Cooking for one

Izadora · 18 May 2017 at 2:15PM

greenbee wrote: »

PN - Ikea (and probably other places) do a moveable kitchen island

Argos have got quite a few and I like the fact that this one has cupboard doors as I worry that things will get grubby if they're left on an open shelf.

PasturesNew wrote: »

The new "spare space that will include a washing machine/sink" will be about 10'x8' ... but I can't visualise, so in my mind's eye it's about 30'x20'
So I'll have to go easy as there won't really be "that much" space to play with in the end.

I've never measured it but I wouldn't be surprised if that's the total size of our kitchen!! This is why I've been looking for easily-movable storage solutions...

PasturesNew · 18 May 2017 at 2:58PM

For "trolleys to trip over" ...

I'd prefer the Argos one to the Ikea one ... it's the doors. You need to be able to hide/disguise !!!!!!

Lunch in the end was "what've you got + what's easiest". Food doesn't have to be "a meal". I went for mixed veg, instant mash, stuffing and gravy.

Farway · 18 May 2017 at 3:23PM

Livelongandprosper wrote: »

My kitchen brings me joy

We were very fortunate in that we had a new kitchen put in five years ago. My first ever kitchen designed by me, for me, and it works

I designed my kitchen also, but had a builder in to do it, poor choice I made with him, took ages :mad:

However the design was what I wanted, size is 11' x 8' and has non walk in pantry as part of the house, so tinned stuff, bleach, brooms and when a bag of spuds etc need home that goes in there as well

Cupboards all round walls at eye level, long worktop, now part cluttered with mixer, coffe machine that gurgles and I never use, a juicer I never use [both of these are shoved into a dead corner]. But still enough space for toaster, Actifry & induction hob & nuker

My only problem now, like some others. I am not as bendy as I was when I did the kitchen, so rear of some lower units are a bit of a black hole, but generally OK

No rain today, but is forecast, did a mini spot of gardening planting up some pots with bedding and removing the fleece from my runners

Managed a mooch in Asda, not much, came home with broccolli & YS parsnips, that's it, but now weather is dull the planned salad has moved sideways a day or so

Lunch was another bacon / tom / lettuce sandwich. Only 2 rashers left now, tomorrow's lunch then a bacon free house for a bit I think

The change of meal plan meant it was freezer dive time, found some 3 bird roast from New Year 2015, now defrosting

Will have that with steamed fresh broccolli, parsnips, carrot, limp celery being perked up in water as I type, and some of the never ending small spuds that were on offer in Lidl yonks back. Chicken gravy granules will top it all off

Hollyharvey · 18 May 2017 at 5:12PM

Afternoon everyone,

Breakfast today was a greek yoghurt and some berries.
Lunch was out.
So all I shall want later is a snack of either crumpets like I had yesterday or some toast. I certainly won't want anything more than that.

Back to normal cfo tomorrow for a few days.

I have decided that tomorrow I will have chicken and salad for dinner. I have got organised and just got a chicken portion out of the freezer to defrost. Having eaten out for two days I want something light, and the forecast, although for rain and thunder storms is for a very hot and muggy day. I will have new potatoes with that, and if I end up feeling really cold and miserable because of the weather I can always change it to chicken with veg.

Tiddlywinks · 18 May 2017 at 5:20PM

Having lived in a few less than ideal places (army accommodation) in past years I've learnt to improvise with non-permanent solutions that I could take with me.

In one kitchen I used an Ikea office cupboard for extra storage space and it actually looked pretty funky:

Similar to this, but in white and floor to ceiling - it swallowed all my kitchen stuff with room to spare.

Currently, I've got a kitchen trolley that I 'park' in front of the dishwasher and roll back when I need to fill or empty the washing up.... it has two drawers and I store my Lock and Locks, steamer plus onions and garlic in there.

I've had a stainless steel cap made for the top and it is a great surface for rolling pastry and kneading bread.

I use large plastic boxes as drawers in the cupboards below the worktops which makes it easier to pull things out and get right to the back of the space.

Gadgets, like my beloved and cherished pie maker

, hand blender, sandwich toaster etc are stored in Really Useful Boxes on top of my kitchen wall units.

Basically, I have a long standing love affair with plastic storage boxes and use them for almost anything that doesn't move... Mr Tiddly has threatened to bury me in one when my time comes

- not very eco-friendly though

.

Doom_and_Gloom · 18 May 2017 at 6:17PM

B - coffee and fruit.
L - vegetable stew from freezer.
D - (will be) shepherdless pie from freezer.
Snacks - crisp bread and cashew butter.
Drinking loads of water, will have some tea later.

