Brand New Fiesta Kitchen Pod Available Now

Our side venture Camper Pamper is going from strength to strength, with us constantly developing new custom pods to meet the demands of our customers.

Despite having a wide range of camping pod designs readily available on our website, nothing beats chopping and changing current designs to suit your specification.

The beauty of Camper Pamper kitchen pods is that they are made right here in our workshop in Birmingham, allowing you complete control of your perfect pod.

Thanks to our versatile service, our customers have graced us with new designs which we have then gone on to name and add to our website to inspire other customers bespoke kitchen pod designs. 

The Fiesta Kitchen Pod

The Fiesta kitchen pod is our latest example of this, a slight variation on one of current designs made to suit the specifications of one customer.

A variant of our very popular Gala pod, the Fiesta kitchen pod concentrates more of its efforts on the hob and sink and more integrated storage.

Replacing the built in fridge from the Gala kitchen pod with an additional cupboard and taking away the easy-carry handles, the Fiesta kitchen pod is a stylish concept which looks more like a permanent furniture fixture in a campervan.

Available in a huge range of finishes in both its quality wooden structure and either Corian or laminate unit tops, the unit is fully bespoke and can be manufactured to our customers personal tastes.

For more of our Camper Pamper kitchen pod designs you can visit our website, select a pod, choose from our range of options and proceed to the check out or simply give us a call and let us know your ideas. 

Camping Recipes

The sun is finally shining over the UK, even treating the grey sky of Birmingham to a glimpse of summer.

Any self respecting camper will already be planning a trip this weekend, as its not very often this weather lasts in the UK.

We’ll certainly be kidding ourselves that the weather is a lot nice then it actually is, enduring the cool breeze on our bare legs simply because the sun is out, so we’re sure you’ll be too.

If you’ve already started packing your best shorts and Hawaiian shirts for a long weekend in Kings Lynn, then you may want to start thinking about summery foods to add an extra element to your experience.

Salads get a bit of bad press amongst campers, many families opting for bacon sandwiches over a freshly tossed plate of crunchy salad.

There really is no need to abolish salad from your holiday diet. It’s cheap, easy, only requires a fridge or cool box to store it and it’s also the perfect compliment to the total meat festival you often encounter on campsites, especially if somebody’s brought along a BBQ.

As a keen camper, you’ve probably got a hob and sink combi or some form of stove equivalent, so we’ve got a robust salad that will sit as a stand alone meal and certainly fill you and your family up as well as being tasty and healthy.

The beauty of owning a hob in your camper is that it allows you add the most filling components of a good salad, such as pasta, rice and cooked meat; so here goes…

Beef Salad

2 sirloin steaks

300g fusili pasta

5 tbsp of red wine

1 shallot

Olive oil

Sugar

1 tbsp of chopped parsley

Large bag of mixed salad leaves (we recommend bistro salad)

1 pack of cherry tomatoes

Marinated olives

Balsamic vinegar

Bag of fresh spinach leaves

Parmesan cheese shavings

First up, you need to marinade the beef. This can take between 1 and 2 hours, so try and remember to do this early on in the day.

Simply add the 2 sirloin steaks to a dish and add half a chopped shallot, the red wine, parsley, 6 tablespoons of olive oil and finish with a sprinkle of black pepper.

Next, boil the  fusili pasta until al dente. It’s times like these you will really start to appreciate your hob and sink combi, allowing to use the hob to cook the pasta and sink to drain. Once ready, simply leave to cool.

Grab a large bowl and add the mixed salad, spinach, olives, pasta and cherry tomatoes (we recommend you chop both the olives and tomatoes in two).

Last boring part. Finally chop the remaining half shallot and mix with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and a pinch of sugar. 

Now for the fun bit. Heat a pan until smoking hot, remove the steaks from the marinade and place in the pan. Cook the meat to your liking unless you like it well done, in that case please stop reading this blog and become a vegetarian!

Finally, it’s time to add the all the elements together. Arrange the medley of mixed leaves, spinach, pasta, tomatoes and olives on plates, finely chop the steaks, pour over the dressing and sprinkle over parmesan.

As the salty olives, dressing, piping hot steaks and cheese infuse together and the smell engulfs your camper, we’re sure you’ll soon become a fan of salad: we certainly are! 

www.leisurehubs.com

Camping Recipes

One of the many great things about owning a campervan is that it allows you to get up and go any time of the year, almost every weekend can be dedicated to a new location.

Of course, making the most of your camper might mean travelling in some less savoury weather conditions.

Fortunately, our conversions are built to provide the cosiest possible design, with sheep’s wool insulation and a Webasto diesel heater; but even with these features considered, who wants to eat salad over a real winter warmer?

This delicious sausage and bean casserole is the perfect blend of warming ingredients to line your stomach for a day out in the country or a cosy night in.

As with all our recipes, you can cook this simply using basic camping facilities, it can be chopped and change to suit your taste, can serve as many as you like and is both nutritious and hearty.

This recipe uses one hob ring, requires minimal preparation and is really easy to make, enjoy! 

