Wow, does that look good. We had pizza (veggie, at least) Wednesday and chicken (grilled at least) last night, haha. We have been without a kitchen for almost 2 months. We do alot of shish kabob on the grill, so at least we are getting everything and no dishes, pans, ect. We have used shrimp, chicken, beef, pork and any veggie we can stick a stick through!

cininohio, I hear you. I usually make it a point to throw a couple extra red peppers and eggplant on the grill when that thing is on. Especially in the thick of the demo and framing, etc. stages, I tried to put together a cooked salad (for the next day, as most needed to marinate and could be served at room temperature) on grill nights.

This is a very timely thread; as of tomorrow I'll have no kitchen and especially no sink!

Our fridge, range & microwave are being scooted around a wall so we can cook, but with no kitchen sink, I REALLY don't want to generate dirty pots & pans. I'll admit to buying paper plates & bowls today....

PLEASE keep the ideas coming! I'm afraid I'll end up feeding my family cereal for dinner.

Ok, Rubyfig, that's a great dish, but what are you going to eat? Seriously, sadly I'm the only one in my house that would have more than one bite of that recipe. How is it that people who love ketchup and spaghetti sauce HATE tomotoes?

I squirreled away a thread on kitchenless meals (see below) for ideas. I was optimistically thinking that we would eat a lot of grilled food and sandwiches, but I neglected to think of things like you need at least 1sq' of *clean* space to mix up tuna or spread peanut butter. Also, due to our schedule and patio door not coming in for 3 weeks, our current access to deck is walking around the whole house. Not that it would have mattered much seeing it has rained for the last 14 days. Currently all we have is a sink (covered with saw dust) and our refrigerator.

You know, the best laid plans and all that . . . pizza and sandwich take out tonight (and lots of wine).

Lynne

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchenless meals thread

I've been living with a BBQ and a microwave for 2 months. I think I've mastered using the BBQ as an oven at this point, and we're eating fairly well.

With desperate craving for homemade mashed potatoes, I've even figured out how to make those using only a microwave. Honestly though, most of our meals go something like this:

Heat up BBQ. Put steak or chicken or skewers or something on. Grab Uncle Ben's rice in a package stuff, throw in microwave for 2 mins. Go flip meat. Remove package from microwave. Put frozen veg in microwave, nuke for 3 mins. Take meat off BBQ. Slap it all on a plate. Enjoy!

Pulled pork sandwiches (or beef or chicken):
Brown a pork shoulder in a heavy frying pan and then put it in the slow cooker, add a couple of cups of water.
Turn slow cooker on LOW and go away for 6-8 hours.
When the meat falls apart, take out of the slow cooker and shred it with 2 forks, discard fat.
Swab out slow cooker, put meat back in with a big jar of your favorite bbq sauce. Heat through and serve on buns.

rubyfig, that looks so good! I have been without a kitchen now for 2 weeks and it will be another 2, possibly 4 until my new one is installed. I really miss being able to cook. I have a toaster oven and MW hooked up in a small room but every time I cook in the toaster oven the room smells for a couple of days and then there is the cleaning up and I only have the bathroom sink. I'm missing just roasting a nice piece of salmon and asparagus or cooking a nice curry! Anyway, with all the frozen meals available, I won't starve but there is nothing like cooking one's own meal. Tonight, it is vietnamese spring rolls... store bought, of course.

I would do pulled chicken sandwiches:
For four people
3 to 4 Bone-in, Skin-on chicken breasts, fresh or frozen
BBQ sauce
Sandwich buns

Line a slow cooker with an oven bag or slow cooker bag (this will help with the clean up)
Put the chicken in the slow cooker
Pour BBQ sauce over the chicken to coat thoroughly
Cook on low for 6-8 hours
When cooked, take chicken out and discard the skin & bones
Shred chicken meat and pour some BBQ sauce from the slow cooker over the chicken. Add more bbq sauce to the shredded chicken until is thoroughly mixed in.
Serve up on the sandwich buns!

couscous is a great no cook side dish -just add boiling water and let sit for 5 min. To make it a bit more special, add a veggie boullion cube to the water and throw in some defrosted frozen veggies (carrots, peas, corn)

I had several electric cooking appliances available for use during the 10 wks we camped in our basement. However, we only had one circuit available to plug into, so could only use one at a time. And outdoor cooking wasn't much of an option after the first week or so, when our frosty autumn arrived.

I think our best meals were one-pot wonders cooked on a single burner portable induction hob. I made several soups, as well as pastas. For the latter, I boiled the pasta first, then assembled a fast sauce in a saute pan, into which the drained cooked pasta was added for a final warm-up.

Even though we have a comfortable temporary kitchen for this remodel, we stay away from creating too many cooking odors or involved recipes (no counter space) down here in the basement. A couple of basic standbys, however, that work with minimal prep/space/appliances.

Soups in the crockpot, made with lots of pre-cut veggies, bags of bean soup mixes, or potatoes.

There are some really good rice/grain mixes out there that work nicely in the rice cooker, if you have or can borrow one.

Hummus, pita, olives, cheese, easy salad.

And as always, the healthiest nachos we can manage, but microwave needed: refried beans, baked chips, cheddar, store-bought fresh pico de gallo and guacamole. Some of us might toss some chicken into it, or frozen soy crumbles.