Frugal Cooking of a Different Sort

While on a cross county trip as a child with no air conditioning and four siblings. We headed form the Sacramento Valley to Waco , Texas. It was a long, hot, miserable drive. Fighting with siblings and hearing folks tell us to knock it off was just how it was. So was cooking with the heat of the roaring Oldsmobile Wagon .(with wood paneling, of course). My parents cooked foil packs while driving to save money and time.


So, on my cross country trip with my kids we did this too. Our conditioning we broken and our budget is tight. So, cooking with the heat of the van engine sounded like my choice for real food and not fast food. I was not brave enough to start out with a cooked chicken or anything to crazy so simple hot dogs it was!



Wrap food in tinfoil nice and tight. I used three layers of of thick tin foil.




Place on a hot spot in your engine. Be extra careful not to place it near any moving parts or places that will effect the running of the actual car.




And, drive for an hour or two depending on what you are cooking. See these are done, the ends have even split open. This is something that you cannot control. You just have to play with it and make sure you are safe.

When it suits your fancy take out and eat! Yum.

While we were eating our hot engine cooked hot dogs, I also heated up some marshmallow for some smores. We stopped in a roadside park and played in a creek. This was so much fun and so so yummy for a road trip! Plus I created some fun memories for my children.