Kitchen renovations are fun. A lot of fun... I mean this in both literally and sarcastically. Living in a non-functional, falling apart kitchen is no fun. You know what else isn't fun? Washing dishes in your bathtub... However, it's a necessity and it means you're one step closer to your new kitchen! With our kitchen out of commission for the last few months, I wanted to share with you how we coped.
Renovating kitchens are expensive and we did not want to compound that expense with eating out every meal. Both my husband and I are very health conscious and have dietary restrictions (he can't have dairy and I can't have gluten - wanna come over for a dinner party? hehe...) so dining out is always a bit difficult for us anyway. We have managed to eat 90% of our meals at home with a basic, temporary kitchen.
We set up our temporary kitchen in our dining room and it includes our refrigerator, a bakers rack, countertop microwave, coffee maker, toaster, electric skillet and toaster over. We had all of these items on hand with the exception of the electric griddle. We bought this one and we love it!
Honestly, it's probably one of the best $30 investments we've made. I have no doubt we will continue using it after the renovation is complete. We use it as a griddle for cooking eggs, bacon, hash browns, etc. but also as a basic skillet/frying pan. We've sautéed veggies, made stir fries, cooked steak, burgers, ground turkey, and pretty much anything else you can cook in a pan. The non-stick surface cleans in a snap. Also for those that are interested, the our backer's rack is still available and it's only $60.
As for strategy, we are obviously relatively limited from a culinary standpoint. Below are a few of our staples:
Protein Sources:
- Eggs - Easy, affordable option that can be cooked in a variety of ways on the griddle.
- Ground meat - Typically affordable and quick cooking on the griddle. We generally stick with lean or extra lean ground turkey and as lean of ground beef we could find. Occasionally we throw in some ground chicken or ground lamb.
- Chicken Tenderloins - Smaller cut of chicken breast that can be cooked easily on the griddle.
- Turkey Burgers - Super easy to throw on the griddle. I will probably keep cooking them this way after we have functional kitchen as you can cook more at a time than you can with a skillet on the stove.
- Frozen Rice - We stocked up on microwavable frozen rice. You can usually find it on sale at the grocery store. You can usually find white rice and brown rice easily, with a wild rice blend on occasion.
- Microwavable Potatoes - There are a few prepackaged options here that are readily available at the grocery store. Sweet potatoes in the produce section either cut up in "microwave ready" bags or whole wrapped in plastic that is meant to steam the potato during microwaving are good options. We have also become fans of The Little Potato Company, which has a few yummy microwavable potato varieties.
- Toast - This is a morning staple for us. We usually top our toast with avocado (I know - so basic) or Vegenaise and tomatoes with salt and pepper. But there are lots of other options, including peanut butter and bananas!
- Fruit is a great no-cook option for snacks or sides for breakfast or lunch. We usually have bananas, apples and berries on hand. Grab what you like and what you'll eat.
- Really anything that can be cut up and thrown on the griddle is great. We've had lots of sliced bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini and squash.
- Frozen Veggies - Located near the frozen rice, there are plenty of good options. We usually have at least of few bags of frozen broccoli on hand at any given time. However, there are lots options, including veggie blends.
- For snacks, we have a lot of carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes or sliced bell peppers with hummus. No cooking required!
- Another great no cook option is salads. We have a salad for dinner about every other night. Our current favor is butter lettuce with sliced strawberries, blueberries, sliced almonds, and chicken breast tenderloins with a lemon vinaigrette dressing. Highly recommend!