provisioning round 2

After a mostly successful run at provisioning a month ago we are getting close to being ready! At least from my standpoint. 

This season’s menu is made up of these fine recipes:

Burrito casserole with tvp 

Roasted sweet potato w caramelized onion wraps

Chicken enchilada pasta skillet

Crunchy black bean tacos

Tuna Macaroni

Chicken taquitos

Lentils and rice with caramelized onions

Cuban black beans and cilantro rice

Chicken bacon ranch pasta

Chicken stuffing green bean casserole 

Pepperoni pizza

BBQ chicken tacos

Sweet potato curry (Thai)

Kielbasa, potatoes and onions

There are some familiar faces up there and for good reason. We know we like them and mostly the aren’t too time consuming. And then there are some new additions to our board. Last year we did hot dogs and this year I want to give kielbasa a shot. Josh’s mom makes the kielbasa/potato/onion combo (she also usually does bell peppers too) and has for years and it’s easy and tasty. It’s all stove top. The only really time consuming part is the dicing part of it. I don’t even peel my potatoes, just scrub them. Pizza is also a family favorite. The Cuban black beans and coconut rice is a dish I’ve been making for several years and I have no idea how this didn’t end up on the list last year! Easy, so tasty, and quick. Another standout is the burrito casserole. This one was actually a fluke. Several weeks ago I was trying to empty out my stores but also needed to grocery shop pretty bad and I also needed to feed my crew. So, I adapted a recipe that called for beef and made my own tvp taco meat and made this dish. It is also very very easy and a ridiculous amount of tasty.  The lentils and rice as well as Tuna macaroni are returning players and give us some variety. There are a few wild cards I have high hopes for. The Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta as well as the Chicken stuffing green bean casserole. The stuffing recipe in particular isn’t much to look at but I think it’ll be a good blend. Plus we are doing a few more vegetarian recipes this time with the Sweet Potato Curry, Crunchy Black Bean Tacos, Roasted Sweet Potato and caramelized onion wraps plus the TVP burrito casserole I already mentioned.

Another thing that is worthy of note is the fact that I tried to incorporate vegetables into the main dish. That way Fozel gets his veggies every meal and I’m not scrambling to come up with a veggie. I don’t actually have much room for canned or jarred fruits this season so the fruit is going to be tricky. Apples and citrus do relatively well but beyond that I am at a loss. I may end up buying some jarred things as well, but I will have to find some nonexistent space for them!

If there is one little tidbit from this season that I am observing this season already, it’s that black beans are going to be our star player this year. Somehow we have way more stuff (though this year I provisioned for 4 months whereas last I did only 3). Good thing we like 'em. I’ll report back if any of them are major fails and see if I can turn them around. 

reflections on season 1 provisioning.

The time is coming for me to restock our stores for the months we plan to spend in the Bahamas. Last year we did just fine. Honestly, we ate out more than I initially thought we would so we had enough and then some. Now, with that said, I feel like I made some mistakes. I planned that we would have 14 recipes that we would eat every two weeks. Mostly I was happy but a few recipes were just meh and a few more time/energy intensive than I wanted. It was very warm most evening so the last thing I wanted to do was be stuck in front of a hot stove/oven for very long. Here’s a run down of what worked and what didn’t. 

Chicken white bean and rice one pot—this was a play on chicken and rice with the cream of mushroom and chicken soup casserole I grew up on. It was okay. It didn’t take too much effort but the flavor just wasn’t too exciting. When I provisioned I could only get my hands on fat free cream soups and I am telling you we could taste the difference! I relied on canned chicken for all of these recipes and I don't know if that also affected the outcome or not. Canned chicken by nature isn't the most exciting texture or flavor (read:mostly just tastes like salt).

One Pot Chicken fajita rice soup—this turned out to be quite delicious but soup wasn’t the best solution for such hot climes and I found myself with half a jar of roasted red peppers every two weeks that would inevitably spoil before the next time I made the dish so the food waste aspect was frustrating. Also, why don’t jarred peppers last longer?!

Majurada lentils and rice with crispy onions—this dish remains one of the most delicious vegetarian friendly dishes I’ve ever made. I fantasize about eating this dish. But it did take a fair amount of time to cook. The onions are very very caramelized and it must be done low and slow. I also did not do the crispy onion step. It was still fantastic without it.

