3 Tips For Getting Through a Kitchen Renovation

3 Practical Tips for Surviving a Kitchen Renovation

When we went through a complete kitchen renovation, we received a lot of advice about what to expect – it will be like camping, it will give you a great excuse to eat out, no dishes to wash and the list goes on.   The reality is, there were 3 main things that we did that made it a smooth experience without breaking the bank. 

1. Prep and freeze meals ahead of time

Since most renovations are not a surprise, you have time to plan, prep, and freeze meals before you get started.  We made batches of items and separated them into servings.

Breakfast ideas

• pancakes (various flavors so you don’t get bored) and separate in servings with wax paper
• cereal
• eggs – you can even make your own breakfast sandwiches and freeze individually
• Canadian bacon – most varieties are already cooked so you can warm or brown them in a toaster oven or microwave
• muffins, bagels, croissants
• fruit
• yogurt

Lunch/dinner ideas

• Individually wrapped fish or chicken – most can be thawed quickly, then steamed or broiled
• make batches of  meatballs, cook and freeze in serving sizes
• pot stickers – goes great with steam in bag veggies or steam in bag rice
• roast/bake batches of chicken breast and keep some whole, slice some and cube some to have on hand for quick recipes.

Snack ideas

• fresh fruit
• cheese and crackers
• nuts
• granola bars
• dried fruit

 

2. Get a Rubbermaid bin for washing dishes

Whether you have a utility sink or you are planning to wash dishes in a bathroom tub or sink, it is a good idea for clean-up and ease to have a large bin that you can wash dishes in so that you are not washing dishes directly in the tub or utility sink.  I am not a “germaphobe” but I like the idea of  keeping certain things separate. 🙂

 

3. Make the most of your small appliances

We mostly used our toaster oven to roast batches (small batches) of fish, poultry and veggies.

We used the microwave to “cook” as well as the usual warming.

Our crock pot came in handy at times but not as much as we initially expected. We have a rice cooker that we found so many new uses for. Not only does it make rice, but it sautes, simmers and slow cooks, so we used it for anything we needed to brown or saute. We made soups, chilis, stews. We even made oatmeal.  The best part is clean up was minimal.

Even now we still use our rice cooker when we don’t feel like heating the entire kitchen just to make a simple dish.

The key is to keep it simple, so that brings me to a bonus tip: buy lots of paper products and plastic ware.  We mainly used a couple of real dishes to heat things in the microwave but other than that lots of paper plates and plastic cups and bowls. So worth it.

I am sure I left out a lot of great ideas. If you have any questions, please ask. Would love to help.  If you have any great tips of your own to add, please leave it in the comments!