Since we started on this adventure of travel nursing, I’ve been working odd jobs here and there, but nothing too consistent. So in that way, this has been a great opportunity for me to get back into cooking more, though there have also been some challenges posed by the in flux nature of travel nursing. So far, the three different apartments that we’ve rented have been varying levels of furnished, especially when it comes to the kitchen. For this series, I’d like to talk a bit more about what my experience has been doing (mostly) all of the cooking for us while travel nursing and never quite knowing what supplies I’ll have each time we move. In part one I’ll talk about what we bring with us for kitchen supplies, what I wish we had brought with us/what we will bring going forward, and what we buy. In part two, I’ll talk about where we shop and what I make.

what we bring

plastic wine glasses

Thus far, we tend to air on the side of not bringing much at all in terms of kitchen supplies. One thing we do always bring is a couple of plastic wine glasses… Our second night in Myrtle Beach we broke one of the owners’ nice champagne glasses (which we were thankfully able to replace), and immediately after we decided not to risk that again. I found this set of pretty nice looking plastic wine glasses on QVC for a great deal; I figure we can use them as outdoor/patio glasses in the future when we have a house!

coffee grinder

We also have brought our little coffee grinder to each new apartment while travel nursing so far. We could probably skip this as long as we remember to confirm that each apartment we rent has a coffee maker and not a French press. In general, we typically buy pre-ground coffee, but we like to treat ourselves to some nice whole bean coffee from local coffee shops every once in a while.

we no longer bring our spice collection

For Dan’s first two contracts, we also brought our enormous spice collection with us. This was SO nice and meant that I didn’t have to buy any spices (although of course I still did add a couple new ones to the collection). I think we actually brought some other pantry supplies to Myrtle Beach, which we quickly realized was not necessary and a waste of precious space. Ultimately, we decided that our spice collection was unnecessary and didn’t bring it with us to Phoenix. So far, I’ve managed to only buy six spices (not including salt & pepper) and I think we may actually finish some of them off before we leave. It’s frustrating at times, but all the little things we buy each contract add up so we both try to avoid buying things that we miss but don’t actually need.

what we should bring

I’m starting to notice trends of what I always wish I had with us and what is often missing at places we rent. Our apartment in Kittery was unique in that it toed the line of whether you could really call it furnished or not. There was SO much missing, but thankfully we were close to home and 30 minutes from our storage unit so we could get some of our things to have with us temporarily. In comparison, our current apartment and the condo we rented in Myrtle Beach were infinitely more well-stocked, but still missing some things that I found myself really wishing I had.

cutting boards

Probably the biggest thing is a cutting board. We ended up buying a pretty large cutting board while here in Phoenix that we will now bring with us to every new contract. I don’t know what it is, but in Myrtle Beach they only had one tiny cutting board and here there’s also only one and its paper thin and warped and just super difficult to use. Kittery had none so we actually bought a cheap set for there too (we couldn’t get to ours in our storage unit…that’s how full it is). Of course, we didn’t bring that set here so we ended up having to buy another one. I use the cutting board almost every single day so it was a bit more of a necessity for the sake of my sanity. All that to say, it’s not a bad idea to bring one just in case and it’s really not a difficult thing to fit into a tight space in the car when packing.

immersion blender

The other thing that I think we’ll bring with us from now on (if we can find it in our storage unity), is our immersion blender. We had a whisk attachment and a food processor container attachment so it’s super multi-purpose while also being quite small. We actually managed to get our food processor and blender out of the storage unit while we were in Kittery, but the immersion blender with the attachments would take up half the space or less than both of those (and preforms all the same functions). Now, I’ve never actually made a smoothie with an immersion blender, but according to the internet you can do it!

what we buy

plan to spend a lot more the first month

Now, onto what we actually buy in terms of kitchen supplies while travel nursing. We keep close track of our budget and categorize our spending to set budget goals and keep track of how we’re doing. This has allowed us to estimate that we will spend about twice our grocery budget the first month in a new place while travel nursing. It’s rough, but you’re literally starting from scratch every time and it’s good to know what that will look like financially so you can plan for it and not be shocked when you’re looking over the budget at the end of the month.

household & kitchen staples

This first major shops includes household things like cleaning supplies (which may or may not be included at furnished apartments that you rent), paper towels, toilet paper, tissues, etc. We also stock up on pantry items like beans, pasta, rice, flour, sugar, salt, pepper, spices, etc. in addition to the regular buys like milk, butter, eggs, meats, vegetables, fruits, snacks, etc.

what spices I buy

As I mentioned earlier, we decided to stop bringing our spices with us and instead are working on figuring out our “staple spices” that we buy each contract. This time around I bought garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, and paprika. I actually also bought a BBQ rub (though I’ve been using it on other meats too). Honestly, I think I could make do without all of it for the most part, but especially the cinnamon, garlic, and onion. I add fresh garlic and onion to so many things that it’s probably not necessary, but I do use them a good amount. A HUGE part of our diet is eggs which we both love to use paprika and cumin on whether we’re having omelets, scrambled, or hard boiled eggs. We love spicy food so the red pepper flakes go on or in most everything that I make.

you may not need baking supplies

Since I have plenty of time to cook, I’m able to do more extra/fun cooking like baking sweet treats, so we get flour, sugar, etc. I’m also currently working on building up a sourdough starter so I will hopefully be doing a lot more baking in the next couple of months. Those are things you could probably skip though if you have less time and don’t care to be making things from scratch.

tupperware

Tupperware is another thing that you can probably expect to need to buy or bring with you. So far, we’ve opted to buy cheap tupperware and one nice container (which Dan uses for his lunches) that we’ll bring from place to place.

Keep a look out for part two coming next week! Also check out my post on what are our Travel Nursing Essentials for more advice on what’s necessary (and what’s not) when packing for your next contract.

what kitchen supplies do you bring with you travel nursing?