Fusing in the Ozarks Fall 2021 Rally - Day 7 - Claremore, OK - Russelville, AR

We started out Day 7 in Claremore, OK at the Will Rogers Downs KOA.   Our original plans were to go into Tulsa and see the Tulsa Air and Space Museum and then go to the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee.   Sonya and I decided to invoke our new retired lifestyle options and change the plan and make it an easy day.  We skipped the Air and Space Museum and headed straight to the Five Tribes Museum making it a short day.  As part of our reset we also decided to skip Fort Smith, AR.   It was closed so seeing it would have been outside only.  We would travel a little further down the road and to stay at the Ivy's Cove RV Retreat again.

So off several toll roads and on to Muskogee.  We stopped to see the Five Civilized Tribes Museum.  Siri continued to have a since of humor and brought us up a road that was Singh and full of switchbacks once we got off the Interstate.  Anything bigger than a Fuse would not have made it.  She failed to note that by adding a couple of minutes to the trip we could have gotten there on nice wide straight roads with almost no change in elevation.  Siri has had a lot of laughs as she tried to kill us on this trip.

The Five Civilized Tribes museum is located next to the VA hospital in Muskogee, OK.  It was originally the Union Indian Agency Building where the Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendent for the 5 civilized tribes that had been relocated to Oklahoma conducted business and lived.  This really was of interest since Sonya has a great, great, great grandmother who was from the Cherokee tribe and I have a great, great, great Grandmother who was from the Muskogee Tribe. (this may be missing or adding too many greats) 

The museum itself took an hour or so to visit.  Lots of interesting historical stuff on the first floor about the 5 tribes and some very nice art on the second floor.  It also gave us a perfect place to stop and eat lunch.

We did stop and get a treat on our journey.   We stopped at a Braums Ice Cream & Dairy Store just outside of Ft. Smith.  We had seen signs for several on our travels around Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas but had never stopped in.  Well we won't make the mistake of passing one up again.  The ice cream was great.  I had an orange freeze that was out of this world.   Next time we will stop at one and try out the breakfast menu or the burgers and shakes.

Then we continued on to our stop for the night in Russelville, AR.   We stayed again at Ivy's Cove RV Retreat.  We thought that this was a perfect one night stop RV park for us a week earlier and this time as well.  This time was a little different.  They were full for the night when we called but when we said we were in a 23 foot Fuse he said he had one spot so long as we did not mind being in the last overflow site.  No problem from us.  Unlike the last time we stopped and were in a 50-60 foot space, this time we were in a space that was 25 feet long.  Nay longer than the fuse and we would not have fit.  Good news was it was next to the laundry/bath house so we were set.  It is interesting  that Ivy's Cove is not the fanciest campground but it sure does feel comfortable to us and we would stop again..

So on this segment of our journey we traveled 248 miles and got 15.5mpg.  All of this was on the interstate system at 70mpg.  

 

Question - What do you carry in the refrigerator

Here is a little insight into traveling with Don and Sonya.  We are on vacation so we are interested in having fun.  We do some cooking but not for every meal.  And to be honest we don't cook every meal at home either.

So you might find us in the parking lot of a McDonalds for breakfast, an Arby's for lunch or a nice restaurant for dinner.  Or you might find us cooking something in the Fuse.

Stoping and eating lunch at a rest stop is the norm, but what we do is just a toss of the coin depending on where we are when we are ready to eat.   The beauty of this lifestyle is we get to make the decisions and set the schedule.

I came from a family with RVs.  My mom provided some sage advice.  It was not really a vacation if you have to cook.  If you want to cook it is a different story.

So what do we keep in the refrigerator to be this flexible?

You see soft drinks in the door which are self explanatory. 

A quart of milk for the coffee and just when you want some milk.

A container of honey mustard for sandwiches

A stick of butter, just in case or to top off steaks on the grill

2 containers of condiments.  Sugars, packets of various ketchup, mustard, hot sauces, etc

2 gallon jugs of water -  We go through at least one gallon a day if not two  

A Publix microwave entree (meatloaf this time) 

A container of microwave mash potatoes

Sandwich meat (ham and turkey)

Swiss cheese 

Hot dogs

What about the freezer?

Just some ice this time 

We forgot the Hershey bars this time but they got added at the first Walmart stop.

For this trip we decided if we want to cook out we will pick up the meat that day.

Hardeeville SC to Raleigh NC

Todays portion of the trip was from Hardeeville, South Carolina  to Raleigh, North Carolina to see our daughter.   We stayed at the Camp Lake Jasper Campground and we have it on our list of places to stay again.  A nice place - clean, organized and good to go.

