Written by E2 team member, Natala
My mother is moving. As anyone who is moving knows, you find out you have A LOT of stuff. Too much stuff. She called me to tell me she found 30 spring-foam pans. I wasn’t even sure what those were exactly, but she had 30 of them.
When my husband and I decided to leave the life we had near Washington DC we decided to sell everything. I’m not kidding, everything. Every utensil, every kitchen gadget, every plate, every fork. All of those wedding gifts, most that went un-used, all of those end cap Target clearance items, which all seemed COMPLETELY necessary at the time, all gone.
We packed up our car, our 2 door coupe to be exact and hit the road. Everything we owned fit in that little car. Eventually we would settle on the following in our kitchen:
A pan (stove top)
A pot
2 dinner plates
2 cereal size bowls
2 glasses
1 spatula
2 forks, 2 spoons, 2 knives
1 small cutting board
1 kitchen knife
1 large spoon
1 small baking pan
1 colander
That is our kitchen. We cook 98% of our meals at home. We have yet to have run into any problems. The key? Keeping it simple.
The more simple you can make your kitchen, the easier your life will be. I think one of the bigger myths about having a simplified kitchen is that somehow the gadgets make things easier, when I’ve found it to be the opposite. Gadgets end up stressing me out, and sometimes I would find myself trying to create complicated meals or I would feel guilty about not using that 125 dollar chopper in the cabinet.
Some of you like a more complicated kitchen, you enjoy all of the gadgets, and that is perfectly fine. Enjoy!
But for those of you who are feeling overwhelmed with all of the gadgets and tools, rest assured that you can do a lot with a very little. Last week we heard from someone who is currently eating 100% plant-strong with just a hot plate, a pot, a can opener, and mini fridge/freezer! Lisa had this to say:
“Because of very unusual circumstances I have no kitchen at all, and I am not able to have more than a small box of non clothing items where I am currently residing. I am living plant-strong, mostly eating Jeff Novicks Fast Food meals, using just a hot plate, pot, can opener, scissors, a spoon and then one bowl to eat out of. I’m actually finding it easier! I eat plenty of food and really enjoy it.” – Lisa in Alaska
You can see more recipes from Jeff here.
Some of the most common misconceptions is that this way of eating takes too much time, costs too much money and is complicated. My husband and I have been eating this way for a while and have never found the need to have a more complicated kitchen life, we rarely spend more than 15 minutes preparing a meal and save tons of money over how we used to eat and live before.
Give it a try! If you currently have a kitchen full of gadgets, why not see what you could do if you were put in a position to only have very basic tools for one week.
Personally, the easier I can make living this way, the more successful I am.
How about you, have you simplified your kitchen life?
