Ok, so not REALLY. But switching to RV living requires you to do things a bit different. And since eating out every single meal is both expensive and not that healthy, cooking is no exception to that. So now we have to talk budget. No, not involving your wallet (although there may be some benefit there as well). Electricity! You have to be careful about how many and what types of appliances you’re running at the same time in order to not cause any power issues.

Back in the house, if we were having something like veggies with dinner, I wouldn’t think twice about grabbing some fresh veggies from the fridge, tossing them in some seasoning, then into the toaster oven for a bit. Then we’d probably be doing something on the stove and / or in the main oven, AND maybe running the microwave a bit as well. That type of thing definitely would not work in the RV. While we do have a good toaster oven on board, it draws a lot of power and I would prefer using that power for the air conditioners (it’s been HOT, y’all!)!

Time to get creative! First, at least for the time being, we’ve switched to mostly frozen vegetables. Pro tip – Read the labels to make sure you’re getting decent quality stuff that isn’t loaded down with things like salt! A bigger bag of the generic stuff will last longer than fresh and save you some money as well. If you’re doing something like rice for the same meal, most rice cookers come with some sort of basket that you can put over the rice so you can steam veggies at the same time that you’re cooking the rice. Another pro tip – you can cook a whole bunch o other things in a rice cooker besides just rice! Just thaw the veggies ahead of time or you’ll be waiting for a WHILE for it all to cook. Ask me how I know! Also, an inexpensive microwaveable steamer works great for this as well. Put water in the bottom, season your veggies, close the vent and microwave for a few minutes or so. Then you can put it aside to keep steaming while you’re working on other parts of the meal and preserving power for other things (like your AC!).

RV living doesn’t have to mean every meal is cooked outside on the grill or campfire. It certainly can if you want, but that type of thing may also get tiring after a while. A few simple accessories and kitchen gadgets can go a long way to help you cook and eat “normally” during your life on the road. Just don’t go overboard with acquiring these things until you know you have space to store them. 🙂