Buffalo chicken baked ziti—this was a hit with Josh but too spicy for Fozel. It was supposed to be made similar to a mac and cheese on the stovetop and then baked. After the first time making it, we skipped the baking with no ill effects. 

Chana Masala—a solid dish. I’d make it again for sure. The one comment I had is that it’s more of a wintery dish and I did not feel wintery in the Bahamas.

Tuna noodle casserole—glorified mac and cheese with a can of tuna and a can of peas. Always a winner in our house.

Chicken noodle casserole—as far as I could tell, a mediocre variation of a pot pie wannabe and chicken noodle imposter. I think a big lesson I learned is that I just don’t care for those No Yolk egg noodles. The texture is too firm for me and after eating the Reames frozen noodles growing up, that’s all I really want in my chicken noodle dishes. Another thing I think I did that may have affected both this dish is that I used the low fat version of the cream of chicken. Not enough creaminess and not enough salt. Just bland. 

Chicken baked ziti—this was okay and was made infinitely better when I could get my hands on some fresh produce. Once we added broccoli and another time peas. Canned peas weren’t too bad in it either. This dish is pretty much ziti noodles with canned chicken, Alfredo, some Parmesan cheese and whatever else I thought to throw in. It always came together quick and made plenty of leftovers for lunches. 

Chicken taquitos—this recipe was a conglomeration of about 3 different recipes. It made me feel very like my mom when I cooked this dish because every time it was different and every time we thought, “oooh that’s good! Let’s remember what we put in it” which of course we never did. But it was so easy. Tortilla shells, canned chicken, usually cream cheese and shredded cheese (whichever we had the most of...usually a Mexican blend), often black beans, sometimes some diced onion, a can of corn and sometimes a can of diced green chilies. I rolled the mixture up in the tortillas and then sprayed them with cooking spray in a 9 x 13 and baked until the tops were crispy. We served them with plain Greek yogurt (which we have totally replaced sour cream with forever) and salsa. Major thumbs up every single time.

Pizza—I have a great Greek yogurt and self rising flour recipe for the crust we like and we did canned sauce, pepperoni and sometimes caramelized onion. The dough is healthier than any other I’ve tried and pretty good. Full of protein! Fozel will never turn down pizza.

Refried bean polenta skillet with fried eggs—this simple recipe is an easy protein powerhouse. It used polenta, refried beans, cheese, salsa, eggs and whatever you like to garnish. It’s easy and pretty flavorful. I made my polenta from scratch which is very time consuming so I would either prep that portion the day before or morning of or just buy the quick polenta in a tube (which the recipe actually called for…somehow I thought I was making my life easier by making my own but I was clearly misguided).

Lentil bolognese—this was a bust. I had a hard time getting the lentils the right texture and we just didn’t like the flavor profile even though I futzed with it every time we made it. Several weeks in I tried to swap out the lentils and made it with tvp. It was better but then it just became pasta with a meat like sauce.

Black bean and sweet potato tacos/quesadillas—This ended up being tacos more often than not and we really liked them. This was a versatile recipe that we added to here and there based on our moods. It required dicing sweet potatoes which took some time. You could probably roast the potatoes and get a creamier texture but we sautéed ours on the stovetop. The spices it called for were chili powder and cumin in addition to salt. We added some smoked salt once and oregano and onion powder another. I also sautéed onions and added them in. I think most dishes could benefit from a little more onion.

Hot dogs and macaroni—no brainer winner. Hot dogs keep forever and we just cooked up a veggie on the side. It didn’t make me feel like super mom but everyone was happy. 

Lessons learned after last season: sticking with something you’ve made before may be best. Pasta and rice are really wonderful ways to make a meal stretch. You’ll get tired of canned chicken and tuna eventually. I somehow had an insane amount of diced tomatoes leftover in my pantry that we are STILL eating through. 

top 20 things we are not looking forward to on the boat.

