Decent cooking without an oven

Pixellated · 1 Sep 2011 at 19:47

I just moved to London, and am now living in a tiny shoebox. As you might notice from the photo, I've got no oven: just a couple of hobs, a microwave, and I went out and got a George Foreman too.

What are your favourite proper-meals to do without a real oven? I'm kind of fed up with pasta+sauces, rice+curry.

Pixellated · 1 Sep 2011 at 21:03

Semple said:
I didn't know you could have a shower bed and kitchen all in the same room. Wheres the toilet?

Shared by a few other flats in the hall, same as the washing machine.

And to Scam, I'm in Kensington, paying £120 a week (all bills inc). I had to get a place in a single day trip down since I was starting a job here in a week, but it's only ten minutes' walk from where I work: as far as I'm concerned it's a steal; I've not really much need for a massive space.

Pixellated · 1 Sep 2011 at 22:08

Natwee said:
Omg what a rip off!

You might say that, but all the other places I saw in that day were smaller, and were £150 a week. Plus being so close to work means I'm saving a fiver and a whole bunch of time every day not having to commute.

But then again, I wince when I think that in Nottingham I was paying £65 a week for a massive shared house. -_-

Pixellated · 2 Sep 2011 at 13:02

A lot of people here and elsewhere recommending slow cookers, might go with that. Seems you can do a massive joint of meat and then save the leftovers for good sandwiches =D

Pixellated · 2 Sep 2011 at 14:37

neil3k said:
eat out every night

and buy a slow cooker

I already have to eat out during lunch hours now, if I start doing it in the evenings I'll just be hemorrhaging money. D:

Pixellated · 2 Sep 2011 at 20:08

Scam said:
Interesting. You say you save a fiver a day on commuting but then admit you're losing that because presumably you can't prepare lunches at home and have to buy them out. I bet it's hard to find a decent lunch for under a fiver. Not only that but I bet you'll soon start spending more and more evenings out, and hence spending more money anyway.

I feel I over-exaggerated: back in uni I'd budget roughly £1 or less per meal, so it just feels like a step up. Usually I can get away with a £2 lunch from the local Tesco Express, but when everyone else in the office is heading to the Hammersmith food market on a Thursday, it's hard to decline the walk to get away from the desk. I don't really go out that much in the evenings.

I'd personally be worried about my health and mental state in such a confined space.

I've lived in smaller. Maybe after a couple of years I might feel the urge to upgrade, though.