Cooking and Projects
Sometimes we buy kitchen or hobby “gadgets”, use them for a few weeks, then they somehow are relegated to a shelf or storage, where they languish ever more. in an RV, everything has to have a valued purpose, or out it goes. We just don’t have the space for unused items.
A year ago we bought a 6.5 qt Ninja Foodi. This little jewel is still a mainstay in our life. We use it all the time for easy preparation of different and delicious meals. I make Aussie stews in it to make mini meat pies. Last week I made Jan’s annual birthday dinner, meatloaf. The challenge this year is that I wanted to make a small meatloaf, using just 1 lb of hamburger as the base. As the photos show, the Foodi came through with a huge success! it came out moist, lots of flavor, and just enough left over for a lunch.
Jan has disliked our toaster for over a year. After considering every option, she chose the Ninja toaster oven, the one that actually flips up on end when not in use. Finally, perfect toast and bagels. It also did perfect cookies. It arrived just two days before leaving for Christmas, so haven’t done much else. The big benefit is that it preheats up to 450 in about 45 seconds. Love our newest kitchen tools!
Another item recently added is an Addi Express King, a circular knitting machine. This knitting machine does both tubular and flat panels for versatility. We are working our way up from novice to more complex designs. First project: hats! I made 10 reversible knit hats for our family. Jan then joined in, and in two days we made 6 beautiful hats to donate to a local church that offers free showers to homeless people in the Quartzsite area. The folks loved them, and today a lady called us and said if we make more, they would love to have them. we just bought 4 more large skeins in different colors to make more hats as soon as we get back next week. In January we will begin learning more advanced projects.
On a lark, a couple weeks ago we were in Target. On a shelf was this tiny waffle maker. It’s under $10, so I picked one up. I then learned how to make protein waffles. Each waffle has 12 grams of protein, and they taste really good! I haven’t tried making chaffles yet, but they sound really good.
As always, we find ways to keep busy, and to create ways to continue serving. One advantage of being in Quartzsite is that we can go to church every week, and it’s only a three minute walk. There are lots of opportunities to ride our bikes, take walks, and spend a lot of time outside. With minor modifications, the adventure continues!