Fun and Foolishness in the Galley

Living and working,  in a tiny mini-motorhome means living organized.  I have my puppy living with me, Harley. He is a year old, weighs 6.2 pounds and is still a bit underweight.  According to the vet, his skeleton needs more meat on him. When soaking wet from a bath, he does look a tad pathetic. This has been an uphill battle since I got him. He was severely malnourished, now he is well nourished, but he burns it all off with his running, leaping, jumping, playing and athletic sports.

He doesn't gobble down his food like most dogs. He doesn't even much care for dog treats unless it's junk food, as before I got him he lived on a diet of Doritos and Corn Chips, so he was in bad shape.  His fur was thin, he had the energy of a sleepy turtle. I don't buy any junk food, so he doesn't get any. He just won't gulp his food down like most puppies. But finally now he is eating, and it's not such a big issue as before when he just seemed content to be half-starved. Now he is eating a good bit every day.

I try everything to encourage him to eat. I give him dry food 24/7, a fresh water bowl I change out 2-3 times a day, and then what I call wet food.  Some sort of high protein meat or dog food. He doesn't much care for canned dog food, this is maddening, it usually goes bad because he won't eat it,  but he will eat meat.  He loves beef, poultry, pork and eggs. This is funny because I rarely eat meat.  So now the dog is eating more meat than me. But I do buy meat sometimes,  when I cook for friends, that can't get by on a meal unless it has meat.  So I am not a total vegan at all. But I am working hard to reverse diabetes, skipping all meats is a high recommendation. So while I am dining on salads,  veggies, beans, and wild rice, doggy is often dining on meat.

His three little feed bowls (dry, wet, and water) get moved all over the motorhome, sometimes outdoors and back in again. They get tripped over, spilled and knocked around because they are tiny bowls. 
Now we have a new system. He has his own buffet now. Lucky puppy!

I bought this relish tray for 25 cents on sale. It's made of heavy duty plastic. I liked the festive colors.  It would look so cool for a taco buffet. While organizing my cabinets, I realized it would make a great doggy tray. So now it's Harley's little buffet. He loves it.

His dog bowls are little cheap one cup sized plastic bowls, that came with blue plastic lids.   These are typically found at the grocery store or any home store. I can pop the lids back on before driving down the road to our next misadventure. Anyhow, the little round bowls he is used to, fit so nicely in his new buffet tray. Since incorporating the buffet tray, we haven't spilt much at all. I can move it around, to where it's out of my way, or move it outside when he is playing out there. Shown is his dry puppy chow, I always keep out for him. He uses this as his snack bowl. In the middle is his removable water bowl, very handy to pick up, wash and refill again. The 3rd bowl is showing the all meat weenies he loves to eat when I don't have other meats for him.  LUCKY DOG!

I heard this horrible noise outside like a big monster was chewing up the cars. I went to check.  It was the  honey wagon using a noisy pump and generator to empty out the neighbor's holding tanks. .  This park only has electric and water hookups, no sewer. You can drive to the dump station in the campground (that's what I do if the need arises) or you can pay for the honey wagon to come noisily suck it out for you. The tank is not opaque, so you can see the sewer inside.

How appetising.



I like those newfangled thin bread buns, shown on the left. They are flat.  I buy the whole grain ones. I have a bowl, that is the same size as the little flat buns. I sprayed it with cooking oil, beat up 2 eggs with my little whisk, then popped it in the microwave for 100 seconds. The egg pops right out of the bowl, then fits on the sandwich perfectly.

I'm afraid I was so hungry, I ate the sandwich, before I took a picture of the finished sandwich.

 Above is the picture of the eggs before cooking, below is after they are cooked 90 seconds.  I discovered my microwave prefers 100 seconds for 2 eggs. So I popped mine back in for 10 more seconds. You can also toss in cheese and/or Hormel bacon bits. I recommend Hormel, because they are 100% meat.  Most bacon bits are artificial. It pays to read the labels.

Ut oh!

Company is coming!  So I bought a 3 pound Turkey breast. I was sure it would fit in my little crockpot. I love my crockpot. The slow cooker is 1.5 quart size with a high and low cook settings, plus a keep warm setting. It does magic!   It makes dried beans perfectly as well as assorted other dishes.

Well, I will have to work on Plan B.  My friend missed out on holiday celebrations, so I was going to treat him to Turkey and all the trimmings in my little motorhome. After years of cooking gourmet foods for crowds,  in tiny galleys on sailboats, I find my motorhome galley, to be rather refreshing. I've outfitted it with a few favorite things, so I can cook just about anything I please.

Matter of fact, the crockpot is sitting on my sink cover. The sink cover is actually a jumbo plastic chopping board. But I never chop on it, because I want to keep it nice. I chop on the wooden boards instead. When I need extra room, this jumbo board lives over the sink. I have a double sink, this covers one sink completely (and does a great job of hiding the dirt dishes beneath it!) 

To the right is an varnished oak wooden fiddle my friend installed on two sides. The third side (shown above) is the counter backsplash. The two fiddles on the other two sides, keep the board from sliding off the counter when I am driving. When I need the sink, I can prop the board up on the counter against the wall, next to the stove or put it on top of the stove, if the stove cover is already on.

All the fancy new RV's come with custom sink covers, but mine did not. However, my friend crafted this for me. When he went to buy a plastic chopping board to custom cut to fit the sink, he noticed it fit perfectly on the counter, right over the sink, so nothing to saw up.   Since we are both sailors, we thought adding the fiddles would be a great idea. He had spare oak pieces in his garage workshop. When i am packing up to drive, the board can just live, right over the sink where it is now, the fiddles keep it from falling off.

OK, I figured out what to do with the turkey breast. More on that tomorrow!  Doggy is begging me to take him to the dog park. It's about a mile from here, clear across the park. Well, that will walk off any calories I got from the egg sandwich! 

A Big Thank You To  Angels Who Help Support a Recovering Mermaid  2011 Calendars By Dear Miss Mermaid on Sale  Subscribe to Dear Miss Mermaid  for only 3 cents per day Support a Crazy Mermaid
Step 1 Make a Payment	Step 2 Sign up for Email Posts (Optional)
Subscribe to Dear Miss Mermaid Silver : $1.00 USD - monthly Gold : $5.00 USD - monthly Platinum : $10.00 USD - monthly Booster : $25.00 USD - monthly Nirvana : $50.00 USD - monthly	Subscription Delivered to your Email Dear Miss Mermaid...the OTHER Blog! (no spam, just the blog) ***You can buy a subscription without the email updates.