{"id":6217,"date":"2017-07-04T08:23:01","date_gmt":"2017-07-04T06:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marjoleininhetklein.com\/?p=6217\/"},"modified":"2018-01-15T22:06:29","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T21:06:29","slug":"the-tiny-kitchen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marjoleininhetklein.com\/en\/2017\/07\/04\/the-tiny-kitchen\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tiny kitchen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is it really that different, cooking in a Tiny House kitchen? Well, there are some differences, but I can still make delicious meals in my kitchen. It isn\u2019t that small actually, since I chose a pretty sizeable kitchen for my little palace. Healthy cooking is important to me and I\u2019m using my kitchen a lot. For that reason, I have a kitchen unit that is 2.45 meters in size, including a stove and an oven. I\u2019m still really happy with my (little) Bruynzeel kitchen!<\/em><\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Some things are different. I don\u2019t have a dishwasher anymore and so I\u2019m doing the dishes by hand. That doesn\u2019t bother me, because let\u2019s face it, I\u2019m not producing that many dirty dishes by myself. Only drawback is that the dishes are sitting on the kitchen counter, until the pile is big enough to be washed. In the old days I could stash them in the dishwasher, out of sight. The girls from the Regenbooghuisje<\/a> (the Rainbow House) found a solution for that: they\u2019re using one of the kitchen drawers to put away the dishes until it\u2019s dishwashing time. Clever! Unfortunately, all my drawers are already full. Maybe I need to declutter a little more\u2026<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

I recently got rid of my juicer. I really love freshly made vegetable juice, but cleaning the damned thing was a lot easier when I still had a water connection and a dishwasher. Besides, I needed to make room for my Berkey water filter. So, off you go, juicer! I hope my neighbors from the Gasfabriek are happy with it.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

When cooking in a small house, you\u2019re producing a relatively large amount of moisture, which needs some place to go. I have a kitchen window which I crack open whenever I\u2019m cooking or boiling a kettle of water. You can also choose a hood, but one way or another you need some type of ventilation.<\/p>\n

I have a stove that is designed to work on bottled gas. During the summer months I use LPG, but in the winter months I use propane, since that\u2019s more low-temperature-resistant. Cooking on LPG and propane takes a little getting used to: the temperature gets much higher than with natural gas. So my burners are burning on low heat most of the time. The oven has been working fine since day one. I can remember the first time I was using it to heat up some cheese breads. What a delight, hot cheese bread in my brand new Tiny House! This clafoutis<\/a> was also a big success, by the way:<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

When you\u2019re using three or four burners at the same time, the temperature in the house can rise pretty quickly, and the oven also generates a fair amount of heat. During the winter this is a big bonus. And in the summer\u2026well, I can open all my windows.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

I\u2019ve chosen to have a fridge-freezer, even though I\u2019m off-grid. The solar panels need to supply energy for all appliances and the fridge uses most of it. But it is possible. My fridge uses 109 kwh on a yearly basis and even including this appliance, I\u2019m using less than 1 khw a day. I use the fridge and freezer a lot and I didn\u2019t want to go without. It\u2019s the choices you make, depending on what you want and need. When you don\u2019t eat meat and prefer to cook fresh and raw, you could do without. I like to freeze meals so I don\u2019t have to cook every day, and this way I throw away as little food as possible and I find that important.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not connected to the sewer; instead I have a helophyte filter to purify my waste water. This still needs a grease trap, but I haven\u2019t been able to do this yet. So I scrape off the grease with a paper towel before washing the dishes. In a regular kitchen you don\u2019t have to take as much care with what you pour down the drain \u2013 although it would be an environmentally friendly act to be careful even when you are connected to the sewer. In the future I would like to replace my helophyte filter with a communal helophyte pond, sharing it with several Tiny Houses. But for now this is fine.<\/p>\n

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And what do I cook in the kitchen? A while back I wrote that I wanted to start choosing more vegetarian options, remember? I had noticed that I started slacking a little bit. And I\u2019m not going to say that I\u2019ll never eat meat again, but I want that to be the exception, and not the rule. So, flexitarian. A while ago I watched the documentary\u00a0\u2018What the Health<\/a>\u2019,\u00a0which made me come back to my senses. I don\u2019t believe everything they say to be the absolute truth, but I do believe that a plant-based diet is best for humans, animals and the planet. The thing is, I don\u2019t know how to actually cook vegan and I haven\u2019t got that much time to figure it out. So I decided to look for an organic, vegan meal-box. That way I can eat healthy meals with a variety of organic ingredients including the recipes, which saves me the hassle of deciding what to eat for dinner. And: I\u2019m eating outside the (meal) box, because there are ingredients in there I wouldn\u2019t have bought myself. I thought vegan cooking would be hard, but it seems to be fairly easy. The meal box I ordered is from Ekomenu and it comes in on Monday. I can\u2019t wait! I chose the \u20183 meals for 2 persons\u2019 box, which allows me to eat for almost a week. Also they promise you won\u2019t be spending more than 30 minutes in the kitchen and that\u2019s a plus for me as well. I\u2019ll let you know how it turns out!<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Oh, and where do I eat? Well, just with my plate on my lap on the couch. Or, when it\u2019s nice outside, at my table on the deck. When I\u2019m having friends over, we can eat at the fold-out table that\u2019s hidden in the couch. Easy peasy. I\u2019m going to collect some good recipes for a Tiny Cuisine blog soon. Don\u2019t expect anything fancy, but I usually do OK when I have the right recipe. To be continued! :)<\/p>\n

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