No Oven? No Problem.

It has been almost eight months without an oven. We have had several visits from repairmen—some quite comical. How many men does it take to fix an oven? Between two and four men showed up each time, speaking only Chinese, of course. During each visit, after cramming all of them into our tiny kitchen, they tried to turn on the burners, then the oven, then they tried again using a lighter (it is a gas oven). Each time they had the same outcome: the burners would light with a lighter; the oven would not light at all. Then they would speak to each other in Chinese, turn to me, remember that I cannot understand them, turn back to collect their things, walk past me, wave goodbye and leave. We weren’t making very much progress. So, when our agent told me a repairman was coming last week, you can understand that I was not incredibly hopeful. Fortunately, he actually came with the parts (and aptitude) to fix it! Now I just have to figure out what these numbers mean:

The dial for the oven temperature. It is the third dial in--it counts to ten. Oh, and notice the timer to the left of it--what??

I have received a lot of questions about what I cook without an oven. Now that this problem has come to end, I decided I would post my answer to that question:

1. The Better Homes and Gardens magazine was extremely helpful, and Parenting magazine came in handy (thanks, Anna!). Each month seemed to have a few non-bake dishes I could make. Bhg.com was also my best friend. I searched for skillet recipes and found some good ones (click on the title below for the recipe).

Hong Kong: two hot plates, two frying pans, one pot, one wire whisk, one spatula, and spices consisting of salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Pineapple-mango chicken

Peanut butter cheesecake (yes,that is a frying pan you see used for my pie plate)

Peachy pork medallions

Skillet peaches a la mode (just use the skillet to cook the pastry dough—flip it like a pancake)


Taiwan hotel: one hot plate, one skillet, two pots, one spatula, spices same as HK.
Spicy beef noodle bowl

Vietnamese chicken sandwiches

Taiwan apartment (after shipment): Everything I need except an oven (so many, many more options)!
Pepper-avocado omelet
Peanut-sauced shrimp and pasta
Chocolate bonbon pops
Ginger chicken stir-fry
Skillet-browned broccoli with pan-toasted garlic


2. I also had recipes in my own cookbooks, used sauce/flavor packets from the store, or I had to be creative and either tweak oven recipes or make up my own. Some of the forced creativity resulted from the inability to find certain ingredients. (Note: It will take way too much time and space to put all the recipes on here, so if you want any of them, just let me know.)

Hong Kong
Skillet pizza and breadsticks

Tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, burritos
Sweet and sour pork

Chicken avacodo paratha

Green pepper pork chops

Chicken Alfredo

Stir fry, fried rice
Orange pork

Lemon pepper chicken

Skillet pizzookies

Taiwan hotel
Penne pesto with chicken

Hamburgers
BBQ chicken paratha

Taiwan apartment
Shrimp alfredo
Italian chicken sandwiches on Macaroni Grill bread
No bake cookies
Microwave chocolate cake

Ginger and mustard sweet potatoes
Skillet sweet potato pie
Monte Cristo sandwiches


I am actually really grateful for this experience. I love to cook and I really feel I have learned a lot. I have tried a lot of new recipes with a wide variety of foods, been introduced to many new ingredients, learned more about using spices to produce flavorful food, and discovered new techniques for preparing food. I also feel we eat a lot healthier as we eat a lot of fresh fruit and steamed vegetables. In fact, the other night I noticed I used a stick of butter for the first time in weeks.

"If life gives you lemons, make lemonade."