with some of the pickle.Then layer one half with the all ingredients, in an order that makes you feel good. Meats, cheeses, pickle, tomato, gherkin, drizzle. (whatever)Place the other half on top. Squeeze.
  • Wrap tightly in cling film, leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours, to let the flavours mingle.
  • Unwrap and cut in half
    filled sandwich in front of a motorhome
  • Slice and serve, with crisps and a cold beer.

Nutrition

Calories: 1613kcalCarbohydrates: 139gProtein: 82gFat: 82gSaturated Fat: 33gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 34gCholesterol: 187mgSodium: 3844mgPotassium: 1545mgFiber: 13gSugar: 30gVitamin A: 14891IUVitamin C: 353mgCalcium: 1057mgIron: 12mg
Keyword cheese, Easy, ham, sandwich
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Best ever Omnia Pizza Recipe!

Vanlife Eats
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2
Best ever Omnia Pizza Recipe!
  • campervan pizza
  • campervan pizza

Best ever Omnia Pizza Recipe!

Vegan, Vegetarian
After a lot of trial and error we have perfected the best Omnia pizza. It's a deep pan edition and works perfectly with Nonna's classic tomato sauce to soak into the doughy base.
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Course Baking, Dinner, Lunch
Servings 2
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian

Ingredients
  

Best Pizza Dough Recipe

  • 2.5 cup Plain Flour
  • 1 tbsp Dry Active Yeast
  • 1 pinch Sugar
  • 1 cup Luke Warm Water
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 pinch Salt
  • 1 Nonna's Pizza Sauce
  • Toppings of your choice

Instructions
 

  • In a small add the warm water, the dried active yeast and the pinch of sugar. Don't stir, just leave it to settle for 5 minutes. You should see the yeast froth and bubble settling in the top of the water.
  • In a mixing bowl add the plain flour, olive oil and salt. When the yeast is ready pour it in to the mixture and combine it with a fork until it forms a sticky ball. Add a little flour if the mixture is too wet and kneed it until it is soft and elasticated. Usually takes about 5 minutes. Spray or wipe the sides of the bowl with oil, cover with a damp tea towel and leave somewhere warm for . The front dashboard works well. Leave until it doubles in size, about 1.5 hours is ideal. During this time you should make your sauce.
  • When the dough is ready spray the surface of your worktop with oil and give the dough a little beating and roll into a thick sausage shape.
  • Lightly spray the Omnia aluminium tin and lay the dough into it joing the ends together forming a ring. Press the dough into the the shape of the tin working the excess dough up the inner and outer edges of the tin. It should be pressed until thin and it evenly covers the base of the tin.
  • Take your tomato sauce and with the back of a spoon spread the sauce generosly over the base of the dough. Add a layer of grated mozzarella cheese. Add your favourite pizza toppings. Our pizza in this recipe was feta, red onion and basil. Enjoy the best Omnia pizza!

Nutrition

Calories: 298kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 7gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 22mgPotassium: 86mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 10mgIron: 3mg
Keyword omnia, pizza
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

 

Campervan Kitchen Power Consumption

Vanlife Eats
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Campervan Kitchen Power Consumption

Treating your campervan as a tiny home in todays modern world will entice you to bring a variety of electrical gadgets and appliances that we have all grown to depend on into your van.

Watching TV in the evenings, fancy coffee machines, chilled food and even blow drying your hair have all become necessities of life. 

Living in a campervan doesn’t mean these can’t be included in life’s luxuries but it does mean a little thought and planning needs to be done to ensure your van is capable of powering them.

When you are living the van life there really is little worse than being stranded in your van with no power. This means no TV, no light, no charge for your phone and worse of all no heater!

Trust me.. I’ve been in this situation and battled the war of balancing power with essential electronic devices within my van. I have spent, spent and spent and learnt expensive lessons in learning the most efficient way to power my van. 

When it comes to electrics it can be complicated so in this article I will try my very best to keep it simple and as understandable as possible.

Campervan kitchen power consumption

Many of the most power-hungry devices are found in the campervan kitchen so I will explain how to prepare your campervan or van conversion to safely run them.

When you are cooking in a campervan it is very easy to start accumulating kitchen gadgets and before you know it your cupboard space is cluttered and worst of all you can start using gadgets that consume precious battery power! 

