Fun with Bacon + Great Additional Storage

Jimbo's Hot Dog And Bacon Appetizer

This tasty and easy to prepare appetizer was first prepared by Jim Melvin of Jimbo's Journeys.  What's not to like, hot dogs wrapped in bacon.  This adaptation is kind of a cultural oxymoron.  Kosher hot dogs wrapped in thick sliced bacon.  I prefer these Hebrew National dogs as they are all beef and great tasting as well as not being too thick.  It;s difficult to wrap a thick, Ball Park type hot dog in 1/3 or 1/2 slice of bacon as they just end up too big.  These are just the right size to cut the dog in thirds as well as the bacon slice.

Only Two Ingredients +Toothpicks 

I made these up about 5 hours before serving time and stored in the fridge until ready to put in the oven, or the Traeger Barbecue.  (BTW, I am going to do a "Traeger Revisited" post in the near future).  If you don't know about the Traeger, scroll down to an earlier post here to see what it's all about,

Prepared for Oven or Refrigerate for Baking Later

Here they are after about 30-35 minutes at 425F.  Bacon should start to crisp.  Use a rack in the pan if you have one.

Finished!

When I first saw these, Jim Melvin had sprinkled them with brown sugar before baking.  You also might try drizzling with maple syrup.

 

More Storage

I am always looking for additional storage space in my Lazy Dave 27' Mid Bath.  I had seen this done in other rigs so I decided to try it.  I had been using the under the dinette area to store stuff but it takes up too much foot space.  I have also seen a printer on a shelf like this, under the table.

The simple shelf simply fits on top of the dinette benches under the cushions.
This allows you to stack your items and now the same amount of goods takes up 1/2 the floor space.




These ready made and finished shelves are from Home Depot and are less than $6.

Ready Made and Finished Shelf From Home Depot

  I am experimenting with the baskets.  These are just some I had on hand.   They are screwed to the shelf so they don't slide around when driving.  Now unless we are talking about LARGE people you can get 4 in the dinette and have enough foot space. 

Basket Screwed To Shelf 

On the subject of butt space. my personal butt is much narrower now as I have lost 40+ pounds since what has become the Annual Quatrzsite Lazy Daze FunFest and Pigout. (2012)  Yahoo Lazy Daze Quartzsite Board

Use and Storage of Vegtetable OIls + Applesauce-Carrot and Sometimes Ginger Raisin Cake

 Vegetable Oil, Use and Storage

A number of years ago, I had a friend over for dinner that owned two Italian restaurants.  (How's that for confidence in my cooking skills?) As usual, the subject of discussion was food and food prep.  He asked me where I stored my cooking oils.  I showed him the pantry.  He picked up a bottle of olive oil, opened it and said, "this is rancid".  Well I was embarrassed.  I asked how do you keep it from spoiling.  He stated that he refrigerates all of his oils.  He explained that regular vegetable oils like Mazola or Wesson, usually have enough preservatives and are processed to the point that they will survive without refrigeration for some time.  However, Organic and premium olive oils will spoil if you do not refrigerate them.  As usual, the culprit is Oxygen.  I buy Costco, Kirkland Organic, Extra Virgin, Olive Oil.  Ingredients are listed as "Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil" only.  No additives.  It comes as a two pack of 1.5 liter bottles.  After I open one, I keep it  stored in the fridge. I put about 1 cup in a separate container to use from, in the fridge as well.  The oil will congeal when it gets all the way cooled down so I agitate the bottle a few times to keep it from stratifying as it cools.  Once the oil is congealed in the small container, it is easy to spoon and measure.  Olive oil is great stuff for salad dressing, frying eggs, spraying on steamed vegetables, etc., but it does not hold up well to higher heat.   I use regular corn or canola oil for baking.  Neither one of these will hold up to high temp stir-frying or popcorn either. For that, I use peanut oil as it will stand up to the higher heat. I store all in the refrigerator. 

Refrigerated and Congealed Olive Oil

Here is a great way to spray olive oil on steamed vegetables or use a small amount for low temp frying without using the commercial stuff like Pam:  By the way, if you refrigerate this, it won't spray the congealed oil so I just keep a small amount in it in a cool place.

Misto Olive Oil Sprayer With Pump

These are available at Bed Bath & Beyond or Amazon

 

 

Applesauce-Carrot and Sometimes Ginger/Raisin Cake

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

4 eggs or 1 cup egg substitute

3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 Tbs ground cinnamon

2  tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs vanilla extract

3 cups grated raw carrots. (these can usually be found already grated at the market)

If you want a little different flavor, add 1 tsp ground ginger and maybe a cup of raisins.


