No kitchen for a fortnight

[Chocchip88]

The new kitchen finally arrived today! Eek! On Monday the old one will be ripped out then we're down to kettle, toaster and microwave for a fortnight.

There's me - 6 months pregnant, DH and 18month DS. We hardly ever use the microwave, so other than ready meals (any recommendations?), what can we cook? I know you can do baked potato and scrambled egg in the microwave but unsure how.
Thank you!

Microwave porridge sachets come in a variety of flavours
Frozen peas and chopped mixed veg cook very well in a microwave with a couple of spoons of water
Microwavable rice pouches
Non-cook stuff like fruits, salads, yoghurts
Baked microwave potato - wash and dry spuds, coat all over with oil, salt and pepper mixture. Pierce all over, then microwave on high - for 4 large ones, do 10 min each side. You need to keep checking the potatoes every few minutes and increase/ decrease cooking time as needed. Can slice potatoes in half when nearly done, add topping (baked beans/ cheese etc) and then microwave altogether.
Cook and freeze a variety of meals and defrost in the microwave

fresh fish poaches well in the microwave, with water or stock or milk, butter, lemon etc. (google for times depending on particular fish and weight).
Re: ready meals, M&S doa children's range, which are fairly low on salt and have the usual suspects - sausage and mash, cottage pie, spaghetti bolognese - i used to give them to DCs if we fancied a takeaway and couldn't be bothered to cook. At 3 and 5 they've got wise to that one now and won't eat them, but they might be handy just for a couple of weeks and can be bulked out with frozen veg.
Scrambled egg is easy too, just keep checking it every so often to stir so it doesn't end up one big clump of egg
Can you buy a cooked chicken from your local supermarket or butcher? - that would give you your protein, then the carbs are fairly microwave friendly to produce - I usually do basmati in the microwave now anyway, as find it cooks better than on the hob.

I bought a halogen oven...you can do EVERYTHING in that. It's so good I use it more that the double oven I bought for my new kitchen.

Quick hectic day tomorrow batch cooking and freezing? Home made ready meals!

If you're in the north west you could rent my mate's mobile kitchen caravan, which is the best business idea I've heard of in ages! Good luck though. X

Not in the north west I'm afraid! I was going to do a load if batch cooking but my oven doesn't work and all I could think of is lasagne! Will pop out tomorrow morning and get some stuff for curries, chillis etc.

Camping stove sounds like a great idea, I think my brother may have one.
Thanks for all the ideas. Will make a fortnight meal plan tomorrow and try and make it vaguely healthy and balanced.

Now, any tips on maintaining my sanity while all the work is going on. Specifically how to get a toddler to continue his lovely 3 hour naps during all that banging?! It will all be worth it in the end

I am having a new kitchen soon and will also be without a kitchen for sometime. A friend suggested an electric plug in steamer, I thought that would be a great idea for veg and fish. I think my MIL has some sort of worktop oven from Lakeland we may borrow too.

Good luck with the kitchen, hope it will all be worth it when it's finished {smile}

A slow cooker maybe? Can cook all sorts in one of those

oooh we had this for 3 weeks

a slow cooker is da shit

oh, and think about water. I missed sink access more than cooker access, strangely. Washing up in a hand basin is not da shit

good luck!

I found repeating "it'll be alright" as mantra from dawn to dusk helped

Ooh I think we might have an electric steamer lurking in the garage, also maybe a George Foreman grill. My mum said she can lend us her slow cooker. Ah it's not looking so bad after all!!

Check out the recipes on www.mealsinfields.co.uk. 200+ ideas for cooking in minimal space, few ingredients and not a lot of time. They have symbols so you know if you need just one ring (camping stove) or a BBQ or if you can find a slow cooker any of the casseroles that cook in the oven. Oh, all recipes are based on using fresh local food, so you and your baby will have lovely healthy meals - even if the kitchen is a nightmare. Hope all goes well.

you could do a whole roast meal in a halogen...

Pub / cafe / friends / family / BBQ???