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    • Hotel Life: 65 Nights at the Navy Lodge

      Posted at 8:52 pm by Rachel, on November 15, 2019

      After more than three months of living in hotels, I am excited to share that we have moved into a house again! I feel like I have been “moving” for a short eternity now, and I am so ready to be done with this move in particular. I plan to give you a full tour of my new kitchen, but before we get there, I still owe you a glimpse of my hotel kitchen. If you are looking to check in to the Navy Lodge Hawaii, wondering how to make a small kitchen work for a family, or just want to indulge your curiosity, then read on!

      We spent 65 nights at the Navy Lodge while we waited for this house. (Our reservation ended up being for something like 150 nights as things were looking rather grim but thankfully we were able to cut that short!) Based on our pre-move research, we anticipated living in a hotel for an extended period of time. We decided that we NEEDED two rooms separated by a door and a kitchen space so we could maintain our kids’ routines and save our own sanity. Additionally we did NOT want to hop around and change hotels due to cost or other factors. So that is how we ended up living at the Navy Lodge.

      Is this the smallest kitchen I have ever cooked in? It very well may be. We stayed in a tiny house this summer that had more counter space and a dishwasher, but this one had more cabinet space.

      kitchenette

      As you can see, it is a galley kitchenette – “ette” because there is a 2-burner cook top but no oven. The kitchenette also boasted a bar-sized sink, apartment-sized fridge/freezer, full-sized microwave, and a decent amount of cabinet space. I’m going to walk you through the cabinets and drawers from top to bottom. Note: this is how they really looked most of the time; not everything is perfectly tidy as these are real pictures taken one afternoon during quiet time.

      Upper Cabinets

      This room had three large upper cabinets plus a smaller one over the microwave. We kept less-frequently used dry ingredients, extra paper towels, and anything that didn’t fit in anywhere else in the huge cabinet over the fridge. Honestly there was a lot of wasted space in this cabinet because it was soo deep and had no shelving. If I had known from the get-go how long our stay was going to be, I would have purchased some add-a-shelf type items to add more storage.

      Next we have the cabinet over the sink. This is where we kept plates, bowls, and food storage containers. The glass plates and bowls and three of the food storage containers/Pyrex bowls belonged to the hotel. I brought the kids’ plastic dishes with us, and supplemented the food storage with a set of Pyrex I found at Target.

      The upper right cabinet had cups and glasses (again, glassware belonged to the hotel and the kids’ plastic cups are mine), my French press, and some more frequently accessed dry goods such as olive oil, bread, and pasta.

      cabinet4
      cabinet3
      cabinet1

      The cabinets over the microwave were just the right size to stash some items that I didn’t want my kids getting into – bandages, medicine, my kitchen scale, and the giant bag of lollipops.

      cabinet2

      Lower Cabinets

      I used the three generously-sized lower cabinets to store some of the bulkier and heavier items. Again, there was a lot of wasted vertical space that could have benefited from an add-a-shelf. Under the sink I kept aluminum foil, parchment paper, plastic wrap, and my colander. The dish rack, second colander, and cutting board all belonged to the hotel and no, I never used any of them, I just never took the time to move them out of the way. In the next cabinet, I kept my cheese grater, slow cooker, and electric tea kettle. Pots, pans, and their lids lived in the last cabinet.

      lower cabinet 1
      lower cabinet 2

      Drawers

      The five drawers were my most frequently accessed spaces. The three directly under the counter were for tools and utensils. I brought a bunch of my own dishtowels, partly so I could use them as packing material (although my French press still shattered, whomp whomp). I ended up mostly using the towels the hotel provided, because housekeeping would provide new dish towels every day and it was less laundry for me. The metal knives, forks, and spoons and the utensil organizer all came with the room.

      middle drawers
      right top drawer

      The middle drawer held a few boxes of tea, salt, pepper, and all of our other spices. I’ve done 8 cross-country and trans-oceanic moves in the last 10ish years, and spices are always a question mark for the movers – will they pack them or not?? I know it doesn’t seem like it should be such a big issue, but they are expensive to replace, and sometimes throwing them into our luggage at the last minute is not an option. Anyway, this time we planned on packing them with our luggage from the beginning. I used up a few and tossed a few more that were almost empty, then I packed the rest in 3 gallon-sized plastic bags. This packing method worked out very well, and I actually kept the spices in the plastic bags the entire time were in the hotel because it made the drawer more manageable and it was easier to find what I needed. Also, while last year I had a jar of turmeric explode when we left it in the car too long during a move, nothing exploded or otherwise spoiled this time!