Now that we are back at the boat I am reminded of all the ways life as a cruiser isn’t all sunsets and dolphins diving alongside the bow of your boat. There are plenty of things we aren’t so fond of and these are some of them. Not to say that the good doesn't still outweigh the not so good, but I want to put it in perspective for those that think we are on an eternal vacation.

1. Boat friends come and go. We LOVE our boat friends. We love meeting new ones and reconnecting with old ones BUT it can be hard to leave them behind. Josh is very good about keeping tabs on them for us and if possible, we meet up with them when happen to be in the same vicinity.
2. If you have time to lean, you have time to clean. This is not fun. No way around it. You’re pretty much cleaning something every day and sometimes the spaces aren’t all that easy to access or fit into. You wipe down the kitchen counter a thousand times a day and the floor in the head whenever you work up the gumption to pull up the grate that just barely is able to be pulled up in the tiny closed off room that is the bathroom when you’re standing on tiptoes perched on the toilet itself. Today I sat down on the settee and dust clouds plumed out of it. I was horrified then resigned. Another thing I have to figure out how to clean on a more regular basis without the use of a vacuum. Oh goody! Just one of those things that is eerily similar to land life. Ours is a battle of keeping mildew off of everything. It’s an endless task and I’m not even talking about the outside of the boat too. There is a whole other set of cleaning chops required undertake it. Actually, in the summers in Racine I was fairly fond of it because it allowed me to be outside and get cooled off at the same time.
3. The smell. Boat smell is something between an old library book and musty laundry. It smells like damp wood and sleep. And even if you leave that sucker open like every single day for months on end as we do, if you close it up for 4 hours to go get groceries and have dinner, I swear it’s back with a vengeance in just those 4 hours. Like, how?! And when you get it in your nose, it never comes out. You smell that odor for days after leaving the boat.
4. A wet rag. The further south you are and the later in the season it is, the worse it is. Everything we own is always slightly damp. There is no way around it. Even if your boat is brand new and doesn’t have leaks, it’s inevitable. And that damp? You guessed it, smells like the boat. Like musty sleepy wood. I’ve taken to Febreezing everything but I think I might hate the smell of Febreeze more? We wash our laundry and dry it but then I wonder "why?" since in hours time it’ll be limp and slightly wet again.
5. Lack of wifi and cellular service. While unplugging is a very very nice thing in many respects, it can also pose some problems. When the weather is crummy and we are stuck inside, having wifi eases the burden. It can distract us and a restless toddler when we’ve played every game and pretended all the things we can think of. It also makes communication with family pretty stinky.
6. Laundry. Not going to lie, we do our fair share of rewearing clothes (no undies, of course!) because laundry even at it’s easiest can be vexing. It can be expensive and is always awkward to manage. We are often needing to do other things while on shore and lugging around a big ol’ bag of socks and undies isn’t always cool/fun/easy. 
7. Who needs some space? For all the virtues of small living I can count, a lack of space is not one of them. There is virtually no privacy on our 36’ sailboat. When you are together 24/7 sometimes it gets a little tight. When Josh needs to change the engine oil or I need a breather from the chaos or the weather is crummy, it gets a little touch and go.
8. Hidden things. You know how in your house when you’re out of conditioner or dish soap you just go to your pantry or bathroom closet and just pull out another bottle and go on your merry way? It is very rarely that easy on the boat. Most items you might need (some of which you use on a regular basis) can require dismantling some piece of furniture or emptying out some locker or cabinet. Do you have to pull apart your couch to get to a can of diced tomatoes? No?
9. Water water everywhere but is there a drop to drink? We constantly monitor our water usage. We are either in a mooring field or anchored and refilling the water tanks requires some physical labor to successfully complete. We have two 6 gallon jugs we take to shore and fill and schlep back and forth. As you might imagine, when they’re full, they are very heavy. Those days I don’t worry about getting my workout in!
