Favorite recipes in a make shift kitchen?

13 years ago

As most of our choices have been made for our kitchen reno, I am turning my attention to how are we going to live without a kitchen for a "few weeks". What are some of your favorite easy recipes. My DH is on south beach ( really works for him) so we try to avoid starches ( or have them separate ) for the kids. I plan on getting a crock pot - never had one before.

We are trying to avoid eating out every night. It gets expensive with 3 kids left at home. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Comments (19)

Shira S
13 years ago
I haven't gone through this yet, but can you list your small appliances?

My MIL makes chicken cutlets in the microwave. She takes the cutlets, puts a thin layer of oil and paprika on them and microwaves them. I have no idea time or power, but I can ask her.

Do you have a george forman grill or a regular grill? Grill hamburgers, chicken of all types etc. I'm going to switch to buying pre-made patties even though they are more expensive because its one less bowl to wash in a makeshift kitchen.

Also, most things can be made in a microwave (like rice or pasta).
lascatx
13 years ago
My best tip would be to be to prepare some things in advance and stock the freezer --casseroles, but also things like grilled or roasted chicken that can be cut up and put into so many things, taco meat, soup or chili, muffin meatloaves - things that are easy to reheat and don't require additional pans to wash were more important than the cooking itself.

I did leave my crockpot out but forgot about my waffle iron that had changeable plates and could be used as a griddle or press for quesadillas or grilled cheese. That would have been nice to have. I had to buy a small micro to replace the built-in that died before we started, so I pulled that out and used it and bought an inexpensive toaster oven. We also have a grill and a camping stove we could use outdoors, so it was easy to cook -- cleanup without a kitchen sink was the bigger pain.
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Lori Ryan
Original Author
13 years ago
I have a microwave and a tiny toaster oven. I like the idea of freezing dinners. Great idea! I do have a waffle iron and a panini maker. My husband will be getting a new grill ( since I am getting all new appliances). We were planning this for spring so we could grill instead of ordering out. Any adivce for cleaning up?
baquinn
13 years ago
Hi LRy511,
I made some dinners in a crock pot---used crock pot liners (which I would never do when my kitchen is functional) to cut down on cleanup. I have a turkey pot roast recipe that uses turkey thighs, carrots, onion, and potatoes, (which could easily be left out for carb-avoiders) which my DH absolutely loves.
westsider40
13 years ago
We are in the midst of the no kitchen phase, and I suggest you collect a lot of plastic or other trash bags and paper towels. Before I wash anything in the powder room sink, I wipe it completely clean with a paper towel. The paper towel goes into the trash. That is to prevent foodstuffs clogging the bathroom drain. I, too, find the cleanup difficult, so we don't cook much, but we are empty nesters now.
harrimann
13 years ago
I have a pancake/waffle griddle, and I've discovered that corn bread batter makes wonderful corn pancakes. They're so good that we'll probably still make them when we have our kitchen back! We have the cornbread pancakes with soup that I make in my crockpot.

I've heard that you can boil noodles in a rice cooker, so I might try it this week.
laughablemoments
13 years ago
Disposable dishes. Finger foods. I recommend plastic wash basins or large pots that you can fill with hot water and put them on a table for doing dishes. One basin for soapy water, another one for rinse water. Wash silverware, then cups, then any dishes that you ate off if you din't use disposables, and finally the greasy and grungy stuff. I find washing at the table is much more comfortable than doing dishes in the bathroom (and is similar to what our ancestors did before having indoor plumbing.) A big thick towel can be spread out on the table to set a dishdrainer on for drip drying. Working in a circle around the table can even be fun for the whole family. : ) One kid scrapes, one washes, one rinses, one dries, oh wait you only have 3 LOL.

Google crock pot recipes. There are lots of yummy ideas. I'm normally not one for lots of processed foods, but I definitely bent this rule when we had to abandon our kitchen to refinish our floors last year. A tall cheap metal bookshelf makes a good makeshift pantry, too (craigslist?) If you have the space, you might want to see if you can have some of your old counters and cabs saved and set them up in your alternate kitchen spot until your new kitchen is done. It's awfully handy to have a patch of countertop to work on.

