Even The Simple Things - Bowls For Everything

    Last week I was on a short trip in my RV and had stopped for the night. As I usually do, I prepared a meal. Since I was by myself, the quantities were going to be smaller. Then it occurred to me...I really don't have enough bowls to cook with at all. For example, I have a cool collapsible salad spinner that does multiple duty as a colander and a large cooking/serving bowl. But it's Big...too big for one person. I realized that I don't have any other bowls, aside from tableware and plastic/paper disposables, to use for cooking or serving....especially for one person. Hmmm, what to do?

Simple, find some durable nesting bowls that take up very little space and can be used for a lot of things. A tall order, that! Well, after perusing the aisles at various shops -- you know, my typical haunts, Walmart, Outlet stores, freight liquidators and the like -- I found the perfect bowl! In fact it was sold as a set of three! With snap-on lids! Score! They were $1.99 at K-mart of all places. I thought those were gone, but no, a few still exist. Way cool! The lids actually have a small gripper with a notch to attach them to the bowl edge when not in use. I just stack them all up with all three lids on top and I'm good to go.

They are a bit small. Perfect for single servings or multi-ingredient recipe prep. I'm also going to use them to make my "Mock Mousse." Should be great! They will also be great for storing leftovers from larger meals. The lids fit VERY tightly and will likely survive a fall or flip in the RV fridge if the road conditions get nasty. They are a simple aluminum alloy construction so should last a very long time. I wouldn't put them in the dish washer (dish washer detergent for machines can do horrible things to aluminum). Not that I HAVE a dish washer on board. Well I do, but his name's Rich!

These bowls are the very definition of a Simple Thing. Try a few -- at this price they are usable for all sorts of things in addition to cooking. How about nut and bolt storage? Or sorting various bits....hobbies maybe? Anyway, they are quite useful and have earned a spot on board my RV.

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

Portable Hot Sauce - Variety Is The Spice Of Life

Compact Kitchen

    Sometimes, when cooking, I like to spice things up a bit. There are any number of hot sauces available, probably in the hundreds of thousands at this point. Obviously, we can't carry them all. My basic rule regarding hot sauce and spicy food is this: "If I can't taste the underlying flavors, only the heat...that's too much!" That being said, a bit of heat, mixed with some extra flavor, is a welcome change to daily favorites. I love to add a few drops of Chipotle flavored Tabasco sauce to my morning eggs. Delicious. Adding regular Tabasco to other dishes makes them into something else...easily and with no real effort. Of course, you can use Sriracha as well...different flavor profile, but just as delicious. I am sure you all have your favorites too. I know I am leaving a lot of them out...ones I like too...but you have to be selective when you have very little storage space. Here's how I keep a variety around.

Cute, Right?

Small Bottles...REALLY small bottles. Enough for a recipe or two. I keep finding assortment packs of hot sauces that include a few different recipes in the various close-out shops I haunt. A few days ago I found a Tabasco"sampler" pack. While not the smallest bottles I have seen (those were in Military MRE's back in the day), they are just the right size for a dash of flavor in your RV recipes. This one included, Original, Chipotle and Jalapeno (though not "on-a-stick," for all you Jeff Dunham fans!) All in a cute little box. How much? A single buck. 1 Dollar for about 6 (OK maybe 9) meal additions. I couldn't resist. So, I bough a few of them to have "reloads."

Now, if you, like me, enjoy the odd squirt of Sriracha to liven up a meal...amazing with Asian inspired dishes!... you'll love the handy tiny sizes that are available. You can even get two different keychain with carabiner styles as empties that you fill yourself. Perfect for on-board use. You could even use it as a keychain, but I'd hate to have it open in my pocket! Ouch!  Believe me...you wouldn't let that happen again....ever! Here's an awesome tip...add Sriracha to Ramen noodles and some leftover vegetables. WOW! Quite warming and fantastic on a rainy (or snowy) day. It's also great with leftover chicken and fresh spinach. Just stir some in when you heat it up in a skillet. Whenever I have leftover stir fry, I'll make an omelette the following morning. A couple of shakes of this stuff will definitely wake you up in the AM.


If you like your food crazy hot, these tiny versions aren't for you. Unless you can find a Ghost pepper extract that comes in the eyedropper bottle. No joke! It's insanely hot...could damage mucous membranes hot. If you're into that kind of thing. Personally, I like less actual pain with my meals!


Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

Even The Simple Things - Removing Labels, Gunk, And Stuff

Crazy, Huh?

    How often have you purchased something only to notice a bunch of adhesive labels all over it? Usually on the bottom. Ever try to scrape one off with a finger nail and end up with little bits of label and a bunch of excess glue still on your shiny new item? This kind of thing happens to me all the time. Getting the glue off is usually pretty easy. Some kind of citrus based cleaner will do the trick, but what about getting the label off in the first place. Wouldn't it be easier if you had a small tool that would get underneath it and remove it quickly and easily in the first place? What about cooked-on gunk in a Teflon-coated pan? You know, as soon as you get a scratch on one it's useless to cook in. No metal tools, ever! Well, after a long time using my nails, I can honestly say I found a better way to do it that won't scratch the finish on anything (within reason!).

Simple AND Handy!

It's one of those crazy simple ideas that I wish I'd thought of (and marketed!) myself. But I didn't. Ah well, at least I can share the knowledge and save some of you some time and aggravation. A week ago I was in a Bed, Bath and Beyond. No, I'm not a regular there...just visiting! While wandering around I noticed a bunch of little kitchen tools in baskets. One drew my eye. It was/is called a "Thumb Scraper." Just a soft silicone covered handle with a depression for your...well...umm..thumb! And a thin, stiff plastic scraper end. It seemed way too simple (and cheap at 1.99) to work. So I bought a clearance aisle glass with a bunch of labels on the bottom and removed them...quickly! I was sold.

When I got it back home I made myself a, purposefully, cheesy and messy omelette in a regular Teflon pan. Made sure the cheese was nice and stuck to the bottom. Pulled out the scraper and, voila!, all the mess was scraped off with no damage to the pan at all. Double win!

This thing is pretty tough, looks like it could be used to pry apart small electronics as well. Like a cell phone's case. I'll be trying it on a few more things. Who knows how many uses I'll be able to come up with.  Drop me a line... let me know if you come up with any nifty uses! Hey, how about decal removal...or maybe just the small leftover pieces?

I love inexpensive items that solve multiple problems and take up very little storage space. Seems like they are tailor made for our RVs. If it speeds cleanup...double win!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com