A miccrowave is a must have for your temp kitchen. Also, having your favorite carry-out food place on speed dial helps. If they deliver, that's even better. There are lots of slow cooker recipies which don't require a lot prep -- Just chop and drop into the cooker. But you already know that.

Bill

Great time to barbie. Might be worth the cost of getting one with a cooker on the side. Plus most have a temp guide and you can cook casseroles in them. Might be fun to enjoy finding new recipes. I use mine most of the summer to keep the heat down inside, plus a lot less dish washing. Also good paper plates work too. I'll also use mine in winter snow for a lot of things to keep down cleanup.

Definitely get yourself some kind of burner! Can range from a cheapie hot plate to an induction. I also found that my that my electric tea kettle came in handy many times for quick heating of water.

I bought two electric burners ( about $50 each). They are a little slow, but in combination with the electric skillet/ frypan , I can cook almost anything. I've been without a kitchen since early November. The slow cooker helps, but eating only stewed foods gets old fast.

A Coleman stove is great as a stove substitute. Last fall we just packed up half our temporary kitchen (in a tent on the back patio) and the tent and moved it down the road to a camping spot (with 2000 of our nearest and dearest). Cooking in the park was a lot like cooking in the backyard except the water was a little further away. These run around $50.

{{!gwi}}

I remodeled in the summer months, when it was easy to go out to the grill. I have a gas grill with the burner on the side, so was able to make grilled meats and veggies, as well as my favorite Thai green curry (easy one pot dish) using the side burner. I spent a weekend planning meals and making my green curry paste (comfort food for me!) so that I could just toss things into a pot to make a decent meal. If you'd like the recipe, just let me know.

Along with a rice cooker, my electric tea kettle and a microwave, I was set for easy cooking. I put the appliances on the sideboard in the dining room, and the kitchen supplies on a bookshelf next to that- Instant kitchen.

Since my kitchen was 100% DIY, I did make a bunch of quick and easy heat up items to store in the freezer for the days when I was too exhausted to cook.

Good luck with your remodel!

I use my portable induction burner at least twice every day. Cook's Illustrated rates the Max Burton AT6000 highly. Mine is very fast, but the fan is a little loud.

Next is the grill. Fewer pots and pans to clean!

Then the toaster oven. Mine makes terrible toast, but turns out to be pretty good at baking/roasting small things and warming stuff up. (We have no microwave now, and I don't miss it except when I'm drinking a cup of cold tea.)

Last, and definitely least but fun anyway, is the panini press.

That's it for the equipment I use. Other things: lots of paper plates and cups (we can be ecofriendly when we're not doing a reno), good wine, and regular doses of relaxing music (I recommend Miles Davis Kinda Blue).

Good luck and I hope you have very few reno surprises!

We've got 9 days till tear-out. I made a list of our small appliances and what we can cook with them. We don't have a microwave but we have a toaster oven for small casserole dishes, meat loaf, and leftovers. A rice cooker/steamer for veggies, potatoes, and rice, an electric tea kettle for boiling water, and a crockpot. We're planning on buying the Cuisinart Griddler for eggs, omelets, grilled chicken and meats, paninis, quesadillas and whatever other ideas come to us. That appliance will replace most of my stovetop cooking.

The most important thing I did before packing up the kitchen was make a boatload of freezable meals and put them in our chest freezer in the basement. Chest freezers are inexpensive and ours was invaluable during our remodel. You can grill chicken breasts, ribs, etc. and freeze them. Thaw, and serve with rice and microwaved frozen veggies or bagged salad. We have a rice cooker that worked well for heating up lots of things, as well as for making rice. Soups, cassaroles, etc. can all be cooked ahead and frozen. Look up "Once a Month Cooking" for lots and lots of recipes that work in bulk and freeze well. Cooking in the basement or grilling is fine for some nights, but other nights you're going to want something quick because the kids have to go somewhere or you have to run out and pick out "X" to be ordered or installed tomorrow. And sometimes you'll be just beat down to your socks from painting, staining, cleaning up after the workers, or from handling the 16,431 decisions that come with doing a remodel. That's just the way it is. :-) Go to a Sam's Club or Costco and stock up on paper plates/cups/plasticware, for those nights when you really just don't want to face dishes in the bathtub or laundry sink. You won't feel that way all the time, but sometimes you will.

Enjoy your remodel, and eventually, post pics of the new kitchen!

Cj

You might buy a cheap microwave - one can be had from Target for well under $100. We did that and donated it to a charity when done with it. Then you could make some big batches of chili, stew, etc and freeze meal size portions to defrost and reheat in the microwave.

Think about arrangements for dish washing. We had a big utility room sink to use. We used two dish tubs, one upside down in the sink to raise the other because the laundry room sink is too deep for easy dish washing.

Be careful about overloading electrical circuits. A long heavy duty extension cable can be useful to reach into another room for a wall outlet on another circuit.

The biggest problem we ran into was the total hassle any cleanup was without a kitchen sink! Those bathroom sinks sure end up being tiny after you load a few dishes in them and try to do a wash.

For a couple weeks we didn't even have access to our half bath on the main floor, so any running water meant going upstairs and through 3 baby gates . . . arg!

