1 Month Without a Kitchen

We’ve officially hit ONE MONTH being kitchen-less.

I have to be honest, I damn miss that crappy kitchen. Actually, the kitchen is mostly still intact – we still surprisingly even have a sink plumbed in. Which begs the question, why are we living without a kitchen? Well, it’s now become a DIY tool dumping ground filled with copious amounts of dust. A kitchen cooking paradise, it is not. Cooking in here is an absolute no no. 

So it’s been one month since we began living off microwave meals and I can now tell you, it’s getting pretty sucky. Initially I loved not having to wash any pots, I loved how fast food cooked and I loved experiencing new foods cooked differently to my usual meals. Now, the food simply isn’t all that tasty, portion sizes are far too small for my greedy guts and I genuinely miss my own cooking. The only positives are truly just the lack of pot-washing.

If you’re wondering where to go for the best microwave meals, I can thoroughly commend Iceland for having the biggest (literally – portion sizes here are the best!) and best selection of ready meals. However, I have now tried pretty much every single ready meal they have to offer. Just so you know, the chicken tikka lasagne is for sure the absolute best, followed closely by the chicken hotpot. The negatives however, are that sometimes the meals aren’t pre-packaged in microwaveable dishes, which is quite the challenge for someone who has no plates or bowls on hand. Come on Iceland – bring back the plastic dishes!

Sadly the building work in the kitchen isn’t happening for yet another month, so we’re really no closer to having a finished kitchen than we were a month ago. We’ve been carrying out lots of little jobs here and there, prepping the room ready for work, but nothing substantial has changed that makes me feel as though we’re actually moving forward. I know this is a lie and we’re making good progress, I’m just getting a little impatient.

In the last month our food spend has been remarkably low despite stocking up on piles of chocolate and snacks to keep me going – yes, I really am that unhealthy right now. I need something to motivate me throughout the day, OK? – I’ve given up all other aspects of delicious foods after all, goddammit! Turns out living off microwave meals is a good way to save money, just not so great for the nutritious value and I fear I’ll end up with some serious nutrient-defficiency. I’m going to have to resort to eating raw carrots soon. It’ll be worth it in the end – that’s what I keep telling myself.

In other news, to keep our spirits up, we booked flights to Cambodia(!!) for our yearly renovation getaway. I am beyond excited. Partly to experience a new country in Asia, partly so we can get away from our building site home, but mostly because we can eat proper delicious foooood for darn cheap. I simply cannot wait. I’m always nervous about leaving a renovation project mid-finished before going away and I’d like to say we’ll have the kitchen finished by then, but something tells me it won’t be. I do hope so though – I’m not sure how much longer I can suffer without a cooker. I’d also just like to point out the most beautiful notebook in the photo above by Nikki Strange. It’s my new travel-planning book and I freaking loooove it. A sneaky purchase that’s definitely made me more pro-active with planning, definitely worth the pennies. Anyone else find pretty notebooks help with motivation?

I have lots of renovation posts to write up, but I’ve been a bit lacking recently. I blame the lack of food – oh food, how I miss ye. Renovation woes. I promise I’ll get some updates posted soon!

Until then, I hope you’re all enjoying your delicious nutritious home-cooked meals *squints with envy* 😉 Ha!