Items such as blenders, microwaves, pressure cookers and convection ovens to name a few can really cripple your park up experience if your van is not capable to facilitate these items. 

vanlife kitchen

How much electrical power does a campervan use? 

A typical campervan running a common electrical setup consisting of internal lights, a fridge, a TV, a laptop (on charge) and a mobile phone on charge will draw approximately 20 amps per hour under a full load (all of the above switched on) and on an average load 12 amps per hour. 

How to calculate campervan power consumption?

Here is a simple formula that will help you work out how much power your campervan electrical devices are consuming.

Watts = Volts times Amps

Volts = Watts divided by Amps

Amps = Watts divided by Volts

Read the labels on the back of your appliances as these will often tell you at least the wattage of the device. By knowing the wattage and knowing the formula above you will be able to work out the amps per hour of the device and get a better idea of how long your batteries will last. 

When calculating the power consumption of your campervan kitchen appliances, you need to be aware that batteries deteriorate and you should add 25% usage on all your calculations.

Typical campervan kitchen power consuming gadgets

Let’s take a look at the common devices that are typically power hungry and could potentially drain your batteries if you don’t have the right electrical setup.

Fridges

For a couple of years, I thought I could live without a fridge, but actually, it became a very expensive way of living, forever visiting the store to buy fresh food. 

When I finally coughed up £700 to buy my Waeco fridge, I found myself being able to stock up on fresh veggies and another advantage was being able to store leftovers for the following day’s lunch.  I instantly started saving money!

How much power does a campervan fridge use?

There are a few different types of fridges available for campervan use and these are: Compressor fridges, 3-way absorption fridges and the electric cool box. 

My personal preference for a campervan and vanlife living is the compressor fridge. They have a built-in thermostat that turns the fridge off when it reaches particular temperatures. This makes the load on your batteries much better. Unlike the electric coolbox that is generally always on and at full power draining your batteries constantly! 

A compressor fridge uses around 40w of power so to work out how many amps this would be we use the formula (watts divided by volts).  Using a 12v van an example 40 divided by 12 = 3.33 amp hours of use. If your battery is 100amp hours then that’s 30 hours until the battery is completely dead. You should never run a battery down below 50% so really you only have 15 hours of use and that’s without taking another usage into consideration (such as lights etc). 

What you can do to improve the efficiency is double, triple or even quadruple your batteries and parallel them together to increase the overall amperage, upgrade the batteries with that of a higher amp hour rating and ensure you have adequate charging facilities to at least trickle charge back into the batteries. This could be from solar, split charge relay, battery to battery charger or from a mains hookup. 

Halogen Ovens & Microwaves

Are ovens a necessity in a van? For many, it’s considered a luxury item that can be avoided to be more resourceful on electricity or to avoid complex gas lines installed in their van. 

You can cook most things on a campervan stove-top and especially with the addition of an Omnia, almost anything you would regularly cook in an oven becomes possible.

Do we have an oven? Yes, but we use it scarcely as yes it uses a lot of our battery power. We do enjoy leaving it on whilst we are driving through and when we arrive at our destination we have a crispy oven-cooked dinner to enjoy. 

How much power does a campervan oven use?

Basing this example on an electric mini oven which is what we have and is 800W (we know this because it says on the box/instructions/label). What we actually want to know now is how many amps per hour it will use from our batteries. 

Amps = Watts divided by Volts (800W divided by 12v) so this indicates the oven will draw 66.6 amps per hour. One battery at 100ah would mean you only have about 20 minutes of use until the battery drops to half (maximum use before damage may occur). This is far from viable with one battery and even two or three batteries in the bank.

A halogen oven should really only be considered if you have a juicy battery bank of 300AH as a minimum alongside solar charging facilities. 

The other option would be to use it whilst on an electrical hookup like that found at a campsite. Be aware that some campsites have a limit on amperage and this could be as little as 5amps! 800W divided by 230v = 3.48Amps for example, but don’t forget to consider the other electrical items you have in use at the same time. 

Induction Hobs

Can you use an induction hob in a campervan? The simple answer is yes but there are a few things to consider before you purchase an induction hob for your van conversion.

Induction hobs have become ever so popular with van conversions these days. They are of a flat low profile and super space saving as you can simply put the hob away in a draw or cupboard. 

There are horror stories of gas canisters in vans blowing up and it’s a big worry for many. There is also carbon monoxide to consider and your van must be ventilated properly to keep safe.

