Portable Kitchen Packing List

One of our goals for the trip is to stay on budget and to do this travel as affordable as possible. This means cooking most of our meals while we are on the road. As we have stayed in rental homes all over the world, I have noticed that there is a pretty large difference in how the kitchens are equipped. Some kitchens are very bare bones with little in the way of cooking utensils. This makes preparing family meals more complicated than a sandwich difficult. Other kitchens have every appliance known to man and include the use of a large selection of herbs and spices.

Having the utensils that I need and the right spices make cooking interesting food a lot easier. To support this while we are on our trip, I’m planning on bringing a kitchen kit with me. So far, this is what I am thinking will be included in our kit:

• Chef’s knife
• small paring knife
• small knife sharpener
• kitchen scissors
• Spatula
• Large Spoon
• Hand zester / grater
• Tongs
• Corkscrew
• Veggie Peeler
• Spices (in small containers. We will buy what we need and fill up on the road)
  • Salt (2oz)
  • Pepper
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Italian seasoning
  • Cumin
  • Paprika
  • Sugar
  • Flour (2oz)
• Knife / kitchen bag to carry all this in.

I recognize that when we fly, we will have to check a bag with this equipment in it. But I think it will be worthwhile to carry a few of these things to know that we will be able to cook interesting meals. I know that if we are eating sandwiches or pasta all the time, it will be very tempting to eat more meals out than we can afford.

What do other long-term travelers do to solve this problem? Or do you have tips on easy delicious meals to eat on the road?