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!

The news that meat doesn't have to be braised pre slow cooker has been a revelation! So will be chucking stews in there left, right and centre..! Thanks for tips re microwaveable things I'd forgotten particularly veg which I will MISS. My DH used to be in the Army and is very excited about cooking with a kettle; me? Not so much!

Kitchen is going to be a cream shaker @Justjoinedtomoan with dark teak tops, the most glorious range and a double fridge freezer. Cannot WAIT! Will be worth the disruption I hope...

Reducing washing up is where the instant pot comes in handy.

Oh god I'd forgotten all about doing the washing up at the sink in the bathroom!

Can you prep any freezer meals in advance or is it happening very soon?

I like to box up chilli or stews so all I need to do is pop it in the microwave and serve with microwave rice or potato etc.

I have one of these now:
www.josephjoseph.com/products/washdrain-store-washingup-bowl-grey?variant=36470418440264&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3smABhCjARIsAKtrg6I2ivU98TNY6l2iZY9h7f0FfHgBb8YIa-YxZYJ5DZ20_oUT6ziImu0aAo89EALw_wcB

Was thinking recently this would have been helpful when we were doing our extension rather than the bathroom sink.

@harriethoyle will totally be worth it !! I bet it will be lovely x
I am just going to make a soup with dumplings as we speak :) this thread made me want them .

We lived for just over 6 weeks without a kitchen abs mainly relied on microwave meals and take aways. A lot of restaurants that you wouldn’t expect are doing take aways at the moment so for example our local was doing Sunday lunches just to survive in lock down so you might be surprised at what take away options are available.

My only other piece of advice which is not environmentally friendly but saved my sanity was paper plates and plastic cutlery.

Sounds like your kitchen will be really lovely in the end.

Families I used to work with stuck in B&B accommodation told me about things like boiling eggs in a kettle and leaving tins of food on the radiators all day to warm up for tea time, but you have the works- toaster, microwave, slow cooker- and seem not to need that sort of advice!

We ate microwave meals when we had no kitchen, and we both lost a load of weight - no second helpings, you see. Bonus!

lifesaver was here was a gas powered camping stove such as this:

www.argos.co.uk/product/3407497

available for more on Amazon. Uses butane cartridges and one kept us going for twice a day use for two weeks. Perfectly ok to use indoors and allows you to do stove-top stuff.

We went 6 weeks with no kitchen when the dc were in their teens. We had a f/f, microwave, toaster and kettle but bought a 2 ring electric hob from Amazon for £25 and it was great.

Pouches of microwaveable rice were good, as was fresh pasta - quicker to cook. I made a lot of sauces etc ahead, and put them in the freezer.

I thought we would do a takeaway a couple of times a week but in fact it was all so easy that we only got one twice.

We bought a derlict house last year and lived in it whilst waiting to get a static caravan. We had no flushing loo, mattresses on the floor and no fridge/freezer or kitchen!

There are several threads currently about slow cooker recipes which I was going to suggest too. In our static van, I have something in it most days and once cooked, leave it on a warm mode. You can then come in from outside and have something warm, instantly.

I also have a large, electric frypan. Its great for paellas, steak, chops, fish, stir fries and even boiled pasta in it. Ours is a larger version of this, but I've also seen square ones. www.wayfair.co.uk/VonShef--VonShef-Multi-Cooker-Electric-Skillet-With-Lid-07088-L827-K~VOSH1130.html?refid=GX225332802397-VOSH1130&device=c&ptid=536673380155&targetid=pla-536673380155&network=g&ireid=62817199&device=c&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3smABhCjARIsAKtrg6KowbjE_2oSL8h67wmYr8q6tMqlSTi9TLXISyYV3MIqs5PWjJcGAQoaAjn9EALw_wcB

Another idea is a mini oven thing. I've seen them at lidl/argos sometimes. Some versions even have hotplates on the top. www.argos.co.uk/browse/appliances/small-cooking-appliances/mini-ovens/c:29574/

Here is the slow cooker link for no fuss recipes:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/food_and_recipes/4147750-Just-throw-it-all-in-slow-cooker-recipes?msgid=104054205#104054205

Oh I've just realised I should have recommended an air fryer. We have the Aldi version which was about £30 and we use it almost every day. We could everything in it unless it is saucy!

I've just done the kids chicken/veg nuggets and sweet potato waffles but we cook grown up food in too! Pretty much anything goes in and it takes almost no cleaning as there's no oil used. It's also much quicker than our oven.