New kitchen

[rainbowstardrops]

This isn't really an AIBU but it kind of is at the same time.

The situation is, we're having a new kitchen very soon. Our old kitchen is being ripped out completely and being replaced (except for the white goods/fridge freezer etc)
What with levelling the floor, plastering the walls, new fuse boxes and then the whole refitting etc and it therefore means we're not going to have any sort of functioning kitchen for about three weeks (that's if there are no hiccups along the way). I'm dreading it.

We are lucky that we have two downstairs rooms but we obviously can't use the larger room when the floor is being levelled etc because we have to access it through the kitchen. But this room is where the fridge/freezer and all of the kitchen will be boxed up, plus the new kitchen units etc will have to be stored. I honestly don't know where we're going to put it all!
Anyway, I will have a slow cooker, an air fryer and a microwave in the larger room (somehow).
My AIBU is, how awful would it be to order a shit load of takeaways, or more importantly, what can I cook with my very limited cooking options?
It's me and two DC and an H that comes home at about 10pm
We usually rely on pasta etc but I won't have a hob.

I just need ideas for some meals please, or a thumbs up that we can all just eat shit for three weeks!
Joking. Obviously. Kind of.

You can buy a cheap temporary hob unit - two hobs that can be plugged in anywhere, for your pasta

Yanbu at all to buy takeaways though as long as it isnt too expensive xx

@mumofoneAlonebutokay I thought about getting some kind of camping hob type of thing but it's maybe more effort than it's worth I think?
To be fair, my DC aren't little and would LOVE a takeaway every night. Me? Not so much!
And they wouldn't be paying!!!

I've used one before, cheap and simple enough, and will save you money

😭😭 I can imagine the dc's would love a takeaway every night 🥰

Here's a link to a cheap one

Edit - will you have running water downstairs?

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/pifco-204776-double-electric-hot-plate-white-10244948.html?istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istFeedId=4d7eb93e-055f-499d-8ee5-1cdcc50d67d1&istItemId=lxpimrppx&istBid=t&srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~0131+(Shopping+Ads)+SDA+SBRE+-+All+Products+-+PMAX~~Exact~71700000118672395~&mctag=gggoog7904&kwid=GOOGLE&device=m&dskids=&tgtid=0131+(Shopping+Ads)+SDA+SBRE+-+All+Products+-+PMAX&&gadsource=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwtu9BhC8ARIsAI9JHaktcPq1mXxU3z7x2ArJEgfoWYDHJik7BIfyNhcN2enfrU9VCd24saUaAhirEALwwcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

We got an Ikea plug in induction hob for our kitchen Reno. I was so prepped for doing loads of cooking in the little temporary kitchen I set up. In reality, we basically ate out / takeaway or at the most microwave meals the entire time (& it was a lot longer than 3 weeks). 7 years on the dc still talk fondly about ‘the time we had fish and chips and McDonald’s all the time’.

We managed with air fryer and microwave in our living room for the few days the kitchen was totally inaccessible.

The floor really will only be inaccessible for around 12 hours, possibly less if the house is warmer, they should use a rapid set self levelling compound. We had our hall floor done, early Feb last year and no heating which slowed it down, but it was put down at 4pm, and we could walk across it by 8pm.
I've also seen people have it done half and half, leaving access through one side whilst the other sets and vice versa, but its obviously not ideal and won't work everywhere.

YANBU to get takeaways though, its bloody stressful having builders in and some rooms out of action and not really a time you want to be cooking if you can swerve it!

We had this a few years ago but it was summer and could bbq every night! Also had a rice cooker which you could look into? As you can also do pasta in there. But lean into the takeaways for a while too, it’s part of the renovation experience!

We managed with just the air fryer, microwave and slow cooker, you can cook and freeze pasta, once it's defrosted, stand it in a pan of boiling water from the kettle to heat through, same with rice, cook it freeze it, maybe even in individual portions and microwave when needed.
We even managed a roast dinner, microwave veg, ready made mash, roasties in the air fryer and meat cooked in the slow cooker(I do this most of the time anyway)

We just had a microwave and a kettle. Just two of us - no kids, and it was summer, but we mostly had microwave ready meals or cold food, with some takeaways.

Will you have access to a fridge or freezer at all or is that out too?

