Little Living | Downsizing: Kitchen

Whilst preparing to move I had been very eager to learn more about downsizing and living smaller. When we did move in, this happened immediately in the kitchen, since the house we bought had no fridge or oven.  Exciting and scary!

Refrigerator
I would love to learn how  to live without refrigeration (learn, try, not necessarily do permanently, but learn at least), how to properly can, dehydrate, and store veggies, and then otherwise rely on a deep freeze.

For now we're making a go of it with a small 3 cubic ft fridge. And honestly half of what's in it doesn't even need to be in it, it's just maintaining the chill for the other items. As long as I can learn to finagle the freezer section to keep from freezing what's in the rest of the fridge, I think we'll manage just fine for now.

It's currently full of refrigerator pickles!

Crock Pot(s)
I use my crock pot(s) weekly for roasts, soups, veggies...anything really. I've even used it to cook meatloaf and rice. I'm hoping to be using both of them soon to make more sauces if our garden will perk up and keep producing tomatoes.

Microwave
We have a low-watt, very small, dorm size microwave. It takes a little longer to heat things than a regular size microwave would, but I'm happy to trade extra space for a minute or two here and there. I don't use it often, so it's no problem.

Toaster Oven
Smaller pans take up smaller spaces!

As I mentioned, the seller took the oven when she moved out, so we purchased a nice little toaster oven. It has several racks and plenty of space for cooking, but only up to 13 inches wide, so I downsized all my larger casserole dishes and cookie sheets for small ones. I've managed so far in six months with just two square cake pans and the flat pan that came with the toaster oven.

The model we got is also a convection oven and rotisserie, both of which I've used quite a bit.

My favorite part is that it's small and easily moveable, so during hot weather I can carry it out to the back porch to do my baking.

Double Electric Burner
I have a small double-burner instead of a proper cook top. The biggest change there is that my skillets are too big and don't conduct heat correctly. I have to use my smaller skillets and pots, otherwise cooking takes forever. I'd like a larger size version that would get a bit hotter for frying, but this one works well for the meantime. 
 

Storage
One of my next hopeful projects is to go through and do an overall downsizing again. I'm still storing items I haven't needed in six months. Why!?

We don't use the dishwasher, so it needs to go and be replaced with storage there. I'm also hoping to take down the cabinets at some point and go with shelving instead to brighten up that space. That's a future-future project though.

Oh, my, that's enough rambling about my kitchen for now! Especially since I don't have any great new photos. It's quite a mess at the moment. You know, all that living we do. :)

One of my little walnut trees. It was half this size when we moved in. I'm learning how to prune. :)

Make it your goal to live a quiet life,
minding your own business
and working with your hands...
1 Thessalonians 4:11 (NLT)