No kitchen and sick of ready meals :(

misskool

Right, we have no kitchen. When I say no kitchen, I mean the fridge is in the hallway and the washing machine is in my living room :rotfl:

The plaster will take a few days longer to dry (stupid rain!) and then we will have to sort out a few other things so it's another 2-3 weeks of nothing.

We have a microwave, a remoska and a portable hob but the only washing up facility is the bath or the bathroom sink. Or the outside tap (but it's too cold for that)

I need simple simple meals that can be done in the microwave and/or remoska that will require MINIMAL washing up.

We've bought another week of ready meals (:o) but we can't really face much more....

Please help

NualaBuala

Sounds almost as chaotic as my house - but I do at least have a working kitchen!

Could you do a stew/casserole? Or any one pot dish. You could get the butcher to dice the meat for you, or use chicken portions. You could chop the veg straight into the pot (I've seen people do that) so no chopping board. Or buy prepared veg. Use small potatoes (washed if you don't want to faff with that) and don't bother peel or chop them. Just put everything in pot/casserole dish and cook. If everything is bite-sized-ish you could serve in a bowl with spoon. I think spoons are easier to wash than knives and forks.

ETA: I'm assuming Remoska is some kind of portable oven? Not sure if you'd put a dish in it or use it as a casserole dish itself.

mrbrightside842

We had a similar problem when we moved into this house, and ended up eating takeaways out of the box and got fed up of ready meals. Fortunately wasn't for long though!

With the Ramoska, I'd be baking potatoes and either sticking a tin of tuna on top or using those 'one pot' of beans. Can you scramble eggs or make omlettes in them? I know you can make toasted sandwiches in them. I'd make batter and do toad in the hole too, but this will prob make for a lot of washing up.

greenbee

I had this problem when my kitchen was being redone. No matter where you get them from, ready meals are grim after a while...

Firstly - can you borrow a dehumidifier to help with the plaster?

You can steam veggies in the microwave, scramble eggs, make porridge, even make cakes. The important thing with the washing up is to put it in the bathroom basin (or a bucket of water) straight away to soak, as dried on food is the biggest problem when washing up.

I don't have a remoska, but have a look at the remoska thread. I'm sure there will be plenty of inspiration there, and then hopefully you can work out how to do the rest of the meal in the microwave.

Little_Vics

is there anyone you know who will let you take over their kitchen for an afternoon to do some batch cooking?

valk_scot

£10 slow cooker from Asda or similar?

I've done this a few times because of home renovations but as I also camp a lot I'm used to one ring meals. Having a microwave as well would be a luxury! How about pasta and sauces, cous cous, stir fries, main course soups with garlic bread..
As to the washing up, put an old towel in the bottom of the bath to stop scratches and drain dishes on that. It's not such a big deal as long as you've still got hot water, surely? At least you don't have to carry everything half a mile to the washing up block!

misskool

Thank you all!

We're just a bit wary of doing the washing up in the bath or bathroom basin as they are new, we're doing up bits of the house and I'm feeling rather precious about them.

Although after another ready made soup for dinner, I'm starting to feel less precious about that.

Just not feeling great after a long week of work and facing yet more rubbish ready meals (even if they are from waitrose!!!)

gairlochgal

I bought a george foreman when my house was in that state. Was desperate for a grill option. I don't know about microwaves but have a remoska which is brill. How about the Nigel Slater style - he talks a lot in his 30 min books about marinating meat in all kinds of ways and then having with simple veg/salad/breads.

NualaBuala

Another thought - how about foil parcel meals done in the Remoska? No washing up there! You can do meat, fish etc with all the veggies in. I seem to remember seeing an all-in-one roast dinner in foil recipe once - had the gravy and everything. You could do baked potatoes or microwavable rice . I find the frozen mash from Aldi pretty good too - nukes in minutes.

valk_scot

misskool wrote: »

Thank you all!

We're just a bit wary of doing the washing up in the bath or bathroom basin as they are new, we're doing up bits of the house and I'm feeling rather precious about them.

Although after another ready made soup for dinner, I'm starting to feel less precious about that.

Well, the old towel in the bottom of the bath or even in the sink under the washing up bowl will help a lot with that. If you have pots of anything that you feel might stain, rinse them under the outside tap. Put a trug or bucket of water outside the back door to soak pots in. If you want to cut down overall volume, get to the pound shop and buy some paper plates and use them as liners on top of normal plates. Reuse your coffee mugs, not a clean one for everything. Wipe out woks or frying pans with kitchen paper rather than having to wash them every time.

Top tip though for cutting down washing up and simplifying cooking is to pack 90% of your kitchen stuff out of the way and only leave yourself a couple of pots plus one set of crockery/cutlery per person. That's what I have on campsite plus a 2-ring burner, and we go away for up to seven weeks at a time in the summer. And no microwave at all! (Oh I do miss my microwave....)

Zazen999

I lived for years with just a one ring hob.

Pasta sauces, one big saucepan, make the sauce and put to the side; cook the pasta and pour into the saucepan - mix and serve. One tomato based, and one cheesy creamy based. And bolognese of course.

Ditto curries; and chillis.

And soups - and noodle based soupy dishes. Make the soup first then chuck some 3 minute noodles in [2 packs per person so add plenty of liquid - 10p per packet].

Serve them all in bowls rather than plates; with bread straight from the packet [obviously you can't make your own at the moment].