Keeping the Holiday Season Merry and Bright While RVing

Maintaining family traditions while RVing during the holiday season can be a rewarding experience that adds a special touch to your adventures on the road. Engage in RV park or community celebrations to foster a sense of camaraderie and shared joy. Simplify your holiday cooking with easy and delicious recipes that suit the constraints of an RV kitchen, making use of one-pot meals and seasonal treats. Prioritize outdoor activities like hiking in scenic locations or organizing a campfire gathering. Keep the holiday spirit alive by creating new traditions specific to your RV lifestyle, such as a road trip to see dazzling holiday light displays or a festive picnic at a picturesque site. Above all, stay connected with loved ones through virtual celebrations if distance separates you, ensuring that the holiday season remains a time of connection, joy, and shared memories, even while on the move.

3 Ways to Keep the Holidays Merry and Bright

1. Maintaining family traditions
2. Decorating for the holidays
3. RV friendly holiday meals

Adapting the Old to the New

Adapting old holiday traditions to a new RV lifestyle involves finding creative ways to maintain the essence of cherished customs while accommodating the unique constraints of living on the road. Ultimately, the key is to blend the familiarity of old traditions with the adaptability and sense of adventure that RV living offers, creating a holiday season that is both nostalgic and uniquely suited to your new lifestyle.

One approach is to downsize decorations, opting for compact and collapsible items that fit into the limited space of an RV. Consider creating a travel-sized version of your usual holiday feast by simplifying recipes and using RV-friendly cooking methods. If part of your tradition involves giving back, find opportunities to volunteer or contribute to local communities as you travel. Embrace the flexibility of RV life by exploring new destinations during the holiday season, incorporating the joy of discovery into your traditions. Keep connections strong with loved ones through sending personalized holiday cards and gifts from your travels on the road.

Keeping the Decorations Captivating

Maintaining a merry and bright holiday season while RVing involves embracing the spirit of the festivities while adapting to the unique challenges and opportunities of life on the road. Start by adorning your RV with compact and cheerful decorations, opting for LED lights and space-saving ornaments.

Choose decorations that are compact and easy to store. Go for the collapsible smaller sized Christmas trees, foldable or homemade ornaments, and inflatable decorations that won't take up much space. Utilize festive string lights to add a warm and cozy ambiance. String them along the awning, around the interior, and on any outdoor furniture. If allowed at your campsite, create a captivating outdoor lighting display. Use solar-powered or battery-operated lights to minimize energy consumption. Decorate your RV windows with removable decals, gel clings, or small wreaths. This adds a festive touch without obstructing your view. Place a festive outdoor mat at your RV entrance. It not only adds to the holiday spirit but also helps keep dirt outside. Remember, the key is to strike a balance between festivity and practicality in your RV space, ensuring that your holiday decorations enhance the joy of the season without overwhelming your mobile home.

"Yummy in my Tummy" Holiday RV Cooking

While Santa is busy delivering presents to all the good little RV boys and girls, rest easy knowing you have all the delicious Christmas day staples covered with simple RV-friendly recipes. Some families have a big family Christmas feast, but as you become more experienced RVers you will learn the beauty of the simple but delicious festive meals that allow you to relax with the family while enjoying the yumminess of Christmas. Opt for one-pan wonders that minimize cleanup, like a delectable breakfast casserole or a savory crock pot chili. Embrace the holiday spirit with easy-to-make, RV-friendly desserts such as no-bake saltine cracker toffee or campfire-cooked s'mores. Don't forget to infuse your RV with the aroma of the season by simmering a pot of mulled cider or hot cocoa on the stove. To save space and time, consider prepping ingredients in advance and utilizing multi-functional kitchen tools. The key is to savor the joy of Christmas cooking while keeping it practical and stress-free in the limited kitchen space of your RV.

Saltine Cracker Toffee

Needed Ingredients:

• Saltine crackers – You have to have saltines for this saltine cracker toffee recipe! Some people use Ritz crackers as well.
• Brown sugar – I like to make sure it’s packed in the measuring cup.
• Butter – For desserts, I always use unsalted butter.
• Chocolate chips – The more chocolate, the better!

How to Make Christmas Saltine Cracker Toffee

1. Preheat: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cover With Foil: Cover a cookie sheet with foil and place a single layer of saltines on the cookie sheet.
3. Boil On The Stove: Bring butter, sugar, and vanilla to a rolling boil for three minutes. Pour evenly over saltines. Gently spread to make it even. Bake for 6 minutes or until bubbly.
4. Add Chocolate Chips: While the toffee is still hot and bubbly, pour chocolate chips evenly on top of the candy. When the chocolate chips begin to melt, gently spread the chocolate over the toffee. Sprinkle with sliced almonds or your favorite nut if desired.
5. Freeze: Freeze for one hour and break into pieces.
   

Easy Sausage Breakfast Casserole

Needed Ingredients: 

• Sausage – I like spicy breakfast sausage for this recipe, but mild is good if you have littles in your house.
• Eggs – whisked together
• Shredded Cheese – I like cheddar but you can use your favorite.
• Frozen Hashbrowns – you can use hashbrown potatoes or shredded.
• Milk – whole milk is best.

How to Make Sausage Breakfast Casserole:

1. Prepare: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brown the Sausage: Crumble sausage into a skillet on the stove and brown completely. Remove from heat.
3. Whisk the Eggs: In a large bowl, mix eggs and milk together and whisk well.
4. Add seasonings: Add salt and pepper to the egg mixture and stir.
5. Mix ingredients all together: To a 9×13 dish sprayed with cooking spray, add frozen hashbrowns, sausage, and cheese.
6. Add to the baking dish: Pour the egg/milk mixture into the dish.
7. Bake: Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes – covered with foil.
8. Rest: Remove the foil and bake for about 10-15 minutes more until the dish is bubbly and cheese is melted.

Creamy Crock-Pot Hot Chocolate

Needed Ingredients: 

• 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 6 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups of milk chocolate chips (can also use half semi-sweet)

How to Make Creamy Crock Pot Hot Chocolate: 

1. Stir together the whipping cream, milk, vanilla, and chocolate chips in a 5 quart crock pot (if doubling, use a 6-7 quart slow cooker/crock pot).
2. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours, stirring occasionally with whisk, until mixture is hot and chocolate chips are melted.
3. Once it is heated through and chocolate is melted, switch the slow cooker to the warm setting. Stir again before serving. (If you have trouble getting the chocolate to melt, turn to high temporarily).
4. Garnish individual cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream or marshmallows.

Converting holiday traditions to RV life can be a fun and rewarding experience, allowing you to celebrate the festive season while on the road. From the family holiday traditions to the meals prepared and shared, everything can be modified to make the RVing experience better than ever this holiday season!

Additional Resources:

Ready to start shopping for this holiday season? Check out these 15 Fun Gifts Under $30 for RVers. Here are 9 Tips for Decorating Your RV this holiday season.