Meal planning for kitchen remodel

[MiniDriver]

I've figure I'm going to be without a kitchen for about 3 months starting at the end of September.

This will be challenging enough, but I'm trying to do it without gaining weight and while sticking to a vegan diet.

I will have the fridge, a microwave, an electric frying pan, blender, a toaster and gas grill. 

Here's the plan:

In September:
Make lots of homemade granola for breakfasts
Fill the freezer with homemade soups, casseroles, and other microwave-ready meals.
Stock up on paper plates and plastic utensils (not ecologically friendly, but the less I have to carry stuff upstairs to wash in the tub the better)

During the remodel:
Do as much meal preparation/planning on the weekend as possible
Grill for DH on the weekend (he works nights so he eats on the road weeknights)

Any suggestions?  Especially for that period near the end where I'm about to sell my soul to get a working kitchen?

[redkitty]

Maybe get a crock pot?  maybe a cookbook for "dorm" cooking. I figure dorms have limited space and limited cooking equipment.  You will probably need to modify recipes for the vegan aspect. 

I know if I were in this situation, i would be eating out a out and eating lots of cereal and sandwiches.  (but i hate cooking on a good day, let alone when my kitchen wasn't usable.) 

[MiniDriver]

Maybe get a crock pot?  maybe a cookbook for "dorm" cooking. I figure dorms have limited space and limited cooking equipment.  You will probably need to modify recipes for the vegan aspect. 

I know if I were in this situation, i would be eating out a out and eating lots of cereal and sandwiches.  (but i hate cooking on a good day, let alone when my kitchen wasn't usable.) 

Ooh, yes we have a crockpot!  That will be essential.  Yeah, I'll be eating a lot of cereal and sandwiches.  Trying to avoid eating out because $, calories, and lack of vegan options. 

[teetime]

I don't remember you following a vegan diet ... is this important to you for personal reasons or do you think it's helpful for health and dieting reasons?  If so, disregard.  If not, I might consider adding some eggs and dairy during this time both for weight loss and for making life easy.  E.g., a Fage yogurt has 100 calories and 18 grams of protein.  It seems like that would be an easy breakfast (with fruit) and a more filling/better calorie bang for the buck option than than granola everyday.  And eggs are so easy in the microwave and affordable, healthful (take out some yokes if you need to), etc.

Seems like you have almost everything you need in terms of cooking and the biggest challenge is dishes.  Is there a spot by the grill you can set up with soap and a hose to avoid some of the upstairs dish washing?

[MiniDriver]

I don't remember you following a vegan diet ... is this important to you for personal reasons or do you think it's helpful for health and dieting reasons?  If so, disregard.  If not, I might consider adding some eggs and dairy during this time both for weight loss and for making life easy.  E.g., a Fage yogurt has 100 calories and 18 grams of protein.  It seems like that would be an easy breakfast (with fruit) and a more filling/better calorie bang for the buck option than than granola everyday.  And eggs are so easy in the microwave and affordable, healthful (take out some yokes if you need to), etc.

Seems like you have almost everything you need in terms of cooking and the biggest challenge is dishes.  Is there a spot by the grill you can set up with soap and a hose to avoid some of the upstairs dish washing?

I have been trying to transition to vegan for months, and haven't quite succeeded.  But I'm down to animal products only once or twice a week, so that's progress.

Vegan is more of a health choice than worrying about the environment or farm animals.  I love yogurt, but it isn't filling enough for a meal for me.  I need to chew something.  The combination of whole grains and nuts is very filling for me, so peanut butter toast works better for me than yogurt or eggs. 

Yes, we can set up an outdoor washing station until frost.  It's probably messier than washing in the tub, and still involves carrying dishes up and down stairs. 

[teetime]

I have been trying to transition to vegan for months, and haven't quite succeeded.  But I'm down to animal products only once or twice a week, so that's progress.

Vegan is more of a health choice than worrying about the environment or farm animals.  I love yogurt, but it isn't filling enough for a meal for me.  I need to chew something.  The combination of whole grains and nuts is very filling for me, so peanut butter toast works better for me than yogurt or eggs. 

Yes, we can set up an outdoor washing station until frost.  It's probably messier than washing in the tub, and still involves carrying dishes up and down stairs. 

If it works for you, great! 

[redkitty]

I looked at some of the dorm cooking cookbooks on Amazon. i really think some of them would work for you. none vegan specifically, but I think some recipes can be modified. Others just ignore. I would visit the library and check a few out. You can think of the next 3 months as an experiment. You can blog about it (or just post about it here.) 

[witchypoo]

we used a 'wave, slow cooker, toaster, electric griddle, and bbq grill for 3.5 months. 

the only thing we couldn't really do was a crisp, cooked veggie.  so i ordered those when we ate out.

[Ice Cream]

I did this for 3 months, too. It was not very difficult.  We had lots of frozen vegetables in the MW and rice in the rice cooker.  Dipping sauce for veggies, and grilled chicken strips in the freezer.  Doing tempeh should be easy.

oatmeal and apple sauce in the crockpot.

[Magic Microbe]

Three months? 

Why so long?

[omega lambda]

Ha!  At least you have time to prepare.  When our kitchen got remodeled, the first thing we were going to do was tear out the floor, so we had this guy come to give an estimate.  That day, the floor and the entire kitchen got torn out.   

The only other thing you might want handy is an electric skillet?  You could do some one-pot type meals in that as well.  From the sound of it, you'll have access to your refrigerator the whole time.  I did not - it was constantly getting moved around and was finally put in the garage for awhile.  We ended up eating out a lot and making sandwiches.  It was a tough time, so I'm glad you can plan ahead and have time to think about it.