Motivated to keep learning

While this past year our travels were slim to none, we are planning trips out in our 1975 GMC Motorhome Eleganza 2 for 2021. Beyond a few short local trips, we are planning a two week trip to Yellowstone this year and that planning is keeping me motivated to reconfigure storage in the RV and prepare to make the trips as simple as possible. We tend to prefer to eat ‘at home’, especially with diet restrictions we need to follow. Beyond storage and minimizing I have looked to YouTube to continue to be my teacher for cooking ideas- there is so much content out there on every subject imaginable. I love our Blackstone Table Top Grill, last time we were out we made pizza’s using naan bread as the crust, fixed traditional bacon and eggs, and stir fry. For us storage is an important issue, and I chose to remove our oven, (We had a non functioning gas oven and traded it out for a convection oven that I decided we didn’t need.) but I did want some sort of baking option. I didn’t know what I was looking for when I stumbled upon a few videos on the Omnia Stove Top Oven. They were a pretty hot item before the holidays so Santa wasn’t able to deliver but I was able to order later and now have this great piece of equipment at my fingertips!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The Omnia Stove gives me the option to bake bread, roast chicken, make meatloaf, pizza….. it is a working oven. I put my tri-fold grease deflector up and did a trial run this weekend with meatloaf. Of course I was cynical, but as I sat in the rv listening to meatloaf begin to sizzle and the aroma begin to fill the air…. I didn’t want to lift the lid and reduce the heat so I used my meat thermometer to check the temperature inside the oven. Within 28 minutes we had a well baked meatloaf and the bacon I wrapped around it was crisp.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I admit I didn’t get the best of photos of the final product – I took a section out for us to taste before I remembered but I tried to make up for it with the somewhat Instagramable photo of the meatloaf and a piece of cornbread I made in our Instant Pot. I’m excited to try a few egg dishes, crustless quiche, in the silicone muffin holder. Trying new things, even if it’s old recipes cooked in new ways, is motivating me to look at what we are eating and how we can do it ‘on the road’.

My Hadrian’s Wall Walk continues to go well. At this point I am 31% of the way through the virtual walk. When I enter the distance of my walks I look at the app to see where I would be if I was physically walking the actual wall. I wonder if I would have seen great crested grebe and tufted duck‘s today. In reality my walks are local and I love my real time view of the Olympic Mountain Range, the sound of sea lions barking, and many birds. In trying to educate myself I researched on our local blog to find the breeds of our birds – low and behold we have grebe’s also, Red-necked, Western and Horned. Hmmm…. Wikipedia tells me that a Grebe is a diving bird! Look at me, getting exercise and learning something too! More motivation to open my eyes to see what is around me.

#gmcmotorhome #eleganza2 #prepareforretirement #diy @https://www.omniasweden.com/us/ @mandyleaphoto @trekers #livesmalldreambig #homeiswhereyouparkit #hadrianswallwalk @virtualmission.com #birdwatching #anchorpark #olympicmountains