@mumofoneAlonebutokay thanks for that link. They're not as expensive as I thought! Definitely something to consider.
I don't think we'll have running water downstairs for a while, as they're moving the washing machine etc. Can't wait to wash up in the basin upstairs 😵‍💫

That's what I'm thinking @Thewholeplaceglitters!!! I'm trying to think of creative meals but then another part of me thinks 'sod it'!
Please don't tell me it takes longer than three weeks 😩

Can people flip their day around? Get a hot meal at nursery/school/work and just have cold stuff at home? Cheese and crackers, sandwiches, M&S deli selection for a treat.

I'd also be eating out at the pub a fair few times I think! No washing up then.

We did it for 3-4 weeks. The cooking wasn't the hard bit the cleaning up and prep was annoying!!!!
Instead of pasta, try microwave rice or cous cous (just add boiling water)
You can then do curries, tagines etc (cook sauce and meat in advance, freeze and reheat)
You can do pasta bake in the slow cooker
Air fryer opens up a world of possibilities.
You'll be fine!

Find a local launderette.
Go for a couple of meals with family/friends/in a restaurant.

We just had microwave, kettle and toaster. I did have the fridge freezer in the room, so just batch cooked stuff and bought ready meals to microwave for the 3 weeks. You can get pre-cooked rice pouches etc. I found the worst bit was having to wash up in the bath meant it got food grease and then we wanted to wash there.

Do be careful with camping hobs as they should be used outside. Plug in ones come without the risk of carbon monoxide.

Currently in the thick of it! Paper plates are helpful. The lack of water downstairs will be the most problematic.We've got a fridge in (what was/will be again) our dining room, and it has a big jug of water in that we use for filling the kettle. Don't assume that the dust/mess will be limited to the area the trades are working in, we've got laundry piling up everywhere, brick dust travels everywhere (from chasing in new electrics) and our bins are currently in the dining room. I quite hate it! We do have a camping stove, toastie maker, slow cooker, microwave and very helpful mil who has made us a few meals though.

We'll potentially have the fridge/freezer @SnippySnappy but that's only if we can move it to the larger downstairs room. Well, we're going to have to move it somehow!

Three weeks is nothing! We were without a kitchen for 10 months, and whilst it wasn't easy, we coped ok.

I had a kitchen set up on my dining table.

I bought a two zone portable induction hob from Ikea (think it was about £80), and bought a stand from Amazon and put the air fryer on the bottom, and the microwave on top.

With those, plus a slow cooker, an electric steamer, a kettle and a toaster, we could cook everything, including roast dinners.

But to answer your question, no, you'd not be unreasonable to have loads of takeaways, as it's for such a short time.

Enjoy your new kitchen when you're in ! 😃

We used camping stoves and they were really easy, with all the other bits you've mentioned (air fryer, slow cooker), we didn't actually find we had to change diet that much! I just tended to cook meals that used less washing up

We've got one of the, they're great.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/tillreda-portable-induction-hob-1-zone-white-70493503/

10 months?!!! Blimey! 😮
I'm liking that majority of people are thinking it's ok to have the odd lots of takeaways though

Can people flip their day around? Get a hot meal at nursery/school/work and just have cold stuff at home? Cheese and crackers, sandwiches, M&S deli selection for a treat.

Not really. DH is on the road until late and the kids are working and not easy to access food other than what they take themselves. To be honest, I'd rather muddle along later in the day when the tradespeople have gone home for the day.

To go without for a week is a pain. When I was 18 and still at school we had a grant to bring the house up to modern standards (dad was disabled and we applied when mum had just died). The building company was a partnership and one fucked off with the money. Fair play to the other guy he finished the job... but we didn't have a kitchen for a year. Not even a room. For months the cooker was a camping stove, a microwave and a deep fat fryer...under a wooden cover with a tarpaulin over. We had a fridge and freezer in the lounge and the kettle too.
We survived.

Since you have a microwave, I would err towards using ‘Cook’ meals rather than takeaways and supplementing with salads or microwave veg. At least most of them resemble home cooked meals.

Thanks @MissHollysDolly. I cook plenty of meals so I'm sure it'll be fine, it's just the upheaval of it all. Oh and yeah, not looking forward to washing up upstairs! The kids usually take it in turns to load the dishwasher/wash up the extra bits because I cook but I suspect I'll want to do it to make sure it's actually clean!