Hope your project goes well! : )
lascatx
13 years ago
Do scrape your plates -- the paper towel isn't a bad idea if you have things that are sticking to the dishes. Use a dishpan to collect your dishes and carry them all together to the place you wash them. You can rinse it out and carry them back to dry and put them away. We used a folding table and a snap together shelving unit to house our make shift kitchen. The shelving unit was out pantry and the table had our micro, coffee maker, toaster oven and served as counter space. We had a shelf that was designed to hold a TV with the VCR underneath that we set the micro on and store napkins and dishtowels underneath.
laughablemoments
13 years ago
This probably goes without saying, but deeper dishpans are definitely better.
itsallaboutthefood
13 years ago
Learn to scramble and poach eggs in the microwave. (Scramble eggs in a bowl with a little water, micro for 15-20 secs, stir, repeat until done). (For poaching, crack egg in a bowl of water, put plate over bowl, micro for about 30 sec, carefully turn egg over with a spoon, micro about 30 sec more).

Have breakfast for dinner - make your own burritos with eggs, sausages, cheese, salsa etc.

Rediscover frozen chicken pot pies (the ones from Trader Joe's if you have that are really good).
10KDiamond
13 years ago
Roast chickens, and quasi-prepared "gourmet" foods from the prepared and already packaged fresh food section at the supermarket were easy and actually not as expensive as I expected. Much, much cheaper than going out to eat and very easy to prepare; clean up. DD loved the fetticcini alfredo w/chicken. Cost $7.80 for a huge pan, which allowed for left overs. With steam-in-bag microwave veggies, garlic bread warmed up in the toaster oven and yes, it's dinner. DS loved cinnamon rolls baked in the toaster oven for breakfast. Didn't have the energy to use the crock pot (but may have, had I gotten some of those ready-to-crock packaged thingys). Didn't use the rice cooker. Yes, used the griddle/grill. Yes, the microwave was essential.

Wasn't very motivated to cook much. And clean up - even with a huge laundry sink in my mudroom-turned temp kitchen, wasn'y much fun. I lost weight. More from the stress.

Note that the prepared food section is usually next to the liquor section in the Supermmarkets that I frequent, which was wonderful. During kitchen remodels, one grows to appreciate those rare times when things are actually "easy".
redstar123
13 years ago
Just the other day, I realized that I will have to get a Costco sized package of paper plates. I never buy these, even when we go camping (normally a lot) I use regular plates.

My daughter is on the swim team, and her practice generally falls during dinner. We try to eat together, but it means that dinner most every week night is from the crock pot. Someone else mentioned, and I would definitely second it, google crock pot recipes. www.crockpot365blogspot.com is one of my favorites.

Thanks for the mention of crock pot liners. I have never even considered buying them, but since I know I will be using my crock pot so much, I will make it a point to find some.

I also have a toaster/convection oven I plan to use.

I'm very nervous about this stage, because we bought a fridge early, and put it in a different spot. It has me so messed up ALREADY (we haven't even begun anything else). All my cabinets, counter top, sink are all in place. Also, dh will be doing all the work himself, so even more delays could occur.
sara_the_brit_z6_ct
13 years ago
I bought a plug-in electric burner for about $12 at the hardware store. It's not great, but made a huge difference in what we were able to cook, and for that price it was worth it!
I used my rice cooker a lot too: as a crockpot, as a saucepan - we cooked pasta in it (you just have to keep clicking it back to 'heat' from 'warm'). Made lots of soups in it. Turned out to be very versatile.

We were lucky to have a sink in the basement, so were perfectly able to wash dishes right there, where we'd set up the temporary kitchen anyway.

If you currently have an electric oven, but are getting rid of it - wait! Our electrician put a plug on it, so we could run it off the 220v outlet for the dryer: it made a huge difference.
User
13 years ago
Good question for me too. Love the suggestion about paper towels wiping plates before washing.

