Meal ideas needed

[twentysixcats]

Our house is undergoing major renovation right now, and our kitchen looks like this:



I need some menu ideas for the next few months! I have available to use:
- crock pot
- hot plate (big enough for my sauce pans and skillets, but nothing really large - too small for my dutch oven, for example, which is how I usually make pasta)
- microwave
- toaster oven
- George Foreman grill
- electric griddle

My prep space is a card table, which hurts my back of the prep takes too long. I'm using our bathroom sink for water but it's two levels up, so not convenient for frequent back and forth.

We eat pretty SAD with no allergies.

Ideas?

Mods: please move this if not in the right forum. I am on Tapatalk and can't read the entire forum name.

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[2sunshines]

Do you have a grill outside? In the summer we cook most of our meals there anyway. Seems like it would open up a TON of options for you...

Crock pot would be my other go to in your situation. Such a wide variety of little to no prep chicken meals you can do. Throw in your fave cut of chicken, even completely frozen (I prefer boneless skinless thighs for the crock pot, but you can use anything) and add whatever you have on hand. Fresh veggies. Canned beans. Tomatoes. Seriously, almost anything. Serve over rice or pasta or eat as is (do you have a rice cooker?).

You can even really easily do a whole chicken in the crock pot.

Throw a roast in with some broth and onions and mushrooms, shred it and you have delicious shredded beef to use in a wide variety of ways.

---------- Post added at 10:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:28 PM ----------

With the electric griddle, you can do:

pancakes
eggs and toast
french toast

grilled cheese sandwiches

---------- Post added at 10:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 PM ----------

with the George Foreman grill:

hamburgers
chicken breast -- eaten as is, diced and served over salad, diced and served in sandwiches, tacos, etc.

[esperanza]

I love crockpot meals! Chicken with bbq sauce is super easy. Shred and serve on buns. I have more ideas but I'm not sure how much prep you're up to doing (none of mine require much!).

[RiverRock]

That was what my kitchen looked like four weeks ago! I'm also curious to know if you have a BBQ and rice cooker.

We used the BBQ a lot, and made rice for a slow cooker meal and to have a break from bread. We ate a lot of toast for breakfast, and sandwiches for lunch. Boursin cheese and crackers were good for afternoon snacks with fruit or fresh cut veggies. On the BBQ we had grilled meats, salmon fillets in a foil pack and potato foil packs. Also garlic bread that was heated on the grill made a good side. Fresh salads were easy for me to make.

I assume you still have a fridge....

[twentysixcats]

Yes, we still have our fridge.

No grill or rice cooker. I can make rice pretty easily though. We actually don't really have access to our backyard because of the construction, so even if I did have one I wouldn't really be able to use it.

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---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:44 PM ----------

Does BBQ = grill?

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[Mother of Sons]

Crockpot:
Fajitas
Pot roast
Meatballs
Smoked sausage and potatoes

Skillet/griddle
Quesadillas
Omelettes
Pancakes
French toast
Grilled cheese

Toaster oven:
Pizza
Bagel sandwiches
Muffins
Anything frozen (corn dogs, hot pockets etc)

[Aerynne]

tortilla or pita pizzas (toaster oven, or I guess microwave, but yuck)

baked potatoes (toaster oven or microwave) with toppings

bean burritos (microwave beans, microwave tortillas, add salsa, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, etc, as desired)

eggs (fried, scrambled, omelets) with toast or as breakfast burritos

there are a bunch of things you could make with refrigerated biscuit or crescent dough if you like the taste of those. You can use google or pinterest for recipes (or probably the Pillsbury website) but it seems like there are a lot of variations of that dough with shredded chicken (you could buy canned), cheese, etc.

Tuna salad and/or chicken salad sandwiches

We love to buy Jimmy John's day-old bread and make subs out of it. It's 50 cents for a 16-inch loaf.

We eat Zatarains beans and rice mixes sometimes. They are pretty good and as mixes go I feel that they are decently real food.

I recently saw some containers in Walmart for microwaving a box of mac and cheese (not the box, but the noodles) and one for ramen. They're sized specifically for it.

[esperanza]

http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/high-f...imple-burritos
http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/creamy...icken-and-rice
She has a lot of recipes I like. Here are two. I feel like I'm always posting links to her recipes.

[RiverRock]

I would probably pan fry meat (chicken, steak, sausages...whatever you like to eat) on the hot plate or use the Foreman grill. Use your favourite BBQ sauce or marinade out of a jar to keep it simple. In the electric frying pan make a side. You said that you eat a SAD diet, so frozen hash browns, or fresh pasta with a jar of sauce would both be convenient sides. Add a plate of fresh veggies or a salad and you have a well rounded meal without much prep or mess.

One of our favourite jarred marinades is Soyaki sauce from Trader Joes. I think any Teriyaki sauce would be good for flavouring meat and making a sauce that could be poured over rice.

How long do you expect to be without a kitchen? Have you shared about your plans yet?

[twentysixcats]

Thank you for all these suggestions! I'm going to compile them in a list tomorrow for easy reference when I'm trying to meal plan.

I have not yet shared our plans. I was going to when it was done - before and after pictures. It's kinda boring right now.

I'm not sure how long I'll be without a kitchen. It's been about a week and a half now. He originally said 30 days, but a few friends who have a lot of knowledge about renovation business (their husbands are contractors) told me to expect 2-3 months. I'm kinda over it already. We're doing a whole bunch of other stuff also - new roof, windows, HVAC, fixing up the foundation (it's sinking in one corner).

Here's a before picture from a similar angle:


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[RiverRock]

I'm excited for you. I did the contracting for our kitchen reno, and everything went smoothly....until it didn't. We did new flooring, electrical (which led to some drywall needing to be done), plumbing, and cabinets. After four weeks we are waiting on a couple of details being changed with the cabinets and lighting fixtures to arrive. Basically, everything to get to a functioning kitchen went quickly, but the details might take another month to sort out. It was draining to have about three solid weeks of tradespeople in the home, and needing to be around to answer questions (because I was the contractor...but in your case you might have someone doing this). However, it has been exciting to see all the ideas and planning come together. I had been planning our kitchen remodel for about two years, and started purchasing appliances and lining up trades months ago. It was about two weeks into our reno that I started ordering take-out to cut down on the cooking and clean-up. Paper plates and cups are good to have on hand for easier clean-up.

---------- Post added at 07:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 AM ----------

Whoa! I just noticed that you removed walls. That is going to be a big difference!