Paper plates or real plates? What about utensils and glassware?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Len n Jeanne

I carry a plastic table cloth to put over semi-icky picnic tables at campsites.

Here's a handy solution to the problem— a wide roll of butcher paper. Tear off as much as you need, clip it to the tabletop (on a wooden picnic table, pushpins at the corners work well for that), and when the meal is over, no matter what was spilled on it, just roll up the butcher paper and use it to start your next campfire. It makes pretty good kindling, too.

[Bk Yd Safari]

We use "decorative" paper plates and bowles, and plastic utensils. We also carry ceramic mugs for hot tea and coffee, stainless cutlery, and a red plaid plastic table cloth for the picnic table. We found a set of table cloth clips to keep the table cloth flat on the table.

[Len n Jeanne]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Here's a handy solution to the problem— a wide roll of butcher paper. Tear off as much as you need, clip it to the tabletop (on a wooden picnic table, pushpins at the corners work well for that), and when the meal is over, no matter what was spilled on it, just roll up the butcher paper and use it to start your next campfire. It makes pretty good kindling, too.

Interesting idea-- we could also take the old paper home and use it as a weed barrier around the vegetable garden beds: the earthworms would love it. We often use old newspapers for this purpose.

We travel with a collapsible nylon box/straight-sided grocery type bag for taking recyclables home or to the nearest recycling depot when traveling. Any used paper plates that are not really soiled go into it, as well.

[Fly at Night]

I use woven wicker placemats. Easy to clean - just wet wipe.

Another thrift-store find. Bookends turned retro paper-napkin holder!

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Landshark

Damask, of course! I carry 2-3 damask tablecloths--they take hardly any room and hang in the main closet so they don't get wrinkled.

We have several sets of cloth placemats, too, because food does spill--and with extras I don't have to worry about washing them out right away....

Vivian

I found reports on general RV forums that people really liked placemats made out of the same material as shelf liner, because they kept dishes in place on the table instead of sliding around.

Scaling up this idea, I made a whole table topper out of the stuff. Shelf liner now comes in many attractive colors and textures, is very inexpensive, and can be cut to fit the table exactly. Some pics here:

THE INTERSTATE BLOG: AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE TABLE TOPPER IDEA

[Lily&Me]

That is a great idea, IB!

I like something protective on my countertop, period, as things do sometimes fall and will leave nicks and scratches.


Maggie

[bugsbunny]

I use a cloth shower curtain for a table cloth on picnic tables. Very light weight and easily washed and big enough for the picnic table.

[Lily&Me]

That's a good idea, bugs!

I have a length of plasticicized material, sold by the yard off huge bolts at Hobby Lobby, that has scenes of Paris on it. Makes a perfect picnic table cloth.

They have lots of patterns, and you can buy as little or as much as you want.

It feels like flannel on the back side, like a plastic tablecloth on the other, which may be its intended purpose.



Maggie

[jcanavera]

We have some plastic plates that we've use for 25+ years or so. We also carry silverware and utensils that we originally used at home many years back. We also carry some paper plates to minimize water use when we carry our own water.

Jack

[HiHoAgRV]

We keep suitable wares for...
Drinks for 6
Dinner for 4
Sleeping for 2

[FCloud9]

This is a great thread with full spectrum of dining options used by all.
While we're talking kitchen galley- purpose we add additional great ideas for
Pantry, refrigerator, and cabinet storage ideas for stocking for a two week trip.
What are your top priorities for frig storage and freezer?
For menu planning, do you only take ingredients for first two weeks or more for other meals?
What kitchen pantry items and spices do you always take?

Do any of you take toasters, blenders,bread machines, popcorn makers, electric griddles or crock pots?

[cwf]

Melamine sources?

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by FCloud9

Do any of you take toasters, blenders,bread machines, popcorn makers, electric griddles or crock pots?