Induction hobs are great for cooking in a campervan as they are compact, more efficient and also potentially safer to use in confined spaces. 

The induction process means that the heat is almost instantaneous and the heat is focused directly on the pan and not the surrounding areas. Induction pans are about 50% more efficient than a gas hob.

A pan of water will boil twice as fast on an induction hob than on a gas hob. 

Another great advantage of induction hobs is they produce a lot less moisture. There is no gas to burn thus no water in the air. The only moisture is from the steam in your pan. Every little helps in the war against moisture in a van!

The huge downside to induction hobs is the power consumption. It will put a huge strain on your batteries!

How much power is consumed from an induction hob? Typically an induction hob is about 1800w at full power or high heat so if we do our little calculation we get to 150amps! Ouch! 

This does mean that you need a powerful battery bank with at least 300ah along with some means to charge such as solar panels. 

Many people who cook on induction hobs tend to keep to quick 15/20minute meals and do not exceed a medium heat to maintain battery power whilst parked up. 

Coffee Maker

I know I need a good cup of coffee in the morning to function and I know a lot of van lifers who consider their coffee making facilities an essential must-have!

Personally I use a stove top coffee maker these days but I did once have a Tassimo coffee machine. 

Yet another power-hungry device and if you tend to spend a lot of time off-grid you may need to avoid all these gadgets but if it’s essential then we need to do our little science calculation. 

A standard Tassimo coffee machine such as the one I had is 1300W. That means a coffee machine on 12V will draw approximately 108 amps per hour. 

Remember the machine only runs for 45 seconds so you will get a fair amount of uses from it but it all adds up if you are off-grid.

How to minimise campervan power consumption

Adventures in your campervan are meant to be fun so not for one moment am I ever going to imply that you should make sacrifices to your holiday or vanlife living experience.

However, budgets are budgets and if you are familier with vanlife already you know that vans can be extremely expensive to equip with all the mod cons you might like. Some cutbacks may need to be made.

Coffee machine vs cafetiere
Equipping your coffee machine into your van (depending on how often you drink coffee) will use a lot of power and strain on your batteries. Have you ever tried a cast iron espresso maker? Or perhaps a cafetiere may be worth a try?

Fridge vs electric coolbox
It may seem like a great idea to buy a low cost electric coolbox but as the cheaper electric coolboxes do not ave a thermostatic control you will find that they run on full power constatnly. You may well find that if you leave the coolbox on overnight that you will wake up to flat batteries.

A thermostatic compressor fridge may be five times the cost of the coolbox but the power consumption is so much lower. The risk of killing your batteries is a lot less.

Induction hob vs gas hob
There is no doubt that induction hobs are great but they really require a fully prepared van setup or regular mains hookups to run them. Only consider an induction hob if you have researched and fully understand your power setup and requirements.

Gas hobs are great and if you ensure your setup is checked over by a qualified gas safe engineer you can rest easy knowing you have a cheap, low power consuming an safe stove-top.

The infamous Omnia oven
There are certain things you just can’t cook on the stove-top…unless you have an Omnia oven. This little red bundt tin with a lid will put crispy back on to your menu.

The Omnia oven sits on your stove-top using gas and no electric at all.

wonderbag slow cooking

The wonderbag thermal oven
If slow-cooked is your thing and evening cooking is a rush, a thermal oven may be what you need. It uses virtually zero power and holds heat for up to 12 hours. Simply start the cooking process on your hob and then place it in the Wonderbag which will continue the cooking process slowly. Hours later you can enjoy a delicious slow-cooked hot meal.

Cooking Cosy – A campervan cooking solution

Vanlife Eats
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0
Cooking Cosy – A campervan cooking solution

The Cooking Cosy provides a cooking solution for every campervan. It helps save energy, is environmentally friendly and super cute! Find out what we thought when we reviewed this item cooking in our very own campervan!

A little about the company Cooking Cosy

We came across the company cooking cosy on Instagram and it intrigued us immediately. We reached out to Geraldine there and she very kindly sent us some cooking cosies to try ourselves.

The company is based in Northern Ireland, and was partly developed by accident after abandoning some pasta whilst cooking and realising that you do not necessarily need to have a pan on the hob all the time for the food to cook. (They tell the story a lot better on their site!) This is so ideal for cooking in a campervan or any mobile home as we know gas can be a limited resource. This product is designed to reduce the amount of energy used as we will explain below….

