It seemed such a good idea to have the kitchen remodelled. We'd been thinking about making changes for a (long) while and eventually took the plunge. We found a company who could come in and do everything, from ripping the old one out to refitting the new one, and come in they did. Two weeks ago. This means we have been without a kitchen for two whole weeks. No hob, no oven, no washing machine, no dish washer, no kitchen sink. The cupboards had to be emptied (obviously) before the work started and the dining room became the designated dumping area for pots, pans, utensils,food items, appliances, cookery books, glasses etc. I hadn't realised we had so much stuff, even after a thorough sorting and discarding of the out of date, chipped and no longer needed.
The dining room is also where we've set up a kind of field kitchen. The old fridge and freezer are in there along with the kettle, toaster and microwave oven. At first I thought "Well, that's OK. We'll manage with ready meals and beans on toast, and we can hand wash a few clothes to tide us over". But after two weeks, the situation's driving me mad. And the kitchen is nowhere near finished. Laundry has mounted up (there's only so much you can wash by hand in the bath) and dealing with it now means driving to Aunty M's with black bin bags full of clothes and bedding and a box of Bold liquitabs. Any washing up has to be done in the bathroom. We'd intended to use paper plates and plastic cutlery but discovered that beans on toast and paper are not a good combination. And as for plastic knives and forks...... A simple task like filling the kettle means a trip upstairs as the washbasin in the downstairs cloakroom is so small the kettle doesn't fit under the tap. And we're sick of eating microwaved ready meals, necessarily of the vegetarian variety. You know the ones I mean. Pasta bake, lentil shepherd's pie, stuffed peppers and the like. They may be handy to have in the freezer for occasional consumption but eating so many of them has made me realise something. They. All. Taste. The. Same. So, today we've been out for Sunday lunch and real food. (Giant Yorkshire puds filled with vegetables and gravy followed by rhubarb crumble and custard).
Due to a few hiccups, like the wrong sink being fitted and a granite worktop being dropped, it seems we'll be without a functioning kitchen for at least another week. So, if anyone has any vegetarian recipes which involve cooking with microwaves, please share them with me!