Three Squares a Day

 

I do not know about you, but I LOVE to eat!  Food is my hobby and my habit.  It is my crush.  It is one of the loves of my life…okay I am getting excited and a little "carried away."  I will calm down.  It is just that in my older age I appreciate the art of preparing food and the taste of well-prepared food.  It is a delight, comforting to the soul, and filling to the almighty belly!

Now that the heat from summer is past and the fall, temperatures are making it where you actually want to be outside, I am eager to cook again.  I am eager to fire up the gadgets and pack the kitchen to the hilt and make sure I have plenty to prepare for up and coming trips.  My freezers are packed with almost all the meat I could eat in a year just waiting to be chosen for the next adventure.  One of the best things I have done is to upgrade my Vacuum Sealer.  I can purchase meat when it is on sale (and when I have extra money to burn), prepare it, then vacuum seal it for future endeavors like a squirrel saving nuts for the winter.  It has made prep work easier and the time spent out in the forest much more enjoyable.

I, most likely, have more than I need to prepare food with for my Overlanding Adventures.  My wife always tells everyone that we eat better when we are camping than we do at home.  We are not rushed.  We do not have anywhere to be.  We have no agenda.  We can take all the time we want to prepare whatever we are craving, and we do just that.  We make this an enjoyable time by preparing for the trip the best we can, then taking the time to make it good, how we want it, and to make it special just for us.

Taking the Tembo Tusk Skottle with us each trip, we are able to do just about anything. Making a list right now for an upcoming trip and remembered how well my wife loved the pizzas that I had used it to make.  I was able to find some Greek style Pita bread (without the pocket) to use for crust, grilled some baby tomatoes, spread on some pizza sauce, artichoke hearts and freshly grated mozzarella and we were extremely pleased.  Of course, breakfast is always prepared on the Skottle.  Bacon, eggs, and hash brown taters are seen almost every morning around the backside of my trailer or FJ Cruiser right after I fill the percolator up with coffee and get it going on the trusty camp stove.  There is always the smell of something good coming from out around our setup.  People know that they can smell what the BROfessor is cooking!

Lunch is either on the camp stove or on Skottle.  Tacos are easy to do especially on the Skottle, especially since the vegetables, meat and tortillas can all be prepared at one time.  Many times, I love to pull out the Old Dutch oven and make Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, Vegetable Soup or Cornbread and Beans.  Make sure you have a place to put some leftovers.  It is hard to make some of these items in small quantities.

In the evenings we bust out the Madkon Grill, fill it with a good heaping of Cowboy Charcoal and sear a couple beautiful steaks, foil pack Mexican corn and Brussel Sprouts (my mouth is starting to water now) and bake potatoes.  After we are finished with dinner, we take the grate off, pile the wood up and have a good evening by the fire.  It is a good time and a great ending to a great day resting and relaxing, enjoying our time away from society.

That is pretty much it.  Three Squares a Day as my Granny used to say.  Man has got to eat as my papaw would say.  Eat we do and eat well we try.  Having the right tools to prepare is key for me.  I am not looking for work.  I am looking for ease of preparation that leads to enjoyment.  The grill, the Skottle, a good stove and some good cast iron skillets and pans make food prep and cooking a true pleasure.  There is a funny saying going around that you aren't a true Overlander if you don't own a Skottle.  I don't know about that as it is a fad and some people might buy one just to have one, but it is true that it makes cooking very enjoyable.  The Madkon adds another element to the game.  It folds down so small that it fits inside an ammo box, yet becomes large enough to become a nice sized fire pit.  Stainless Steel will last forever and bring you many memories as you gather around it.  An adjustable grate on the top making it easier to sear steaks or heat up your foil packs.  A grate strong enough to support a Dutch Oven makes it a quality checked item in my book.

Whatever you do just have a good time and enjoy yourself.