Cooking cosy displayed in our campervan

What is a cooking cosy and how is it a campervan cooking solution?

Those with vans are well aware there can be constraints when cooking in a campervan. One of these can be a limited supply of energy when cooking. Whether you have gas or electric for cooking, a fixed hob or a camping stove, this product can help you.

The Cooking Cosy is 100% wool. It is designed to keep pans hot so that the food inside continues to cook even after being taken off the hob. This is such a great cooking solution for inside a campervan, or any other tiny kitchen in fact. After bringing the pan to the boil, simply remove from the heat, place on a heat-proof mat & cover with the cosy. The website has the recommended cooking guidelines, and the cosy comes with a set of helpful instructions and timings. Generally adding another 5-10 minutes to the cooking time gives the same results but with a lot less energy usage.

Instructions for using thee cooking cosy with timings

What did we like about the cooking cosy?

I (Sophie) actually adore the design of this product, I love the colour and the fact it is made from natural materials (100% wool). It is obviously lightweight which is very well suited to cooking and travelling in a campervan. Another advantage is that it can be folded flat or rolled up to store. This means it can be stored in the tiniest of spaces in your tiny kitchen. Rolled up in our kitchen drawer it even stops things moving around when we’re on the road. Win, win!

It is very versatile and can fit many different sized pans. We tend to only have 2-3 pans in our van due to storage and this works with them really well. We have tested it cooking, pasta, rice and buckwheat. The buckwheat took a bit of practice, the first time we left it a little too long and it turned into a soggy mess. We like to think we have perfected it now. We tend to steam our vegetables so are yet to try it on those yet.

100% wool

We recently held an afternoon tea live in our van & we used the cosy then to keep our teapot warm. We do love a multi-use item, who doesn’t when travelling tiny!

Using these means you can leave your food cooking with confidence. There is no need to worry about wind blowing the flame out and it means you can get on with other things whilst your food is cooking away.

The main feature that we love about this product is that we can save precious gas when cooking. We cook a LOT in our van, plus I do a lot of baking, so we use a fair bit of gas. A way to save gas without sacrificing our food seems ideal to us.

Take your Cosy walking, hiking or camping!

The great thing about the cosy is that it is so lightweight it can easily be stored and carried alongside your camping stove. When camping, gas is even more precious than in your campervan. This little gadget will mean that you can save gas when on these trips.

When finished, fold it and roll it up, store it away and you won’t even know it’s there!

Camping with a cooking cosy

What didn’t we like about the cooking cosy?

We can honestly say there wasn’t anything we didn’t like about the product. It takes a while to get used to the timings as obviously these can vary slightly depending on the size of the pan and how full it is. We haven’t needed to clean ours yet, as it isn’t really likely to get dirty during use unless something has run down the side of the pan. We think they seem pretty easy to clean & would be ok to be rinsed in the sink and left to dry.

The disadvantage that we could see being an issue for some people is that the product is not advised for using with meat. This doesn’t affect us really as I’m a vegetarian and Mark doesn’t eat a large amount of meat anyway. It does however free up your hob allowing you to cook meat whilst your veg/pasta/rice is cooking on the side.

Cooking Cosy up close

Where can you get this cooking solution for your campervan?

Here are the links to the Cooking Cosy and how you can get your hands on them. They are priced at €17.95, we are also running a giveaway for one lucky winner to get one. Head to our Instagram to find out how… @vanlife_eats

Website: www.cookingcosy.com

Instagram: @cooking_cosy

Conclusion

We really enjoy using these. They are very well suited to vanlife or any tiny kitchen. Any kitchen in fact – we have one for at home too! They are lightweight which is ideal when weight is an issue such as in a campervan or when camping. They are easy to store, they can fit into small spaces so storage isn’t an issue at all. All in all these are a fab way to save energy when cooking!

“Let your cosy do the cooking!”

Want to see more product reviews for your campervan kitchen? Click here

Here are some recipes where the cooking cosy would come in useful.