We got on I-95 around 9:00 and headed north.  It was a nice day and traffic was fine other than the several times it turned into a parking lot and we all stopped or slowed to 30mph.   Curses to people who want to drive 50mph in the passing lane.  But it was a nice day and we made it to Raleigh about 3:00.

A couple of interesting notes for today.   The Gas Buddy app was my friend. Diesel was running around $3.15-$3.25 along the Interstate at the various truck stops.   I pulled out gas buddy and saw a Murphy Oil (Walmart) just south of Florence S.C. selling diesel for $2.85.   I looked a little closer and there was a Sams Club station selling diesel for $2.75.   You have to be a member of Sams Club to buy there and luck would have it Sonya joined a month ago when Zulily.com ran a sale on Sams club memberships for $30.00.   Saved $10.00 just today so we lucked out.

While getting fuel, we I checked the Infocenter on the Fuse and it said the DEF was at 1/2 full.  Guess what,  there was a Walmart right next door.  Easy Peasy. Went right in and got 2.5 gallons of Walmart DEF and we were back to full.   This time I got just over 2,000 miles on  2.5 Gal of DEF.   Last time it was around 2,500 miles but the measurements in the DEF tank are not close to being exact so this seems fine.

Oh,  on this leg of the trip I was a little disappointed with our milage.  I only got 14mpg.  I would be a little sad about this but I was keeping up with traffic today on I-95.  That means we were traveling a little faster than normal.  75-80mph was what it took to keep up with traffic today.  And we had several times we were stopped or crawling, so all in all it was ok.

We always joke that if we forget anything or need anything there is always a Walmart around the next bend.  This time it was in the next parking lot over.

Once we were in Raleigh we spent some time with our daughter and then went to dinner.  This was the highlight of the day.   We went to a restaurant called Relish Craft Kitchen and Bourbon Bar.  This Gem was tucked away in a shop in a Food Lion Shopping Center.   All I can say about this place is WOW!

I have never had this or heard of this before but how about trying Fried Black Eyed Peas.  This was our appetizer.  It was something unique so we had to try it.  Talk about delicious, deep fry some black eyed peas with some onion, red peppers and bacon.  WOW, I could of eaten this for the main course.

Next were the entrees.  I had the shrimp and grits.  Delicious.  Sonya had the country fried steak and Cathy had the Roman mac and cheese (shrimp, pesto and parmesean cheese).  All super good.  Finished it off with Atlantic Beach Pie that was outstanding.  The total for the 3 of us was around $50.00 which was very reasonable.

Instant Pot

One of the hottest items for the last year or so on the RV boards I read has been the Instant Pot.  What is an Instant Pot?  No sales pitch here, it is an intelligent electric pressure cooker.  You can cook one pot meals, rice, stews, pretty much anything you can cook in a pot.  As a pressure cooker, it can cook things faster, and since it is intelligent (monitors pressure, temperature and time) you can set it and then walk away.  Seems like a winner.

So my In-laws gave me one for Christmas.  I do try and limit what I carry in the Fuse.  Not just because space is at a little premium, but if you were to look at my kitchen at home you would see every gadget known to man in one of the cabinets.  Yet, I still find myself using the same several pots 90% of the time.  So I have been testing the Instant Pot since Christmas.

So what have I been experimenting with.  One thing it says is that it is a rice cooker.  So I decided to try that first.  It will cook rice.   Pretty easy.  Stick 2 cups of rice with 3 cups of water in the stainless steel cooking pot.  Close the lid, make sure the steam vent is closed, hit the rice button and stand back.  It will beep when it gets to pressure and beep again when it is finished cooking.   Once it is finished cooking, wait 10 minutes and then open the steam vent.  In a minute or so you can open the lid (once all of the pressure is released) and you have rice.  Takes about 30 minutes.   Not so bad until I tell you that with my normal pot I can do the same thing in the same amount of time.   The Instant Pot cooks rice fine.  It is just not any improvement over the traditional method.

The next thing I have been experimenting with is Chicken and Rice or as known in some places Chicken Purleu.  A full meal in a pot.  So the recipe is:

• 3 cups of Water
• 2 cups of Jasime Rice
• 1 tablespoon of dried onion flakes
• 2 tablespoons of Chicken Bullion (or Chicken Soup base)
• 4-6 Chicken Thighs (de-boned)

Mix the water and bullion together until dissolved in the cooking pot.  Add the onion and then stir in the rice so it is even in the bottom of the pot.   Now place the chicken on top of this.  You might want to cut the thighs in half so you have a nice even layer.

