No hob and no oven make me...go crazy!

Keen_Young_Learner

SIGH - I've had the oven engineers round this morning...turns out the back of my oven has blown up slightly. The wires were melted together :eek: it had been acting funny for weeks but I'd never smelt anything burning...

This means that I can't use my oven or hob until further notice The engineer suggested I nip out and buy a load of ready meals but I am not happy about doing that. We don't eat microwave meals because:
1. They're too expensive
2. Not very good for us
3. I have an allergy to certain preservatives and flavourings that tend to crop up in ready meals

So I'm determined to keep cooking from scratch! If we had an empty kitchen I would be fine with sandwiches for lunch and slow cooker stews for dinner but I have quite a few bits of food floating around that need using up.

If anyone has any suggestions for how to cook the ingredients using the equipment that is still working, I would be super grateful for them!

Here is the kitchen situation.

Ingredients which need to be eaten:
Calvedo nero leaves (a whole bag)
Celery
6 eggs (which need using up)
6 cooking apples
a load of artichoke from the garden
cauliflower

Equipment I can still use:
A rice cooker
A slow cooker
Microwave
Bread maker

I've already used 3 eggs (there were 9 this morning) making a chocolate cake in the bread maker with flour and cocoa powder I had hanging around. Think I'll end up freezing that...although the freezer is very full at the moment.

I'll be going to the supermarket tomorrow so any recipes which require additional ingredients are also welcome! I guess I can pop the celery into the slow cooker but I'm not sure about the calvedo nero leaves, they'll probably not take kindly to slow cooking. I'm mainly stuck on the eggs and the artichoke...and the apples...

Hopefully some of you lovely and clever OSers can help me out! KYLx

Butterfly_Brain

I have one of these just in case anything goes sideways with my cooker after one Christmas without an oven.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007ZQAG2E/ref=s9_zwish_hd_bw_b1W8hep_g79_i4?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-3&pf_rd_r=EW6MBVDBYFAE45M4R1SM&pf_rd_r=EW6MBVDBYFAE45M4R1SM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=896950a9-c74c-4459-807b-bf16a20e1b63&pf_rd_p=896950a9-c74c-4459-807b-bf16a20e1b63&pf_rd_i=1391050031

PenguinOfDeath

No help here I'm afraid but :T for the Simpsons reference!

PasturesNew

I daren't use ovens/hobs, I've weird phobias

You'll live.

jk0

I should get on the AO or Currys website asap. You should be able to get a new cooker delivered tomorrow.

helcat26

Could you have a bash making a Calvedo nero frittata in the microwave. Bit of butter in the dish cook some onion, chopped bacon maybe, wilt Calvedo nero withe with the other stuff for 30 sec or just by dumping boiling water on it. Drain add beaten eggs and seasoning cook in mic until puufed up.


Core apple, stuff with sugar and sultanas and cinnamon, microwave until soft, serve with cream for pudding


Cauliflower and cheese soup cooked in slow cooker ( poach cauli in stock until very soft, blitz, thicken crumble in cheese cook and blitz smooth


Celery dip it in hummus


Cannot help with artichoke food of the devil yuck

Spendless

Have scrambled eggs for breakfast or a light meal. I always scramble eggs in the microwave as they come out nice and fluffy. Beat eggs, a splash of milk, knob of butter. In microwave for 3 minutes, take out and stir half way through. I get better results using a pyrex jug rather than a pyrex bowl, which I guess is something to do with air, but either will work if you don't own the other. I'm assuming you also own a toaster?

maddiemay

My thoughts on what you have to use:-

Ingredients which need to be eaten:
Calvedo nero leaves (a whole bag) Shred some very finely/chop small and use in slow cooker with a couple of sticks of celery, carrot, onion etc with stock or stock cubes, a handful of rice or cooked pasta at the end (cooked in microwave) for a tasty soup. Add a couple of slightly damp sheets to kitchen roll and seal pack tightly to extend it's life.

Celery. Keep for ages in fridge wrapped in foil, use sliced finely in soup/slow cooker casseroles, add to salads and coleslaw.

6 eggs (which need using up) My very best scrambled eggs are cooked in the microwave, do need lots of patience to just cook for a few seconds at a time, stirring in between, but imho worth it.

Cooking apples. Slice, add sugar and just a spot of water, cook in microwave, serve with yogurt/cream/instant custard

Cauliflower. Cook until al dente in microwave and pour over instant cheese sauce.

Artichokes. If Jerusalem they are good mashed with potato (microwave), and make tasty soup, but beware the side effects LOL.

I have an inexpensive microwave steamer and cook pasta or rice for 2 quite successfully.

Keen_Young_Learner

Thanks so much for the help everyone! I am really out of my comfort zone without my cooker, it's amazing how much I depend on it.

The cooker is fixable and the engineers will be out next week with the spare part but that is an awful long time to wait... but luckily i have plenty to be getting along with thanks to all of your help! Buying a new cooker isn't an option for us right now.

Thanks to maddiemay and spendless for the scrambled eggs info: I've always been nervous of scrambled eggs in the microwave but I have the confidence to try it now! So that's tomorrow's breakfast with a sliced tomato on toast - that'll be three of the eggs used up. Good news .

Helcat26 I think I'm going to give the fritatta a go for lunch on Wednesday and will let you know if it's successful! Might be good with a bit of parmesan too. Looking forward to that!

The cauliflower is going in to the rice cooker in the hope that it will steam successfully. I am having to use my imagination today

Anyone got any other unexpected microwave/slow cooker/bread maker ideas? And yes, I have a toaster too!
KYLx

pinkladyvenus

quick, easy and filling crumpets topped with baked beans and grated chesse served with a side salad.

Hedgehog99

You can make a decent risotto in the microwave, so the celery could go in that, along with whatever else you buy tomorrow.

If you have large ramekins and some tinned pineapple rings, you can do individual pineapple upside -down puds with the eggs. Ramekins need to be large enough diameter to take the pineapple rings flat in the bottom.