How to survive without a kitchen for 2 weeks...

[Jann in TX]

What did we get ourselves into???

 

Our kitchen, great room, dining room, my office and 2 hallways are getting painted this week and next.  All of these areas open up to each other... This leaves 4 bedrooms and our theater room alone.  Master bedroom and youngest dd's room are 'not in order' right now.

The guest room (where I sleep most nights) is where I've moved my office so I can work.  Other bedroom is DH's office and now our pantry!

 

We will have some access to the kitchen appliances the first part of this week-- then there will be 4-5 days with only access to fridge.

 

This weekend my older girls came over as EVERYTHING had to be removed from the kitchen cabinets and pantry-- and all pictures off walls all trinkets packed away... we basically had to move out of 1/2 of our house!

 

Did I mention that I recently had major surgery and I 'failed' the 6-week 'inspection' so I have 2-4 more weeks of restrictions on lifting and bending (full hysterectomy due to early uterine cancer-- no further treatment needed!!!!)

 

I get to be a princess while DH slaves away-- he is NOT a happy camper as he is cleaning shelves right now (on his BIRTHDAY)... 

 

Please tell me that everything will be OK and that we will be able to EAT more than just sandwiches and cereal  (I do have a great grill I will be using and a wonderful IP)

 

DH is the one who scheduled the painters BEFORE I went to Dr for recheck-- he was optimistic! 

 

Hopefully I will be back to 'normal' when Humpty Dumpty gets put back together in 2 weeks.

 

 

[Carrie12345]

Oh, man.

 

Given enough time, I'd have the kids whip up some meals that can be microwaved in dh's office.

 

Hoping your recovery is complete soon!

[KatieJ]

Wow, that’s a lot of work at once!

 

When we remodeled we had an empty bedroom, so,I set up a temp kitchen in there. Microwave and electric fry pan were about all I had.

We survived on salads, sandwiches, eggs. I did have a daughter and some friends who occasionally. Fought us a meal.

Paper plates and silverware. Felt guilty about the trash, but I didn’t have good access to wash anything. Had to go,thrumghe construction zone to get to laundry room tub, sos didn’t do it often.

 

Anyway, see if you can carve out s corner to set up some supplies.

[Garga]

That sounds awful!  I'm immediately craving things that you can only cook on a stove or in the oven just reading about it.  

 

Is there time to premake some soups and casseroles that you can heat in the microwave?  Or cook a bunch of chicken and peppers and then assemble fajitahs and warm them in the microwave?  Brown and freeze a bunch of ground meat for taco night?  Precook pasta.  You can put it in the microwave in a bowlful of water and it'll reheat pretty well.  Do you have a freezer where you can put the cooked meats and soups?

 

If not, then I think I'd be hitting the freezer section of the grocery store for premade meals that can be microwaved (soups and lasagnas.)  And probably 4 nights of pizza. 

[Sherry in OH]

On the grill:

Foil wrapped baked potatoes and grilled meat/other protein.  Add bagged salad and fresh or canned fruit

Kababs and grilled vegetables

Tin foil dinners - basically slice potatoes and other vegetables with or without meat, wrap in foil and steam on the grill.  There are many recipes online.

 

Does your grocery store have rotisserie chicken or other pre-prepared foods?  I

 

[Miss Tick]

Yikes! Sounds like a lot of juggling

[displace]

Hugs. Crockpot, sandwiches, grocery rotisserie.

 

If you have access to a microwave- frozen meals.

 

Consider places that make good deli type food, or even Whole Foods takeaway in a pinch, Chinese delivery, pizza, sushi.

[KungFuPanda]

I think you could easily cook for two weeks with a grill and and IP. It’s the clean-up that’s tough. Can you use your sink and dishwasher? Is your weather condusive to cooking outside? Does your grill have a burner?

[gardenmom5]

a small microwave. 

rice cooker

electric skillet -or a hot plate with a frying pan.

 

my sil and her dh coudn't agree on the cooktop - so she didn't have one for more than a year.  (she wanted gas, he could only focus on the toxins).   she sitll managed to cook.

[hornblower]

That's a lot on your (paper) plate! :) 

Plan some meals ahead of time, microwaves, toasters (or a toaster oven), outdoor bbq and camping stove all can make it doable.  Plus takeout!  I found doing the dishes the most annoying thing. We didn't get paper & we just washed them in the bathtub but that is not fun on the knees or on the back. I think with your exercise restrictions you should consider disposables unless someoen else volunteers for washing duty. 

 

Sorry to hear about your dx but glad you caught it early and your treatment is done. But definitely take the time to rest & heal properly! 

[Lady Florida.]

