Is it Easy to Cook on a Boat? Depends

 You think it's easy cooking on a boat? I guess if you're rich and your boat has a full-sized kitchen with everything you could possibly want, then yeah, it's probably pretty easy. But if you have a reasonable boat like the kind most average people have, with a little kitchenette, things get more difficult (The boat that took sweat and labor to get where it is at today.).

(Illustrative Only)

Cooking on a boat
has its own challenges.

Over the years, I've kind of narrowed things down to the necessities. I have a grill, an oven, an air fryer, and the basics, including a gas stove. So I can cook, but it takes a little effort. You have to move around, work in a smaller space, and basically learn how to do camp cooking. The air fryer isn't exactly camp cooking, but the rest of it is pretty close.

This morning, after going boogie boarding, I went back to the boat and started cooking. I made some homemade tortillas, along with these little corn pancakes. I had some grilled chicken left over from last night, and I'm going to make some homemade French fries. I'll also eat some salad and use up the rest of the cucumbers and chicken.

That's one of the tricks I've learned: double-cooking. I'll cook chicken for dinner, and then use the leftovers for something else the next day. Last night, I had grilled chicken with supper and grilled cucumbers. Today, that same chicken becomes chicken sandwiches with my homemade tortillas. I've got some potatoes, so I'll cut those up and make some really nice French fries, then finish off the rest of the cucumber and chicken.

So, it is possible to cook pretty well on a boat. You just have to be a little creative and make the most of the space you have.

The one thing I haven't figured out—and it doesn't really matter whether I'm in a full-sized kitchen or on a boat—is how the heck they make tortilla chips.

I can make a flour tortilla. I can make a corn tortilla. That part is pretty simple. But when you buy a package of tortilla chips, how do they get them to look and turn out like that? I'm not quite sure. I might have to research it. See below. 

My suspicion is that they're using some kind of corn mixture or batter, shaping it into chips, and then cooking it. But I don't know. I tried to do something similar, and instead of tortilla chips, I ended up with corn pancakes.

(It looks like they make the it just like I do except they bake a little and then fry. So I was thinking of that for the next batch but then found this and thought it was interesting. So we will see how the next one's turn out. How They Make Tortilla Chips)

That's fine, though. The corn pancakes were actually pretty darn good.

So I guess I invented something new to eat today: the corn pancake. It's mostly corn, with a little bit of flour, salt and some water. That's it. No milk, nothing fancy. And it actually turned out really well. Ok probably someone has done it before but for me it's new. 

I'd definitely make those corn pancakes again for breakfast.