Put the Instant Pot lid on.  Make sure the vent is closed and press the rice button.  Then it will start cooking.  In about 30 minutes it will stop pressure cooking and go to low, it will beep to let you know.  Then wait 10 min and release the pressure by opening the steam vent.   When the steam is finished coming out you can take off the lid and you are done.  The chicken will fall apart and you can mix it with the rice.   Takes from start to finish about 45 min.

A big hint is to take the pot out of the cooker.  Otherwise the rice will burn on bottom since the cooking element in the cooker stays hot for a while after it is turned off.

This recipe is a winner.   I have tried the same approach with turkey and thin cut steak.  Both were pretty good but not as good as the chicken.  You will probably want to add some salt and pepper but it is not needed depending on the bullion you use.

I have still not decided if it is going to be a part of the Fuse or not.   On the ease of use front, it is still easier to use the microwave.  I am not sure how much time it actually saves.  Taste wise, I can make some real good Chicken and Rice in the Instant Pot.   I am going to try several more things.   It will for sure be a part of the home kitchen lineup.  I am not sure it is going to be a fixture in the Motorhome. Time will tell.

Pot Roast

Here is another easy meal for lunch on the road.   All in the microwave and less than 10 minutes to prepare.

The main course is Publix Homestyle Beef Pot Roast.   This is very easy to fix.  It comes in a plastic pouch with a tray so there is no mess.  Just cut 3 slits in the top of the bag to allow it to vent.   Place the tray in the Fuse microwave oven for 6 minutes.  Came out perfect.  The instructions say to use half power but full power in the Fuse microwave was just right.

Pot roast needs to be served over something.  I decided rice would be the perfect accompaniment.  Uncle Ben's Jasmine Ready Rice meets all of the conditions.  Pop it in the microwave for 90 seconds and you have a steaming pile of rice.

Serve the Pot Roast on top of the rice.  Add some of the gravy and you have a great meal for 2 and a little left over to add to the Beagle's dog food.   How much better can you get.

Perfect Size for 1 - A Cake in a Cup

I need dessert.  OK I don't need dessert, but I find it nice to have something sweet for dessert that is a treat.  Fresh, warm, a change from the normal makes dessert a real treat.

In the motorhome it is hard sometimes to come up with something that does not take a lot of time or needs a lot of supplies to make.  It also needs to be done in the microwave, since that is what we have to work with.

We were walking through Walmart in the cake mix section and found "Duncan Hines Perfect Size for 1" cakes.  A personal sized cake that you make in a coffee cup and "bake" in the the microwave.   I thought this was pretty unique, so I bought a box.

The box contained 4 individual packets.   There were several flavors at Walmart to choose from.  I purchased "Caramel Cake".   There were also "Brownie",  "Vanilla Bean Cake", "Confetti Cake" and "Carrot Cake".   If you look on the Duncan Hines web site there are even more flavors.

They were really easy to make.   Pour the contents of the pouch in a 12 oz coffee cup.  Add 3 tablespoons of water and stir.   Microwave for 70 seconds and you are done.   Just that simple.

It came out great.  Pretty good, but the cake had that store bought taste.  On the next one, we took the advise on the pouch and substituted milk for the water.   It made the cake taste richer and more home made.

It was good and I will add this to the list of motorhome food.   I want to try the other flavors and come up with a variety we like so we can have something different while we are out.  The other thing for traveling in the Fuse will be to ditch the box.  The packets have the cooking instructions on them and it will remove 1/3 of the space needed to carry them.

But with everything good there is a downside.   320 calories and 35g of sugar.  I know why it was good.

Microwave Pasta & Meatballs

I saw something interesting the other day and had to try it.   I did not know that there was such a thing as microwave pasta.  I had seen a microwave pasta cooker, but this is pre-cooked pasta that you put in the microwave for 60 seconds and you are ready to go.

Barilla has come out with a product called Ready Pasta.  It is pre-cooked pasta in a retort package.  I have had some pasta like this before that had a twang.  I was a little skeptical on how well this would taste.  It tasted great.  It was not fresh made pasta by a long shot.  Just about as good as the dried pasta you get in a box.  The texture is a little denser than normal pasta, but the package claimed al dente and it gives that impression.

I tried the Ready Pasta with a little butter and parmesan cheese and it was pretty good.  The price was $1.69 per package.  Not the cheapest, but well worth it for the convenience.

Plain pasta does not a meal make.  I wanted something close to Spaghetti and Meatballs. They don't have spaghetti but they had rotini.  So I decided to make rotini and meatballs.