      The bottom drawer was for more food storage. As you can see, it was deep enough to fit boxes of cereal, oatmeal, and a giant box of goldfish crackers. I stacked cans and other containers in here as well – the banana chips are actually resting on top of another layer of food.

      right middle drawer
      right bottom drawer

       

      As I did not capture any pictures of the inside of the fridge, this concludes our tour of my small and mighty Navy Lodge kitchenette. This experience really pushed my efficiency and creativity. On the one hand, it was really nice not having to walk back and forth so much while cooking. But on the other (bigger) hand, it is actually really hard cooking with like 4 square feet of counter space and effectively 1 burner (because 2 pots would not fit on the stove at the same time). The real MVP here was my slow cooker – I used the heck out of that thing and would not have survived those 65 nights without it.

      If you find yourself packing for a similar adventure, this is the list of everything I packed in our plastic tote and checked on the plane. Once the tote was unpacked, we flipped it over and used it as an extra seat at our little table. (Note: The Navy Lodge does provide some basic items that I include on this list such as small pots and pans, a knife, cutting board, a spatula, and a can opener. However, I found them to be very low quality and certainly not something that I would want to cook with for more than a night or two. I took most of the hotel-provided cookware and stored it on top of the cabinets. If you enjoy cooking and want to cook in the hotel instead of eating out, just pack a box of your own things.)

      Packing List
      • Chef’s knife (with cardboard sheath, labeled *sharp*)
      • Paring knife
      • Kitchen shears (with cardboard sheath, labeled *sharp*)
      • Vegetable peeler (with cardboard sheath, labeled *sharp*)
      • Knife sharpener
      • Stainless steel pot, saute pan, sauce pot & lids
      • Small cast iron skillet
      • Large cutting board
      • Cheese grater
      • Can opener
      • Immersion blender
      • Whisk
      • Ladle
      • Spatulas – metal, bamboo, silicone
      • Silicone scraper
      • Tongs
      • Wooden spoons
      • French press (glass broke in transit)
      • Coffee grinder
      • Kitchen scale
      • Travel mug
      • Kitchen towels
      • Kids’ bowls, plates, cups, cups with lids, bibs
      • Colander
      • Slow cooker (the plastic feet were smashed during transit – I recommend padding the entire casing with some towels for some extra cushioning)
      • Pot holders
      • Spices
      Additional Items
      • Set of measuring cups & spoons – I wasn’t sure if the hotel would have these so I did not pack them. They had a liquid measuring cup but nothing else, so I picked up a set of each at Target. They would easily fit into the tote with everything else.
      • Large mixing bowl – the hotel supplied 3 glass bowls, although none of them was particularly large and they were also the food storage bowls. A metal mixing bowl would have been a nice addition.
      • Meat thermometer – I purchased this when I had to buy a new slow cooker and really I should have just packed one to start.
      • Electric tea kettle – I guess I drink a lot of tea and coffee, but after a couple of days of trying to boil water in a cup in the microwave/in a pot on the stove, I was done. The lobby had hot water and (bad) coffee in the morning, and we asked the front desk for hot water a couple of times in the evening, but you can really only do that so many times before it starts getting awkward. I used my tea kettle every day, usually multiple times a day and I still do.
      • Food storage containers – We needed a few more storage pieces anyway, so I planned on buying a set at Target from the beginning. If you pack food storage containers, I would pack plastic so you don’t have to worry about it breaking in transit.

      Need some ideas of what to cook in your hotel room? Check out the menu plans I shared while we were camped out at the Lodge:

      Menu Plan 9/22-9/28

      Menu Plan 9/29-10/5

      Menu Plan 10/6-10/12

      Menu Plan 10/13-10/19

       

      Posted in Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged hotel living, kitchen tour, living small, Navy Lodge Hawaii, packing, PCS, travel
    • Menu Plan 10/13-10/19

      Posted at 1:52 pm by Rachel, on October 12, 2019

      You might notice a couple of repeats from last week on this week’s menu – I ended up with a cold last week and had to shuffle some things around. Last week I began planning my breakfasts and lunches in more detail. I did not do a great job sticking to the plan because I just wasn’t eating much. I only just prepped the farro for lunch salads last night, and the grapes were moldy 😦 so I will be trying this salad with some apples or maybe cucumbers instead. Breakfast went better than lunch – I made a big batch of steel cut oats one morning and then ate that for several days. This week I am going to set an alarm on my phone to make overnight steel cut oats (less active cooking time). I also picked up a bunch of sweet potatoes; I will be “baking” them all in the slow cooker for dinner on Monday and then have leftovers for breakfasts and maybe lunches as well.

