How exciting for you! A new kitchen! I survived six weeks without my kitchen. We set up our fridge, microwave, toaster oven, an induction cooktop, and slow cooker in our dining room. I was able to make a lot of simple meals with those appliances, but we still ate a lot of microwavable dinners and some takeout. The hardest part was not having a sink nearby while I was trying to prep for dinner.
Good luck!

I think we ate out twice. I had prepared lots of meals and frozen them. Also, I got an electric Nesco roaster (read about it on this site in response to a similar question several months ago) that I used on the porch. You can use it like a slow cooker, but it also gets hotter and you can saute onions, brown meat, etc., but it is slower at this than a cooktop would be. I made bean soups, fish dishes, smothered steak, several things with browned hamburger, grain dishes, etc.

Good Luck!

We installed our Kohler Harborview sink in an area adjacent to the kitchen before the main kitchen was dismantled. And we kept our gas range (only 1 yr old) hooked up. Once the old cabinets were removed, the range was basically the only thing in the kitchen. But it worked and we had a sink nearby. We had our pots and pans, dishes, etc. laid out on the dining room table and baker's rack.

Humor also helped!

We put our new cooktop and new sink in empty 36" Ikea base cabinets. We had the cooktop's 220V electric run with a bit of slack. We then ran four sets of supply extensions to the faucet, then ran dishwasher hose from the kitchen sink's drain through the exterior wall straight into the clean-out for the drain. Everything was movable and was able to accommodate various work areas. Since we did 90% of the kitchen remodel work ourselves (over several months), this elaborate "temporary" set-up was required.

We have a toaster oven, mw, crockpot in addition to the phone for making meals! It does help if it is warm enough to have salads and thus no cooking necessary...

Making meals or parts of meals ahead of time helps us too.

I agree with Marcy about not having a sink nearby has been the most challenging part.

Don't. Ask.

Followed by: Never again! :-)

Next remodel is moving the kitchen to a new location.

We set up the temporary kitchen in the living room with dishes, glasses, pots, and dining table in the adjacent sunroom (on left side of picture). Yes we stepped over crown molding every day -- our contractor had it there acclimating to the house. I actually set up the temp. kitchen a few weeks in advance of the demolition to test drive it to see if I missed anything. We have a good size basement with lots of storage shelves so I did not pack up the kitchen in boxes. It all went down on the shelves. Boy were my legs sore!! Anyway, I froze meals ahead of time (probably two / three for each week - estimated six) and cooked using the portable induction cook top, slow cooker, and microwave. I had a coffee maker and small food processer as well. The refrigerator remained plugged in. The hardest part was washing dishes (in the laundry sink in the basement) because we were determined not to use disposables. We eventually developed a system to wash dishes that worked well for us. Notice the bar on the right -- that helped too -- LOL!

Here is a picture of the temporary kitchen:

We did the kitchen the year of all those hurricanes in Florida. What was supposed to take about six weeks, turned into four months. I set up in the laundry room where we could wash up. When I hear about people washing dishes in the bathtub, I want to cry.

Besides the microwave, we used a rice cooker, slow cooker and a George Foreman grill for burgers and chicken breasts.

Hmmm I should really think about this some more as I don't really have a plan for where I'll do my cooking or store anything we use, like food or plates.

Right now I've got an electric skillet and I think I might purchase a single burner so I can make small pots of rice/veggies/sauces/noodles.

I ended up buying a hotplate shortly after we started working in the temporary kitchen. It was winter so I made a lot of big batches of soup. I also had an electric skillet, griddle and microwave. We also ate out and got take out. The grunginess of everything due to the contstruction plus washing dishes in the bathroom sink made me not look forward to cooking at home.

5 1/2 months without one, we ate out mostly. I had only a fridge in my living room. Yes it was expensive, but we did survive and I would not recommend it for anyone. I will move out next time.

We kept our packaged and canned food stacked in four plastic milk crates. It was easier to see what we had and the array took up very little floor space.

We also had some fun trying different kinds of frozen food, kind of a "walk on the wild side" for people who just about never eat convenience anything. I was actually surprised at how edible certain frozen dinners were.

Mario, we thought about moving out. I really wanted to. But, when I saw how often I needed to be there to supervise and troubleshoot, even manage scheduling, I was darn glad to be just on the other side of the temporary wall!

My SIL did a lot of BBQ'ing even in the rain....and the George Foreman Grill (or panini maker) works wonders too with chicken, turkey burgers, cheese sandwiches and such. Pulled pork sandwiches, meatloaf, stew, chicken noodle soup in a crockpot. Move that old refridge to the garage or a bedroom. Now sinks, as other posters have mentioned, are just a huge deal to not have. Prepping in a 10" bathroom sink has huge challenges!