Preheat oven to 350F

I put all of the ingredients except the carrots in a disposable baking pan and mix well.  When the mixture is thoroughly blended, fold in the carrots until evenly distributed.

Bake 45 minutes and check with a toothpick.  It is pretty hard to over bake this as it is very moist but be sure it is done in the center or you will have pudding.

Frost with your choice as you like or leave plain without the added calories.

You can get 16 squares out of this at about 209 cal each if you use the egg substitute instead of eggs.

Some added variations:  1 cup raisins, 1 tsp ground ginger, Substitute molasses for the honey.  I really like the different flavor of the Ginger.

Should be just a measuring cup and mixing spoon to wash

Finished Applesauce-Carrot Cake With Ginger And Raisins

I Dont Always Wash Dishes, But When I Do..............

I use this dish pan:

Collapsible Dish Pan

Collapsible Dish Pan, Collapsed

I was shopping at Camping World with my friend, Andrea, when she picked up one of these.  They are also available on Amazon

Amazon link to dish pan  Collapsible Dish Pan



For some reason, I had gotten locked in to using the standard hospital wash pan in the small side of the sink for dish washing.  This collapsing model exactly fits the large side (11" X 13 1/2", X 4 1/2" deep) of my double sink, (2002 Lazy Daze Midbath) and, guess what, the dish drainer exactly fits the small side.  I like to use a dishpan for a number of reasons.  First, you can save the dishwater and use it to flush the toilet using the water twice.  If you have much residue from dish washing, it doesn't go down the drain or clog the sink strainer, you can pour it down the toilet.  You also keep from beating up your sink and lastly, it can used outside, or for other washing projects.

Collapsible Dish Pan and Dish Drainer That Fit My Double Sink

Since one good idea sometimes leads to another, I found this collapsible bowl and jar funnel.

This is a great 3 quart bowl that is just right for popcorn.  This bowl and funnel are on the same page at Amazon as the dishpan.

They fold flat for storage also.



 Here is how I store them.  Underside of this swing up cabinet door is a perfect place to store a flattened bowl.

Folded Bowl and Jar Funnel Storage. 

Stay Clean My Friend



Burner Pan Replacement and Great Lemon Pappardell With Prawns or Mixed Seafood

Easy Stovetop Burner Pan Liner

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I make an easy, disposable stovetop burner pan liner.  I have found that it is much easier to fashion a throw-away liner, rather than go through the cleaning process and the chipping off of burned on spilled food, of the permanent burner pan.  Besides using a lot of water, and/or oven cleaner, it is just plain messy and labor intensive.  These oven liners are available at Wal-Mart in a two-pack and are exactly the right width, (17 3/4") to fit the stove top of the Wedgewood Vision that is OE with my '02 Lazy Daze.  You just have to trim off a couple of inches of the depth to make it a custom fit. 

I have to mention here that I got the original idea for this from Kate Klein and Cholula Red.

Here is one disposable pan and the stove top burner pan

Trimmed to fit

I put the baking pan upside-down, underneath the aluminum pan to support it against the burner holes to make accurate markings for the burner holes.  This way you don't hack it up as I did on my previous try.

Ready to mark

Marked

Cutting

Fit

Finished

Lemon Pepper Pappardelle With Prawns, (or Seafood Blend)

When I was at the Morro Bay Lazy Daze Campout, I saw this dish on the table at the pot-luck.  I just cannot resist a good pasta dish, especially if it has SHRIMP in it.  It had a great lemon flavor.  I asked the person that prepared it what the secret recipe was.  She said "go to Trader Joe's, find the Lemon Pasta and follow the recipe on the bag". 

"A blend of Shrimp, Calamari Rings and bay Scallops"

 Since it is no secret, I am copying it here:

8 oz bag of  Trader Joe's Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta

3 Tbs Olive Oil

1 lb. Trader Joe's Uncooked Prawns, peeled and devined.  (I could not resist the Seafood Blend, so I used it instead.)

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbs. Italian Parsley, Chopped.

Cook Pasta in boiling water for about 8-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saute' pan over medium-high heat.  Season prawns, (or seafood blend) with salt and pepper and saute until shrimp are just pink.  Drain pasta, toss with the prawns and lemon juice.  Sprinkle with parsley.  The seafood blend had quite a lot of liquid that I poured off, rather than end up boiling the mix.  Once the liquid was drained, I added the olive oil and stir fried until done.  I don't think that the shrimp would have that much liquid

Here is how it looks finished: