Making a Home. Galley.

I love my little galley. 

The four square feet of floor space where all the meals on board are made.

 I am not a cook, I hate to cook. I used to enjoy baking as a pastime but in the four years since the house hold has has to switch to gluten free, I have actually come to loathe it. But in a family with three children it is kind of expected that as their mother I should provide some sort of sustenance for them and usually that has consisted of boxed, canned and frozen foods. I know it makes you cringe to think about it, I am aware of the whole no GMO-no dairy-no sugar-no hydrogenated-no grain-no taste organic up-swing the world has taken and I have jumped on and off of that wagon enough times over the years and frankly I would love to eat like that and provide the healthiest food for my kids but it is way too hard for me to prepare those kinds of meals everyday that I couldn't keep it up for more than a month.

In our last house I went from a massive, state-of-the-art kitchen, gas range, two wall ovens, subzero fridge/freezer and I absolutely dreaded the though of having to ever use it. It was too big! I felt like I spent all day running laps around the massive island in the middle of it, run around to get something from the fridge, hope back on the track and dash to the sink and a quick pit stop at the stove before the whole race starts again. And then would come the horrifying task of trying to clean it afterwards, somehow dishes and food seemed to get spread from one end to the other. I have quickly come to learn that bigger is certainly not better.

So we have come from "that" everyone's dream kitchen to "this" most peoples nightmare... But is it? I don't think enough people give it a chance. 

In the week that we have lived here I have found my little galley to be the perfect place to make meals. I don't have to move an inch. I plant my feet inside my little square of floor and everything I need is within arms reach. The stove to my left, counter space and cupboards in front and the large double sink to my right.

 I still don't like to cook, but somehow to chore has become a little less daunting. Without a microwave, or a freezer for that matter, I can't fall back on frozen dinners and without a dishwasher I have to clean and put away as I go (all without moving a step mind you) and by the time I'm done the galley is all clean.

When we left the log house for the boat I downsized my kitchen almost completely, and adopted the less-is-more attitude. The spice clips on the wall keep every spice I ever use within arms reach, the four mason jars clasped up on the wall hold all the cooking utensils and knives, hanging baskets for fruit and veg. The cupboards hold our new plastic dishes and cups, no more than enough to feed eight people because I don't believe we would ever have the need to feed more than that at one time so there is no use having more dishes take up space. 

All the ingredients I use most often are stored on the top shelf in a plastic container, all different sizes to accommodate the amounts I need for each. Sugar, rice flour, brown sugar, pasta, rice, bisquick gluten free baking mix and oats.

As for bakeware, I have one glass Pyrex baking dish, one muffin tin, one stone baking sheet and a loaf tin and that is all I need. I exchanged my triangle shredder for folding shredder, my stand up mixer for three nesting mixing bowls and a hand held mixer with a retractable cord and I use a silicon steamer, for steaming obviously, and it doubles as a strainer. Nothing comes in the galley that I don't need and I really don't need much.

I thought it might be difficult to go from a full fridge and freezer to a 2.3 cubic foot bar fridge but it really holds a lot more than I thought it would and can go three or four days without having to replenish. 

Lastly, a great bonus to my galley is the proximity to the table, now when the kids are doing school I can prep meals and still help them when they need it. Mac could be reading and me washing dishes and all I have to do is glance over to help him with a word or Aislinn with a math problem, it's so efficient and I love efficient. 

I am learning that we really don't need half of what we think or what society tells us we need and I am enjoying making do with less and making the small space work for me.