Cauliflower cheese with bacon

Spaghetti Bolognese Classico

Moroccan Inspired Stew

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Skillet of Mackerel with Spicy Tomato Salad

Vanlife Eats
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Skillet of Mackerel with Spicy Tomato Salad

Skillet of Mackerel with Spicy Tomato Salad

Pescatarian
A Mediterranean style dish with a very British Mackerel. Mackerel is one of the tastiest fishes whilst being surrounded by a spicy-sweet and zingy tomato salad.
5 from 1 vote
30 minute meal - One-pan - Solo travel - Stove top meal
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Dinner, Lunch, Salad
Servings 1
Diet Pescatarian

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Tomatoes
  • 2 fillets Mackerel
  • 1/2 Green Pepper
  • 1/2 Green Chilli
  • 1/2 Red Onion
  • 2 cloves Garlic
  • 1 Handful Fresh Basil
  • 1 splash Balsamic Vinegar
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1/2 Lemon

Instructions
 

  • Heat a skillet pan over a medium heat and add the red onion, pepper, chilli and garlic.
  • Clear a space in the center of the skillet and place the Mackerel skin side down. Add the tomatoes and lemon wedges and season with salt and pepper. Splash a little balsamic over the tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes.
  • After the Mackerel has been on the heat for 5 minutes, flip the fish and add a handful of fresh basil Cook for a further 3 minutes and the serve with rice, pasta or cous cous.

Nutrition

Calories: 624kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 72gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 160mgSodium: 306mgPotassium: 2025mgFiber: 5gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 1792IUVitamin C: 110mgCalcium: 141mgIron: 5mg
Keyword Fish, Mediterranean, sea, seafood
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Featured Vanlifers – Ephin.in.transit

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Featured Vanlifers – Ephin.in.transit

Featured vanlifers @ephin.in.transit are a family of 8 who enjoy family travels in their van Panda Spaceship. Who are featured vanlifers @ephin.in.tranit? Parents Joseph & Devin have 6 children between them, Audrey, Henry, Evan, Naya, Mateo & Sage. Keep reading to find out what this family of 8 get up to on their vanlife adventures. Be sure to follow them on Instagram to see their adventures!

Where have they visited?

This family are based in the U.S. They are big fans of the National Parks & have visited a number of them including Grand Tetons, Zion, Canyonlands & Joshua Tree. Currently they travel as a family part-time due to them co-parenting their children with their ex partners.

Devin has dual citizenship with the US and UK which opens up foreign travel to them a little more. In 2019, parents Joseph & Devin visited 9 European countries in 16 days. In the future they plan to have a trip abroad with one child each year.

A few highlights from their trip in their van trips so far are driving with the kids from Utah to New Orleans & back. They have also enjoyed trips to Denver & Ft. Collins in their current van. One particular memory they recall is enjoying an incredible sunset and sunrise when on a trip with Sage. They managed to find a good park-up on a ridge to get the best view over the Grand Tetons – vanlife at it’s finest!

They have had some not so great times too, though luckily they can laugh at them now. Travelling with potty training kids can have it’s issues. This family weren’t potty training 1, but 2 children at the same time! Both decided they needed to pee-pee in a shady looking bar car park in Las Vegas one night, so out came the potties in the car park. Another time Devin recalls freaking out when driving through the Rockies in the pitch black at night. She was worried because she couldn’t see the road properly and was scared of hitting something. Finally, before getting their windows tinted they looked back to see one of their children with a diaper box on his head because the sun was too hot.

All in all the fun far outweighs any mishaps they have had, and so the family adventure on!

Why Vanlife?

Travelling with 6 kids could be problematic and expensive, but vanlife has changed that for this family. Both Devin & Joseph confess to having a severe case of wanderlust and so they needed to find a solution for travelling with the children. Since they already needed a large van to get around in, they decided this was their best option for travelling too. By eliminating screens on their travels they have found the children enjoy road trips the way their parents used to as children. Looking out of the windows, talking to one another, reading, playing games etc. All of this helps the family to bond and make special memories together.

When asked what was their favourite part about travelling with kids, they said the fact that they were legally obligated to have the children strapped into seats all day – and considered better parents for it! Ha ha ha. Jokes aside though, they feel like their children are gaining amazing experiences and are going to grow up with the same lust for travel as their parents.

Where do they all sleep?

One of the questions these guys must get asked a lot, is where do they all sleep? The answer is there are 2 beds in the back, then each row of seats adapts to become a bed. The family use their storage containers as supports for the beds in the front. Click the link below to see how they manage…

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMvisiHh2_9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

How do they cook?

The family doesn’t have a built in kitchen in their van. They simply cook on their second hand camp kitchen. They prefer cooking this way as they can have their kitchen as big or small as they want, and place it where they like according to the weather. They also travel with a ninja foodi, which alongside the camp kitchen is their favourite accessory.

