MEALS! Well....here's the conditions...okay.... Kitchen will start the process of being redone this weekend. I "think" this weekend he's only knocking out part of the wall for the pass thru. THEN.... Eventually I will lose everything. He says he's going to leave as much connected for as long as he can...but there will be days where I won't have a stove, or I won't have the sink or I won't have anywhere to cook... HELP! I need ideas (besides take out that I cannot do b/c of my dietary issues) for meals that I can do...with those restrictions. Dishes don't scare me too much....I can do them in our laundry sink... I'm thinking maybe crockpot meals....I can buy those liners to make cleanup easier. He says he will NOT be disconnecting the fridge at all...except for the day he installs the cabinets around the fridge and the day he does the floor...and he says even then he'll move it to another power source so it will be running and I won't be without a fridge. Gosh, I'm SOOO SCARED! My only consolation is that I know he wants it done as fast as I do...AND that he and my BIL are doing all the work so it's OUR timetable and not a contractors or anything like that. I'm FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW! AHHHHH!!!!! Thanks....
Do you have a large enough microwave that you could freeze some meals and microwave then when you needed them? Crockpot meals are a good idea, too. Of course, there's always sandwiches. (I gues you have to make gluten free bread.)
Our micro is a pretty good sized...but he's going to be tearing that out as soon as the cabinets go - and the other one we have is too small. I'm thinking of spending next week doing a bunch of cooking of things that can be reheated in the crock pot maybe? Like Chili, Soups, Stews and such...Sandwiches are okay - as long as I have a fridge - we have great deli...and I can use a romaine lettuce leaf as bread or buy GF bread (I try not to buy it - but I won't be able to bake f a while). THANKS... keep em coming!
I went through a kitchen remodel and used my crockpot, toaster oven and a plug-in griddle. I did my dishes in the bathtub! good luck!
I was also thinking of an electric griddle. Cooking meals that can be thrown in the crock pot sounds like a great idea too.
Burritos can be made up, frozen, and reheated in a microwave. Personally, I'd probably cook up some ground beef and some chicken to freeze, and worry about what to do with it later. :lol: (Beef can be used for taco salad, burritos, hmbgr helpers. Chicken can be eaten plain with veggies, mixed with ramen noodles and canned soups to make chicken spaghetti, or... burritos! LOL Or put into any sort of crockpot meal as well.) Another crock pot meal is roast w/potatoes and carrots. My first thought, before reading and seeing the entire thread, was freezer meals to reheat in the oven. BUT, since you wont have an oven... but maybe you could make up some of those sorts of things (casseroles, etc) and freeze them in individual containers to be reheated in the microwave instead of the oven. Also, an electric griddle has been mentioned already, and would be good. You can cook anything on there that you would use a pan for; steaks, pork chops, eggs and pancakes.... Goodness! Good luck and congrats on the remodel!
Come to think about it, you can bake them in advance, freeze them and thaw them out when you plan to eat them.
No stove: use the crockpot (stew or soup) good time to use those crockpot liners waffle maker purchased hot pockets (breakfast kind or meat and cheese kind) pre cook bacon for BLT's NO microwave or sink Keep frozen pizza on hand bake potatoes top it with (pre cooked) taco meat or shreeded meat like boyds --- in the tubs, or canned chili and cheese roast, vegetables (use a throwaway kind of pan for the roast --- toss in cut potato, carrots and onions or celery on the side) Make sure you have plenty of bottled water on hand, baby wipes, disposable plastic cups (write names on them and use a few times) paper towels and paper plates. (this isn't the time to be on the ECO bandwagon-- unless the paper products you buy are mostly from recycled products)
Do you have a neighbor, friend, or family member that will let you use their kitchen? What about your church kitchen? Otherwise I like all the ideas mentioned here already: crock pot, electric griddle or frying pan, microwave, sandwiches or cold salads. Think of it this way, you will be inconvenienced for a little while, but in the end you will have a beautiful, new, kitchen! YAY!
