Meal/equipment ideas for kitchen remodel

[CL Fan]

After much planning, dreaming, etc., we will be remodeling our kitchen (among other rooms - funny how things snowball)!!! We knock down walls in just 3 weeks! Any ideas for meals or "must haves" for a temporary kitchen?

My contractor is setting up a temporary kitchen with a slop sink & my existing fridge & microwave. I also have a crockpot. It's my husband, myself and our one year old. Ideas?

[Gail]

Well, gee... if you've got a crockpot, you've got all kinds of things available to you... (see recent crockpot thread and run a search for scads of others.)

For the 5 weeks I was without my kitchen, I made boeuf bourguignonne in my electric wok, roasts in my teeny-tiny crockpot (officially a "crockette") and used my toaster oven for anything requiring an oven. My painter, I think, was trying to make me feel inferior for not having a microwave at the time, but truly I did fine without it. In fact, I'd wager to say that during those five weeks, my family probably had better dinners with those three things than the painter had with a complete kitchen! With your microwave, you can steam fish and veggies, make lasagna, potatoes... Really, it just takes a little more planning beforehand figuring out logistics, where to take your chopping board, and cleanup. If you have access to an electric frypan or wok, it's almost like having your stove!

Good luck!

[sneezles]

A mantra maybe! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

This will all be worth it, this will all be worth it...

[CL Fan]

Thanks for the ideas - and the mantra (I know it will come in very handy!). We will be w/o a kitchen for about 6 months. I rarely use my microwave - only for re-heating, so I'm sure I'll get more familiar w/ it! I've also never used a crockpot before, but will look at the threads suggested. My contractor also suggested getting one of those car camping stoves that use propane, so I may do that too. Any other recipe ideas (or advice from those who have lived through this), please let me know!

[Grace]

6 months without your kitchen???!!! What are they doing? And how will you survive?!! My kitchen remodel (it's a small kitchen) has taken two weeks, and I'm going crazy without it. It's hard to even get on this board and see all the good stuff everyone is making, and then I can't go make anything except for reheating stuff in the microwave or baking something frozen (like a pizza or baked fish sticks). Hopefully mine will be done today or tomorrow. I think the people at the grocery store must think I died or something.. I haven't been there in so long...ha ha. Anyhow, I think I WOULD die if I couldn't use my kitchen for 6 months..

[CL Fan]

A hot plate sounds like a GREAT idea. I will definitely check this out.

We are completely gutting the existing kitchen as well as the laundry room & an office to create a really nice kitchen with a nice size eating area. I can't wait, although I feel very nervous about getting through the next 6 months!

[SusanJoy]

We did a similar remodel of kitchen plus other rooms this summer - my mom loaned us her electric fry pan and it was a life saver. With that, the microwave and a toaster (regular kind) we did really well - though a bit less "fancy" than usual.

The bigger problem for me was doing all the dishes - with no slop sink, we used dish pans and the occasional bathtub (ugg!). My two girls 2 and 4 loved doing "camp kitchen" and still ask to do it even though I'd rather never do it again!

Do keep repeating your mantra with a smile - it is all worth it, it WILL get done. WE love having a "new" space.

Susan

[Leanne]

I've heard that fondue pots are good for this sort of thing & I would thik that a Gaerge Foreman grill would be pretty good too. (although I've never used one.)

[sneezles]

Rather than a camp stove (ehich is not bad if you ever go camping), what about a hotplate? They make them one and two burners. I have a one burner that I use a lot since only three of the four burners work on my stove and it's difficult to put larger pots on the back ones. I also second the electric frying pan because you can control the heat setting and use it for things other than frying. I make the Pork chops in country gravy in there and I did the Whiskey Pork chops, too.