Cooking in a van is often challenging for a few reasons, like limited space, the cost of fuel, and unwanted heat. Still, it is something that needs to be done each day.
I stumbled across the idea of cooking in a Thermos Food Jar and decided to give it a try. Thermos cooking has turned out to be a great option for cooking certain types of food. The Thermos bottle basically acts like a slow cooker, but does not require electricity.
This video demonstrates how I cook in a Thermos Food Jar and includes several basic recipes to help you get started. Links to the products that I am currently using are included below the video.
I started on the road full-time in a Toyota Camry. Since I did not have solar panels on the car, I relied on using the alternator in the car to charge my phone and other electronics. Later, I upgraded to a converted cargo trailer that came complete with 190 Watts of solar panels and two deep cycle batteries. Moving to the minivan left me once again without a reliable electric supply.
Fortunately, a friend was upgrading from a portable solar panel to a rooftop installation and passed along the portable panel to me. This Renogy 100 Watt portable mostly meets my needs for electricity, but was sometimes aggravating to deal with – especially during windy weather or on days when I needed to break camp and travel.
I finally decided to mount the portable solar panel on the roof of the minivan. This will allow me to have reliable power even when it is windy or I am driving.
This video covers my simple solar panel installation on the minivan. I hope you enjoy the video!
One of the things I had really been missing since moving into the minivan was a decent kitchen setup. I built a five-foot kitchen counter in the cargo trailer which, coupled with a refrigerator and two-burner stove, allowed me to cook just about anything I wanted. Now, in the minivan, I was reduced to cooking on the floor or a box.
My son pitched in to help me build a simple, but very useful, kitchen in the minivan. This setup is basic and simple, but it works great. I cannot imagine anything better in the limited space that I have in the minivan.
This video includes a tour of the new kitchen setup and discussion on why I made some of the decisions that I did with the kitchen. I hope you enjoy the video!