kitchen out of action - help!

[runner2]

We're about to embark on a total kitchen refurb which is going to take about 6 weeks. Never done anything like this before and I'm getting anxious about how I'm going to manage to feed a family of 4 while it's all going on. We can't afford to eat out all the time, nor get takeaways, besides which I want healthy meals, not junk or fast food! Can anyone who has been in this situation give me some advice please?

Haven't done anything like this before personally, but have some ideas that may help.

What kind of meals do you usually eat? Do you have a microwave you could keep in a different room? You may be surprised just how much you can cook in microwave oven - google 'microwave recipes' & it should come up with loads of results.

Have you a slow cooker? Didn't really get on with mine but they're popular with many people and again you could just plug it in & use somewhere else.

Washing dishes in bathroom is usually feasible. For days that are very difficult, you could use paper plates & plastic cutlery. But it will be a lot of waste.

Will you be able to access fridge/freezer?

You could batch cook & freeze a lot of meals to see you through the initial couple of weeks or so.

Sorry about disjointed reply.

Buy a plug in hot plate - there are loads of things you can cook on the hob - and put the fridge freezer in another room. I used the utility room, which had a sink, when the kitchen was being redone.

Following with interest as likely to be in the same position.

One of those little halogen ovens would be a godsend. You can cook nearly anything in those.

Right, we did this three years ago for 2.5 mths. I'm not going to lie to you and say it was easy but it was hell we got through it and now have a love,y kitchen.

Here's what I did...

1. I bought a halogen oven (about 30 quid from ebay) you can cook anything in those baby's incl roasts, cakes, sausages, salmon, veg, jacket pots...everything. I also had a camping stove that I used outside/ In my utility room with door and window open on wet days not recommended but we didn't die to cook pasta, some veg etc. I didn't have a slow cooker then but it would have been invaluable.
2. I had a 'station' in the dining room using the dining table, fridge and freezer (used the top as a table iyswim) which had on top the kettle, toaster, tea, coffee, sugar, halogen oven, microwave, chopping board/prep space. I found it so much easier if I kept this as clean and clutter free as possible.
3. I bought paper plates and cutlery. I was only able to wash up in the bathroom sink = no draining board. No dishwasher either so I kept washing up to a mimimum. I contemplated buying disposable aluminium trays too but came across that idea too late.
4. Batch cook and freeze now. Complete meals so think lasagne, cottage pie, chilli etc. buy some microwave rice etc to nuke when the main bit is cooked (in the halogen)

That's all I can think of atm but I'm sure I'll think of more...

Good luck don't envy you!

If you don't have a BBQ, buy one or get some disposables, we did our kitchen at this time of year, just as the weather was getting a bit warmer so I would kick dp out to cook whilst I made the rest of the meal. Just remember to sling him a brolly if the weather changes...

I don't have a utility room nor dishwasher. I will move the microwave , kettle and toaster into the dining room, and am thinking about buying a 2-ring plug-in hob (any recommendations?). Will look at halogen ovens but I've got to spend as little as poss. Having said that, in the interests of keeping washing-up in the bathroom to a minimum, I will probably get as much disposable stuff as I can. Moonwatching, we eat quite a lot of stir-fries, curry, pasta - that sort of thing, and I am going to batch-cook and stock up the freezer as much as poss.

I know it will be worth it in the end, but I am starting to feel quite anxious now...

Slowcooker is the way to go IMO.

You'll be fine, don't worry. In typical british fashion you'll just have to make the best of a bad situation and get on with it, plus, it's not like it'll be forever is it?

Try putting a shout out on your local fb selling pages for a halogen oven or hot plate, someone is bound to have one lurking at the back of a cupboard. And, thinking about it, 30 quid is only the cost of a couple of takeaways anyway, and, I found that after the kitchen was finished, I still used the halogen oven to cook small things that I couldn't justify cranking the big oven up for (therefore using less electricity) so you'll save money going forward too.

'we eat quite a lot of stir-fries, curry, pasta - that sort of thing'

In which case, I'd forget the halogen oven and concentrate on a small hob thingy. Possibly slow oven too - depends how you cook your curries. If there's any long stewing involved probably a slow oven would work better than mini hob. (Disclaimer: I've never used a mini hob.)

I had no kitchen AT ALL for 6 months and we are a family of 6.

I bought a set of cheap plastic shelves from B&Q and built them in the dining room. I got a few big boxes to store essential cupboard stuff - condiments, cereal etc. Kettle also went on there with mugs. It looked shocking but it did the job! Fridge came into the dining room too.

Luckily I've got a freezer in the garage - without it I'd have had to shop more often.

Lunches were always soup/sandwiches/shop bought sausage rolls. For tea I used the slow cooker every day. I bought bags of microwaveable rice and veg to go with stews/casseroles/curries etc. sometimes It would take 2.5 mins between dishing up servings while we waited for rice so DD1 was finished before DD4 was served! But it works.

I kept 2 washing up bowls and filled them from the downstairs loo sink. One for rinsing, one for washing. Dried straight away. It's manageable!

I found a great Facebook page for slow cooker recipes too. Good luck!