So I picked up some Publix meatballs in marinara sauce.   These Publix entrees have been really good in the past so it was well worth a try.   It was great.  The sauce was not bland.  It was much better than Ragu and had a little spice in it.    The meatballs tasted outstanding.

It took 6 minutes for the meatballs to cook in the microwave.  An additional 1 minute for the pasta to cook and I had a meal.   It smelled so good I forgot to get a picture before I dug in.

It was a good meal,  enough for the two of us made entirely in the microwave.   Very tasty.  The meatballs were $5.49 and the Pasta was $1.69 so the total cost was about $7.00.   This is prefect for the motorhome.  Everything was cooked in the microwave, so no heat was added to the coach.  It was very tasty and will add to the variety of food we have while on the road.

Dinner/Lunch - Publix Microwave Meals

The last two meals we have had in the Fuse have been seriously good eats.   On our way to the Get Together we stopped at Publix to get our groceries.  Publix for those not in the SouthEast is a regional grocery store like Kroger.

I got sandwich stuff, drinks and enough stuff for two dinner meals. We did not need more since we had the pot luck and the pizza party to look forward to for the rest of the dinners.  Don't say anything about being well  balanced meal or anything.  First, this is vacation.  Second, I don't like green stuff.   But ignoring that, this was some seriously good eating.

Key was that I wanted something that was quick, easy and could be done in the microwave.  To be honest I was not sure what we would be doing at the party so I wanted flexibility.   I hit those goals and we were going to eat something better than sandwiches.

The first meal we had was the Publix Meatloaf.  I paired this with some microwave mash potatoes.  Cooked it at power level 5 in the microwave for 11 minutes and it came out nice and hot.  I paired it with some microwave mash potatoes.  4-5 minutes in the microwave for those and we were ready for a piping hot dinner.

This meatloaf was very yummy.  It was in a brown gravy not a tomato gravy.   It was enough for Sonya, Lily and myself to have a good portion with the mash potatoes and have enough for a second half helping.   It did not taste too salty which is something I tend to be more sensitive to lately.  The cost was $6.99 in the deli section.

Our second Publix meal was meant to be our dinner on Thursday, but it turned into lunch on Friday.  We got so busy talking to all of our old/new (what is a Facebook friend when you meet them in person for the first time) friends that when we finally gave up for the night we had forgotten to eat.

This meal was Publix Beef Tips and Uncle Ben's Microwave rice.   This was also pretty good and made a great meal.   Not quite as yummy as the meat loaf, but not bad never the less.   This took 6 minutes at 50% power in the microwave and then it was nice and steaming.   Accompanying this was some Uncle Ben's Microwave Rice - Roast Chicken Flavored.  This was 90 seconds in the microwave at full power and it was ready to go.

It made a good meal as well.   The beef tips on top of the rice was a great pairing.  There was enough  for everyone without any leftovers.  It had plenty of extra gravy to add to Lily's dog food tonight so everyone was happy.  This I thought was a little more salty than the meatloaf.  Still very good and I am probably the only one that would notice.  Oh, and the price was $7.99

And just to be healthy, we had a healthy desert -Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Cookies.   Peanut butter counts for healthy, right?

A question I was asked at the Get Together.  Do you eat on paper plates or on real dishes?   We eat on both depending on what the meal is.  With sandwiches we generally eat on paper towels.  With the meals above we used paper plates with real flatware (we have some disposable plastic stuff we have picked up at fast food places).  But we have 4 place settings of corning ware that we use as the need arises.

UCO Flat Pack Grill

I really like the FitRV and read their blog and watch their videos daily.  Recently they reviewed a Flat Pack Grill from UCO and after watching the video I decided to buy one.

The  UCO Flatpack Grill and Fire Pit seemed like it would be perfect for us.   This grill is designed for backpackers so it is very light weight (3.2 lbs), folds flat and occupies almost no space.  This is just right for our Fuse motorhome.  It would be ideal for other space conscious class B and small class C RVs.

It stores in the box it comes in and is made from stainless steel so it is pretty durable.  When you take it out the box you will find 3 parts.  The main unit, the grill grate and a handle for adjusting the grate.

It is super easy to set up,  you just fold down the legs.  One set goes inside the other set for stability.  It opens up like a large folding cup.  The grate then goes over the top to add additional rigidity for the system.

So I took it out  and did what everyone always does with a new grill - I made steaks.

The first thing I did was to get the charcoal ready.   I really like the Kingsford Easy Light charcoal.  All you do is light the corners of the bag and let it burn down.  No lighter fluid or other flammable liquids necessary.  The amount of charcoal is perfect for a 2 person dinner  providing even heat pretty much every where on the grate.