After a very short time we totally threw in the towel on trying to cook anything more complex than a bowl of cereal or a sandwich and just eat out for every dinner meal. I'm pretty tired of eating out and I can't wait for my kitchen to be finished!

I think having a sink is key. If I hadn't had my laundry room sink, I think we'd have eaten out most nights. I bought a small microwave and a rice cooker for the temp kitchen in my laundry room. Along with a toaster oven, my electric frying pan and crockpot, I could cook just about anything. We ate out some but I cooked almost every night during our 9 week remodel.

I went on allrecipes.com and searched for crockpot recipes and made several of those. Most of the family favorites that I could do on the stove were able to be done using the frying pan. A family favorite is grilled ham, turkey and havarti sandwiches with a side of fruit. Kept it simple a lot of nights. I also froze several meals before the kitchen was demoed. Still have some frozen spaghetti that I can use for camping this summer. :)

Wow, I think DH is going to lose his mind when we are finally ready to do this! We eat out rarely, once a week or less. He cooks a lot, and he hates having things torn up and workers all over the place.

Has anyone used those slow cooker liners? I am not crazy about cooking in plastic, but might be ok for a few weeks. Do they make the food taste different?

We also use nonstick foil a lot, when cooking on the grill, broiling in the oven, and broiling in the toaster. Saves a lot of clean up effort! We generally use the toaster in the summer already, it broils great with less heat put into the house. The toaster is also our go to for reheating pizza, frozen things like tater tots and pizzas, and anything else you can stick in an oven.

I have a friend who uses the slow cooker liners and swears by them. Haven't ever used them myself.

My goal during the remodel was to keep the food as stress free as possible. You can do a lot with a toaster oven. I broiled steaks in mine. Worked great other than taking a lot longer. lol

Your biggest issue really is a sink. I think having use of a sink makes or breaks your temp kitchen.

George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Grilling Machine! (so easy to clean, and can make all sorts of things on it: quesidillas, frozen salmon/turkey patties, grilled cheese panninis -- Trader Joes is great place to shop for these not quite camping but almost foods)

Microwave

Toaster Oven

Frig in Living room

Temporary sink (a cheap utility sink is what I used. My folks set up a temp kitchen in their bathroom. Mom washed dishes on a gardening kneeler thing in the tub for a couple of *months*!)

Eat lots of salad, raw veggies, mellon, berries, apples fresh fresh bread/
Yummy cheese/
high quality nut butters.
Sliced meats.
Cold cereal.
Variety of nuts.
Crackers
hummus
olives
olive oils for dipping
ice cream
yogurt
bagels & cream cheese
smoked salmon
avocadoes
bake muffins in tins in toaster oven
bake mini quiches / omlettes in toaster oven (use either disposable or silicone cups. The silicone ones are super easy to clean.)

Poached egg in silicone poaching cups.

Blender for breakfast/desert smoothies?

Chocolate chips for quick sweet tooth satisfaction :)

Cold beer.

All depends on how long you expect to be without kitchen!

Each person in the family gets one set of utensils/cup/plate/coffee mug.

Avoid roasting anything. Real pain to clean baking dishes of any kind.

Electric tea kettle and press pot for coffee/tea. The auto shut off ones are great for hard boiled eggs!

Really, if you look at it as a time to eat lots of delicious, in-season fresh foods (Mediterranean-style!), you'll likely introduce yourselves to new food options.

I've not done it, but maybe you could get some good ideas from raw-food recipe books.

HAVE FUN CAMPING AT HOME!

We used the microwave or ate out. It's just the 2 of us so eating out in the evening was just easier but that gets old in a hurry.
Our plumber did set up a temporary utility sink with faucet and running water in the laundry room so that was great.. I just wasn't a fan of doing dishes in the bathroom. I would really recommend this if you can. We liked it so much we just left it there.

We used a single induction burner and our DeLonghi Countertop oven. The fridge was moved into the DR (LOL!)
We had access to the old or new MW except for 2 days.
I kept one plate, one salad plate, one bowl and one set of silverware for each of us. I kept the smaller induction pans so we could make small dishes (such as couscous) and omelets.

We used our laundry tub and did cheat some using some paper plates/bowls but tried to minimize....

I froze many dishes (freezer is still full!!) and also bought some reasonably priced pre made dinners at a local produce store. They have monthly specials that serve both of us for $8.00!! (and the regular entrees are 10-12)

Here is a picture of our Zingerman's pot pies in our DeLonghi - they came out great!

Refrigerator goes back home tomorrow!!! That will really be helpful!!

Turn your slow cooker into a sous vide machine:

Cleanup is a breeze, and you can make some pretty awesome meals with it!

We will begin tearing out our kitchen next weekend. We waited until now so we can use the grill. We cook all sumnmer long on the grill, so there it will not be much differant. My husband lights all three burners to get it up to temp and then shuts off the middle one and we use it like an oven. We cook just about everything on it, even a small turkey. During the summer when it is nice we even cook breakfast outside. I also have a crockpot to use. I'll have to try the liners, it will make cleanup easier. Try meatballs and sauce in the crockpot. They come out great.