Crockpot. Toaster oven. Compost bin for paper plates. Laundry sink with dishpan and inverted milk crate to make it a better depth. Microwave. Cheap wine. Expensive liquor. Refrigerator. Hot plate. Barbecue!

wok on the charcoal grill...DH is a master..our neighbors would come peak through the gate to see what smelled so good. We had everything set up in the DR..except for washing dishes in the walkin shower in the guest room there were no drawbacks to the months w/o a kitchen. Pre-planning is everything. c

I dreaded, dreaded, DREADED being without a kitchen, and I scheduled our reno to the T so it would be quick. Needless to say, it didn't happen that way - last-minute changes, contractor getting really sick, another contractor's family tragedy, and various other unforseen issues. We had our tear-out the end of October and we still aren't finished yet. But we are actually okay with it.

I think the main thing, as others have mentioned, is being set up near a sink. You don't realize how much you miss water until you don't have it handy. I don't have a laundry or utility sink, so I am set up in our upstairs bathroom where we have a big counter with double sinks. Across the hall I have our food and microwave set up in a spare bedroom. It works out very well, but I wouldn't be able to wash anything large. I originally intended to use my crockpot, but I don't because I don't want to wash it. I also don't do anything that involves real prep or cooking because for me personally it would be too much of a PITA.

But like others also mentioned above, we have discovered the prepared foods. I never really looked in the frozen food cases, but you can find just about anything to microwave these days, even brownies! So we are eating bagged salads, fresh fruit, canned soups, sandwiches, supermarket chicken, cereal, instant oatmeal, ramen noodles, and all kinds of frozen stuff. I feel like a college kid again! On the rare occasion we eat out, we try to order a lot of food that can be good the next day too. The biggest downside is that DH and I have gained probably 10 pounds each! So I do look forward to having my kitchen back and cooking and eating more healthfully again.

One last thing I would do differently, I would have gotten a small fridge off Craig's list to keep in the bedroom if I'd known how long this was going to be. It is a little inconvenient (and cold) to run down to the garage where our fridge is now. But all in all, it's been pretty painless. We usually eat at our desks or in front of the TV.

Now, you didn't mention if you have kids in the house, and I think that would make a big difference. If that's the case, I'm sure others will have better tips for you.

The last thing that really helped was making a mental decision to not let things get to me. It wasn't easy at first when things starting getting off track, but I made a mental decision to be okay with it, and that has helped me be comfortable living this way. So my advice is prepare yourself mentally to go with the flow, prepare your physical surroundings so you don't feel too disorganized, and know that life will be back to normal one day, but with a beautiful new kitchen!

Here's my set-up:

the bathroom/kitchen:

the bedroom/pantry:

DH moved our old kitchen set-up into the dining area for a temporary kitchen that lasted 9 months. He even hooked up the dishwasher for me. I was so thankful! What I was missing desperately was any kind of work space, but very thankful for a working range, sink, etc.

What was funny, was when friends would stop by, look around the whole kitchen, and SERIOUSLY say, "OK, so you guys are gonna have TWO fridges and TWO stoves?" I can only imagine how crazy they must've thought we were, and how hideous my design was. Bwahahahaha.

Yup . . . as has been repeated here--the thing you'll miss most is the sink! Whatever you do, try to have your plumber rig up a temporary sink--anywhere. Build it on 2x4s, or buy a cheap empty base cabinet from Home Depot, or whatever works. Even consider buying a cheap, "temporary" sink, one with a kitchen sink-sized drain. Bathroom sink traps just won't handle all the waste (obviously, dispose of as much waste from your plates before washing). Have your plumber run a temporary drain directly into the clean-out, if necessary (that way, you don't even really need a trap). I jerry-rigged some dishwasher hose to our clean-out. Not great, since nothing's designed to plumb to that kind of hose (except a dishwasher). Yes, you can survive with hotplates and microwave ovens, but you'll REALLY miss your sink!

Our temporary kitchen was in the dining room. We moved the fridge in there, and I had a microwave, toaster, toaster oven and electric skillet. The electric skillet was probably my favorite because I could cook almost anything there that I would normally cook on the top of the stove. The electric skillet made great crab cakes!

I did not have any kind of sink, but kept a couple of gallons of water in jugs which helped some (I could fill water glasses at the table and used some for cooking). Yes, shlepping dishes upstairs to wash in the bathtub got really old. Fast.

I froze a lot of meals in advance (stuff like soup, meatballs, chili), and I found the salad bar at our neighborhood grocery store to be a lifesaver. The things I found hardest to cook in the temporary kitchen and that I missed the most were pasta and rice. I actually pre-cooked and froze a few servings of pasta, but ran out too quickly.

With the exception of Friday night pizza, we didn't eat out during the remodel .