We do have a toaster and 1-cup Keurig coffee maker. We also bring an electric convection cooktop for some cooking outside as well as a small Weber propane grill and a Dutch oven sometimes. I think we did a crockpot once for a rally pot luck but usually not.

Do what you like and have a blast! There's no wrong way to camp :-)

[FCloud9]

Originally Posted by cwf

Melamine sources?

Hi CWF,
We purchased our Melamine ware from Crate & Barrel during great sale this past spring.
Noted there is some availability online: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/search?query=melamine
We love our service for four in Aqua and spring green.

[LizabethLane]

Sorry, could never do paper.can't do it at home, couldn't do it here. Service for four, even though there is only the two of us. Plus that's kinda the way they sell place settings. Real stainless. I found a set of knives and forks and spoons made by laguiole, they make great steak knives. Great steak knives make terrible butter knives, we bought some plain Jane butter knives. China, service for four. It's white I think it's by Cuisnart. Got that at Overstock. So far haven't broken anything. I found some felt circles (container store) I use them between the plates. We use real glass. I found some boxes (container store again) that have dividers in them and they store the glassware nicely. Toaster is Dualit, two slice. We have had one at home for about 25 years, two boys and its never broken. Can't beat that. We bought a separate coffee maker, by Cusinart it grinds and brews into an insulated pot. No burned coffee, and stays warm for a long time. Both those fit into the "pantry" next to the fridge. I've lined those shelves with that cushioned shelf liner. It's great, things don't slide around. I thought when we bought the Interstate that it was so beautifully designed, it deserved good things. Real plates, real glass, real cloth napkins, it just seemed the right thing to do. We're never in a big rush, it's nice to clean things up after dinner take your time washing dishes, its a very zen thing.

[Len n Jeanne]

Originally Posted by FCloud9

This is a great thread with full spectrum of dining options used by all.
While we're talking kitchen galley- purpose we add additional great ideas for
Pantry, refrigerator, and cabinet storage ideas for stocking for a two week trip.
What are your top priorities for frig storage and freezer?
For menu planning, do you only take ingredients for first two weeks or more for other meals?
What kitchen pantry items and spices do you always take?

Do any of you take toasters, blenders,bread machines, popcorn makers, electric griddles or crock pots?

We got into a totally pared-down culinary collection for the 16-foot Bambi as there just wasn't room to store an entire batterie de cuisine. Also, we boondock a lot, and can't run the plug-in utensils off the batteries or limited generator hours. The chance of breakage is always a consideration.

Kitchen gear
We have a stainless-steel stovetop tea kettle. Obviously useful for tea, but we also carry a stainless steel coffee carafe, plastic cone, and filter papers for drip coffee. Sometimes we brew coffee directly into a thermos.

Stainless steel tea pot.

One small Le Creuset saucepan with lid, one 8 " cast iron frying pan.

4 nesting plastic wash tubs. Useful in desert boondocking, for water management (washing dishes outside, saving shower water from filling up the waste water tank and sparing the hot water, storaging various loose items, &c.)

Small plastic cutting board, large flexible thin plastic cutting board.

Assortment of small hand tools, such as grater, garlic press, small strainer, kitchen knives, big spoons, dishwashing- and basting brushes.

Three large nesting stainless steel bowls, used mostly for salads.

A few plastic leftover containers with lids, plastic Ziploc bags.

Cheap but real crystal wine glasses, well packed.

There's more, but I can't think of what at the moment.

I have considered a small crockpot for our larger Bambi, but not much else: it's too space inefficient for a small trailer.

Freezer
If we are on the road a lot or boondocking, we take 2-4 of those blue gel freezer pacs. On the road, or when trying to spare the batteries at the campsite during the day when we're out, we turn off the fridge and put the frozen gel pacs in the fridge, which works extremely well to keep everything cold. (We don't drive with the propane turned on.) At night with the batteries on, we refreeze the gel pacs, and they're ready for the next day.

