The kitchen in our bus is my (Ashley’s) sanctuary. It’s where I spend most of my time and I think it’s beautiful! I look back at the kitchen I had in my house. I liked that space however it was also a place of a lot of frustration. It was an area where there was always a mess and always some cabinet that needed to be organized. I spent countless hours rearranging my cups, finding more space for my Starbucks coffee mug collection, and finding lids for all of my plastic containers. I probably had 25 plates, 10-15 bowls, who knows how many mason jar cups (because I’m just that trendy), and enough mugs to be able to serve coffee to an army.

I hosted a lot, which I enjoyed. It was one of the main reasons we loved the our house. We had people over for dinner roughly 3 times a week. We hosted countless parties and I do miss that aspect of owning a house. Although, the cleaning up after a dinner party wasn’t my favorite. I used paper plates (don’t hate me you “save the Earth” hippies) and plastic wear when I hosted larger engagements but still felt like I needed a lot of dishes.

What I now realize is that the reason we have so many dishes is because we left most of them in the dishwasher, getting washed, or waiting to be put away. Now that I don’t have a dishwasher, I never run out of dishes. I wash them immediately after we finish a meal and put them away. There is no room for a sink full of dishes since there is no room for procrastination. I no longer have the mental over head of having to unload the dishwasher, which is my least favorite chore of all time. Use a dish, clean it, put it away. Simple.

As I have been making observations, I have found that one of the reasons we have so much stuff in our house is because we have so many places to put said stuff. I didn’t always have 25 plates but I had room for more plates so when Target put out their newest trendy plate I bought it and put it on top of last weeks trendy plate, which was on top of the week before that’s trendy plate and so on and so on. I didn’t cycle out the old because the old wasn’t really old, it was still cute, Target just knows how to make all their stuff cuter and trendier and I was a sucker.

In the bus we have minimal cabinets so I have minimal space to store my minimal kitchen things. Below I will go over what is in my kitchen now.

I have a total of 6 drawers, 4 large and 2 small.

Top Left (small) Junk Drawer: Remotes, our favorite essential oils, duct tape, batteries and charger, random screws, tape, apple tv hook up thingy, felt stickys, hose splitter, box cutter, pencils, pens, permanent marker, tape measurer, Letterfolk felt board letters, lighters, flash light, swisher sweets, and charcoal toothpaste.

Middle Left Coffee Drawer: Coffee container filled with 2 lbs of whole bean Lavazza coffee (its the best), our Aeropress and it’s accessories, my everyday spices – salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, and honey, milk frother, a recipe box, and paper plates for when we host dinner in our bus.

Bottom Left Plastics Drawer: all of my plastic containers 8 of them all with lids, 2 ice cube trays, gallon bags, snack size bags, and foil

Top Right (small) Silverware Drawer: 7 forks, spoons, and knives, 3 ceramic cutting knives, 2 pairs of scissors, potato peeler, pizza cutter, can opener, measuring cups and spoons, wine opener, bottle opener, ice cream scoop, moon shaped cutting thing for salads, ceramic knives and a long bread knife.

Middle Right Dish Drawer: Protein Shaker, Starbucks Disneyland tumbler, 3 small cups for hot chocolate with lids, 3 Camelback water bottles for our kids, they never spill (not pictured), 2 thermal Takeya brand water bottles for Brandon and I, we take them with us everywhere we go (not pictured), 1 togo cup for coffee, 3 coffee mugs, 1 whiskey glass, 1 wine glass, 1 small cutting board, 3 small plates, 3 big plates, 3 big bowls, 3 small bowls, and 3 kids plates

Bottom Right Pan Drawer: 3 cork counter protectors, cast iron dutch oven (my favorite), 2 skillets (12 inch and 10 inch), 1 stainless pot with steamer attachment, 1 small pot, grease protector cover (not pictured).

On top of my counter I have a 3 burner stove, hand soap, paper towels, a plant, my cutting board (in the shape of our home state New Mexico), our coffee grinder, a tea kettle, and a utensil container (list below of utensils).

Utensils: 2 whisks (1 big 1 small), 2 spatulas (1 big, 1 small), spoon, rubber spatula, basting brush, and a ladle.

The purpose of our kitchen was to provide a space where I can make real food for my family, and host a dinner occationally in a tiny space. I feel I have everything I could ever need to do these things.

That is my kitchen in a nutshell…..or a bus-shell.