It will be okay. We renovated this house while we were living in it AND ds was a toddler. While the kitchen was being renovated I had access to only a microwave and the refrigerator (we moved both to the dining room). I washed the few dishes we dirtied in the bathroom sink. At first I was happy to not cook but by the time the kitchen was done I was aching for a homemade meal. Still, we made it. And you will too. :)

[mellifera33]

We had to do this when our kitchen remodel turned into a leaks nightmare/whole house repipe/mold remediation. My kids thought it was wonderful--like camping. We washed dishes in the bathtub and learned about what a microwave was capable of. It wasn't gourmet cooking, but my kids thought microwave frozen ravioli was a great meal. :)

[Jann in TX]

DH is going out to eat for lunch with a friend-- will bring some fajitas home for DD and I tonight (and for our lunch tomorrow).

I had some carnitas cooked (pulled pork) so we have that.

I also have some pre-cooked pasta in the freezer for DD's lunch a few days this week.

 

Rotisserie chicken will be on the menu a few times for sure!

 

Microwave will be masked off for 4-5 days!!-- not sure how I will survive that.

 

I did find an extra electric cooktop element-- so I can boil water or 'cook' in one of the other rooms.  I think I loaned my water kettle (electric) to a friend-- I have a hot water dispenser in the kitchen sink-- and I drink LOTS of hot tea (beverage!).

 

We live in a small town so limited places to eat out without driving 30-60 minutes... I'm sure we will not starve... but those 4-5 days will not be fun!

 

I'm going shopping tonight, thanks for the suggestions-- gives me more options!

 

 

[SamanthaCarter]

We went a month with a fridge and a microwave in the living room. We made it work on a lot of premade foods from my freezer, from Fresh Market, and microwave in the bag veggies. I’m happy to report we haven’t died of cancer yet.

 

 

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Edited February 5, 2018 by SamanthaCarter

[rjand6more]

Instant Pot saved us during our 6 week kitchen remodel.

[PrairieSong]

It will be ok! Five years ago we began a kitchen/dining room/living room remodel. Six weeks turned into eight weeks. I always had access to our refrigerator, but for most of that time I cooked in the basement bathroom. I had a crock pot and a large electric skillet on a small table. I had a rice cooker also. We ate pretty normally to be honest. I didn't deep fry anything. I made chili, spaghetti sauce, stir fry, etc, in the electric skillet and lots of one pot meals in the crock pot.

 

You will survive!

 

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[Deb in NZ]

Our kitchen renovation took over 10 months to finish.  DH is a builder so fit it around other commitments.  Luckily for most of that it was just dh & I home.  In the beginning we set up a temp kitchen in the unfinished rumpus room with a microwave, single induction burner, toaster, crockpot, & we had a BBQ outside to use.  I set up a tea/coffee centre on top of the dryer in the laundry room & the laundry tub was used for washing dishes.  The fridge was in the lounge at the other end of the house.  Our pantry items were stored under the coffee table in the lounge & our dishes were stored on top of the coffee table.  I quickly bought a cheap rice cooker as trying to prepare a meal on a single burner was a pain.  Having no bench space was a pain.  After about 5 months of no kitchen I was eating breakfast & lunch out most days (not good for my figure or the budget).  About 6 weeks before we finally finished dh decided that he wanted to finish the rumpus room at the same time as the kitchen.  That meant no temp kitchen as well. I bought a dozen microwave frozen meals & that was our dinners until the kitchen was finally finished on Thanksgiving Day.  

 

Looking back I'm not sure how I survived.  I love, love, LOVE my new kitchen.  It has tons of bench space that I try to keep clear of clutter.  Preparing meals is a joy.  I even enjoy doing the dishes now.  I'm s-l-o-w-l-y repairing the damage to my body that almost a year of too much McDs did.  

 

Long story short....you can & will survive 2 weeks with no kitchen.  :-)  Keep the picture of the finished room in your mind when things get tough.

 

 

[aaplank]

My advice would be to get as much take out and ready made food as you are able, skip cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping. Give yourself time to fully heal. You can't rush these things, or put healing on time table. Have your family handle most of the household tasks and don't feel guilty.

 

I had a full hysterectomy and it was a long road of recovery.

[TechWife]

I read this as "How do I survive without a kitten for two weeks." 

 

To answer that question - I don't know. Kittens make everything better! 

 

For the allergic - videos of kittens make everything better! 

[YaelAldrich]

Everyone here has given you good advice.  Use your countertop appliances (crockpot, IP, rice cooker, etc) to make food.  Use throw away utensils and plates.  The "princess" has to heal and her family needs to be glad she isn't having more complicated issues and much more down time or worse, G-d forbid.