Stocking The Kitchen

[DustMusher]

I carry dishes - a set of Corel (sp) for 6 BUT that is my 'Company" dishes. What I use for everyday --ie almost ALL the time is disposable plates, bowls and silverware. Cleanup after a meal is throw out the trash and only have to wash the cooking utinsils. Saves on water, filling dump tanks, and cleaning supplies.

For cleaning, the towelttes that clean wood, windows, counters, etc and then throw out is my every day. About weekly OR if I am being a klutz/slob, I use the spray multi purpose cleaner that cleans glass and counters. Cleaning supplies to a minimum.

With pets, the place will start smelling doggy quickly and I use Odo-Ban (Sam's and Home Depot - gallon size with a smaller refillable spray bottle - full strength. Takes care of all sorts of odors, but even better it is a germicidal which is food safe, so I use that at various dilutions for adding to laundry, washing floors, sanitizing if the dog does a boo-boo, rubber gloves and cheap parer towels clean the tup and tooilet (it does cut soap scum), If necessary Scrubbing bubbles if the bath gets really groady.

The one thing is - use as much throw away stuff as possible but have blenty of old towels or the 12x12 terry cloth 'bar towels' for wet cleanups. When I am driving, I really don't want to do a lot of housekeeping when I stop -

Cooking, Crock pot set up in the AM and do your evening meal in it. Leave it on a counter if you are parked, but you can put it in the kitchen sink if you are on the road and I won't fall off the counter if you have sharp turns or quick stops.

I carry a lot of cooking utinsils, and all my cast Iron (stored in a basement - so I can cook on any kind of heat, including solar with the dutch oven.) One of the handiest cooking pots I have found is from an infomercial. The Turbocooker. On the stove top you can fry, casarols, make pasta meals. At a dog show I did a chicken and rice dish that fed about 12 people (party at my RV at the big Houston Show - all the Malamute people were there.) You can alo bake cakes and stuff like that in it. Get the big size (I still see them at Big Lots, etc. The lid can be used either vented so steam escapes or not but I can cook a 3 lb meatloaf 30 -45 minutes. And you can stack food - fry meat in the bottom, steam veggies on the rack which fits just unter the lid, and while you are eating, bake a cake in it. All on one burner of the stove.

And I usr rhw Microwave a LOT - mine is a microwave/convection oven combo - I have never used the real oven. I have silicone baking pans so they canbe used in either oven.

Ok now off to bed.

I have been on the road/parked at friend's homes with trips lasting up to 5 weeks. Now I am fulltime. Working out great.

DM

DM

 

[Freeholder]

I like disposables, too, for taking trips or for going camping (if camping where there are trash cans to dispose of them in). But for permanent living and for bugging out or for a new home when you've become homeless, it's important to have non-consumables that are durable. For camping/bugging out I've got metal plates and so on -- won't melt, hard to break, not as heavy as ceramic. And cloth for cleaning up. Yes, more work to wash everything, but what if the stores are all shut down for the duration, or you have very little money and can't afford to be buying paper plates every few days?

Kathleen

 

[nomifyle]

The Turbocooker

What a great idea, do you know if you can bake bread in it Baking is one thing I have not figured out how to do without electric or propane, short of building and outside baking oven. Meat loaf, yum, yum.

And the odo-ban, I need to get some of that too. It gets smelly not using a/c much, even without a dog, which I will be getting.

What a clever idea of putting the crock pot in the sink and have it cooking a nice meal while you are traveling.

We lived in a camper for six months when DH had an electrical job out of state.

Judy

 

[Nuthatch]

You can bake bread in a dutch oven over a fire. Basically you use the dutch oven for the "oven " and insert a smaller pan with the bread (or a rack).

DM-neat tips. Stay safe.

 

[timbo]

We have a lot more carpet than bare floors in our MH.

Get a small but really good vacuum cleaner. We have three dogs and within two days our carpet looks more mohair (or buffalo skin) than regular carpeting!
Our coffee maker goes in the sink while driving. We went to a stainless steel pot after breaking a couple of glass pots.

We have our outdoorsy dark green 'MELMAC' plates and with our covered sink we can do dishes for the two of us every other day.

We don't use paper a lot but they come in handy for when you know you may have a rush meal.

Our microwave/convection oven can bake cakes. DW loves it. Bad thing for me is that it's smarter than me!

 

[FREEBIRD]

Old-fashioned enamelware---easy to clean, food doesn't stick to it. Get the kind with the metal rims and you won't have to deal with nearly as many chips. Dishes travel in a small dishpan and it takes very little water to clean & rinse if you do them right away.

We use these for picnics as well as roadtrips/tent camping and don't like the expense and waste of disposables.