Copyright Janet Groene 2026. To ask about reprinting Groene content, email janetgroene@yahoo.com
For 10 years the Groenes were happily houseless. Always on the go as a travelwriter and photographer team, they wintered under sail in a 29-foot sloop and traveled summers in a 21-foot diesel camper. Janet specializes in easy, nutritious, everyday recipes that save space, mess, resources and money.
Groene OP books, found on Amazon include How to Live Aboard a Boat, Cooking on the Go and Dressing Ship
Galley Recipe of the Week
Carolina Chicken Bog
This flavorful, easy, affordable one-dish recipe is a Low Country icon, celebrated each October in South Carolina with the Loris Bog-Off Festival.
A traditional bog begins with a whole chicken that is cooked, cooled, skinned and then cut up. Spices vary, depending on the chef. The festival began in 1980 as a contest for the best bog and is now a community feast where all chefs have their own secret seasonings.
Here’s my simplified version for the small galley.
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 cups water
Large onion, diced
1 ½ cups long-grain rice
8 ounces smoked sausage cut in bits
2 tablespoons Italian-blend herbs
2 teaspoons powdered chicken bouillon
Salt, pepper to taste
Hot sauce
Cut chicken in bite size. Put water, salt and onion in a big pot, bring to a boil and cook chicken 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients to the pot, keeping it at low boil.
Reduce heat, cover and cook 20-30 minutes, stirring often, until rice is plump. Taste before adding salt. (Sausage and bouillon are salty).
Bog is a soupy, stewy sort of thing, easy to spoon into shallow soup plates and eat with a spoon even if you're wedged into a seat in heavy weather. Pass the hot sauce, preferably a southern favorite such as Texas Pete or Tabasco. Serves 6 to 8.
ONE BURNER SKILLET MEAL
Sausage and Shreds
Cabbage, or some variation of it, is found in most street markets around the world. It’s usually one of the lowest priced vegetables in the stall, a staple in many local diets. Shredded cabbage is sold as Coleslaw Mix in modern produce centers.
2 pounds of your favorite bulk sausage
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
14- ounce bag shredded cabbage
Small red cabbage, cut in coarse shreds
Medium red onion, diced
Salt, pepper
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
3 tablespoons thawed apple juice concentrate
In a large skillet or wok heat oil and stir-fry the sausage, breaking it up into crumbles, until it’s no longer pink. Spoon off any excess fat (but leave some for flavor). Continue stir-frying, adding cabbages and onion until crisp-tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk juice concentrate and mustard together and stir into the sausage mixture.
Refrigerate now to nuke later or serve at once. Freezing is not recommended. Serves 10 to 12.
Even a day sail can turn into a hungry ordeal when things go wrong. Think of spare food as insurance. This book is not about those awful doomsday rations in the bilge (you may need them later) It's a planning guide for a stand-by cache of shelf-stable foods you use and rotate.
SURVIVAL FOOD HANDBOOK is a guide to survival when you're Out There and out of fresh provisions. It's written just for sailors and campers who have limited storage space.
Whether it's fridge failure, or you're broke, or quarantined or weathered in, stuff happens. See provisioning information, lists, tips and recipes made solely with stowed foods from supermarkets (not those expensive doomsday rations) . Create a three-day standby pantry for your home, boat, cabin or camper with familiar, affordable staples.
Kindle or paperback, it's a great gift idea for yourself or a friend. https://amzn.to/3mIfryC
Wild Rice Burgers
1 box wild rice/white rice mix, cooked according to package directions
½ cup dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup pecan meal
½ teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 eggs or equivalent
Small can mushroom stems and pieces, well drained
Small jar (2 ounces) chopped pimentos, well drained
Oil for frying
While a layer of oil heats in a skillet to shimmering hot, mix everything else and form into patties. Fry on both sides until crispy brown and serve hot.
Cook’s note: these patties are also good for breakfast. Serve with applesauce or yogurt.
MAKE AHEAD SALAD
Sweet Broccoli Salad
1 bunch scallions, sliced
2 cups halved seedless grapes
1 cup lemon flavor yogurt
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
4-ounce package real bacon bits
Bottled ranch dressing (optional)
Toss broccoli, grapes and scallions lightly in a bowl. Whisk yogurt, sugar and vinegar, then toss with the broccoli mixture. If more dressing is needed add ranch dressing ad lib. Sprinkle with bacon bits. Serve now or chill. Serves 4 to 6.
Discover the Yacht Yenta Cozy Mystery Series....
People are dying in Okecoochie County Florida, but nobody can guess how the deaths are related. Meet Farley Halladay, a salt-cured sailboat widow who has an online charterboat booking business. She dodges a wayward sister, cares for an old Navy SEAL veteran who was her husband’s mentor and wrangles a large circle of wacky friends. She cooks, copes and solves crimes in this unusual cozy mystery e-book series. Go to Kindle, https://amzn.to/3bB5XPh
Throughout the books, Farley shares shortcut recipes from the days when she was a charterboat cook.
