The moving process is famously a difficult one, and part of the reason for this is that you’re slowly stripping your current residence of its ability to properly accommodate you. As you transition towards your new home, your current home becomes steadily reset to its default appearance, but you likely have to live there the whole time in much the same way that you have been previously.
This might be noticeable nowhere as obviously as in the way that you eat. Having to pack away all of your kitchen utensils can leave you in a position where you’re unable to cook meals, or are reliant on food delivery services in a way that can damage your health and your finances.
1. Casseroles
Any ability to narrow down the number of utensils that you’re using for any given meal could lead you toward a solution that you’re happy with. Casseroles or tray bakes are a primary example of this. Outside of the dish itself, you might find that all you need to make this work is a knife and a chopping board (as well as maybe a kettle to help with the creation of stock or broth).
At first, this parameter might seem very much like a limiting one – being restricted to just casseroles can seem like eating the same meal every day, but that might not be as true as you think it is. Researching the different kinds of tray bakes available to you cannot only be incredibly helpful for this process, but also for the times ahead, when you’re looking for meals to look forward to in the week.
2. Microwave Meals
However, the problem could be more far-reaching than simply not having access to a few pots and pans; it might even be that your entire oven needs to go. Moving the larger pieces of your home furniture can be cause for stress, especially if you’re stuck within your own means, but knowing about shipping companies like Shiply can at least help you to take care of that. Still, that leaves you without an oven and potentially little idea of how you can eat in the meantime.
Fortunately, your microwave is much easier to pack yourself, and still something that presents you with multiple options. While it might not mean that you’re eating as healthily as like – high-quality ready meals or creative implementation of microwaveable rice and ingredients might help you deal with this situation.
3. All in One Saucepan
Taking that casserole mentality can lead you to a variety of similar solutions, and you might find one of the most flexible to be what you can do with your saucepan. With one saucepan, you already have access to rice and pasta. You can add vegetables or other ingredients to these bases after they’re finished, or you can fry them to begin with and then put them to the side until the pasta or rice is done. Then, you can use other ingredients like pesto, curry paste or stock in order to provide the sauce.
There are so many options that you have with this simple set-up, that you might find it to be something of a creative challenge. Working with these restrictions might even take you towards some meals and recipes that you wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. With many of these being very easy to prepare, they have the added benefit of not taking too much out of your evening while still delivering a result that you can ultimately be happy with.
4. The Odd Takeaway
Of course, you might not want to stifle yourself too much. This can be a stressful time after all, and that might mean that you want to occasionally treat yourself in order to keep your own spirits high. Say you have three days left in your current residence – the same batch of ingredients could be used twice to make the kind of meal suggested earlier, either by way of saucepan or ovenproof dish, but that last night could be one that you look forward to indulging in.
Not having to worry about cooking or cleaning up all of the utensils that you do use can help to make the situation feel more pleasant and exciting. Stress can accumulate, so finding your own ways of dealing with it in a constructive and healthy manner can prevent you from being as susceptible to some of its more damaging symptoms.
5. Local Friends
On that note of finding ways of tackling a problem while also reducing your stress, you might find that going to the house of a local friend for dinner can help to kill two birds with one stone. Getting out of your cluttered home with all of its moving boxes and sparse walls to a more homely environment in the company of friends holds an obvious level of appeal.
However, the problem that you might feel arises here is one of intrusion – you might not want to suggest to your friend that you come over and simply are catered to. A compromise that might help, then, is offering to prepare the food yourself in exchange for the hospitality – you bring the ingredients and prepare the food as a way of thanks, and you get access to the full range of utensils and company that the situation provides.
6. Oven Food
If you do still have access to your oven but not so many of your other utensils, you might find that your answer lies right there. Of course, a lot of the food that you can make with your oven alone isn’t going to be the healthiest or most varied, but if you’re in a pinch and you’re trying to be as efficient as possible, it’s still a solution.
Frozen meals, oven pizzas or ready meals all apply here and can be varied enough. However, you might start to feel the impact that it’s having on your health after a few days, making some variety welcome by that point.
