No kitchen :( Non-cooking meal ideas?

[tiffanyrfox]

I finished my Whole 30 on Saturday, and reintro'd dairy yesterday, and so far it's going fine except for one thing: my kitchen sink backed up a few days ago, and when the plumber fixed it, he discovered that the main pipe in the wall (original to the 1946 house) is completely disintegrated. When he tried to connect the new plumbing he installed to said pipe, it crumpled, leaving me with an unusable kitchen sink for the time being. I don't have a dishwasher, so this has left me effectively unable to wash dishes (carting them to the bathtub is a limited option), and therefore has greatly impacted my ability to cook for myself.

 

I'm tired of salad, but am still making myself eat it some of the time, because it creates minimal cleanup. I'm also eating a lot of pre-cooked meat (the in-house deli at Whole Foods makes compliant turkey!) and raw fruit and veggies. But it's getting boring. I've got another 9 days, at least, as I go through my reintro, before I'll feel okay eating out. (To find compliant food, in my experience, I have to spend quite a bit more $$ than I can really afford. If I were done with the reintro, even though it's not ideal, I could grab a sandwich from the local deli or dinner at a meat & 3, just until the kitchen is functional again.)

 

Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation? If so, do you have any recommendations or ideas of ways to create meals without actually cooking? Since I'm through the 30 days, I want to be sure my reintro period is worthwhile, so want to figure out how I can stay compliant until I can start cooking again.

[GFChris]

Yikes, what a challenging situation for you.

What comes to mind immediately are things like sardines, and egg, salmon, tuna and chicken salad.  Fruits and raw vegetables, or things you can cook/steam in the microwave.

 

I recently discovered I can cook sweet potatoes in the microwave. Pierce the potato all over with a fork.  Cook for 5 minutes. Rotate. Cook another 5 minutes. Done.

[Renee Lee]

I recently bought a house and when i moved in, it was the first time i had left the nest (even for college). I didn't have ANY kitchen supplies at ALL, and i couldn't (still can't, really) afford to buy all the fun gadgets that I had at my mom's.

 

I'm telling you this story because I have been using a single large (10 or 11 in?) non stick skillet to do 95% of my cooking. Live on stirfries, wash the pan, cook eggs in it in the morning, rinse repeat. fry up a bulk amt of hamburger ala taco meat and throw it in a tupperware for the next few days.

 

It doesn't have to be all salads!

 

that's ONE dish you have to wash. no biggie!

[Renee Lee]

Side note: don't tell anyone, but I've been known to not wash that pan for 3-4 days. I just grab a paper towel and clean out whatever food's left in the pan. If there's a bunch of fat left in from cooking meat or something, i just leave it for the morning and cook my eggs in it.

 

I haven't died yet

[tiffanyrfox]

Renee, I have been doing that exact thing! For breakfast, anyway.

 

And, Chris, I actually don't own a microwave. Not gonna preach about that here.  

[wheresanita]

Gas grill??

[sheba-kitty]

Side note: don't tell anyone, but I've been known to not wash that pan for 3-4 days. I just grab a paper towel and clean out whatever food's left in the pan. If there's a bunch of fat left in from cooking meat or something, i just leave it for the morning and cook my eggs in it.

 

I haven't died yet

I do the same thing.