OK so we are having our kitchen replaced - without cooking appliances for a week - what can I cook?

[mishymoo]

We are having our kitchen replaced w/c 8th Oct and will probably be without an oven and hob for about 1 week.

I have a slow cooker and microwave and was wondering if anyone had any ideas other than the usual stews, bolognaise, casseroles I can cook. TIA.

Waitrose do nice cooked chickens (if your local one has a rotisserie), do it with jacket pots and various steamed veg. Lamb shanks with flagolet beans is a good one for the slow cooker. Do it with rice (you can cheat as the hob is out and buy microwave rice sachets).

Thanks, don't suppose you have a recipe for soup, do you? Never been good at that but DS loves soup at nursery and I usually buy Heinz tomato and that's it

Guess you're right about weather, casseroles will probably go down well.

And you've just reminded me that I have a steamer which I haven't used for ages.

Braising steak, carrots and onions bunged in slow cooker then completely forgotten about all day till food time. Serve with more veg.

1 week

Can't you just have salad, butties, soup, toast and take-out?

Lucky you btw, mine was out of use for 5 months while I was preg.

Well I am hoping it will be one week! DH and FIL will be fitting new kitchen - think I am being optimistic??

I am hoping they will at least be able to get cooker and hob back in quickly - can live without cupboards a bit longer.

Thanks again for recipes - I am so crap at making soups!

Pot Noodles?

I was without a kitchen for 3 wks (was supposed to be 2 but bl*§dy fitters had overbooked grrr).

I didn't even have a sink or a worktop, just a bucket, fridge, microwave, steamer and electric mini oven. I just cooked like mad for a couple of weeks beforehand and filled the freezer to bursting with as much a variety of dishes as possible - lasagne, curries inc. rice, pizzas, pilafs, falafels, gratins etc. Everything then just got microwaved or cooked in the mini oven. I did get some fresh veg occasionally and either ate it raw or steamed it (for DD's finger food), but that was it.

It got a bit hairy in the last week (when I was expecting to have my kitchen!) when we pretty much ran out of food and basically lived on sandwiches, mexican whasits and takeaway pizzas, but heck, we survived. I never thought I'd be so glad to be finally able to boil a pan of water for pasta.

you can cook excelletn chips from the chip shop.

Didn't mind having no oven/hob.

It was the sink for me. 5 months of carrying the dirty dishes up the stairs to bend over the edge of the bath to wash them. 7months pg in July, the hottest one on record. Thought I was gonna die! Actually cried into that bath on a number of occasions!

I repeat, you don't know you're born, 1 week indeed

1 week sounds possible if it's a reasonably easy job and there's two people on it. But tbh, I'd bank on it being longer.

Ours was a knocking through two rooms job, floor needed levelling with concrete (took 2weeks to go off), rewired, replumbed, plastered, tiled, etc,etc. Worth the pain though - tis bootiful now

Katsma - we are having more or less the same done as you had. Knocking small wall down, re-wiring, new tiles, probably new plaster!

I guess one week is very optimistic! I didn't think about not having a sink - that is going to be a PITA!

mishy - have you got everything there ready to be fitted? Part of our delay was supplier (won't name names!) delivering 3 weeks late, the wrong stuff, damage, bits missing etc, etc. Fridge actually had a whole corner missing!

My advice is, don't remove the existing kitchen before checking that everything is ready to go.

So hana has a month in the sweep. I'll go for 5 weeks. Closest gets a virtual meal of their choice cooked in mishys shiny new kitchen

mishy - you must resurrect this thread when it's finished to let us know who's dining with you

Hi Katsma - just to let you know that yes, the new kitchen is sitting, waiting in our garage, ready to be fitted. Time will tell if anything is missing or damaged!!

Of course, I will resurrect this thead once it's done to see if you lot will be buying me dinner 'cos I give it 2 weeks!

am living thru it at the moment...no kitchen for three weeks...bought one of those oven-hob combos. have managed for three weeks with basic stews for ds and takeaway and micro meals for us...
but am told it will be finished tomorrow!! fingers crossed!

Good luck - we were without a kitchen for 2 years! It took dh that long to install it....

oh I do feel for you newbbiemum! I am really looking forward to having a nice bright shiny new kitchen but could do without the mess and chaos it's going to cause! I guess we're going to live on stews and micro meals for a little while!

No way tortoise....I would kill my DH before he let it go on that long. I am giving them 2 weeks tops to get most of it sorted!

We are going through it at the mo - on our fifth week (although were away for 1st) and have been living off microwave and takeaways. Am very fed up of it but M&S do some pretty good microwave meals.

Not only do we not have facilities to use more than microwave but it means you use less things so washing up easier.

End of this week I think we;ll be up and running again.... and then they start moving the water tank.............

katmsa, I could say - 5 months but I won't! Was that 2003 by any chance? I was pg that summer too (dd born August, 37 degrees that day) and it was TERRIBLE! We were without our kitchen then as well!

I say 2 weeks kind of 'tongue in cheek' - I mean 2 weeks to at least get the 'bones' of it in, i.e. cooker and sink - can live without cupboards!