No stove; menu help needed

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Janet H

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A week or so ago my oven died and we've ordered a new range. it won't be installed for another 10 days and in the meantime I need to prep meals . I need ideas. They don't need to be fancy but I've exhausted my short list already - any help?

Here's what I have to cook on:

Propane BBQ
Toaster oven (pretty small)
1 butane burner (caterers burner - very hot).
Crockpot
electric griddle
Waffle iron
Rice cooker


I have no oven, microwave or stove and frankly don't want a lot of leftovers. There are two of us and I am a vegetarian.

So far we've had:
Flat bread pizza (BBQ)
Steak and packet cooked veggies (BBQ)
Breakfast (elec. griddle)
Burgers (BBQ) and tater tots (waffle iron)
Stirfry (butane burner) w/rice
Lots of cold food like sandwiches​


Any ideas?
 
No stove menu help needed

How about: roasted vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, carrots in the TO; stir fry, grilled cheese on the griddle; bread, cakes, soup, spaghetti sauce, casseroles, lasagna in the CP; paninis on the waffle iron (I've seen a lot of neat stuff done on the waffle iron lately).

And I think ice cream makes a good meal, as well as cereal!
 
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How about the old camping trick of foil pouch dinners.

You should be able to do them on the grill or in the toaster oven, no cleanup, no leftovers and customized for each of you.

The 9 Easiest Meals You'll Ever Make - Betty Crocker

30 Delicious Tin Foil Dinners | Six Sisters' Stuff

Foil-Pack Dinners By Kraft Foods - Cooking With Foil, Foil Recipes & Delicious Foil Dinner Ideas - Kraft Recipes

Also pancakes and french toast on the griddle, breakfast for dinner! :yum:

Grilled cheese and Dawg's tomato soup.

Good luck!
 
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I say if you are going to camp out in your own kitchen, do it in style!

Make mushroom stroganoff. DH can add grilled (leftover) steak slices. Use the good china and candlelight. And Yes to Ice cream.

I think Leftovers are sometimes my best friend. I also think sometimes I wouldn't know how to make dinner without them. Next time you grill, make extra herbed up zucchini slices, sliced the long way. Ditto some round onion slices. Zip lock. Make rice tomorrow ( I used a small box already cooked rice from the Chinese take out. ) Make Chipotle's Cilantro Lime rice, w/ the zukes cut cross- ways and diced onion. Also kick it up so you can actually taste the cilantro/ lime flavor. Or use parsley. If I did this again, I would add grilled carrots. Add some grilled corn off the cob and black or pinto beans, and more of a lime vinaigrette and it's a salad. This, I agree makes a lot. It's funny. I don't think we ever refer to Ice Cream as a leftover once the carton has been opened.

Pineapple or other fried rice. It's harder (for me) to do, but you can to some extent, control how many servings you make.

I think Guacamole goes with just about anything. Veggies or chips for dipping. Makes a light lunch, appie or a side dish.
 
Loaded up baked potatoes in the toaster oven, topped with broccoli and cheese or meatless chili, chopped onions and shredded cheese on top....frittata with leftover veggies in the TO.....split pea soup with carrots and onions in the slow cooker....burritos with refried beans, diced tomatoes, onions, cheese, and some leftover meat for DH's....

Other than what's already been mentioned, that's about all I can come up with right now. :)

And I love Whisk's ideas about candlelight - don't forget the wine, and ice cream! :)
 
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Oh boy, what a bunch of good ideas...I'm making notes for me!

Janet, do you have a grill basket? I adore mine for vinaigrette marinated grilled veggies, and a package of Lil Smokies in the mix makes a great meal. I see you cook meat for Hubby, and you can easily pick them out of your serving.
 
I thought of another one, just right for this time of year.

Tomato tart or tomato quiche. Depending on how small the toaster oven is, you can make individual ones using small pie pans/ a one quart casserole or 8 inch baking pan, not necessarily a full size pie pan. The store has small disposable pie pans. There should be tomato recipes floating around here some place.
 
...vinaigrette marinated grilled veggies,

I accidentally discovered vinaigrette marinated veggise this summer. Prev, I roasted veggies w/ just a little olive oil and a sprinkle herbs. Adding some things like dijon, and garlic et al marinade gives a nicer flavor. Balsamic vinegar is great. or red wine vingear. And believe it or not, veggies do take on the flavors.
 
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When I was traveling and staying in hotels a lot, I brought a small electric skillet. I used it for boiling water, baking potatoes (cut in half, 'cause that skillet was small), frying meat, steaming vegis, baking cake, frying English muffins, and I'm sure there was other stuff. Oh yeah, grilled cheese sandwiches and breakfasts.
 
I accidentally discovered vinaigrette marinated veggise this summer. Prev, I roasted veggies w/ just a little olive oil and a sprinkle herbs. Adding some things like dijon, and garlic et al marinade gives a nicer flavor. Balsamic vinegar is great. or red wine vingear. And believe it or not, veggies do take on the flavors.

Yep, they really do Whiska! The vinaigrette really soaks into things like mushrooms and zucchini, two of my favorites for the grill basket, along with colored bell peppers. Here I grill all year and have never done them in the oven. I love the bit of char they get in the grill basket.
 
