HELP, moved house 2 weeks ago, got no cooker, need ideas for feeding a 4 & a 1 yr old pleeeeease!

[lucykate]

moved on the 10th and have been living on sandwiches, sandwiches and more sandwiches. everyone is getting bored. i have no hob or oven but do have a microwave, bbq and toaster so any ideas for feeding kids would be gratefully recieved

gas man is coming on weds to run gas into the kitchen and we then have to buy a cooker and get it delivered asap.

even worse, when we moved, not only did i loose my cooker, but i also lost broadband, so limited mnetting

have i missed much????

Hi,
We had a similar problem when we moved in december, although dd was not born till end of jan - so just the two of us to feed.

have a look at microwave recipes

Also we used our george forman grill quite a bit too.

Quite often at work that is all we have for days.

Dolmio pasta in the packets is really quite nice along with the sauces.

Steamed veg, Couscous,

Heat through anykind of tomato sauce (I somethimes do my own) in a bowl spoon on to toasted pittas with cheese and micro just long enough to melt cheese.

Beans or spaggeti shapes with toasted pittas or mini nans.

Baked potatoes.

We don't have a cooker at the moment, so can sympathise! We do have an electric wok, however, which I can really recommend (although I'm getting a leeetle fed up with stir-frys) - you can use it like a big pan and cook curries, casseroles, big chillies, etc in it.

Pitta bread always goes down well with ds - pop it in the toaster, then fill with cheese & spring onion, tuna & sweetcorn, etc etc to ring the changes with the sandwiches. Cauliflower cheese is nice in the micro - wrap the cauli in clingfilm then cook it 3 mins each way up before making the cheese sauce. Rice, also, is v nice in the micro & you can mix in chopped bits of veg and sultanas to make a nice rice salad.

Hope you get your cooker up and running soon!

Oh yes, and cheese on toast - make the toast in the toaster, then melt the cheese on a plate in the micro - only takes a matter of seconds. Add a splash of worcester sauce "for a real boost" as ds would say .

can you not borrow a camping stove? then you can cook other things too

perfect weather for barbecues, salads etc

Freida - I'd never thought of doing that before - do you need to cut the cauli up or do you just wrap it up whole once you've taken the leaves off?

Hi Ellaroo - you remove all but the very pale green leaves of the cauli, wash it and wrap it up whole before cooking it 3 mins the right way up then 3 mins upside down. Leave it in the clingfilm while you're making the sauce (melt 1oz butter for 1 min, then stir in 1oz flour. Add half a pint of milk stirring continuously until smooth. Pop in a blob of mustard, salt & pepper & cook for about a minute until thick, then stir in a couple of ounces of cheese). Et voila!

I like the idea of cooking cauliflower cheese in the micro, it sounds so much easier!

thank you Freida - I do have an oven, but am always put off making cauliflower cheese as you end up with so many pans and seives at the end of it - this is the perfect way of cooking it! Thanks for the instructions.

couscous only needs a kettle

oooh no! You don't really do that, do you???? I can imagine people getting small pieces of cous cous in their tea for weeks afterwards!

You don't cook the couscous actaully in the kettle - just use boiling water in a covered bowl or jug.

lol - thank you for clarifying JackieN - wouldn;t like to be responsible for couscous floating in tes for 100's on MN'ers.

Instructions

Boil kettle
pour couscous into bowl
pour boiling water over couscous until covered
leave for 10-15 mins
Fluff couscous with fork
Mix in yummy stuff
Eat
Do not mix with tea

Have you got a freezer? Try www.kiddylicious.co.uk - very good, high quality frozen meals for toddlers

Buy yourself a book caled 'the 1000 classic student recipes' - loads and loads of recipes you can do with the equipment you described (costs about £3.99).

...sorry!...had misunderstood. Very obvious now, and must send huge apologies for going out and telling my mother about the strange woman on mumsnet who cooks couscous in her kettle!