Cooking with a Kettle

Lots of ideas for cooking with just a kettle

Ideal for people in bedsits and emergency hostels, when only the use of a kettle is allowed.

It is advisable to use your own kettle for this if you are staying in someone else’s accommodation.

Equipment

• Kettle
• Wide mouth Thermos flask
• Aluminium foil
• Can opener
• Basic cutlery and Scissors
• If you can get them *One large bowl*
• A couple of small supermarket cardboard boxes to fit under a bed.
• If allowed: An *iron* if your allowed one.
• Bin bags

Using a kettle, you can make instant mash potato, couscous, hot drinks and mix with other foodstuffs. It’s also used in conjunction with the Thermos flask. You can heat up tins in the kettle, but do take the paper food label off first.

When you take the tin out it will be very hot and will have built up pressure inside. Pierce the tin (with a tea towel over the top to prevent hot liquid and food from spitting out at you)as it is high pressure. More dense foods will take longer to cook.

Method

• You can boil an egg for 13 minutes in a kettle.
• Hot dogs in brine can be heated up in a kettle.
• Broccoli can be cooked in a kettle if cut up small It’s worth noting whilst your kettle your best friend in an emergency hostels or bedsit it is not designed for constant turning on and of and will stop working at some point with over-use.
• Make sure if you can to have an emergency fund for a new kettle, £6 will buy you an ASDA basic one
• Thermos flask, wide mouth one if you can, but an ordinary one will do.

The flask-you can cook your rice and pasta in. You just put your rice or pasta into the flask and add boiling kettle water and put the lid on.

To cook, add at least half the time more for cooking the conventional way, but the taste is the best check. You can just use your flask as extra hot water storage for drinks or anything else you might need it for.

Aluminium foil. Apart from covering the *big bowl* if you making couscous to keep in the steam and covering opened food, you can wrap a cheese sandwich in foil and use your *iron* (if you’re allowed one) to make toasted cheese sandwiches. It takes a long time to do and the foil is metal and gets very hot. You can use an *iron* with a sheet of foil to warm up and par-cook flour tortilla wraps and pitta bread.

Cardboard boxes to put cups, plates and utensils, along with food items. Keep everything together and when not used out of the way.

Essential food items to get immediately

Powdered milk-as it can be used as you go along and doesn’t need chilling.
Keep this in a tub-you do not want it getting damp.

Salt: food is so bland without it and it’s cheap to buy.
Vegetable stock cubes-get OXO as they are completely sealed in foil and the damp can’t get to them.
If you get the envelope ones, store them in a glass jar with a good screw top lid. These are to flavour the rice, couscous and pasta.
Crackers: they last longer than bread, once opened they can be wrapped in *foil*. Any crackers will do but Ryvitas brown rye. ones are the most filling.

Philly type cheese spread in a tub or Primula in a tube. The tube one doesn’t need chilling.
Other spreads to go with crackers or bread such as jam, Marmite, peanut butter and honey as they do not need chilling.
Free-flowing cereals such as Corn flakes, Coco pops etc. Tea and coffee. Tins of ham and fish to go with rice and pasta and to make sandwiches.

Other foods

• Rice, Pasta, Couscous, Noodles, Spaghetti, Instant mash, Bread, Pot noodles, Mug shots, Cuppa soup.
• Porridge can be made in a flask.
• A few herbs and spices, Branston type pickle. Go to Asda or Morrison, Aldi supermarkets to buy ready cooked chicken.
• A small amount of salad stuff Morrison’s bakery(and other supermarkets) hot pies ,pasties and sausage rolls.
• Fresh fruit

Tips: Get bananas by all means, if you are going to eat them up quickly; but remember you are in a confined space and they do smell if left for too long.

Apples and easy-peel oranges are the best to keep in a bedsit.

Places to get additional help for food

If you have had to leave your home area, you will need to register with a doctor, this will enable you to be referred to a food bank.

Once registered with a GP you can ask for a health visitor referral for advice re your children if you fear they are not getting enough food, they will be able to advise you of any projects in the area relating to this.

Your children may qualify for free school meals. Some Salvation Army units do food for those in need. If you have called a local Sikh temple nearby they are very accommodating and do food. Some churches do soup kitchens.

Do not be too proud to ask for help if you and your children need food. Some areas do junk food projects. Your health visitor will be able to advise you or the local library may have this information.