You’ve planned all the fabulous meals you’ll make when your kitchen remodel is finished. Your recipe folder is filled with ideas for gorgeous roasts, nourishing sides, crusty bread and heavenly cakes. It’s going to be the chef’s kitchen you’ve always wanted. First though, the daunting part, you need to feed the family for a couple of weeks without an oven or stove.

Keep breakfast and lunch simple. Cereal, overnight oats, toast (avocado, banana and cinnamon) and fruit are yummy morning meals. Lunch might rely on sandwiches, maybe made a little more special with a side of hummus and veggies or some soup.

Dinner can still be delicious and satisfying. It just takes a little extra planning.

In mild months, many families make good use of their outdoor grills. For cool weather kitchen remodels – or when it rains – the slow cooker is a cook’s best friend.

A wonderful friend, Janet Arden, who completed a Normandy remodel years ago and writes a thoughtful blog called Ivy & Ironstone. Alongside book recommendations and decorating inspiration, Janet offers ideas for simple but decadent suppers.

For October, she recommends Healthier Slow Cooker Tortellini Vegetable Soup from the blog Half Baked Harvest. Janet substitutes spinach for kale, which is a non-starter for her and adds a drizzle of heavy cream.

This is just the sort of recipe to bookmark before your kitchen remodel. It’s full of vegetables, feels special and you can “set it and forget it” with a slow cooker. It can also be made in an Instant Pot for those who like speed in cooking or on the stovetop, for times during your kitchen remodel when that’s an option. Best of all, the leftovers can be lunch the next day.

Do you collect recipes? If you’ve been thinking of a kitchen remodel, why not chat with a Normandy designer about the possibilities? We also invite you to join one of our upcoming virtual webinars to learn more. You can also visit the Normandy Remodeling photo galleries for inspiration or follow us on Facebook and Instagram for daily doses of remodeling projects.