One thing that you might be intrested in too is a handheld water UV purifier to make sure that the water you are drinking is safe. Just a suggestion Here is a link that might be useful: SteriPEN

Rusty - I don't think it's any big deal so long as your not selling them and that's pretty much what you said for anyone wanting a copy. I got a copy of the Boy Scout plans for a "patrol box" and that was the stipulation going with those free plans, too; they were not to be sold commerically. I got my copy 8/6/03 and it referenced a guy by the name of Bob Myers. Gave his email address, too; and like I emailed you, I sent Bob an inquirey as to who orginated those plans. Got the email back saying 'ole Bob has an block on his email address ... if he don't know ya, he ain't accepting an emails from ya! The site address for the Boy Scout plans I posted on the other thread are open for anyone who wants to copy them. It was my understanding from my friend who got me the site plans in the first place, he said that was orginated for the Boy Scouts and they are open for anyone so long as they don't sell or commericalize them. Who knows, Rusty, maybe your friend did make them up in the first place. Dale

We have a 30' class A RV. With your space constrictions (we used to tent camp with everything in totes and coolers), I would say 1 skillet, 1 sauce pan, and a dutch oven with a lid. Lids for them all if possible. 1 flipper, 1 spatula/scraper, 1 slotted spoon, 1 solid bowl spoon. Collapsable bowls and collander. Pot holders/mits. Matches. Salt, pepper, paprika, italian seasoning, chili powder, what ever seasonings you would usually use at home. Tones makes tiny containers with a large selection of spices/seasonings for around $1, that are about the size of Annie's film cans. Portable gas grill. Dish soap, dish towels, paper towels. A friend gave me the idea of using a paper towel holder bungie corded to the awning post to have them handy outside when cooking/eating. Table ware can be stored in small plastic totes. Dish pan. That tiny sink will be a pain in the you know what to do dishes in, so take a dish pan and do them outside when possible. As to packaged food. Check the book sites for a book called Make-A-Mix. There is a volume two, I think. I have the first one. That is my where my sloppy joe recipe came from. Tastes pretty much like manwich. I leave out the green peppers and garlic, but I don't like green peppers and am allergic to the garlic. Still really good. I thing Grainlady mentioned the make a mix books in another thread. Many good recipes for mixes in there. You can use very small plastic zip bags that I find in the jewelry dept of the craft stores to store the seasoning mixes like the sloppy joe mixes in, writing the date made and any needed instructions in marker on the bag. Store a bunch of the small bags in a larger one. Tea bags, coffee, hot chocolate mixes (can find one in the make a mix book, but I have a better one. If you want it, I'll look it up and post it). A camp coffee pot works for boiling water for tea, hot chocolate, coffee, and heating water for dishes. The camp percolater, figure out how many cups it makes, add the amt of coffee you like for that amount of water, and after it starts to perk, time it for 8 minutes. If you want it stronger, go 9, no more than 10 minutes or it gets bitter. And it takes up less space than a counter top coffee maker. We use more paper plates and plastic silver ware than use regular, but your choice. Cereal bowls. Sugar, flour, cornmeal, all in small amts, in airtight containers. If it's airtight, you can leave it there all season, same with the spices. I don't even take the jars of flour and stuff like that out in the winter. Instant rice. dcarch, we have the E2000 generator, and it weighs lots more than the one you have listed. It is very quiet, tho. It would store great on the grate in the hitch, too! So would a portable gas grill. If you want the hot chocolate recipe, and don't get a reply here in this post, email me thru my page, incase I forget to check the thread! I'm getting forgetful! Tami

Made my first batch of stovetop lasagne and it is going to become one of my "go to" recipes. Great for using up spare pasta, which I almost always seem to have around, particularly lasagne sheets. Also great for when you feel like eating lasagne but don't feel like fussing with assembly. This is a combo recipe from Tyler Florence and Pillsbury. Skillet Lasagne Before starting the meat you can make a mirpoix of oil, onions, carrots and celery if you want, or some green pepper and mushrooms, whatever you would like in your pasta sauce, but if you use a jarred or canned sauce you don't have to do this, particularly if your sauce already contains onions, etc. So however much you want to flavor it up or not depends on your taste and time. Add garlic towards the end of this step if you want some. 1-2 tsp. is probably enough. I use the lower end of the garlic spectrum. Brown a pound of some type of protein. Most recipes call for ground beef but I used ground turkey and next time I make it I may use a mix of meat and beans, or perhaps some veggie crumbles, and I'll bet you could use part italian sausage for flavor it you're a big meat eater. Salt the meat to your taste as it is browning. If the meat is fatty, drain before proceeding with the dish. Add 1 large jar canned spaghetti sauce or Italian flavored tomato sauce. You need 26-28 fl. ounces of the sauce, so use whatever you have on hand that will equal that amount. I used a 24 oz. jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce and 2 oz. of my own home canned tomato basil sauce. You could also use canned tomatoes and canned tomato sauce, tomato paste, etc. to get the desired amount. Season to your taste with italian seasoning if you like. I tend to do this because I find store bought sauce bland, and if I am making the sauce from just plain tomato sauce, then I want a lot of seasoning. Add 1 1/2 cups water. When mixture is boiling lightly, add 3 cups pasta (you don't want a hard boil because too much of the water might evaporate if you do that, and then the pasta will stick--ask me how I know!). The pasta I used was broken up lasagne noodles and then some campanelii to supplement to 3 cups. You could also use mafalda ribbons. Cook the pasta for about 15 min. Test for pasta being done. Your water should be absorbed and the sauce thickened. Watch out, since this dish actually might get too thick if you're not careful. You can always add more water to it if it starts to get too thick. While the pasta is cooking, make the ricotta topping. The recipe says to use 16 oz. of ricotta, which is a typical container (although mine was 15). For my taste, this is too much, but your mileage may vary. Mix this with about an equal amount of chopped frozen spinach. I had a 16 oz. bag, which I used about half. If I had a 10 oz. package I would use it all. Mix the ricotta and spinach with 1/3 cup grated parmesean, a healthy pinch of basil or oregano or italian seasoning, and 1 TBSLP dried parsley if you have it. If you hate spinach you don't have to add it, just plain ricotta is fine, and if you have some other type of vegetable you would like ti mix in, like kale or shredded zuchinni or something else, by all means do it. When the pasta is done, mix up the casserole to make sure the meat, sauce and pasta are evenly distributed. Spoon the ricotta mixture on top of the casserole and cook 5-7 min. more until the topping is heated through. Then, top the dish with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella or italian style shredded cheese and broil for about 3-4 min. until cheese melts. Here's two pictures of my dish. I was out of shredded mozzarella so I had to use mostly cheddar in my dish.