Freedom in a Can: Adventures with Hamlet

SPICY SQUASH BISQUE Sometimes life just hands you pumpkins... A fellow camper handed me a pumpkin last week, one that she had purchased to decorate her campsite but didn't want to pack up and take home. With the weather in the mountains of New Mexico turning colder, we decided to turn it into soup...but not just any soup.  This vegan seasonal bisque fuses the sweet and savory flavors of pumpkin and butternut squash with the soul warming spiciness of chipotle. A splash of coconut milk adds a creamy finish which turns an average pot of squash soup into a hearty bowl of comfort food. To accompany the bisque, Hutch baked up some of his delicious  Fry Bake Focaccia  and topped it with caramelized onions and fire-roasted, New Mexican Hatch chilies.  What started as a kind gesture, ended as a delicious meal.  I wish we had her contact information to share with her what we created with her kindness! Check out  more delicious recipes  and subscribe to our  FREE Almost Monthly Newsletter  to

One half-step more is all I need.  One half-second less confusion, less hesitation, and I grab the kid who is now accelerating away on my mountain bike which he just boosted from our rack, a mere 3 feet from where we sleep.   As I sprint after him in my pajamas and bare feet across the pavement of the Walmart parking lot, all I am thinking about is stopping him.  But what then?  When I have the straps of his backpack in my hands, when I’ve disrupted his flight for even an instant, what do I do then?  This is the moment to which I keep returning with a conflicted mixture of regret and gratitude. We park overnight from time to time at Walmarts, all over this country.  Don’t judge, it’s not as bad as you think.  Sometimes it’s too brightly lit, too busy with traffic, or too close to a highway – but it’s always felt safe, much like a rest stop.  It’s convenient and free, and we along with thousands of other full-time RV’ers love it -- there’s even an app for it telling you which st

  BABA GANOUSH (GHANOUJ) From the produce aisle, the shiny skin of a lovely purple eggplant caught your eye.  In a fit of healthful optimism you reached for it, and were inspired to do something amazing.  Grilled slices, with halloumi cheese perhaps?  But alas, it idled in the back of your produce drawer and that shiny skin now resembles the paper bag in which you carried your baloney sandwich to grade school.  Don’t throw it away, it’s perfect for this recipe, and oh, so easy!  We made this flavorful cousin to hummus, the other night while cooking our famous  veggie burgers  on the  OTZI Grill . One of the many reasons that we love this thing is that in addition to making tonight’s dinner, we also make something for tomorrow. Just throw on some sweet potatoes or in this case, an eggplant, while cooking the rest of your meal and you’ve got the base of another incredible meal. But back to the Baba… follow the instructions below. Thanks to our former neighbor Amy, and her Sittie (grandma

Last month, we celebrated 11 years of living and working from the road, our "Nomadiversary” if you will, with our tiny canned-ham style camper that we lovingly refer to as “Hamlet.”   We've had the great fortune to travel all over the North American continent – all 50 US states and 10 Canadian provinces – and have taken Hamlet to all 51 of the US national parks you can drive to, as well as 14 Parks Canada national parks.  And, we have plans to go to Baja this winter! Being early adopters of the solar powered road life, we now have over a decade of experience living, working, and traveling off-grid, as well as teaching others how to make the most of what solar power can do!  In addition to this blog, we share our adventures and seminars through our website , monthly newsletter , and social media handle “ Freedom in a Can .”   The Renogy solar team recently asked us some burning questions about our journey, so we thought we'd share our answers with you too. This blog cont