"Glamping" with a Make-at-Home Kit

It’s no understatement that the current social distancing requirements have been taking a toll on everyone. For families like ours - with young kids that can get bored without a change of scene - we used to have a regular practice of getting away on the occasional weekend, and have been trying to find an alternative in our current COVID-19 world.

Inspired by a conversation with one of our friends who shared her experience of traveling safely with her family by camping in an RV, we decided to give it a try. A short google search lead us to RVShare, a sort of Airbnb for RV rigs, and to Harvest Hosts, providing an alternative to campgrounds.

So, if you’ve never heard of Harvest Host, we recommend checking it out. It is an amazing network of farms and wineries that will allow a couple of RV campers to stay in their fields for the night – and all for zero charge. Their hope is that you will purchase some of their products before you head out, which is hardly a problem considering they are items you most likely need for your trip anyway. The maximum stay is one night per location, they don’t offer electrical hook ups or any of the services found at a campsite, but if you are packing your own food like we did, and are only looking to get a way for a few days, you can be a nice self-contained unit in a gorgeous surrounding. You may find yourself waking up to the sunrise over a fish-stocked pond or to a view of a pasture filled with grazing horses. As for us, we opted to head out to a lovely alpaca farm and what better choice for a meal than one of our Korean Bibimbap Make-at-Home kits to take along with us.

You might be skeptical that such a flavorful meal can be prepared on a small propane stove in a tiny RV with minimal kitchen tools. I know I was. But look at our results. Our kitchen contained one small saucepan, one medium saucepan, an 8-inch frying pan, a mini cutting board, a small paring knife and a set of measuring spoons.

The rice cooked on one burner while we sautéed spinach, blanched the mung beans, cooked the julienned carrots and mushrooms, browned the ground beef, and fried our sunny-side up eggs all on the other burner. We had every ingredient and every spice neatly contained in the kit bag. And even though they are designed to provide only 2 servings, this one kit fed our family of four just fine.

Although the options for summer camping is diminishing, there are plenty of occasions where having an easy to prepare Make-at-Home Kit is the right answer. If anything, it’s wonderful to have a home-cooked meal without the need to locate ingredients and fill your fridge or cupboards with bottles when you really only need a teaspoon for the recipe. Kit availability corresponds with the classes that are being offered that week, so check out our Class Calendar to find out which kits are ready for pick up.