Without oven for a month - recipes to freeze and then microwave?

[FourPlusOne]

Am moving house v soon. Will have a week or so there before the builders come in and sort out the whole kitchen/downstairs area. We will be living in - my builder has told me that he can make a bit of space for the microvave and sink. Basically I will have that set up in the corner of the room, and will have the kettle and toaster there. Am going to put the fridge and freezer in another room so will have that there too. Will be that way for over a month apparently.

In my first week I am hoping to cook dishes that can be frozen and re-heated in microwave. Am thinking casseroles as I tend to freeze this type of thing anyway. Other freezer fallbacks of mine are pasta sauce, spag bol, cottage pie base part etc - obviously none of these can be done as the 'other' part of the dish will not be do-able...and things like fishcakes, but I need to cook these in an oven.

DH reckons that we can have lots of salads, ham, olives, for our meals. That's fine for us, but I would like the children to have at least the option of a hot meal, esp on cold days. Breakfast/lunch is ok as I can do the usual for bfast and have sandwiches/beans on toast/food in cafe for lunch. I know I can fall back on ready meals, and lots are designed for children, but I don't want to use that as my main option - only in extreme emergency (besides which, a lot of those meals go in the oven I think).

Sorry, that so long winded! Anyone got any suggestions? If i freeze things that go with rice (like chilli) is there a rice around that just needs to be microwaved?

spag bol
curry
stew
chille
soup

Have you got or cAN YOU BEGG BORROW OR STEAL A SLOW COOKER? opps

Cos if you can I can give you a few recipies where you just either freeze or bung in a few things no prep.

Oh and there are loads of microwave rice things. DH's mate uses them all the time - Sainsbury's I think, but prob all the others too.

Yes a slowcooker would make your lives much easier.

Otherwise, lots of soup - you can then have salad, olives etc but with hot soup on the side.

Lasagne?

You can get microwave rice cookers which are really good - you just bung in rice and boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes.

Oh and cous cous would be really easy to have with casserole or sauce type things - just pour hot water on to it.

I make

Thai fish curry - 1 tin of cocnut milk, 2-3 cod fillets (Sainsbury own filleted and skined cod - they come in 6 blocks in the freezer part and cost about £2.60 - ideal cos no bones or skin to get rid of)frozen mixed vegtables (small veg broc, sweetcorn, peas, cauliflower mixed) thai curry paste.

Put fish into slow cooker (I have been defrosting the fish - but you can cook from frozen) open tin of c-milk and pour over fish now stir in as much paste as you like, then add two good handfulls of the mixed frozen vegtables. Put lid on slow cooker and cook for 6-8 hours on low (if cooking from frozen i would cook the first two hours on high) Serve with steamed rice - got a steamer?? Or noddles that you cook by poping in boiling water.

You can do the same recipy but use chicken (always defrost chx before cooking if using froozen)

Or Chx curry: put chicken thighs in slow cook (1 thigh for each person eating) pour over a tin of tomato and stir in curry paste of your choice put on lid and cook for 6-8 hours on low. Add yogurt to tone down for children. Serve with toasted pitta bread and cous cous.

Thanks for ideas. Haven't got a slowcooker but may ask around. Don't want to buy one as I don't think I will get much use out of it when things are back to normal. I prob would though if I were working, but am at home for a couple of years so mabe will get one whan I am back in the working world! Thanks for the recipes ivykaty - will look up this thread if I get my hands on a slowcooker!

Used to have an electric steamer but gave it to a friend and reverted to the metal one that goes on the hob - was too much of a faff to clean!

Forgot that couscous didn't need boiling. Will prob be using a lot of that then...and the microvave rice.

Soup good too. Didn't think of that.

Just remembered that you can buy veg in microwaveable bags - not tried before but may have to now!