HOT OR COLD SANDWICHES
Mexican Meltdowns
6 bakery buns
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 pound sliced roast chicken deli lunch meat
1 ½ cups mayonnaise
8-ounce package shredded Mexican cheese blend
Small can diced green chilies, well drained
Slice buns. Soften butter and mash with chili powder. Spread a light film on cut sides of buns. Fold chilies and shredded cheese into mayonnaise.
Make sandwiches with the buns and layers of lunch meat and smears of the mayo mixture. Wrap individually in foil (to heat in the oven or on the grill) or in wax paper (to nuke).
Refrigerate. Eat cold or heat gently until the cheese melts. Serves 6.
GIVE IT THE SLIP
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| Caregiver suppliers sell nonskid mats for sickroom use |
To make table place mats in any size to fit an odd-size galley table or drink holder, simply cut with scissors. Most edges need no binding, but colorful tape adds a nice touch. Warning: In time the rubbery coating dies and welds itself onto surfaces. Cleanup gets messy. Replace shelf linings every year or so.
SEAFOOD MAKES THE MEAL
Stretch-a-Catch Alfredo
Make a medley of different seafoods-–the more variety the better-- to supplement leftovers or today’s meager catch. Add canned tuna, frozen cooked shrimp, grilled salmon, imitation crabmeat, poached scallops and such to make 1 to 2 pounds cooked seafood.
3 to 4 cups bite size bits of cooked seafood
1 pound fettucine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 jars, 14 ounces each, Alfredo sauce
Optional: minced parsley
Cook and drain fettucine, saving some of the pasta water. Toss hot fettucine with olive oil and capers. Fold in seafood and sauce, adding some of the pasta water if needed. Cover and heat gently over low flame until piping hot. Serves 8.
The latest in the Yacht Yenta cozy mystery e-books brings sailboat widow Farley Halladay closer to the answer of her husband's death.
Read the six cozies in any order as Farley copes, cooks and solves crimes with the help of her wacky cast of characters. You'll laugh at her frailties; cry with her as she grieves. Find it on Google Play and other ebook formats and also on Kindle, https://amzn.to/3wcf6ao
HAPPY HOUR
Prickly Beer And Pretzels
About ½ cup dark beer such as stout
.07-ounce packet zesty Italian dressing mix
8-ounce package shredded sharp Cheddar
Warm up cream cheese to “room” temperature and mash in beer, dressing mix and cheese. Serve with pretzels
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A SAUCE SAVES THE DAY
Orange Coconut Rum Sauce
10-ounce jar orange marmalade
1/3 cup coconut rum
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, cut fine
Stir over medium heat until well blended. Spoon warm over grilled pork chops, ham steaks, baked chicken or skewered shrimp.
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Janet Groene’s
Survival Soup Mix
copyright Janet Groene.
Make enough individual packets of this nourishing mix to last all summer. Gourmet it isn't but, unlike some commercially packaged 15-bean soups, this one requires no soaking. It cooks in only 30 to 45 minutes and even less in a pressure cooker. It’s also ideal for long, slow cooking in a solar cooker or beach fire.
After you’ve made your first master mix you’ll want to vary the recipe your own way with different rices or seasonings. Just don’t add dried beans that require hours of soaking.
Why two bags per batch? Dried peas and lentils need sorting and rinsing to remove dirt and debris. They are kept separate from the seasonings package, which is ready to use.
Shopping list:
1 bag dried yellow split peas
1 bag dried green split peas
1 bag brown lentils
1 bag red or yellow lentils
1 bag brown rice
1 bag pearl barley
2 small bags tiny pasta such as alphabet, orzo or mini-shells
Large bottle of box of chicken bouillon cubes
Ditto beef bouillon cubes
Ditto Knorr tomato bouillon cubes
Large bottle dried parsley
Large bottle dried onion bits
To package soup mixes for four servings each:
Mix all peas and lentils. Put ½ cup in each snack size bag and zip closed.
In a separate bag or jar place:
3 tablespoons each brown rice, pearl barley and tiny pasta
1 each beef, chicken and tomato bouillon cubes
1 tablespoon each dried onion bits and dried parsley
½ teaspoon garlic granules or powder (not garlic salt)
½ teaspoon celery seed
Combine the two containers in another bag or jar and add instructions.
Instructions for Making Survival Soup:
1. Inspect and rinse peas and lentils. Drain. To reduce cook time, soaking optional for 30 minutes or so.
2. Bring 4 cups water to a boil and stir in pea- lentil mix. Bring back to a low boil. Unwrap bouillon cubes and stir with the other ingredients into the soup.
3. Cover, lower heat and simmer 30 to 45 minutes or until tender. If soup is too thick, add water, broth or tomato juice. Stir well, adjust seasonings and ladle into soup bowls.
Cook’s note: To make a vegan/vegetarian mix, substitute vegetable bouillon cubes for the beef and chicken cubes.
Optional garnish for the finished soup:
Diced scallion, white and light green only
Small sweet onion, diced
Shredded cheese
Shaved hard cheese
Bits of jerky
Diced fresh tomato
Croutons
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See more for the small kitchen, boat galley or outdoor campsite at https://campandrvcook.blogspot.com. See Janet's timely road trip news at https://janetgroene.blogspot.com and general RV tips plus late-breaking campground intel at https://solowomanrv.blogspot.com/