Fridge
Due to limited kitchen counter space (also for the 19' Bambi) we try to keep cooking very simple. For a short trip, I cook & bake a lot of food ahead of time, then simply reheat it; as well as prepare cold foods like hummus and vegetable spreads. We eat a lot of green salads. Breakfast is usually granola, soy milk, and fresh fruit or juice. Lunch is often wraps, because the wraps don't tend to get stale, squashed, broken, or crumbled like bread or crackers; and can be used as flour tortillas.

Soy milk, OJ or carrot juice. Coconut water, beer, white wine, beer.

We used to pack meat, cheese, and dairy milk, but have switched to a more vegan diet, so eat a lot of tofu these days. Other vegan "must-haves" are nutritional yeast, raw nuts, and soy milk. (Almond milk tastes better but lacks protein.)

Pantry
Canned artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes (not oil-packed,) pickled beets, and decent olives dress up many meals.

Plain canned beans as staple protein sources.

A few all-purpose herb blends: a sort-of Italian one, chili powder, cinnamon sugar, pepper, salt.

Soy sauce (ideally in small restaurant-type packets,) Worcestershire sauce, red wine vinegar, EVOO, hot sauce (These have a tendency to leak, so pack accordingly.)

A few condiments like jam, mustard, and horseradish.

some of the quicker-cooking pastas, basmati and/or Minute rice

small quantities of flour, sugar, baking soda & powder

dried snacks like nuts (generally raw or dry-roasted,) crackers, veggie chips.

Coffee, tea, red wine

For a long trip to a more remote area (such as Death Valley,) we might pack a food box in the back of the truck with extra canned goods and packages of dry foods.

We've camped as long as 6 weeks away from home, but not all in one place, so usually we've simply restocked at a supermarket on our route rather than trying to take everything from home all at once. Most fresh produce doesn't keep too well after a week!

Menu planning
In my view, it's best to keep it simple. I like to cook elaborate dishes, but this works a lot better in my home kitchen than in a galley. Best to make such things at home ahead of time, then refrigerate or freeze them for your expedition.

Campfire cooking.
Yes, venue permitting. We grill tofu and vegetables: grilled asparagus, eggplant, peppers, &c come out really well this way. Sometimes we use our Dutch ovens.

Of course, a lot depends on what you like to eat!

Jeanne

[LizabethLane]

We also bought some flameless candles. Good for romantic dinners, and also make a great night light.

[Flying Gypsies]

Corelle plates( they microwave- melamine does not), stainless flat wear, stainless pots and pans, some paper plates for lunch on the road or large gatherings, Corelle LIGHT oven dish for casseroles- pricey but worth it, tervis tumblers for coffee and cold drinks thus multi-purpose, collapsible bowls & storage containers, collapsible dishpan if I need to conserve grey water space, collapsible measuring cups to conserve drawer space. Have not had any issues with Corelle breaking yet😊 but if I did, I would replace it with same....

[rmkrum]

Have had corelle bowls explode into sharp shrapnel when dropped on tile floors. Wife decided it wasn't worth the cleanup. We use melamine or paper plates. Melamine bounces...


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[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Flying Gypsies

Corelle plates( they microwave- melamine does not), stainless flat wear, stainless pots and pans, some paper plates for lunch on the road or large gatherings, Corelle LIGHT oven dish for casseroles- pricey but worth it, tervis tumblers for coffee and cold drinks thus multi-purpose, collapsible bowls & storage containers, collapsible dishpan if I need to conserve grey water space, collapsible measuring cups to conserve drawer space. Have not had any issues with Corelle breaking yet�� but if I did, I would replace it with same....

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Have had corelle bowls explode into sharp shrapnel when dropped on tile floors. Wife decided it wasn't worth the cleanup. We use melamine or paper plates. Melamine bounces...


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Hi, I broke a Corelle cup which is actually ceramic; I mentioned it when I was at the Corelle store and they told me that if I had brought it with me, they would have replaced it.