Your mind set changes as your environment changes. After moving on to my boat to live I knew I would be giving up a lot of things I always just took for granted. Living out of a cooler size refrigerator was a big change. You can only buy things that will fit in it. A frozen dinner...out, ice cream...out, things that had to stay very cold do not keep and cold beverages. You shop for what you will eat that day. Any frozen things are for the next day, and help keep other things cool over night. If a beverage needs to be kept cool but not with ice in it, they can go in a mesh bag and lowered over the side of the boat down past the thermocline to keep cool (beer). Other things can join the beer to also keep cool. Most things you drink will be cool or warm because you need to conserve your ice.
In my case, I also was limited on what I bought by what I cooked it in. I did get a grill that went on the back boat rail and could cook over the water. I also picked up a cheap and very little microwave. But with it I needed shore power and it took up a chunk of space. It at least could be used to store other stuff in when not in use. The main thing I cooked on was a small propane burner that a pan and a fry pan ws used on. One more thing I used a lot was a small 12 volt powered immersion coil heater I got at a auto parts store. It was great for heating water for coffee or tea or soup.
Dry foods in a box like rice, or noodles stored well without refrigeration. Caned foods are good but storing them is a little harder. Pop top cans are a big plus. I always had a hard time finding my can opener. I found that a concrete block can be used to open a tin can. If you put the top of the tin can down flat on the block and push down on the can and then rub the top of the can hard on the block you will find the seal on the top of the can quickly breaks down ant the top comes off. When you see liquid start to come out you know your there. This really works...try it.
Real fresh foods that do not have much prep is also something you learn to go for. I never grew up with food like this and it was all new to me.
Also taking the trash out was something you do after you wash your dishes. I would cook, eat, do dishes, and take the trash out and walk the dog at the same time. You would not think you would have a ant problem on a boat, but you can...the walk up your mooring lies. Once on board they are a bitch to get rid of!!!!!
I did get a DC converter that would let me run AC things off the boat battery's. These are neat little units and you can get them in a wide range of watt power outputs. The big ones can flatten your battery's quick if under full load. The one I got was good for only things that did not pull much power and I only used it when I was away from the dock and no shore power was available. I used it when there was a power outage after a storm when the marina had no power for a 1/2 day.
How I thought about a lot of things I had just taken for granted really did change when I moved on the boat.
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