Customer Reviews

The Open Road Cookbook

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After seeing JoAnna Lund make some easy dishes on the RV Today series, I decided that I would like to have a copy of her book. This book is a must have for RV'ers and home cooks alike! The book is full of easy, healthy and tasty receipes that you can make quickly. And, with a miminal amount of ingredients, they are very simple and quick to make, making them perfect for a working family or travelling RV'er that likes to have a home cooked meal after a long day at the office or on the road. Great book!

I discovered this book when it was featured in Highways magazine. Learning to cook decent meals in an RV can be tricky. There's little counter space, minimal cupboard space and the fridge won't hold much, unless you have a top-of-the-line motorhome.
We've figured out some easy meals on our own such as fajitas using frozen pre-seasoned meat, but it's good to expand our repetoire. I like that Lund tries to use low-fat ingredients, limited ingredients, and keep the recipes fast and easy. The nutritional info is included for each recipe.

I don't often write bad reviews, but in this case, I had to. I saw good reviews from others and ordered this book, and now I wonder what world I don't live in that some people call "healthy." A big clue was in the introductory chapters discussing the various qualities of Cool Whip, Jell-O, and fake sugars, with the emphasis on baking and sweets.

If your idea of healthy, easy, clever RV cooking means using ingredients like fake fat, fake sugar, fake eggs, fake milk, Cool Whip Lite or Free, Jell-O (sugar-free, of course), Diet Mountain Dew(!!!), instant powdered juice mixes, reduced calorie white bread, processed cheese, pre-chopped vegetables, canned vegetables, canned meats, canned soups, and the like, then this is for you. The breakfasts are sugary (fake) or gloppy (the Mushroom Scrambled Eggs actually has a whole can of cream of mushroom soup with 8 eggs and canned mushrooms all scrambled together!). The main dishes are mostly canned soups (usually cream of something), canned meat, canned vegetables, low-fat cheese, and starch ("minute" versions stripped of all their food value) in various combinations. Many of the vegetable and salad dishes (little fresh produce even here) have sugar (fake) added to them, even the potato salad. The desserts have such combinations as canned fruit cocktail, Jell-O, Cool Whip Lite or Cool Whip Free, Diet Mountain Dew, pudding mix, and fake sugar -- for a fresh summery taste! says the recipe.

There is hardly a real, fresh ingredient in the book -- except occasionally onions, celery, green papper, and potatoes. I didn't find any whole grains. No fresh greens anywhere -- maybe I missed that recipe? Canned Cream of X soup seems to be the magical glue in one recipe after another. Even the Healthy Request versions of these contain fillers, salt, preservatives, and yes, sugar. And much of the so-called "healthy" non-fat stuff has starch or fake fillers to replace the fat and flavor. I have nothing against using less fat and salt and sugar, but simply use less, don't fill up on processed replacements that keep the cravings alive.

When I am on the road, I try to use healthy foods (meaning fresh meats and fruits and vegetables -- or frozen) with easy combinations for a fresh taste. Don't most RVs have refrigerators and freezers? Are these people traveling in some grocery-free wilderness? You don't need a huge refrigerator to include some fresh produce in it. I do use canned goods too, such as tomatoes or tuna or stock, and starches such as rice, pasta, or potatoes to sometimes make combinations, but not like this. My cupboard has spices and herbs for flavor, not canned Cream of X soups.

This is a throwback to the fifties "convenience" combinations -- updated with recent fake-food fads for those with sugar and fat cravings that must be satisfied with highly-processed substitutes.

I think this cookbook is great for people who are trying to prepare hearty healthy meals, perhaps for a whole group, in a confined area with limited resources. It is obviously a great resource for people who are traveling cross country in a camper because it primarily makes use of canned and boxed nonperishable foods. For that reason, I think it is also a great resource for people who are employed full time or single people who don't keep a well stocked refrigerator with fresh foods. Further, all the recipes are written for healthy eating and have the nutritional values listed at the end of the recipes. The recipes are all straightforward and very simple, and even though the meals are healthy they do not sacrifice taste.

What a great book! Minimal ingredients and wonderful sounding recipes. It's definitely coming on my next trip.

I like this cookbook because it kept to basic ingredients. There is nothing worse than wanting to try a recipe and having to spend extra money on ingredients you will only use in one recipe. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but am looking forward to it soon.