The Kitchenette: My Streamlined Cooking Setup

TLE84
23 hours ago
5 min read

If you had told me a few years ago that I'd be cooking out of a truck bed with three appliances and ten spices, I probably would have laughed. But here we are — and honestly? I eat just as well as I ever did, just a simpler version of it.

My three main cooking components are my Breville Mini Oven, a single burner butane Coleman, and my Jetboil MiniMo. That's it. Between those three I can handle just about anything I want to make.

The Breville Mini Oven

My Breville lives on the top shelf of my truck and works just like a regular house oven. Toast, bake, roast, cookies, reheat, pizza, bagel — you name it, it does it. You can set time and temp to whatever you need. Meatloaf, sweet potatoes, you're covered.

Here's the bonus I did not see coming: it heats my space. I was doing food prep one day with a little chill in the air and instead of moving everything out to the picnic table I just left it in the truck bed with me. Next thing I knew — hey, it's really nice in here! Five minutes of run time and my space stays warm for about an hour. Perfect for just taking the edge off on a cool morning.

It runs completely off my solar setup and uses about 1% of my reserve per hour, so I generally don't think twice about running it.

The Jetboil MiniMo

I've been a Jetboil fan from the start. There are a lot of brands and versions of this type of stove out there, but this one has always been my favorite. What sets it apart is that the pot and cup portion actually locks onto the burner — so much more stable than a tin cup just balancing on a mini burner. The MiniMo is also short and wide instead of tall and skinny, which makes it way easier to stir your food without feeling like you're going to knock the whole thing over.

I keep mine bungeed upright on my shelf so I can just grab it and go. Early morning pre-hike oatmeal is non-negotiable for me, and I also make my own freeze dried meals that just need boiling water added — more on that in a future post.

I used to have a microwave, but when I actually tracked what I was using it for it was almost entirely heating liquids — coffee, tea, water. Cut the microwave, use the Jetboil. And since I need it for backpacking anyway, it's a win-win.

The Single Burner Coleman

Twenty dollars. Five years. Still going strong. It has its own little carry case, it's not complicated, and it just works. During travel it lives in one of my rooftop boxes, and once a week I'll park up somewhere — a campsite, a day use area, a park, sometimes just the tailgate — and get my meals made for the week.

Meal prepping isn't just about food for me. It means doing all my dishes at once and only having one or two things to clean up during the week. I stay busy. Depending on what time zone I'm in, my workday can start at 6am — I'm not getting up any earlier than I have to, and grabbing something ready to go makes that possible.

Long term I'd love to upgrade to the Jetboil Genesis — a solid two burner setup that folds up and uses the same fuel as my MiniMo. Isobutane is easy to find at any outdoor or sporting goods store, Walmart, or on Amazon. Butane for the Coleman is just as easy. No hunting required.

Cookware

I cook with an Our Place Always Pan and their Essential Pot. One pan, one pot, handles everything. Debating on downsizing to the Swiss Diamond 3.2 qt Casserole or something — I've used the brand before and love it. What I like about that particular pan is that it's not as deep, so it works more like a skillet, and it has two short stubby handles instead of one long one which makes it a lot easier to store. Having only one pan that is big enough for a one pot meal and small enough to make a single serving of oatmeal is the dream pan.

The Coffee Setup

Sea to Summit Frontier Ultralight Collapsible Pour Over

At home my go-to was a French press — but that takes up way too much space. On the road I use a collapsible pour over setup that packs down to almost nothing. Same great coffee, fraction of the footprint. Space wins every time.

The Spice Situation

I went from 30+ spices at home down to 10 — I transferred them into small labeled containers that all fit in a single Ziploc bag. What made the cut: garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, Italian seasoning, cumin, cinnamon, chipotle, paprika, black peppercorn grinder, and Himalayan pink salt grinder. Everything I actually reach for. Nothing I don't.

Dishes

I wash up at the picnic table with water and bar dish soap — Thanks Deena for keeping me supplied! I also keep a Norwex utility brush for anything with hard to reach spots and a small Norwex cloth for scrubbing. Since I'm out in nature, grey water just goes on the ground — there is nothing synthetic about my soap so it is safe around anything.

The biggest thing I've learned about cooking in a small space? Two questions I ask before I commit to any dish: how hard is this going to be to clean without running water, and is the prep time worth it or can I just buy it ready to go? I used to have a dicer that was the cornerstone of my home kitchen. Trying to clean all those little nooks and crannies without a sink made it an instant headache — out it went. Now I buy pre-sliced, pre-diced, and pre-prepped without a second thought. Living on the go takes energy. Having things ready to cook increases my quality of life ten fold.

When I really want to stretch my cooking legs with more ingredients or more prep, I'll grab a BnB for a night and take over the kitchen. But day to day? Simple is better. One meat, one veggie, done.