No kitchen for 3 weeks - what to eat?!

[harriethoyle]

Timing is obviously LOUSY because at this time of year all I want is hearty, home cooked food and obviously no restaurants to go to... Pretty bog standard takeaways near us and don't want to live on them for three weeks. Any suggestions for how and what to cook?

We have a microwave, toaster, kettle and fridge freezer in the lounge. Any genius suggestions welcome!

Buy a slow cooker, they're not at all expensive and you do not need to brown stuff first.

I did this for 6 weeks with 4 of us - microwave, toaster and kettle in the living room! It was ok if repetitive. Lots of pasta, cous cous (no cooking only hot water required) and tins of stuff. Scrambled eggs are easy and jacket potatoes (combi micro so they were reasonably done). You can get toastie bags that go in the toaster- you can cook fish Fingers and waffles from frozen in them! As well as cheese toasties.

I also did a bit of pre-prep stuff stored in the freezer - mince, stews etc. that just needed heating through.

The kids were living their best lives!

I have a slow cooker @randomsabreuse but does not braising mean that the meat is a bit insipid, if that makes sense?!

Thanks @Saisong I'll look on amazon for toaster bags... (Mmmmm, waffles)

I would most highly recommend the Tefal single induction hob, £49.99 in John Lewis.
Was an absolute godsend when we went without our kitchen for a few weeks.

My sister bought an air fryer while her kitchen was being built. Lots you can cook in it.

Almost all Asian food has a microwave recipe because that’s all some city folk have over there to cook with. You need sites that target locals. Vegrecipesofindia and tarla dalal are good Indian sources with a solid list of microwave recipes but you can find loads of Thai, Malay Korean and Chinese stuff too

I love using the slow cooker or the George Foreman grill is great if you like meat!
Can use the microwave for rice or potatoes. Lots of easy quick meals!

Thanks all, I feel a bit more reassured now - @Sparkles512 I'd TOTALLY forgotten about those microwaveable rice pouches! Good reminder...

Just buy a one or two ring electric hob! You will easily recoup the money you save on takeaways, microwaveable meals and rice pouches.
I had no kitchen once for six weeks and seriously regret not doing just that. Or an electric frying pan bare minimum. You can also get electric rice cookers.

Just buy a portable hob!!!!

2 ring electric hob, 1 instant pot, microwave and a small camping oven and you will be able to cook pretty much anything you want to.

We lived on microwave rice, those prepared veg you can steam in microwave (Tesco or M&S were good for these) and salmon actually very good microwaved! Some days just ready meals, couscous etc.

When I had no kitchen I had the two ring hob to cook on ( not as powerful a lot messier and time consuming but welcome ) but the game changer for me was my electric pressure cooker as I could make soups etc / steam veg / brown fry meat etc and used that the most as it was quick and easy and kept the food smell to a minimum . I now have a rice cooker they are amazing and wished I had that then .
I had never used a electric pressure cooker till then its now something I wouldn't be without .

We had an induction hot plate from Ikea when we had our kitchen put in and it was a lifesaver!

I’d go with a slow cooker. We ate like kings during our ‘no kitchen period’. I fully thought I’d give it away as soon as the kitchen was done, but I hung onto it for several more years.

Yes, lots of microwaveable stuff in pouches. Not only rice, but other grains, and I’m sure Jamie O had some veggie curry Chanda dhal kind of stuff.

This has been us for a year! We bought an electric hot plate and already have a slow cooker and really, apart from pizza and baking cakes, I'm not missing the oven. We have lovely neighbours and family who have delivered lots of meals, including on Christmas Day, which has been amazing.

Scrambled eggs on bagels (with smoked salmon)

Ready meals that can be microwaved - I had a beef bourguignon and mash frozen meal from maybe Aldi? recently. Not gonna win a Michelin star any time soon but it was actually pretty satisfying after a long day at work.

Tinned veg

Cereal - ready brek porridge with a pot of fruit mixed through for a warm breakfast to set you up for a cold day

Good luck - we had no kitchen and a huge hole in the wall of the house in 2018 when we had that awful snowy weather for weeks and building work had to stop. I had a nearly 2 year old and was v pregnant and DH had buggered off. So stressful. I remember sitting at our local McDonald's in the snow crying quietly while my 1 year munched chips

do you have a barbecue you could use?

@harriethoyle - bear in mind where you will be washing up stuff from your meals. I can recall scrubbing BBQ bits in our bath many years ago. It was a new low!

Those McCains jacket potatoes are quite good (come frozen but cook in 5 mins almost as good as an oven one). You can microwave eggs to form a frittata type thing but a hob would be better!
You can get microwave pouches of pasta and rice.
Anyone remember microchips?! And micro pizzas! (my uni days)
You can microwave new potatoes
Sorry I don't have more ideas. This will be us soon too!

We were without a kitchen for months during a refurb! We bought a tefal induction hob off amazon and an electric steamer. That with our combi microwave meant we always had meals in the same way as when we had the kitchen. We set it up in the utility room with a makeshift worktop from the old kitchen.

We just got the 8in 1 ninja works as a 10l oven, can also toast items, and airfry it was just over £100 on QVC
For me it's ace as kids dont spend half hour heating the oven to cook one bloody chicken kiev to shove in a sandwich (true story) gets to 200c in 2 minutes

ah its gone up in price, but when I compare cost of takeaways... ninjakitchen.co.uk/product/ninja-foodi-8-in-1-flip-mini-oven-sp101uk-zidSP101UK

@byebyemissamericanpie that was the main reason I loved the pressure cooker so much as I could do the meat and steam veg/potatoes at the same time with limited pots to wash which I did in a gorilla tub in the bath :)
what colour is your kitchen going to be ?

A halogen oven is cheap and big enough to do a roast chicken