cooking and eating aboard.

Before we left Racine in September, I actually had the forethought to prepare some food. When we did our shakedown cruise at the beginning of August, I hadn't. I had ingredients for the most basic dishes but didn't take into account the whole "being-below-deck-and-being-tossed-around-while-cooking" thing into account. In a not very proud moment, I now admit that we subsisted on protein bars, granola bars, and fruit snacks for the entirety of our time underway (read: under sail or motoring). It was gross. When your sleep schedule dictates that you're awake for four hours and asleep for four hours, you have weird eating patterns too. I was eating 2 protein bars every 4 hours around the clock. They weren't the high calorie ones so really I was only eating 350ish calories every 4 hours. Nutritionally it could have been worse but still not stellar. Plus eating sweet around the clock was wearing. 

This go round I vowed I'd do better and I think Josh would agree that I have. Before we left I did one big last big grocery haul and prepped a bunch of items plus grabbed some staples to have for when we were in port and could cook. My goal was to make stuff we didn't mind eating cold, (as using the stove isn't ideal underway--at least while sailing) and found appetizing and at least semi nutritious. In addition to what I made, I also picked up some fresh fruit, cheese sticks, and carrots. I made: Thresher burgers (non Hamiltonians may know it as maid rites), pulled pork, dill pickle dip, sliced cheese and sausage, boiled eggs, and egg casserole. Mostly I was on the money. I bought pretzel thins for the dip, crackers for the cheese, and Hawaiian rolls for the meats. Plus we got fruit snacks and granola bars (you would think we would be sick of them, but no). 

For the entirety of our time on the Great Lakes, this is how it went. I would pop into a grocery store when we're in port and pick up ingredients to make another recipe so we weren't always eating the same thing. Last time I added a hot sausage dip and chicken salad. I would do all the cooking at the dock before we cast off and we would eat it all cold unless we were in port. 

I will say that our menu widened once again after we started on the Erie Canal were strictly motoring. I made chili, quesadillas, spaghetti, home made pizza, and some casseroles because the water was completely calm and I could actually cook underway. Three cheers for hot lunches and dinners!

Now it's a mixed bag and I suppose it will continue to be as much until we reach the Bahamas. With the transition back and forth from sailing and motoring as conditions warrant, we will be flexible. My goal is for us to always be satiated and for some sort of balance, especially for Fozel. We've been really lucky and I've been able to get plenty of fresh produce for him. He eats a fruit and a vegetable at every meal (except breakfast...I don't insist on the veggie then) and a glass of milk at least two of the three meals. When provisioning options are scarce or we are scraping the bottom of the cabinets, as we sometimes do (way more frequently than when we lived on land, I will say), we do eat canned veggies and fruit. Not my favorite options, but flexible we must be. I don't have a ton of cooking pans, and with only three small burners, a full stove is not realistic anyway. I cook food in shifts so it's not always piping hot, but it works. No one complains. I will say that my most valuable pan has turned out to be a little nonstick omelet pan. I use that thing for EVERYTHING. I make eggs, grilled cheese, and most importantly, to reheat leftovers. I'm telling you right now, I could not do it without this pan. Guys, how did people reheat leftovers before microwaves?? We never planned to take a microwave because 1) we don't have the space and 2) it pulls to much electricity, but now I think long and hard about what I cook in advance. What will and won't reheat well? You know what does't reheat easily? Meatloaf. At least not yet. I will do some noodling and get back to you guys but for now, meatloaf is going to have to be a cold leftover. 

big meals, tiny kitchen.

This is what I imagine cooking in a studio apartment in Manhattan halved is like. Cooking on a 36 foot sailboat is no joke. If you like canned tuna and cold pop tarts for every meal, maybe this is a non-issue but for big eaters--fans of food, if you will--it's a Macguyver sized pickle to be in. Last weekend was a trial run for next summer, when we plan to live on the boat for the season and it was interesting.

I did a fair bit of prep work in my home kitchen for the occasion--cooked a ham, precooked the ground beef for lasagna, made a mashed potato casserole, tossed together chicken salad, cooked and seasoned chicken for tacos, and bought a few pre-made things to snack on. 

I also hadn't thought about the steps involved with firing up the whole shebang. First you go on deck to open the propane tank valve, then you flip a switch on the electrical panel, then you flip a switch near the stove, then you turn a knob, push it in, and turn another knob to spark the pilot light. Boom. Your burner should be going. You have to hold the knob pushed in for 15 seconds so the flame is sustained before you can switch it to your cooking temp. If you want to fire up the oven, you have to keep the stove burner on for a few minutes then physically light the pilot light on the oven. I was a little worried I was going to have a fireball on my hands, but once we figured out exactly what we were doing, it fired up in no time. 

The first oven adventure was to cook a lasagna and garlic bread. The oven is only 13"x13"x9". It'll fit a 9"x13" flat pan or casserole dish. That's about it. It looks as if there was another rack in there at one time, so I may do some searching to see if I can get another one and double my cooking capacity. It also has a broiler but is very, very, small. I had to shift the bread every few minutes to keep the tops from getting burned. I do have to say that the lasagna was delicious. 

Saturday morning was the first foray into breakfast cooking, and unfortunately, I forgot a skillet. The eggs and the sausage both got cooked in a little saucepan. They weren't pretty, but tasted just fine. The hash browns were perfect!

The rest of the weekend was more cooking on the surface and in the oven. I didn't take too many photos, and what I did take, were terrible, as you can see :( The moral though, is that everything tasted fine. I might not ever cook a souffle in the oven, or make hollandaise sauce on the stove top, but I think that we'll get along just fine once I am able to have the kitchen fully stocked and figure out how to best utilize the limited prep spaces and awkwardly shaped fridge.