With the cooking/heat sources you describe, there are few things that you can not cook. Think slow cooker stews, lasagna, pasta with sauce, roasts that you can first brown either on the grill, or in a pan over your catering burner, hot dogs and baked beans, grilled or steamed corn (do you have a microwave oven by any chance, works great for corn), mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, baked potatoes, potatoes Anna, Potatoes Au Gratin, Sweet potatoes with vanilla, sweet potatoes with pumpkin pie spices and butter, stir fries in you dutch oven, fried chicken, grilled or barbecue meats, spare ribs in the crock pot, etc.

The trick is to determine which heating appliance will cook what part of the meal. Plan your meals to use multiple appliances for different pats. Maybe cook the veggies in a pot with butter, while grilling some chicken, and use the toaster oven to make some garlic bread. Use the slow cooker to make stew, and the toaster oven to make biscuits.

To give you an idea of how wild cooking can get, way back in my boy scout days, out scoutmaster had us make bread dough, rolled into a snake, and wrapped around a stick. We then baked the bread by holding the stick over our cooking fire until the bread was golden brown and cooked through. It was like a serpentine bread stick. I was so impressed with my scout master. I never stopped liking the man, and have fond memories of his teachings, and his care for all of us. He helped make the mundane parts of life an adventure.

Take this opportunity to do the same. Have fun with it.

You can do this. Just think of each appliance as a heat source, like you would the multiple burners and oven of a normal range.

Hope that helps.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
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How about couscous.

It is pretty simple to "cook" and at this time of year with all of the fresh vegetables it could work as a simple hot dish on day one and a salad on day two.
 
Oh boy, what a bunch of good ideas...I'm making notes for me!

Janet, do you have a grill basket? I adore mine for vinaigrette marinated grilled veggies, and a package of Lil Smokies in the mix makes a great meal. I see you cook meat for Hubby, and you can easily pick them out of your serving.

I agree - loads of good ideas here - keep them coming! I think my biggest hurdle is the idea part of meal planning. Shifting my perspective away from a range is the trick and I'm having some trouble.

Recently I picked up a grill basket at a tag sale and so this is on tonights menu... State fair style sausage (meat for him/fake for me) sandwiches with grilled onions and peppers.

The flat bottom and small holes make it pretty easy to sear up veggies on the bbq. Love this little thing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHGSmDUocxk
 
You're going to love that grill basket Janet! Here's a picture of mine in action...

img_1433713_0_7e8922430735a02ba6d81aa8de5a91d3.jpg
 
That looks delicious, Kay. I can't believe I still haven't gotten a grill basket! I saw them in Home Depot the other day and almost picked one up, then I got distracted and forgot. :wacko: :LOL: Usually I slice big veggies like zucchini and bells in half so they won't fall through the grill, or skewer them. Asparagus just goes on the grill crossways. But it would be nice to have a grill basket and just do them all at once. It's now on my list! :)
 
When we renovated our kitchen several years ago, I was determined to master the grill :) You can grill practically everything - veggies, fruits, meats and meat substitutes. If you have cast iron pans, you can use them on the grill grates for sautéing.

You can boil potatoes for potato salad on the burner you have and finish them in the grill basket: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...-grilled-potatoes-with-fine-herbs-recipe.html

You can also make this recipe I made last night, substituting non-meat sausages for you: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...-with-beer-mustard-and-sauerkraut-recipe.html. Use this idea to make a Mexican or Italian version.

Does your grill have a side burner? If so, you can boil or sauté on that while grilling.

Hope this helps.
 
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Last nights sausage sandwiches were pretty good but cooking on the grill was interrupted when the propane tank dried up. I finished them on the butane burner and gassed up the tank today. Sigh..


Tonight's meal is currently slated to be grilled garden veggies (eggplant, tomatoes, onion, zucchini and a rutabaga) over angel hair pasta. I'm going to try making some blue cheese and walnut stuffed mushrooms to go with. I think I can do this on the grill... I hope.
 
Bummer about the tank. We try to keep a spare one on hand, but it doesn't always work out.

Depending on the size of the mushrooms, you might be able to skewer them. Or make a little dish with aluminum foil to put them on.

I have a set of little skewers like this for onions. Skewering large slices horizontally prevents them from falling apart as they cook and soften:
shopping
 
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I posted a recipe for vegetarian okonimiyaki under Ethnic foods that you can do on an electric Griddle. If it has too many ingredients, just leave some out but keep the cabbage.
I often make a rice - lentil blend in the rice cooker. I make a meal salad out of the leftovers by adding chickpeas or another legume, a green left veg, carrots, cubes, tomatoes, apples and whatever else is on hand. I dress it with balsamic vinegar, s&p. You can toss in hb eggs. What about rice wraps?
 
Last night we had breakfast on the griddle - hash browns, eggs and some seared pears.

The stuffed mushrooms the night before went pretty well. I had to drop them in foil part way through cooking as they were too hot on the bottom but in the end it worked out.

Not sure yet about tonight menu - maybe rubens and a salad?
 
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