Nat and Abi @letsplayrideandseek
Small Kitchen feature
Hey folks, I’m Ash Butler, author of The Small Kitchen cook (and partner of Jared, co-founder of #vanlifediaries). This interview is part of a series where I chat with food-lovin’ folks who have amazing campervan kitchens.
If you’d like to check out my book, please click here. Thanks for your support! Ash x
Hey Nat and Abi,
Thank you so much for being a part of this interview and telling us about your love of food and your tiny kitchen.
Tell us about your small kitchen
The majority of focus went into our tiny kitchen. As a chef, I wanted to have my ideal set up functionality wise, as well as having personal touches. It is a galley kitchen taking up the front third of the van on both sides. On one side I have my deep sink and counter space as well as cabinets space above and below and our fridge-freezer combo.
“Next to that is my floor to ceiling pantry, necessary to store my Vitamix blender, Insta pot, and dry goods and spices (I have quite a lot!)”
On the other side is the stove/oven combo, more cabinets above and below and our propane locker. We also installed a pop up table to extend my prep space.
My favorite features are the slide pantry, the natural stone backsplash that we actually grouted, and my grandmother’s spice rack that I made into the main cabinet door, which is the focal point when walking into the van.
Name key pieces of equipment in your small kitchen
My knife from @feral.forge, and my kitchen tweezers. I eat practically everything with them and my wife makes fun of me. Ha
I made sure to have enough solar to support the power needed to run my Vitamix blender. That thing does so much and I love sauce work, so it was a must.
My knife is custom made from a friend of mine who forges his own unique knives by hand, with reclaimed high carbon steel. It is truly the coolest knife I’ve owned.
My tweezers were given to me by a dear friend and co-worker who I used to make fun of for having. He then gifted me a pair and we ate ramen together with them and I’ve never looked back.
What are some food ingredients you always have in your pantry?
Coconut milk
Nutritional yeast
Kosher salt
Rice
Garlic
What are a few dishes that are on high rotation and why?
A few dishes on high rotation would be rice and beans, as it is a staple that I grew up on; ramen, because it is cheap and we can doctor it up with a few spices and they are just always fun to eat; tacos, because you can literally put anything in them; and pizza.
“I could die happy eating pizza as my last meal, but this is preferred when we have a night out on the town.”
Do you have any tips for minimising food waste and packaging?
We use our own bags when grocery shopping. We bury our compost whenever we are out camping in nature, which is most of the time. I make my own veg stock from the vegetable skins and scraps, which helps break them down and I can then burn them in our campfires.
We use a concentrated essential oil cleaner that we make in glass bottles that last us months and cuts our use of plastic bottles to zero.
“We also recycle our coffee grounds in our composting toilet and we make a point to clean up at each campsite that we are at.”
Is it important to you to eat with sustainability in mind?
It is definitely important for us to eat with sustainability in mind. Living on the road forces us to focus on consumption of vital resources and helps put in perspective just how important it is to respect them. We buy local and seasonal. We reuse as much as we can and are mindful of how much we are consuming. It has been a blessing to leave less of a carbon footprint and still live so plentiful.
Thanks Nat and Abi for your time and for your thoughtful responses!
Check out more pics from Nat and Abi’s small kitchen at @letsplayrideandseek
Edited and published by Ash Butler @thesmallkitchencook