Gouda, Mushroom, & Truffle Salt Mac & Cheese

Hi, I'm Kasey. There are two things you should know about me. One: over two years ago, I quit my job to move into a van that I bought and renovated with my boyfriend of 6 months with the goal of driving from Canada to Argentina over the course of a year. 18 months,15 countries, 7 major breakdowns, 5 ferries, 2 new transmissions, and 1 engagement later, we finally shipped our van back to Texas from Argentina where we threw our belongings into backpacks and flew to New Zealand followed by Southeast Asia to continue the journey. The second thing you should know about me is that I’m not really a chef, but the only thing I like more than cooking is baking. Now, I know you can’t necessarily just self-proclaim yourself as a chef and earn the respect of a chef. However, from my findings, there aren’t a lot of chefs out there cooking and even baking (via a crockpot!) exclusively in a van that’s meant to be a tiny home on wheels and is not even capable of food truck-esque level cooking. Therefore, I’ve taken the liberty of proclaiming myself the world’s first and foremost (don’t research this too much) Van Chef! That’s right, everything you see on my site is made in my 2000 Dodge Pleasureway Van, aka Alfred. I’m working with a 2 burner gas stove that runs off propane, a microwave (that only works when we’re plugged into electricity or have the generator running), a cooler (no fridge!), a sink (thankfully with running water), and a pantry/cupboard that no one will ever be jealous of. Since that’s not challenging enough, you should also know that all of these recipes were also made during our travels meaning most of the ingredients were purchased from local bodegas, fruit and vegetable stands, and the occasional big box store (albeit with mostly new brands and even ingredients I’ve never seen before). We are now entering a new post-covid phase where we’ve moved back to the States and are working remote jobs, but we’re also back with our van and hopefully posting new recipes again soon! In the meantime, we also started a website and YouTube channel to help others realize the long-term travel dream. Check it out at www.howtolongtermtravel.com or on Instagram @howtolongtermtravel or on the How to Long-term Travel YouTube Channel.