Sausage and Bean Casserole

Ingredients

-          1 pack of good sausages (one standard pack serves around 3)

-          1 Onion

-          A handful of spinach

-          2 beef tomatoes

-     1 pack of mushrooms

-          1 tin of chopped tomatoes

-          1 tin of baked beans

-          1 tin of kidney beans

Firstly, chop the sausages into bite size portions, peel and chop the onion, chop the beef tomatoes, mushrooms and add the spinach to a large saucepan with a dash of olive oil.

Cook until the sausages brown, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms are soft and the spinach has wilted.

Pour in the tin of chopped tomatoes and gently stir for 5 minutes.

Finally add the baked beans and kidney beans and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the flavours have infused together.

Add salt and pepper to taste, we love a dash of Tabasco or chilli in ours but it’s totally up to you.

Serve and enjoy!

Nespresso Pixie

The drop down coffee maker appears from furniture with the flick of a switch

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that at Leisure Hubs we love coffee. With conversion deadlines to meet, we’re no stranger to working well into the night, and the perky brown bean manages to maintain our sanity, as well as our decomposing tolerance of each other.

We love each other really! A deep brown puddle of steamy hot coffee can be the perfect morning pick me up when a day filled with adventure is ahead; that’s why we like to install coffee makers in just about everything!

The motorised drop down Nespresso Pixie coffee maker in our Brown T5 Transporter is cleverly placed just inches from the bed, allowing you to wipe the sleep from your eyes, take a shot of espresso and begin heating the frying pan for several rounds of bacon followed by a day in picturesque scenery. 

The Nespresso Pixie is a luxury addition to any conversion, whether it’s recessed into furniture with a motorised mechanism or sitting with the rest of your kitchen utensils.

The Colina Kitchen Pod

Providing fresh coffee with just 25 seconds heating time, the coffee maker is fast and efficient as well as stylish, with a steel handle, aluminium side panels and a choice of six colours and two finishes.

We love the Nespresso Pixie so much that we’ve even added it to our Colina kitchen pod as an option. 

The Colina provides a simple slide out cupboard which plays home to the compact proportions of the coffee maker, allowing the handy utensil to be neatly tucked away after use.

We may have a harmless obsession with the Nespresso Pixie but so far it’s paid off. The more late nights we have working on the vans though, the more we may begin cramming a coffee maker into every nook and cranny!

www.leisurehubs.com

Camping Recipes

As the sun rises over the rich British countryside, the once shaded grass is gradually illuminated a vibrant green as each of the sun’s rays hits every blade, local wildlife harmonise and compliment the fresh breeze and as sleep eyed children rise from their beds, the smell of bacon and eggs cooked by mum and dad is never far behind throughout UK campsites.   

Nothing beats popping a runny yolk over white crusty bread as you tuck into the British classic each morning, stuffing yourself ready for another day of adventure in the countryside or beach but it’s no secret that touring the UK and Europe in a Campervan can often lead to a pretty poor diet. 

Being able to travel for weeks on end in a camper is an amazing experience but a diet of bacon baps, BBQs and eating out everyday is not only expensive but it can do serious damage to your body and energy levels.

Returning home from the trip of a lifetime is a rejuvenating experience, freshly enlightened by the wonders each location offered, your brain has taken a journey as well as your body and will feel healthy and content.

With the brain healthy and at peace, nothing can rapidly counteract that then looking down and noticing a severe increase in your waist line.

Don’t get us wrong, we love bacon and eggs, we would eat it for every meal if it was socially acceptable but when travelling for long periods it is important to maintain a well balanced diet, not just for the sake of your waist line but also so you can feel good while you enjoy all your planned activities.

The reason why most ‘resort’ to fatty fried foods when campervanning is that most campers only have one or two hob rings and rarely feature and oven; with a minimal kitchen to work in it’s no doubt campers run out of recipe ideas, so here’s a series of blogs to unleash your inner chef!

We understand that the standard campervan kitchen consists of just one hob so we’ll start with something highly nutritious, delicious and super easy to cook.

A stir fry is an ideal way of making use of the single ring but they’re not for everyone so why not try this versatile recipe which can be easily chopped and changed to suit your taste.

Caribbean Calalloo and Mackerel (Serves 3-4)

This recipe requires just one hob ring and minimal skill but is rich in goodness and you can optimize the ingredients to suit your taste. We love chilli and garlic so here’s our take on the recipe. 

Ingredients

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

1 red onion

2 large tomatoes

6 mackerel fillets (about 1 pack)

Chopped red chilies (to taste)

1 large tin of calalloo

Crush the garlic cloves, finally chop the onions, chilies and tomatoes and add to the frying pan with a splash of oil.

Fry until the tomatoes are soft and the flavours have infused, peel the skins from the mackerel and finally break up the fillets to bite size portions and add to the pan.

Gently stir so that the flavours combine and the mackerel takes plenty of the chilli and garlic, even add some dried chilli flakes if you like a little extra spice (we do).

Finally, drain the water from the calalloo and add to the pan. This will instantly settle the pan and you can begin slowly stirring until the calalloo has bound all the ingredients.

Simply heat and stir until the calaloo is hot (it doesn’t need to be cooked through from the tin) and season to taste.

The great thing about this recipe is that it requires next to no time, minimal preparation and can be altered to suit your taste. Don’t like mackerel? Try chicken. We like to add green vegetables such as tender-stem broccoli, trimmed beans and peas, for extra guilt free bulk.

…enjoy!

www.leisurehubs.com