      Dinner Plan:

      S 10/13 – Maple mustard chicken thighs (slow cooker – make extra for chicken salad sandwiches), mashed potatoes, green vegetable

      M 10/14 – Eggs, sweet potatoes (slow cooker), green vegetable

      T 10/15 – Pasta with blistered cherry tomato sauce, salad

      W 10/16 – Creamy tomato soup (slow cooker from The Complete Slow Cooker), bread, salad

      R 10/17 – Leftovers

      F 10/18 – Greek salad, bread

      S 10/19 – Whole chicken (slow cooker), carrots, green vegetable

       

      Breakfast Plan: Steel cut oatmeal with almond butter and fruit, “baked” sweet potatoes

      Lunch Plan: Layered feta salad with kale, feta, and apples (adapted from You Have it Made), Mayonnaise-Free Chicken Salad Sandwiches

      Posted in Menu Plans | 1 Comment | Tagged breakfast, Dinner, hotel living, lunch, Menu plan, slow cooker
    • Menu Plan 10/6-10/12

      Posted at 2:39 pm by Rachel, on October 6, 2019

      Here we are again! One of my kids has her name day this week, and she chose “snacky dinner” for dinner. I love snack for dinner too, so no complaints here! I’m going to attempt to adapt the cheesy cauliflower and potato soup for the slow cooker on Tuesday. I have made it on the stove before, but my space is limited in the hotel and I really think it will be easier with the slow cooker right now. I have not been doing a great job with my breakfasts and lunches lately, so I added in a mini-menu plan for those this week as well.

      Dinner Plan:

      S 10/6 – Quesadillas/burritos with leftover beef, pineapple guacamole (from Thug Kitchen), green salad

      M 10/7 – Snacky dinner (cheese, crackers, cut up veggies, hummus, berries)

      T 10/8 – Cheesy cauliflower and potato soup, green vegetable/salad, bread

      W 10/9 – Leftovers

      R 10/10 – Eggs, green veggie, bread

      F 10/11 – Greek salad, bread

      S 10/12 – Maple mustard chicken thighs (slow cooker), sweet potatoes (slow cooker), green vegetable

       

      Breakfast Plan: Steel cut oatmeal with almond butter and fruit

      Lunch Plan: Layered feta salad with kale, feta, and grapes (from You Have it Made), leftovers, or peanut butter/almond butter sandwiches

      Posted in Menu Plans | 1 Comment | Tagged Dinner, hotel living, slow cooker
    • Menu Plan 9/29-10/5

      Posted at 2:21 pm by Rachel, on September 29, 2019

      Happy Sunday! We are still in the hotel (I think I will be saying this for a while) and my slow cooker is working double time. When I used it to make some chicken thighs for salad a couple of days ago, I made enough for this week’s salad as well. Just because I don’t have a house doesn’t mean I can’t meal prep! 😀 I originally planned on making Caprese sandwiches with a side salad tonight, but plans change and now we are having dinner with friends. I was trying to decide what to bring along, and after quite a bit of thinking I realized that the simplest thing to do was just revert our sandwiches to their original form – Caprese salad! Sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to see. Have a great week!

      S 9/29 – Caprese sandwiches, salad Dinner with friends, bringing Caprese salad

      M 9/30 – Eggs, bread (slow cooker), veggie

      T 10/1 – Lemony broccoli pasta, salad

      W 10/2 – Tomato soup (slow cooker), bread (slow cooker), salad

      R 10/3 – Leftovers

      F 10/4 – Green salad with chicken, berries, and almonds, bread

      S 10/5 – Pot roast (slow cooker), carrots, green vegetable, grits/polenta

      Posted in Menu Plans | 1 Comment | Tagged Dinner, hotel living, slow cooker
    • Menu Plan 9/22-9/28

      Posted at 10:02 am by Rachel, on September 23, 2019

      This is the first little menu plan I have done since moving out of my house almost 2 months ago. It is pretty simple and slow cooker-centric because we are actually living in a hotel right now (more on that later). I’m basically working with a 2-burner stove, microwave, and my slow cooker. Anyway, I have done some basic meals here in our room but between house hunting and not meal planning we have fallen back on eating out more than I like, and that is especially expensive here in Hawaii. So far I am on track for the week – I cooked my sweet potatoes overnight and have a whole chicken roasting in the slow cooker as we speak.

      S 9/22 – Pasta, bread, salad

      M 9/23 – Chicken (slow cooker), sweet potatoes (slow cooker), salad

      T 9/24 – Chicken soup, bread (slow cooker), salad

      ~Slow cooker chocolate lava cake~

      W 9/25 – Chicken-broccoli-rice

      R 9/26 – Leftovers

      F 9/27 – Hummus, veggies, pita

      S 9/28 – Asian chicken salad, bread (slow cooker)

      Posted in Menu Plans | 1 Comment | Tagged Dinner, hotel living, slow cooker
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