While the charcoal was burning down I prepared the steaks.  I went for a very simple approach.  A little olive oil, salt and pepper.  That was it.

Once the charcoal had burned down, I made sure the coals were spread out even.  Then I put the grate on.  I waited a few minutes for the grate to get good and hot and then I added the steaks.

This grill was outstanding.    The Easy Light charcoal bag was the perfect amount of charcoal for this grill.   I cooked the steaks for 5-10 minutes on each side and that was all it took.  The Fold Pack grill was just as easy to cook on as on the big grills.

Another good thing that I noticed was that the legs on the grill stayed cool.  You could move the grill around by grabbing the legs with your hands and sliding it around.   I put my hand on the ground under the grill and there was almost no heat.   This made me feel good about the safety of the grill.

And the best part - the steaks came out great.  What more can you ask.

Induction Pancakes

Just a peek at cooking on the NuWave induction cooktop.  We made pancakes again last night.     We continue to experiment and practice so we will be ready when we bring this on the road with us later.   The reason we still are working on pancakes is that it is a good test of how even the cooking surface is heating.  You really can see hot spots and cold spots.   Also, I love pancakes.

There was a question about what is the best way to make pancakes while on the road.  Our traditional recipe tends to be messy.  In addition to Bisquick,  it uses eggs and milk.  This would require refrigeration and use a lot of space.  Not a real problem in the Fuse motorhome.  The refrigerator works well and has plenty of space.  The bigger problem is all of the mess we make mixing the batter.

We decided to try out  the "Shake 'N Pour" Pancake mix in a bottle.    Though not quite as good as from scratch, the pancakes came out pretty good.  Much better than frozen pancakes.  All you do is add water and shake.   All of the mess stays in the bottle.  How can it get better?  No mess and no refrigeration of any of the ingredients.    This is a big win.

Using the induction cooktop, we first made pancakes using plain All-Cald stainless steel skillet.  Remember the earlier post about having to get a new pan.  Well this is the type of pan  I had handy and would work on the cooktop.   So we used it.   It did great and made pancakes with no problems.  Ok, there were a couple of problems.

The pancakes were slightly fried.  Not a problem with the equipment, just the method.   We are pancake gourmets so we are a little critical.  But more importantly my daughter (who was cooking) did not like having to butter the pan between each batch.   She whined and complained about wanting to use a non-stick pan.  Spoiled I know, but pancakes are even better when someone else makes them.  It's that ingredient called love (at least I hope that is what it is).

The next time we did made pancakes we had the new Techef everyday pan.  Very non-stick.   It made the process of cooking even easier.  It worked great and cleanup was super easy.  Just a quick wipe out of the pan and a quick rinse.   No other cleanup needed either.  There were no pancakes leftover and all the mess was contained in the bottle.

The pancakes came out great. Real close to perfect. They looked great and tasted as good as they looked.  The flavor was almost as good as from scratch.   Cooking using the induction cooktop and the everyday pan worked out just as good as using an electric griddle. The NuWave keeps the temperature just as constant as the griddle.    Even better, the induction cooktop is much more versatile.

Detailed instructions:

1. Put non-stick pan on induction cooktop and turn on to 375.   Make sure you hit start or you will be waiting on the pan to heat up for a long time :-)
2. Add 1 1/2 cups of water to the Shake 'N Pour bottle.
3. Shake it up baby.  Tap, do not rap, the bottom and top of the bottle several times to make sure it gets well mixed. Get some exercise while mixing.  Sing and dance to "Shake and Shout" while mixing.   The singing and dancing is the secret ingredient.
4. Make sure the pan is at temperature.  You can tell when a drop of water dances when sprinkled on the pan.  aka: wet your finger and flick a drop onto the pan.  If it bounces around you are good.
5. Pour 3 to 4 pancakes onto the pan (this is with a 12 inch pan).
6. They will bubble.  When they stop bubbling, it is time to flip.  So flip.
7. Cook the other side.  This is where a little bit of experience comes in handy.  Don't worry.  you will get the hang of it quick.
8. When the pancakes are finished cooking remove from the pan.
9. Add a little butter to the tops of the pancakes.  This is optional but butter makes everything better.
10. Sample one.  But only one.  Don't get greedy or you will get caught.
1. If you do get caught share.   We have eaten batches of pancakes straight from the griddle never getting the serving platter dirty.
11. Go back to step 5 and repeat until all the batter is gone
12. Serve to family and complain how it doesn't make as many pancakes as it should.  Divert questions about why you are not hungry smiling while remembering how good the samples were.