I spent the weekend cooking chicken and have a few containers of diced chicken, shredded chicken with taco sauce, cooked ground beef, and a couple of meatloaves. I'll look for the crockpot liners too.

Where did you put your crockpot and microwave when your kitchen was under construction? We have a room in the garage so I can use that, and it has a big sink so washing dishes isn't a problem, just a hassle when we're busy or tired.

Restar123 posted a link to a crockpot blog, and I had to go find it. It looks good and I'm going to post a link for it to make it easier.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crockpot365
celineike
13 years ago
i just went out and got one of those electric griddles...like for pancakes and bacon.. and i can make quite a few things on there! nice big surface for pancakes as well. it's making me think i might want 2 of my 6 burners to be a griddle instead of a grill!
painterly
13 years ago
Yay, great thread!

I have lived with a makeshift mini kitchen for a YEAR, so I have had some time to practice :)

I went to Target and picked up a double electric burner like this:

so that I could still boil water and pan fry chicken, etc. At first, it took FOREVER- but I realized that covering the pot while boiling the water made the water boil very very fast!

Another big food besides pasta has been chicken. I just take some cutlets, sprinkle them with a bit of adobo, poke holes with fork and then marinate in a container with some italian dressing. You can keep it in the fridge and take out cutlets as you need them. No need for oil in the pan when you sear them. Simple and pretty yum without much preparation.

Oh- and... My sister used to sell pampered chef and sent me this recipe for the microwave- if you have a deep dish baker, this is AWESOME! You would never know this came from a microwave- the chicken tastes roasted! Below is a recipe link with a few variations.

We are finally throwing out our makeshift kitchen this weekend. I feel like I may cry from happiness when we do!

Here is a link that might be useful: Microwave roast chicken
schoolhouse_gw
13 years ago
Yes, I agree about freezing as much as you can ahead of time, then nuking it in the microwave. I had done three or four different soups the month before my kitchen remodel. Didn't plan it that way, but they sure came in handy. But for a family, you'd have prepare much more soup than I did.
Lately I've been buying already prepared, hot meals from the deli section of my local market. Most run $5.49 ea., so yes, it does run into money.

The electric hot plate - excellent idea! I'm lucky in that I can still use my gas stove in the kitchen for making coffee and some pasta dishes; but I don't want to fry foods or prepare complicated recipes with the rest of the kitchen spread all over the house. Plus didn't want to ruin any of the new beadboard until it's painted.

It's been almost a month since the remodel started, but it should finish up her soon. Can't wait to get back to normal.
ae2ga
13 years ago
I suggest an electric skillet. You can buy a big one at Target for $20 - they even have one that has a removable pot/skillet part. It's excellent for cooking everything from soups to desserts. I am a big fan of one pot dinners during the work week - chop fresh ingredients, put on top, come back 20-30 minutes and tada! toss a salad, steam of veggie and dinner. If you're working and have children, this may be a life saver.
jmcgowan
13 years ago
This recipe won't work for your husband, but your kids may love it! Yeasted waffles - make the batter at least the 7-8 hours before you wish to make them in a waffle maker, and the batter keeps for a few days. I find that kids can make these on their own (with some supervision). A good "breakfast" for "dinner"! (This recipe is an old one from Cook's.) You can always mix up a few batches of the dry ingredients and store them in ziplocks ready to mix up with the wet ingredients.

Warm until hot to touch (use microwave):
1 3/4 c. milk (any type)
8 T. (1 stick) unsalted butter

Mix together:
2 c. flour
1 T. sugar
1 t. salt
1 1/2 t. yeast

Beat into the dry mixture:
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla

Add milk/butter mixture to above mixture, stir (can stir as much as you want, it will help the gluten develop), cover and place in fridge until ready to use. Needs to sit at least 7-8 hours in fridge.

Cook batter in a waffle iron.

Favorite recipes in a make shift kitchen?

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Shira S

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Favorite recipes in a make shift kitchen?

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