I have not had a working stove or oven for 2 months now. There was a gas leak and they had to come into each and every apartment to redo the piping and set up the gas. Well, apparently the woman who lives in the apartment above mine has either been out of town for months or is an elderly hoarder who doesn’t want to let people in her apartment because they haven’t been able to get in and fix her gas line. Due to them not having access to her place everyone else has unfinished construction work in their kitchen and no gas. The super gave everyone a hot plate and I have a microwave, but I have to say that lean cuisines and mac and cheese are starting to get a little old.
I need some skillet recipes (and possibly things for the microwave as well) that I can use to add some variety back into my diet while they try to fix the gas line so I can have use of my oven again. What fantabulous 1 pot/pan recipes do you have floating around in your cookbooks?
When I hear “skillet” I think of the breakfast kind, which are always good. Some sort of meat or veggies with a scrambled egg binder is delicious, if not really healthy. Mine have potatos, green peppers, onions, garlic, scrambled eggs, and bacon, all topped off with melty cheese.
If you really want to live dangerously try making your scrambled eggs with vegitable cream cheese instead of milk. You have to put it in the blender to mix it well but it’s off the charts.
I usually dice up some potatoes, green pepper, onion, sometimes mushrooms and add scrambled eggs and make a nice breakfast type meal. One pan, one mess.
How about franch toast? grilled cheese sandwich and soup (micro the soup)? Or grill ham and cheese, chicken and swiss, or even tuna and cheese?
Another is a chicken breast (or 2), top with cream of whatever soup mixed with rice & a wee bit of milk, water, or chicken broth. Cover and simmer until rice and chicken are done.
Have a crockpot? use it and freeze leftovers that can be microwaved.
For me, skillet = wok = Chinese food. Learn to make a few simple Chinese recipes, and you can eat good, healthy food that can be made pretty quickly. You’ll need some rice, but you can make a bunch and freeze it in meal-sized portion, then microwave it when you need it.
I’d do stir fries. Heat some ginger, garlic and other spices in a bit of oil. Add meat cut into bite-sized pieces and brown it. Add the vegetables after the meat is browned. Uncle Ben’s boil-in-bag rice is supposed to be pretty good and can be cooked in a microwave.
If you have a grill pan or a George Foreman grill, those can also be nice for cooking up things. You can also use a toaster oven for baking small amounts of things or heating up a few rolls.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I do own a crock pot as well (which I love but it is a bitch to clean) so I am thinking possibly chili since it has been so cold here lately. I love baking and cooking but so much of what I know how to make goes in the oven that it has made these past few weeks very difficult.
I think Reynolds makes a crock pot liner so that might make cleaning less of a bitch.
I lived with only a crock pot and a microwave for about two months last year. I have nothing saved but I know there are sites out there with a wide variety of recipes for both. The fun is in the experimenting!
But also, I’d do a little research into Landlord Tenant law in your jurisdiction, and see if you have any recourse to get this project moved along. In my jurisdiction it’s a violation for a landlord to leave you without the ability to cook in your home, forcing you to use appliances like you’re having to do now. Also, there are situations that allow landlords to enter the premises of tenants, even if they can’t be contacted, and restoring gas to the entire building would definitely fall under that category.
Cut up a chicken breast in bite-sized pieces, fry. Cut up an Italian sausage (without skin) and fry. Put the meat back in the pan, add a can of tomatoes and a can of white beans and some rosemary. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes or so.
When I spoke with the super he said that because the woman in the apartment above mine has not provided them with keys or been home to let them in to work on the pipes but she continues to pay her rent they have no right to enter her apartment without her permission. I don’t know if that is just an excuse but that is what he said. I am thinking about going up there and talking to her myself if she will answer the door and tell her how important it is that she let them in her apartment to fix the gas lines, but I don’t want to make an enemy of my neighbor either.
It also doesn’t help that they are only available to work on the pipes between 10 am and 4 pm M-F when most people are not home at all. I would like to make him come fix it on the weekend when she is more likely to be home but apparently that is not possible.
That’s nonsense. I think they’re either lying to you, or they don’t know the law themselves. Do you have a copy of your own lease on hand anywhere? If so, pull it out and see if it has any kind of clause in there about management being allowed to enter your unit under certain circumstances, such as urgent repairs (which I would consider a lack of gas to the entire building to be). If it’s in yours, it’s in hers, so bring it to the attention of the property manager (not the “super” – he’s just the maintenance guy. You’re talking to the wrong person here). One person cannot hijack an entire apartment building from getting working gas in their homes indefinitely.
If you need to know where to start to find the information you need, look on your state’s website for the term “habitability” to start out. As an example, here’s what it says about a Landlord’s responsibility in California:
There’s no way in hell that nonsense would fly for even a week out here, let alone 2 months and counting.
Pork Tenderloin:
Slice into 3/4 inch thick slices across the grain of the meat. You can cut them butterflied if you like. Drop onto hot skillet to sear the ends. Lower the temperature to about medium where it will cook but not burn. Cook until done. Season with salt and black pepper. You cooked it too long if it’s dry.
Mashed Potatoes quickly:
Make up Betty Crocker Potato Buds using the microwave. They are better tasting than the other brands of mashed potatoes. Add in a bit of chicken soup base, and black pepper to the liquid, before the potato buds.
Gravy:
Take a coffee mug with 1/4 cup of cold water and use a fork to mix in a tablespoon
of corn starch or a little more. No lumps should be left. Heat the water 30 seconds at a time, and stir the starch water. Keep doing this until the mixture is fully set. The liquid will turn much clearer when it sets, and get thick. Now stir in more water a little at a time until the consistency is the way you want the gravy. During this time you may get lumps, in which case start over you messed up. You’re only out the cornstarch and water, which costs almost nothing. Now that you have a good mixture, stir in soup base to your taste.
Swiss Melts:
Some people want onions I don’t. How to make caramelized onions
Put the onions on a plate
Clean the pan out.
Melt only enough butter to thinly spread it in the pan. Warm and brown thin slices of ham.
Butter two slices of pumpernickel bread on one side each. Put one slice with buttered side down in skillet. Pile on ham, swiss cheese and onions. Put the other bread slice on top with buttered side up. Flip the sandwich, when the bottom is brown. After browning both sides you should continue flipping to prevent burning until it’s hot all through, then serve it Use
Toasted Cheese:
Butter two slices of any bread you like on one side each. Put one slice with buttered down in skillet. Pile on american cheese. Put the other bread slice on top with buttered side up. Flip the sandwich when the bottom is brown. after browning both side you should flip to prevent burning until it’s all hot, then serve it. I like to use pumpernickel sometimes. I like slices of sweet gerkins added into the middle after cooking, and I know other’s that do this. Give it a try.
I’m done with these recipes.
French Toast:
Hamburgers: Like you haven’t thought of that. :rolleyes:
Fried Ring Baloney Slices with Bush’s Baked Beans. Cook them in the beans in the skillet.
Pancakes:
Hash Browns: Use freshly shredded potatoes not the a frozen lumps that go in a toaster.
I cooked in my dorm for two years with a toaster oven and a multiple burner hot plate. This was way before microwaves. You can make a lot this way. So, get a toaster oven right away.
You can make meat loaf - see a good cook book. Here is a simple pork chop recipe:
Rub porkchops with salt. Sprinkle rosemary on the pork chops, work in. Heat maybe a tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet. Fry pork chops on one side - I often add the second side’s rosemary while browning. Flip, brown the other side. Good with rice.