Thank you! We talked about timeframe last night. This stresses me out soooo much. YES, I am excited...but I LIVE in my kitchen. (I have pictures on how it looks now on my blog if you want to see it). It's going to be amazing when it's done! My husband and I have been working on the design for over a year! So...I'm just nervous....he says it will be about three weeks where it won't be functional. He's going to move the Fridge to the dining room so I won't be without a fridge. I think we're going to set up the dining room table and set it back against the wall and make it a "staging area" for cooking, prepping etc. I think we'll bring up our smaller microwave (which will actually be the one going in the new kitchen - we had a great stainless micro when we lived in Phoenix so we brought it with us - but this house had a micro so it's been in the mud room for 2 years!). So I WILL have a crock pot and a micro. I have a FLAT griddle and an electric grill - but I'm concerned they might be hard to clean when we have no sink and dishwasher. I just got a larger crockpot from someone on freecycle so now I have a 5 qt. YEAH! He's on a business trip most of next week so I'm going to spend the whole week cooking and freezing and getting ready. I have a freezer in the basement. I've asked that if he starts this weekend that he and his brother plan out a timetable....that he can tear out the pass thru...but he can't go on a business trip and leave me with a non-functional kitchen. SOOOO....NEXT weekend (yes...EASTER weekend!) he will be tearing out ALL the cabinets, the flooring, the tiling on the wall and basically making the kitchen empty. He said he'd probably take out the stove at that time too. SOOO...I want to be ready with all the stuff I need.... He says that it will be about 3 weeks until it's done. Maybe 4 or more for the countertops depending on what kind of surface we go with....and if we do prefab...and they cut out the sink themselves it will be faster. Okay....he's also given me permission (lol!!!) to do paper plates, plastic utensils and cups....we've been on the "Story of Stuff" route for a while now - but he's said we just have to live this way for a few weeks then we'll go back to our conserving ways - the earth will not die in three weeks! Will it???? Okay...I'm REALLY stressing....about to go enter a prayer request...I have one week left with a real kitchen. I can do this. It will be worth it. I know it will! LOL...are you all laughing at me yet?
stop stressing. Make a small plan, that you will change if need to be. Make a list of crockpot meals BUY THOSE LINERS FOR QUICK CLEAN UP! make a list of refrigerated and non refrigerated items you can live on for lunches and dinners. granola bars cereal bars instant oatmeal (just heat hot water in the microwave) peanut butter crackers (also come with cheese) string cheese yogurt don't forget you can griddle grilled cheese sandwiches, put a hot dog in a bun and wrap it in a paper towel and mircowave (do 2 for 1 min) tortilla wraps fruit cups pita pocket sandwiches do you have a grill?? do hamburgers, hobo packets even grilled pizza bake some cookies or brownies to wrap individually and put in the freezer too (I assume you will have a toaster for frozen waffles, pop tarts, toaster strudel, toast etc...) and use paper bowls and spoons for the cereal for breakfast.
I was just going to say that -- A GRILL. You can reheat alot of meals on your grill. When we travelled to Alaska last summer I had all our meals made in the freezer of our rv so we didn't need to spend alot of time cooking. Chili Pasties Lasagna (heated on the grill-it was made in a disposable pan) breakfast burritos (made scrambled eggs with sausage and cheese rolled up in a tortilla and would put in the for breakfast right out of the freezer) hamburgers hot dogs pizza on the grill isn't bad either cookies (bake and freeze them)my kids loved pulling out their favorite cookies tacos (I had the meat already fried up and we would put it in the shells and put on the grill for a short time) Aball also has alot of good suggestions. We use a griddle for breakfast alot! Pancakes french toast zucchini patties (taste like hashbrowns) sausage bacon My griddle cleans very easily. Just with a couple wipes. Do you have a bread machine? You could still make bread if you do. If you don't is their anyone you know that doesn't use theirs much that you could borrow? Good luck!
Hey Krista, I had to do without my kitchen for about a month as well. It wasn't easy, but I had a ton of spare time on my hands. It is amazing how much time I do spend in the kitchen. All of my kitchen stuff was moved to the front porch since the living room was demolished as well. So was the washer and dryer!! I use my grill for everything. I had some cheap pans that I used, remeber no glass on the grill. But you can bake bread, pizza, cakes etc. I would say with just a little tweaking most things that are done in the oven can be done on the grill. With the lid open you can use it like a stove top. I also used the crockpot a ton. Whole chickens make several meals for us, baked potatoes, spagetti (cook ground meat in crockpot (over night), then add sauces stuff, then about an hour before dinner add pasta) veggie soup. etc We also ate lots of sandwiches, cereal, and salads. I will pray for you. It is tough. Not only will your kitchen be a mess, so will the rest of your house. I pray that your allergies are ok with all of this, and your kids do well with the changes. You will make it through it all and will have a wonderful kitchen afterwards. Aggie
