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No cooker for a fortnight. Please give me dinner ideas for myself and dd.

12 replies

PinocchiosLeftNostril · 23/10/2013 11:31

My old cooker died yesterday. And my new one won't be coming for at least 14 days according to the retailer.

I have a slow cooker, but i also have a very fussy 5yo dd.

She goes to after school club 4-5 days each week and always gets a good snack/mini meal there (such as fajita, garlic bread, their own HM pizzas), so a fortnight of light dinners shan't harm her.

I was thinking tinned stuff i can bung in the microwave, like beans on toast, tomato soup and bread etc.

But 2 weeks of it? Sad

I've had a look at the slow cooker recipes and tbh it's all too lovely and colourful for my dd. She'll just about eat a sausage casserole. So i can do that a few times. But mainly she likes HM soup, pastas, scrambled egg with toast, veg and sausages and mashed potato, baked potatoes etc. All of which i need a cooker for.

I suppose cold things could be an option too. but she'll only eat tomatoes and cucumber in the way of salad. I could do that with shop bought potato salad. Or buy some chilled pasta from the shop like tuna and sweetcorn. or make some sandwiches...?

Any better ideas?

ideally something warm and somewhat healthy (or something i can sneak veg into).

OP posts:
Artandco · 23/10/2013 11:36

By ready made mash from supermarket. Just goes in microwave

Microwave rice

Few things on toast ie beans/ egg

Cold dinner ie pitta bread and filling, fruit

Get some fish and chips one eve

Few things in slow cooker

swampster · 23/10/2013 11:36

You can scramble eggs in a microwave, DH does it. It doesn't take long and you have to keep taking them out and stirring them but it works really well.

You can get microwave pasta and rice - not brilliant but not too horrid and you can mash baked potatoes.

I expect to be without a cooker for up to three weeks when we have some building work done soon. Thinking ahead and trying to convince myself it will be OK.

fieldfare · 23/10/2013 11:36

You can make soup in the slow cooker, jacket potato in the microwave (just wont have a crispy skin), scrambled eggs in the microwave too. If she'll eat sausage casserole would she eat chicken in a sauce? Then microwaveable rice and veg.

dreamingofsun · 23/10/2013 11:40

perhaps its time for her to become more adventurous.

Graciescotland · 23/10/2013 11:45

You can microwave a surprising amount of food. Discovered when I was also without a cooker. The trick with pasta/ rice is to put in tuperware with the lid on but not clicked in.

Mam23 · 23/10/2013 19:00

Soup is perfect for the slow cooker.

Also, jacket potatoes wrapped in foil and put in the bottom of the slow cooker 'bake' beautifully.

sashh · 24/10/2013 10:04

You can scramble an egg in the microwave and if you have a toaster you can do egg on toast. Get some toaster bags and you can do cheese between 2 slices of toast.

You can (not done it but others have) bake potatoes in a sc.

You can boil potatoes in a microwave for mash - very little water so they are more steamed than boiled or you can buy already mashed potatoes.

If you buy the prepped veg in the supermarket you can open the bag, stick a couple of spoonfuls of water in and cook in the microwave.

Pasta - boil a kettle, put the pasta in a pan with a lid, add the boiling water, put the lid on and leave for 5-10 mins (depending on fresh or dried). You can also cook kippers this way - in the plastic bag because you are reheating rather than cooking them.

Nothing wrong with sandwiches.

I have been known to order a take away and live on it for a few days bu ordering too much.

Potato waffles can be done in the toaster.

Home made soup - you have a slow cooker, you can make soup and then if you have a freezer freeze it and microwave another day.

Could you ask another parent from school to have your daughter to tea one day and do sausage and mash - you could even provide the ingredients if dd is really fussy. You can return the favour when you get your new oven.

Check your local supermarket, some have 'kids eat free' at 4-6pm - OK it's not home cooked food but it there should be something she eats, even if it is just chips.

BingBoing · 24/10/2013 10:18

I'll be in the same situation from next month, but for a lot longer (will have to see if I get can get a 2nd hand cooker at some point) - so this thread is very useful, and getting me to think about it now, thanks.

I've also got a microwave and slow cooker, but must dig out the sandwich toaster and steamer!

I normally brown stuff off on the hob before slow cooking, so not sure how everything will turn out without doing that...

sashh · 24/10/2013 10:27

I never brown before slow cooking, it works fine. If you want to brown then melt some butter int he microwave, add onions/meat/whatever and brown that way.

When you find the steamer you can wrap chick/meat/fish in foil parcels with seasoning and cook alongside veg.

I have a friend who has never owned a cooker, he uses a halogen oven.

dreamingofsun · 25/10/2013 08:54

i lived for a year - admittedly without children - with just a slow cooker and a microwave. its perfectly doable - i even did dinner parties

WilsonFrickett · 25/10/2013 11:51

If it's only going to be a couple of weeks (we were without a kitchen for 3 weeks) I just accepted that we were going to eat a lot of ready meals and DS (also fussy) wasn't going to have a lot of variety. Beans, soup, that sort of thing is all perfectly acceptable. Once a week we went to the supermarket and bought a ready cooked chicken, you know the hot ones? Obviously I wouldn't normally waste money on ready cooked chicken but it did make a difference and feel like a 'proper' tea.

HootShoot · 25/10/2013 11:57

We had the same thing and bought this

www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/9147782/Trail/searchtext%3EHOB.htm

It was great for us as we could continue to do pasta, rice, sauces etc. I cooked the sauces in the morning then reheated in the microwave whilst the potatoes/pasta/rice etc was cooking.

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