Cooking with Chef Jo: No Gas, Now What?

Well, I used more propane canning this year than expected. As a result our 100 lbs of propane was used up faster than the 18 months it took last time I bought 100 gallons. Ouch! Now, we are out of gas. It will take $300 to get another which I currently don't have. It will take me a month of not having to buy firewood to get it.

But, the thing about being self sustainable is that you have back ups to back ups available. For us, we have the wood stove heater that has a surface we can cook on. We have two microwave and toaster ovens. We have three electric burners, one dual eye and a single. We have two crockpots. We even have a grill with with 30 lbs of charcoal. In a real pinch, we've got wood for a campfire (wood too big for our wood stove ) with a fair assortment of cst iron cookware to cook with so we're not stuck by any stretch of the imagination.

An Example of My No Stove Cooking

For breakfast this morning, we had waffles with blueberry syrup and sausage patties ( wood stove). For lunch, we had oven-fried steak with onions and mushrooms (toaster oven), roasted cabbage (for me) green beans (for both of us- microwave), and Hokkaido rolls, and chocolate brownie cookies for dessert (toaster oven). Later on, I'll make corn dogs in my cake pop machine served with a spicy mustard we both favor.

So in honor of my no gas cooking, I'll share with you my girls' favorite campfire dinner. I'll include grocery store equivalents.

Hobo Stew with Corn

Hobo Stew
Serves 5 1/2 adults

1 pint ground beef, 1 lb fresh, ground beef or turkey
1 small onion, diced
1 pint green beans, 1-15 oz can
1 pint diced potatoes, 1- 15 oz can
1 pint sliced carrots, 1- 15 oz can
1 pint jar spaghetti sauce, Ragu or other brand
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a pot, brown ground beef and onions. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Pour off grease.
3. Add jarred vegetables (liquid and all) and sauce.
4. Bring to a boil and cook to desired consistency

That's it.

Serve with crusty bread or saltine crackers.. An easy, quick meal that sticks to your ribs. We always made it over a campfire, but you can use whatever you got to cook with. You can change up the vegetables or add to them. I'll add zucchini in tomato sauce, or a bunch of kale or mustard greens, or corn, or beans, or even macaroni to it to change my Hobo Stew up.

This recipes isn't mine. I read it some twenty odd years ago and gradually made it mine with additional ingredients. It's definitely budget friendly with food stores.

Enjoy!

Y'all have a blessed day! I know we will

Jo