Hrm the kitchen discussion is interesting. I'm not a fan of the dead space thing either. I've seen a small house that had a moveable unit and behind it the washing machine was in that space. The justification being that living in a minimalist lifestyle that you use the washer twice a week on average so wasn't needed to be available all the time. I really thought it was ingenious.

Tiddlywinks · 18 May 2017 at 6:36PM

I used to have this Ikea trolley before I bought my current one... I gave it to a friend and she still has it and it's still going strong about 16 years later.

I just treated it with clear varnish and used baskets on the shelves. It's really strong but easy to move around.

My friend still uses the baskets but has made a gingham curtain for each side to cover the contents.

I can really recommend this one as a budget stop gap solution for adding a work surface... even available for delivery so you don't have to face the Ikea marathon.

Edited to add - I just remembered that I screwed a kitchen towel holder just under the top which saved space elsewhere too.

[Deleted User] · 18 May 2017 at 6:37PM

The kitchen talk is very interesting especially as most on the thread are now geared to cooking for one. I used to have floor cupboards and could never get into the backs, always having to kneel on the floor. The only floor cupboards I have now are the two corner ones, each side of the sink unit but they have carrousels which can hold very heavy equipment, like my food processor and pressure cookers. The tall unit to the right of my dishwasher has three pull out drawers from worktop height down. All my daily dishes are on stands from lakeland, just above worktop height, easy to reach. I don`t have to move my feet when putting dishwasher stuff away

I have a butchers block trolley on wheels, a solid top with a drawer and two shelves. I remember buying it while I was still working, must have been 18 years ago, was expensive but has been invaluable. Just now, it is parked behind the room divider sofa, its good for holding flowers and a fruit bowl on a daily basis and all sorts underneath, as well as `that` drawer for specs, matches, keys etc

Food was good today ie healthy with enough happiness promoting things, like a currant bun as my `visitors` are not coming this weekend. Also did quite a bit of allotment work, loving the fresh air up there

lol tiddleywinks, I made curtains for mine, used a stretch pole for the front and it has towel hanger rails on the sides

PasturesNew · 18 May 2017 at 6:42PM

I dislike any wall mounted cupboards. Firstly I've seen those come away and crash ... and nearly come away ... so I dislike using them.

Also, I can't actually reach more than the bottom shelf and the very front of the middle shelf.

I can't see that I'll ever have a problem with lower cupboards/reaching as I'm 5'. I'm nearly ON the ground!

I stepped into my downstairs loo earlier and spotted even more things not in my prior list that'd go into the new utility space... I've a mop/bucket and a little footstool ... and the washing basket (the sort you empty a machine with/not solid).... there's stuff lurking all over the place really.

My kitchen only has two small drawers. One under the worktop on one side; one under the worktop on the other side. Cutlery-depth sized type.
I keep cutlery etc in one - and sandwich/freezer bags, foil, tea towels in the other.

caronc · 18 May 2017 at 6:55PM

Good evening everyone,

My kitchen is "my space" and is pretty large around 15ft by 15ft, however it is a kitchen/conservatory so I've two glass walls which reduces options. It was originally a galley kitchen when I moved in of around 10ft by 6ft, outside was a coal house & boiler house (from back when folk had a copper boiler for laundry. These were brought inside adding anothe 5 ft length wise but it means the bottom end has a sloping roof with a velux window rather than a full size wall. The conservatory was then added to where the long outside wall was. This rather limits what I can do storage wise but working round I have 3 floor to 6ft 5 inch cupboards then the door to the dining room, then the fridge freezer, then a bit of work top (2ft ish) with an open hatch area (this was needed for light in the dining room) then the corner then more work top then the range style cooker, then a wee bit more more worktop the sink/drainer, more work top, another corner with a bit more worktop then the upright freezer. About 3 ft back from the work top I have a 6ft by 4ft island come breakfast bar. I only have one wall where I can put cupboards or shelves. To the left of the cooker I have a double cupboard and to the right 2 sets of 2 shelves with the boiler in between. In the consevatory area I have a small table & chairs and an armchair. All in all it is a decent sized space but is more cluttered than I'd like due having to keep more stuff to hand due to lack of bendiness.

PN - my sister has a small kitchen and has one of the small Argos trolleys it holds a huge amount of stuff for it's size.

The weather held so the weedkiller is down and some potting up done:). Lunch was a quick sarnie to use up an open packet of cold meat with baby plum tomatoes and the end of the cucumber. Tonight I've a pork chop defrosted so I'll have that with LO sweet potato from Tuesday, the last flat mushroom and the remaining asparagus spears so a good use up day:D.

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