Oven is broken - please share your best stove top recipes with me

[Blatherskite]

My oven went bang last week The inner glass panel exploded while it was self cleaning so now I am pretty much oven-less for anything up to a fortnight while the part to fix it arrives. We do have a combi-oven/microwave but it's not big enough to do much in.

I have never realised quite how much we use the oven before and am now struggling to think of things to cook that only need the hob.

The children are 3 and 6 and DS won't eat anything even vaguely spicy so curries and chilli are out. I have a few batches of Bolognese sauce in the freezer but DH isn't a massive fan of pasta so will get sick of these pretty quickly. I'm on a diet and all of the risotto-type recipes I've looked at are full of cream and butter which rules them out. DD is just mega fussy. Neither of the kids will eat stir fry

Any suggestions on things I can cook that the whole family might eat? My wallet and waist can't afford a fortnight's worth of take out and pasta!

TIA

I was without an oven for 2.5 years, as DH didn't think it was worth replacing as we were going to do a full kitchen renovation 'soon'. I soon got tired of 'wet' food like stews and casseroles, so we ate a lot of flash fried fish steaks, chicken breasts, omelettes, and grilled food. My favourite summer food was main course salads with grilled chicken, or tuna steaks.

A good family meal is a big frittata, started on the stove top and finished under the grill. Just fry some cold cooked potatoes, chopped veg, mix in a bit of left over ham/meat/prawns etc, pour over beaten eggs with a few herbs added and some frozen peas, and top with grated cheese. Quick, cheap and lovely cold next day for lunch.

Frying pan pizza is also good - scone base in a frying pan, usual toppings, finish under grill. Loads of recipes on google

Chicken, chickpeas and chorizo.

A tin of chick peas, drained and rinsed
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 chicken breasts, cubed, or 3 thighs, cubed
About 200-250 gm chorizo, cut into disks

Chuck the whole lot in a pot, add a bit of oregano

Cook slowly for about an hour and a half Use a lid for the first hour, then remove it, if it seems a bit liquid.

Chicken Cacchiatore (sp, please Italian people)

Fry some lardons, an onion, a large diced carrot and a couple of chopped celery sticks.
Add some diced chicken portions (about 250 gm in all)
Add about three cloves of crushed garlic
Chuck in about a glass of white wine, and reduce a bit.
Add a tin of canelini beans (drained and rinsed)
Add a tin of chopped tomatoes
Tuck a couple of rosemary stalks in (take them out just before serving)
Season "to taste"
Cook covered for about 1 and a half hours (but take the lid off for a bit if it seems wet).

I do a very similar lamb dish, without the lardons, but adding a large handful of black olives with the beans and tomatoes. Also juice of a lemon, 10 mins before serving.

paella? You can vary what you put into it depending on everyones likes/dislikes...

Pesto pasta? really simple and my DD/DH love it.

We tried Irish Stew. It didn't go down well and DS ate a little while DD refused to even try it.

Paella I used to do a lot in the oven. The kids aren't keen again even though DS loves fish.

I think I'm going to go safe and just buy fish and chips tomorrow after swimming lessons!

I know it's an old thread, but adding to it incase anyone else is looking for hob meals ideas.
Ham, eggs and chips

Lobby / stew. All cooked in a large pot on hob.

Mince and mash is one of my favourites. Cook mince in wok or frying pan. Add an oxo cube, tinned veg with the water, then make gravy around the whole mixture adding more water or granules to get consistency you want. Pour over mashed potato it's like an upside down cottage / Shepard's pie but needs no baking in oven and you only use two pans ( one for potato, one for everything else ) of you want Yorkshire puddings with this the frozen ready made ones can be warmed in microwave ( have done that myself, they just don't go crispy)

You can poach a whole chicken with veg if you have a big casserole dish, or a gammon joint. Soups, stews, tagines. Pot roast.

you could do a pasta bake on the stove. cook pasta. coko batch of tomatos mince. then stir throught the pasta and cheese sauce as usual.it works really nicely.
you can also do stovetop lasagne which is gorgeous.
carbanara.
have you tried things like farro and pearly barley. they make great dishes. you could poach some chicken breasts.make a sauce as usual with butter and flour and use stock for the liquid..fry down some leeks and onions and then bung together with some barley or farro.wripped chicken and bacon.lovely.can also be done with rice or pasta.
hash browns.
salmon/fish
stew.
weve found now that basically apart from roast meat you can do anything on the stove you can in oven.

Make a Jambalaya with chicken and chorizo and rice, I love making a quick sponge or suet pud in the microwave take about ten mins, serve it with stewed fruit. I also use my slow cooker a lot when I say I use it I throw things in and switch it on. What about boiling a gammon and making you own baked beans.

Do a chicken in a slow cooker if
You have one. The rests of the veg etc you need can be done on the hob.