As a cruising sailor who loves to drop the hook in a quiet cove, I have an inner radar that keeps a running tab on our fresh water, gray water and propane tanks. Traveling in my private planet, with its finite reserves, makes me acutely aware of the value of each drop of water and amp of electrical power.

My aim is to serve tasty, health–conscious meals without wasting time, energy or the earth's resources. No matter how large the boat or how luxurious its galley, cooking on the go has different requirements, rules and timetables.

Here are ideas for making your galley as "green" as it can be.

• Bring plenty of trash bags so you won't be tempted to off–load trash before reaching places that have proper disposal facilities. Biodegradable bags are available from sources including ecoproducts.com and nfpco.com.

• Marina recycle bins may be divided into categories different from the way you separate trash at home. Comply as fully as possible.
• Weight costs fuel dollars. Carry salmon and tuna in a pouch, not cans; dry pasta instead of cooked or frozen, tomato paste rather than tomato sauce. A 5.93–ounce packet of dry Hearty Chicken Noodle Soup Mix makes four servings of two cups each, the equivalent of four cans of condensed soup or eight cans of heat–and–serve soup.
• Many supplies (instant coffee, olive oil, vinegar, peanut butter, salad dressings) come in glass or plastic depending on brand. Plastic weighs less, is quieter in your lockers underway and it won't break.
• Plan meals around boneless, skinless meats then ask your butcher to package each meal–size batch without a puffy plastic tray. Some markets will also freeze a meat order for you, ready to go into your galley freezer.
• Remove excess packaging at home. You'll carry more supplies in less space and will have less trash on board. (Save package instructions if you need them.)
• Wash fruits and vegetables at home, dry well, and wrap each in a paper towel to keep them clean and bruise–free. Paper towels can be used again as napkins or to clean up kitchen spills.
• Favor foods wrapped in nature's packaging: nuts in the shell, onions, rind–covered cheeses, baking potatoes (both sweet and white), bananas, oranges, whole coconuts. Their waste is biodegradable.

THE FRITOS TRICK

• Cut each individual Fritos bag across the top and down one side. It will open like a cone. Add shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, sour cream, grated cheese, salsa, etc., grab a fork and eat right out of the bag. There are no dishes to wash and only a small bag to discard.

• Even if you don't like it as a cold drink, nonfat dry milk can be reconstituted for cooking and cocoa. Carry drinks in powders or concentrates and mix them in reusable pitchers. Disposable plastic bottles are one of the biggest burdens to the world's landfills.
• Install a drinking water filter at the galley sink and you'll never have to carry bottled water. The small faucet takes up very little room; the filter itself tucks away under the sink. Even if you dock at marinas where dockside water is potable, the taste of "safe" water varies greatly. Having your own filter assures consistent taste in coffee, reconstituted orange juice and such.
• Buy in large, economy sizes at home and use small containers to carry smaller amounts appropriate to each cruise. Supplies will be fresher and you'll save fuel dollars.
• Buy a different mug for each family member, swish between uses and use the same one all day. You can also cut down on dishwashing by serving some items in edible "dishes" Spoon chicken salad into ice cream cones, peanut butter into celery stalks or cored apples, tuna salad into green pepper halves, cottage cheese into cantaloupe halves.
• The weight of small appliances adds up and many of them end up forgotten in the back of a locker. Try bringing only one novelty appliance at a time: a fryer this trip, a waffle iron next time, an ice cream or smoothie maker, a bread maker, a turbo cooker.
• Use a rubber scraper, not running water, to clean dishes before washing them. Scrape the mess into the trash, not the sink. Grease fouls your gray water tank and the marina's septic system.
• Paper or plastic at the supermarket? Neither. Invest in sturdy, reusable canvas bags. They fold flat and stow in a small space.
• Use the marina's fish cleaning station, not your transom.
• As you cruise, pitch in on environmental efforts. Marine groups often organize beach or shore clean–ups and they're a fun way to meet locals.
• Think outside the (ice) box. If you unplug your boat between outings or can otherwise manage without a frost–free refrigerator, consider opting for a refrigerator that does not have auto–defrost. It uses a fraction of the amp–hours of a frost–free unit. On a large boat, several small refrigerators and freezers allow you to manage provisions, space and amps more effectively than one, big, household–style unit.

UNDER PRESSURE

When microwave ovens came along, many galley cooks put their pressure cookers on the back burner, but eco–cooks are now rediscovering this time – and fuel–saving tool. For some items, pressure cooking is faster than microwaving. That's because each microwave oven has just so many microwaves to go around. Bake one potato in four minutes, two potatoes eight minutes, and so on. Yet a pressure cooker cooks a dozen potatoes, which would take 40 minutes or so in the microwave, in five to 10 minutes.

To cook regular rice, measure two parts water per one part rice. Add salt. Bring up to full pressure and turn off the burner. Let stand while pressure returns to normal. When it does, rice will be fluffy and ready to serve. Meanwhile, you have freed up a burner for another use or have used no fuel at all. When making a from–scratch dish that calls for dried beans soak the beans according to package directions, bring up to full pressure, turn off heat and wait a couple of hours. Then complete cooking in only a fraction of the time.

Pressure cookers are versatile too. They are be used to steam puddings or breads, make one–pot meals galore, cook multiple courses for the same meal by using separate containers and cook tough meats to melting tenderness in 20 minutes or less.

Precautions: most of the horror stories Mother told about pressure cookers occurred because of misuse. When a cooker is over–filled with a foamy food such as dried beans or applesauce, the pressure relief valve can clog and something blows. There was also a scare a few years ago when a cookbook writer gave directions for heating condensed milk in a pressure cooker to make flan. She forgot to tell readers to open the cans first, and they exploded! Modern pressure cookers are safe if you keep the cooker and its gaskets clean and in good repair, and cook according to manufacturer instructions.