One time when travelling their old camping stove was misbehaving and the flame kept going out every 30 seconds. Due to Devin’s perseverance and stubborn-ness pancakes for eight was a success 2 hours later. It would have been a different story if Joseph were in charge of the stove that day – us too most likely!

They travel with a couple of pots & pans, making sure they have their dutch iron or cast iron pan. They also take a little backpacking stove, a Santoku knife, cooler, water jugs & cutting board. In terms of their pantry, they like to carry Kerrygold, salt & multi-purpose seasoning. They also like to take jerky as a snack as well as protein shakes & bars. One of their favourite meals to enjoy together is hamburgers – definitely a classic when camping out. Another favourite is this recipe below.

Cheeseburger Mac

Serves 8 – Adjust Ingredients accordingly

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 onion

Handful of minced mushrooms

Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute (on sautéed veggies, then add beef)

Salt to taste

5 boxes Annie’s mac and cheese (and the butter and milk they call for) 

Grated/shredded cheese to mix in (gives it a more legit mac and cheese taste) 

Additional 1/4 cup whole milk and 3 Tbsp butter to keep the sauce saucy once you’ve added the ground beef

  1. Start preparing the mac and cheese.
  2. Finely chop the onion and mushrooms and sauté them. We can’t add much or our kids don’t want to eat it, but if you’re making it for adults or kids who are fine with more mushrooms and onion, feel free to add more.
  3. Add in some 21 seasoning salute (or your favorite multipurpose seasoning), then add the ground beef to that mixture.
  4. Once your mac and cheese is prepared, stir in the ground beef and add salt to taste.
  5. Add the additional butter and milk, stir it all, then grate in some cheese. You can just do cheddar, but sometimes we add an aged gouda or gruyere.
  6. We like to serve some kind of veggie on the side, like broccoli. 

Tips for future/fellow vanlifers…

“You don’t need the perfect Instagram/Pinterest van to get out there and make amazing memories and have the best time. Just do what you can when you can. Also, don’t feel like you have to give it up when you have kids; it’s totally possible. If you’re living in a van, you really should have given up caring what society thinks about you by this point anyway”

Cauliflower Cheese with Bacon

Vanlife Eats
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Cauliflower Cheese with Bacon

keto cauliflower cheese

Cauliflower Cheese with Bacon

Meat Based
This is the perfect indulgent meal whilst following a keto diet. Full of flavour and easy to prepare in a campervan kitchen.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Dinner
Servings 2
Diet Meat Based

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Cauliflower
  • 4 Rashers of Smokey Bacon
  • 1 cup Cheese (of your choice, we use mature cheddar)
  • 280 ml Double Cream
  • 2 tbsp Butter
  • 1 tbsp Coconut Flour
  • 1 tbsp Smoked Paprika
  • 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 handful Parsley
  • Salt & Pepper

Instructions
 

  • In a hot skillet pan, fry the 4 rashers of bacon. You will want to get these nice and crispy so make sure the pan is hot and keep turning to get them nice and even. When cooked remove from the pan and place on some kitchen paper to soak up the grease.
  • Take your cauliflower and cut the stem off and break the cauliflower up into small bite-sized florets. Add them to the pan along with a cup of water. Place the lid on the pan and leave to cook for 15 minutes until the florets are soft.
  • Meanwhile.. Melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan on low heat. When the butter is melted add the tablespoon of coconut flour and mix to form a paste. Continue to stir the paste for a couple of minutes to cook out the flour. Add one-third of the cream to the paste and stir until combined. Add the second third and stir until combined and finally add the last third of cream to the paste and stir until a smooth mixture forms. Add the cheese, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and give it all a good stir. It should form a sticky sauce.
  • By now the cauliflower should be soft and there should be a little moisture still in the pan, keep this in. Add the cheese sauce to the cauliflower and mix it all together. Return the lid to the pan.
  • Take your crispy bacon rashers and cut them into small crsipy chunks. Add them to the pan and give it a mix. Stir in some fresh parsley and serve. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 1094kcalCarbohydrates: 24gProtein: 29gFat: 101gSaturated Fat: 58gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 31gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 310mgSodium: 892mgPotassium: 1210mgFiber: 8gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 5130IUVitamin C: 140mgCalcium: 577mgIron: 3mg
Keyword cheese, keto, ketogenic, low carb
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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