Help! We only have a microwave at the moment! What can I cook?

[Holymoly321]

our kitchen is being refitted, but due to a number of reasons, two weeks in we still have no oven or hob. THis could go on for another two weeks!!! We have kind of exhausted our welcome at kind friends houses to feed us! Two DS's are very fussy eaters and dont like majority of fruit and veg (ARRGH - thats a whole other thread!) Anyway, can anyone offer some tips / adivce on what meals can be made in microwave? Many TIA!

any kind of mince dishes can go in microwave

about 20 to 30 mins
you can do a stew type meal cook on median heat for hour

pastry is not good in microwave

We lived for three months with a microwave toaster and kettle only. But it was before dc. Anyway, apart from ready meals and beans on toast and fishfingers with peas and micro wave chips we had things like chicken breast in a tomato sauce, chopped meat of various sorts again in sauces, baked potatoes, lots of fish, pizza. I had a good cheap microwave cookbook. Stews are not impossible as you just use the lowest settings.

But with hindsight I would now go and get a cheap slow cookery and some of those pockets you can put in the toaster. And a large plastic measuring jug for veg or cocoa or mustard if milk.

Hth

Custard not mustard.

You can cook rice, baked potatoes, fish (salmon is good in those cooking bags), hot dogs (I do the veggie ones quite often) noodles, sauces...when we were without a kitchen for a month after a collapsed ceiling, we used the microwave a lot. The sandwich toaster was well-used - they are not expensive and you will still make use of it when you get your kitchen back!

do you have a kettle? those couscous sachet thingies are nice, only boiling water needed. in addition you can warm up some veg in the microwave, stir in and you have a good meal.

thanks for these ideas. Arent fishfingers and pizza a bit soggy in the microwave? DS1 wont eat baked beans (!!). How would I cook mince? HOt dogs sound good as the boys will eat those (YUCK!). SLow cooker sounds like a good idea!

if you wrap the fish fingers in kitchen paper, they don't go as soggy.
I would mix the mince with sauce, cover the bowl and cook. you need to stir a bit to break the mince up in between or you will get a meat loaf.

cous cous sounds good mousy. Blooming DS's won't eat it though!

I think omelet/scrambled egg type of dishes can be made in microwave.

Steaming any kind of food: veg (corn on the cob in greaseproof paper), fish (yummy), plus the classic micro-baked potatoes.

If you will be without a cooker for much longer, I would also get a microwave cookbook. Or google microwave recipes.

We had no kitchen for 2 months. Still didn't do a lot - only micro meals.

Can you do pies in there?

Smoked mackerel nice in the micro, maybe you could buy readymade mash.

It was hideous. We lived in McDonalds and the fried chicken shop. But we're all still alive!

I was going to suggest get a slow cooker too but see it's already been mentioned. You could make almost anything between a kettle/microwave/toaster and slow cooker! X

Or... Another thought. We will be living like this in a few months. My plan is to spend a whole weekend or 10 before we move doing batch cooking (either in current house or mums house) pies, lasagne, stews, curries, soups, portions of cooked mash and pasta etc. And portioning them off into little plastic dishes that I will then freeze and use when we move in to the new place but have no kitchen! Maybe you could borrow someones kitchen to do something similar?

pies are shit in microwave

to cook mince

pre cook (brownish) with out and fat/oil and onion
drain off fat
then add a sauce out of jar /make out of packet
cook for 25mins

i have done stir frys in the microwave (with out add oil) just chuck it all in

lots of microwave are oven and grill now as well so lots of things to do

Pix and mix meals as they are known here are good. Cold meats, salad, coleslaw, pork pies, raw veg and dips. Alll laid out on living room floor the table and everyone takes a bit of what they fancy.

Scrambled eggs, then you can add things like frozen peas, green beans (chopped small to disguise!), salmon, ham etc etc.

Chicken noodle soup, only needs a kettle. Boiling water, chicken stock cube, those soup noodle things (or instant noodles), ready cooked chicken (like those sliced packs that are usually two for £4), curry paste if desired, plus peas/sweetcorn/whatever veg the DCs will eat. Mix, leave for 5 mins. Yum yum.

Ready made tortellini from supermarket, 3 mins in boiling water.

Bean stew, open tins of various beans/mixed beans, shove in bowl with chopped toms and herbs etc, heat in microwave, eat with pitta bread.

I lived on these as a student :)

Chicago town do the packs of two small microwavable pizzas. You need something else with them, baked beans or a big salad.

I second the suggestion to get a slow cooker to make stews, casseroles, and soups.

We were hobless for a couple of weeks and then the kitchen company didn't give us the free set of induction pans for ages, I only had one cast-iron pot I could use for ages. Couscous became a staple but not those sachets - just get the plain stuff, maybe with a pinch of stock powder.

We had a lot of greenandcabbagelooking style pick n' mix meals when we were 3 months without a kitchen.

I cooked pasta, rice, mince in the microwave and we used our George Foreman grill alot. We had a little cook book which came with the microwave and it's amazing what you can actually make in there which tastes quite nice.

However this was just before DS arrived...don't think it would be quite as easy now!!