No cooker until lockdown is over. I need some ideas!

[SprogletsMum]

Due to a house move just before lockdown and seriously old electrics I don't have a cooker until lockdown is over.
I'm really struggling for ideas now, I have a small slow cooker, a steamer, an air fryer and a microwave. There's 6 of us, reasonably not fussy but ds does have a milk allergy.
Shopping budget is quite low so need cheap and cheerful if possible.
So far I've managed
Chicken dinner
Beef/sausage casseroles with steamed potatoes
Jackets pots with different fillings
Chilli and curry in slow cooker with micro rice

Thank you

Chicken casserole gammon a good size can do several meals

Get a campingaz grill & you can do meat/veg kebabs, grill things like sausages & bacon. It's portable for beach or camping but you can use at home too.

A pork loin sliced can make a nice stew in the slow cooker. Fry onion, garlic, flour meat, brown, add bit of stock, beer, or cider, then to bulk it out a tin of butter beans and or canellini beans. Bubble. Usially does us for two meals. Microwave rice.

Gosh I would really struggle with that - when our old landlord tore out the kitchen in our rental, we bought a plug in induction hob from Ikea which saved our bacon. Ikea are still delivering at the moment, it's £39. It would be an investment but you could batch cook things like pasta sauce and then just boil pasta while you heat up the sauce in the microwave and steam veg in the steamer.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/tillreda-portable-induction-hob-white-40331630/

Buy a large slow cooker and cook as many one pot meals as you can. Even with Bolognaise and curry etc you can add the pasta or rice for the last hour and just increase the liquid if needed.

In slow cooker - chilli,, (microwave the rice)
campfire stew (ham joint with onion, peppers, paprika and tinned toms), shredded chicken - can be fajitas, bba chicken on bread bun, add to curry, taco.
Hunters chicken (can do with actifry chips)
soups
whole chicken - roasts in actifry and veg in microwave.
2 pork steaks with apple sauce and stuffing between them. Veg in Microwave.
Bolognese can be made in the slowcooker which can then be used for lasagne also made in the slow cooker.
pork, apple and cider stew with dumplings
Do you have an oven?

Do you have (or could you get) a toastie machine? There was a thread on here a few years ago which was invaluable (I was having major building works at the time, had no kitchen for months) which ran through all the things you could make in a toastie machine, from a full English breakfast to sponge cake, and more! I’ll see if I can find it.

Halogen ovens are brilliant and just plug in.

Use things like microwave rice, instant noodles, cous-cous, that don't need traditional cooking for carbs, also tinned potatoes, ready made gnocchi, ready made polenta etc that cook very quickly in the microwave or can be fried in the fryer, to go with stews etc made in the slow cooker.

I’ve found the thread - here but from a quick glance through there’s lots of posts missing. There might be enough info to be of some use, hopefully.

If by some miracle you happen to be anywhere near me in south east london I have a single ring electric cooker/hob thing which you would be more that welcome to if it would help.

Risotto can also be made in a slow cooker.
Chicken legs smothered in sauce can be made in the actifry.

Mince and dumplings

Spaghetti bolognese
Slow cooker pulled pork

Maybe im the minority but i would see a cooker as essential and i would order one online if possible especially given you have a family to feed

My SIL's cooker gave up the other day, and she ordered one of the small worktop ovens with hob from Argos. It cam within a week.

Thanks everyone some great ideas. I'll look into buying one of the linked items on payday.
@Success1986 I have a lovely, brand new cooker but no cooker socket to have it wired into and the electrics need rewiring to install one which the electrician can't do until the wholesalers open up again.
I won't even go into not being able to get broadband installed for the foreseeable future too

You can get ovens that come with a standard 13A plug that you can just plug into the wall. Like this ao.com/product/ifw6230ix-indesit-aria-electric-single-oven-stainless-steel-44639-45.aspx

Between that and a plug in induction hob like www.amazon.co.uk/Induction-Cooking-Portable-Ceramic-Surface/dp/B07J4ZZ68Z/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=induction+hob&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1586798958&sr=8-6 you should be able to put together something temporary?

@SprogletsMum ahhh i see, such a pity bad timing for you especially without broadband i dont know how your coping without netflix etc x

A good cookbook to download when you have limited
Resources to cook foods www.army.mod.uk/news-and-events/news/2020/01/army-launches-refreshed-free-healthy-soldier-cookbook/

Is your slow cooker big enough to cook a one-pot dinner for all of you? E.g. Irish stew, with spuds and all?
Wraps could be your friend here, e.g on the side of a nice veggie chilli.
How about cooking vermicelli rice noodles in hot water from the kettle and serving with some lovely thai style pulled pork from your slow cooker?

Massaman curry in the slow cooker is wonderful.

Another vote for a halogen oven. Quite cheap and very versatile.

Boiled eggs in the steamer, once cooked they keep for days in the fridge and can be used in sandwiches, salads, kedgeree. Rice in steamer, foil parcels of salmon too.