Eat Like Royalty: Kitchen Set Up & Cooking for Longterm Travel

I, Jen, have been giving a talk at a few of the Overland Expos over the last couple of years. It has been quite popular. Session attendees have been asking for me to post the session, as it covers a lot of information in a short period of time, and those not able to come have requested to have access to the information. So… here it is!

Introduction: 

I grew up camping, back when it was just called “car camping”. I don’t remember ever being in a proper campground until around the age of 12 years old.

Fast forward to my adult years, my husband and I lived in a proper house, what I like to call a “ground house” and had proper jobs.  Then we decided to shake things up.  We sold our home, quit our jobs and set off for Africa.  We traveled 14 countries over 2 years (2017 & 2018).  Our plan had always been to land somewhere, get another ground house and proper jobs again.  But we haven’t ever figured out where that place is and we really like living on the road.  That brings us to today, we are in our 9th year of living on the road.

My cooking experience of camping and living on the road involves cooking from scratch.  I do not make dehydrated meals where you only add water.  I don’t make Macaroni & Cheese from a box or buy precooked rice.  I try not to cook for leftovers and I don’t like to eat the same thing day after day.  And thankfully, I love to cook and feed people.

Overview: 

Today we are going to discuss setting up a kitchen & cooking for Longterm travel.  For the purposes of this talk I am defining long term travel as long enough that you start to run out of the food you originally packed and have to go in search of replacement foods.

Kitchen Size:

Before we sold our home and hit the road, we would cook together.  Amazing meals were made and shared, not just with ourselves but with family and friends.  Cooking while living on the road is a bit different.  The space is a bit tighter, the pantry not as large, the equipment lacking, yet amazing foods are still created and eaten on a daily basis.  It is NOT necessarily the size, rather how you organize and pack it.

Kitchen Needs: 

Electricity:

Will you be wanting to carry any equipment that requires electricity?  -Must it use a house outlet (AC power) or can it be USB/12V (DC power)?  -These considerations should be discussed when choosing/setting up a vehicle.  Not only for assuring that you have enough power to operate all the things, but these items also take up space and weight.

-It can change the amount of battery needed

-Lithium batteries have half the weight of a lead acid/AGM battery and twice the useable power, but both take the same space.

-It can effect the size of inverter needed

-Look at your item you are wanting to use on your travels.  What is the wattage listed.  You want your inverter to have MORE capacity than your appliance lists.  For example if your device says 1000 watts, you need an inverter that will handle MORE than 1000 watts.

-This is the extent of my knowledge about electricity.  If you are wanting to learn more about building your electrical system for travel, my husband teaches the electrical class here at Expo.

Refrigeration:

For the purposes of long term travel, I assume that you are using a refrigerator, not a cooler.  They are more efficient with space, and require no babysitting like a cooler requires, including managing ice.

Kitchen Tools:

Most people don’t have room for their stand mixer.  But, how do you decide what to bring?

This is the one question that is most personal to each of us, as it is about how we cook.  For the purposes of this topic, I will tell you about how I cook and what tools I have decided to have on hand in our set up.

How I cook: 

Other Tools:

Pantry:

If your not going home after two weeks when you’ve run out of food, how do you keep stocked with food (and not break the bank)?

Buy Bulk:

Join Grocery Store Clubs:

Fresh Foods:

Make your fresh items last as long as possible in and out of the fridge!

Procuring Fresh Foods:

-Fruits & Vegetables FREE of gashes & bruises

Cleaning & Prepping Fruits & Veg:

-Wash your fruits and veg with POTABLE WATER.

-Put clean fruits & veg in my fridge, not dirty.

-Whether it stores on the counter or in the fridge if it is visibly dirty I wash it before storing it.

-Some fruit/veg are so bulky.  So I prep them to save room.  (Bell Peppers, Mushrooms, some Leafy Greens)

Storing Produce:

-Bought it refrigerated? Store it refrigerated.

-Leafy Greens:

-washed, any bad pieces thrown out or cut off, damp, wrapped in paper towel and placed in large bag.  

-With extra space if delicate (butter lettuce, arugula, spinach)

-Cucumber:

-Washed, dried, stored whole, wrapped in paper towel

-Mushrooms: 

-Washed, dried, cut bad stem pieces off, slice, make sure dry, place in airtight bag or container.

Storing Other Foods:

-Eggs: How you buy your eggs determines how they need to be stored.

-Farm Fresh (bought from a farm or farmers market) that are sold off the counter, not from a refrigerator, can be stored by you on your counter top or somewhere else that is not in a fridge.  ***Do NOT wash these eggs until you are using them.  Their coating is what makes them room temp stable.

-Eggs bought from a refrigerator section need to be stored in a cooler or fridge.

-Cheese:

-Hard Cheeses: Parchment or Wax Paper

-Soft Cheese: Air Tight Container

-Cheese in Brine: Store in brine.  Can transfer to a smaller container, but use the brine.

Grow An Herb Garden!

Cooking!

Recipes… Not enough room to carry all of my cookbooks, so needs to be digital.

Apple Users: Apple has a program called Numbers.  Within that program is a template called Recipes.  This allows you to enter the recipe as it is published and then tell it how many servings you actually want to make.  It does all the math for you.

Recipe App that does this for Android & Apple users?  Paprika

Cooking Hacks: 

Recipes Shared…

Swedish Pancakes:

Beat eggs ‘til thick and lemon colored. (I used my immersion blender for this step, but a whisk or fork will work fine, just take longer).  Stir in milk.  Sift dry ingredients into mixture, mixing until smooth.  Drop a little fat on a hot pan…

Buttermilk Biscuits for Two:

Small Batch Marmalade:

https://www.seasonsandsuppers.ca/easy-orange-marmalade

Artisan Bread- No Knead:

Place water in bowl (warm water: rise ~ 2hr/ cold water: rise ~ 4hr).  Add yeast & salt.  Mix.  Add flour. Mix.  Cover, loosely and allow to rise.  Flour hands and surface to bake on.  Turn out dough onto baking surface ( can just dump or put into ball shape). Let sit 30 minutes while oven heats up to 450ºF.  Bake 30 minutes.

*Dough can be stored in fridge up to 14 days.  Pull out handful, flatten and cook in a dry pan for a flat bread.

Black Bean Chili:

https://www.loveandlemons.com/black-bean-chili

Ricotta Meatballs:

I make these whenever I am somewhere with access to a oven and make a large quantity and freeze in proper portions with my vacuum sealer, baking them at 350ºF for 20 minutes.  The recipe is written to cook in a skillet on the stovetop and is a great on the road recipe as it does not require the oven. https://www.howsweeteats.com/2023/01/ricotta-meatballs/

Farro Risotto (No Stir, almost): 

We are big fans of Farro.  It is a hearty, chewy & nutty ancient grain that is packed with 7 grams of protein & 7 grams of fiber per 1/2 cup cooked.  When I make this recipe, I usually add in mushroom powder or add in microplaned dried mushrooms.  It is yummy as the recipe is written, but this addition takes the flavor a couple notches up in our tastebuds opinion.  I also omit the peas, as my husband seems to have an aversion to peas related to farming when he was growing up.  I also use dry vermouth rather than white wine. https://www.abeautifulplate.com/easy-mushroom-farro-risotto/

Our Favorite Ricotta Meatballs!

Our Favorite Ricotta Meatballs!