10. Grocery shopping is a task. While I do still love the task in general (the planning, the listing, the actual shopping and improvising on the spot at the grocery store when they don’t have what I need), doing the whole process on a boat is tricky. With a toddler in tow and either walking or taking transit we have to do our best. First we have to think creatively on how to get the most of what we need back with us. How much can you carry in one trip? Me, I am known to be a “no bag left behind” kind of girl. But, again, when you have a 3 year old, that is tough. Into the dinghy, up the boat ladder, down the steep companionway steps and then you have to put it all away. That part is a way less exciting and fun version of Jenga. Balancing, organizing, and stowing cold stuff in the fridge (which is basically is an icebox with less flat horizontal space and more slanted ones) is a sweat fest in itself. I end up doing 99% of the cooking just because I put everything exactly where I wanted it and getting to some ingredients can be a Herculean task.
11. Split time much of the time. With the exception of some weekend days, we spend way more time apart than I would like or have expected. Usually Fozel and I do our thing (which involves one of a few things including: playground, beach, library or story time) while Josh does the maintenance and errand or drives the boat if we are in transit. In the case of being on the move, Fozel and I play below and if we come above my goal is to just keep him from distracting the driver. It gets tiresome and since I don't have the mechanical know-how (or the time to learn the skills) we can't exactly switch  We take this 24/7 thing to a real extreme on the boat.
12. Pooping just isn’t the same. There I said it. It’s the stinky little secret of boating. We have a wonderful toilet that Josh installed, don't get me wrong. It’s not like we’re perched on a bucket or anything, but who wouldn’t prefer one plumbed that doesn’t require pumping and has a funny smell no matter what you do? 
13. Mosquitos and the like. Mostly the mosquitos haven't been too bad. There were a few places where we ran into them, but the real blight are No See Ums. They are actually the very worst buggers I can possibly imagine. This season we are going to try Skin So Soft (it's one of the common deterrents) and whatever else we can get our hands on. They're half the size of a mosquito (thus the name), bite you and the unending scratching never ceases. Seriously. I am a grown adult who has rubbed her skin raw on many occasions because I CAN NOT STOP scratching. Even after they've become raw they still itch. Why???
14. Raindrops keep falling on my head. Literally. And it's not awesome. This is probably my number one gripe. When you own a boat, it's bound to leak (or so says Josh). As long as the leak is from above the waterline and not below you're in the clear. Ours has a few doozies. Like 2ish that are a real pain in the you-know-what because, surprise, they're over our berths. Super fun when it's raining and you're me and you're trying to sleep and all you can think about is whether or not you're going to wake up to wet spots on your bed. They are the bane of my existence.
15. Noises on. During the day in any anchorage or mooring field energy needs must be met and batteries must be charged. Several hours each day here and there a midrange hum can be heard. Mostly it's just background noise but when it's your turn to run your generators, the volume can interfere with being able to carry on a conversation or think. At night, noises keep you safe. I've woken on at  least one occasion when a noise was absent and was able to diagnose a problem (the bilge pump had stopped working and it's absence of noise woke me). Or another time we heard airhorns from another nearby boat. When we went above it was found that a powerboat's anchor had come loose from the seabed and was drifting amongst the boats (that one was extremely scary). I hear every knock and bang and clang and splash. I lay away at night listening for the familiar and not so familiar noises and alert the sleeping captain when something sounds out of whack.
16. Knowing my culinary limits. I miss having a kitchen. One with ample counter space and all of the gadgets a person could want. Let's just say I have learned my limits--nothing pureed, nothing spiraled, nothing that requires too much kneading or frying. It does force me to be more creative in skirting these challenges and for that I am thankful. 
17. Going along with this is lack of freshness. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. Maybe I'm missing something but we have a very difficult time eating fresh on a budget when you don't visit a grocery stores in any kind of regular way. Some fruits and some vegetables are hardy and we eat those but I feel like we are missing out on fresh produce in a big way. In Florida we do okay early in the season because the humidity allows me to keep much of our produce in a hanging net but as it gets warmer everything turns much quicker.
18. Doing our part. I know I shouldn't complain about water conservation. The greedy consumerist part of me really misses washing dishes in a sink full of soapy water. Or having a legit shower every day. We are on an every 3-5 day shower schedule and let me tell you, it isn't pretty or luxurious in any way. And baths? What are those?
19. And you know what? I can't even think 2 more things we dislike about this life. Every day is a challenge in its own way and that's good. We are together and healthy and that's huge. So while it may seem like I've complained soooo much for someone living this unbelievable dream of ours, it just goes to show that no life is perfect.