We still have no kitchen as we live in this cluttered world of hitches and compromises.  So, you may ask, how does a Trim Healthy Mama who is dedicated to eating healthy managing to keep on track during all this?  Let me introduce you to my Not-A-Kitchen!

These photos are really embarrassing, but hopefully will make the end reveal all the more glorious. And, please forgive the spastic decorating. I find that as things change, I keep poking things onto empty nails “for now” and the house is starting to look like I’ve lost my marbles. The chairs will go also – just gotta give Smuffy the time to get my new old ones re-done. Poor fella.

I’m hoping the reveal of this mess may help someone else who is going through something similar and knows that you can’t eat out all the time – not if you want to be trim, healthy and pay for a renovation!  The last thing we need around here is for me or Smuffy to get sick in the middle of the remodel.  That happened to us years ago and I still have PTKSS (Post Traumatic Kitchen Stall Syndrome) from that experience that put us three weeks behind and left us with a two-year-old and nothing – nothing – but a microwave in the otherwise empty kitchen for the whole time. 

I followed my original plan for daily function by shoving my dining room table as far over as possible to make room for incoming cabinets and then filling it with everything we’d be needing on a daily basis. I covered it with a felt-backed vinyl tablecloth first so that it would survive the ordeal.

Tall items at the back included a rack of plates and bowls, a spice rack and the mixer.  In front of that, I lined up glassware and often used items such as salt and pepper, olive oil and salad vinegar, nuts, jars of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and other things we grab to snack on and, of course, my big, fat jar of Dutch cocoa powder because, though I may not have a kitchen, I’ve gotta live!

I left an empty strip along the front for food prep and placed a cutting mat there.  This area also serves to hold the hot plate, crock-pot or whatever else may be in use at times when Smuffy is pounding away and I can’t get into the kitchen at all.

Smuffy had built huge new drawers for the new kitchen, but prior to them being installed, I stacked them on one another and filled the top one with flatware and utensils so they’d be in easy reach.  Needless to say, we fill our plates and head into the living room to eat.

My “buffet” (I think this is, in reality, a gentleman’s dresser that has seen changes over time) now serves as Appliance Row with the food processor, blender and toaster oven perched atop a towel and ready to go when I need them.  One of my old wall cabinets got its doors removed and is shoved against a wall and filled with plasticware and other food prep items we might want to grab.

Over in the “new” kitchen, once Smuffy got the base cabinets in, I was relieved to find that the holes in the tops were the perfect size to catch the rims of my cookie sheets!  We take our small blessings where we can find them and give thanks for them.  I filled in an area and plopped in some cutting boards.  Then, as if in direct answer to prayer, Smuffy discovered that one of our old cabinet doors dropped in perfectly to another cabinet top!  We celebrated that discovery by placing the hot plate there and felt like we were really getting somewhere!  Sort of.

The problem remained that we had no water.  Family came to the rescue, sending us jugs of drinking water, but as for rinsing things for the dishwasher and washing up anything extra, we were running back and forth to the bathtub.

That is, until that glorious day!  Smuffy, that man of many talents, installed a true farmhouse sink!

I’m feeling mighty stylish over here!  This is where we stand until countertops are finalized.  I love the way he placed the decorative part to the front so I would remember not to insert the grandchild.

Take heart if you are in the midst of a makeover.  We’ll get through.  When?  I have no idea.  In the meantime, I’m fixing healthy, balanced meals or pulling out frozen versions of the same that I prepared in advance and stashed in the freezer. In case you didn’t notice the bottle warmer and formula in the photos, I’ll point out that I am caring for my four-month-old grandbaby most days in the midst of it all. I have to admit there are days when I’m just a tad pooped.

If you have a friend in the middle of a renovation and finding themselves disheartened, share this post.  It helps to know you’re not alone.

That’s the tour of my Not-A-Kitchen.  Stay tuned for what I hope will be next – my pantry and remaining cabinetry and their insides.  Then, countertops!  I’m expecting to be downright giddy when that happens.

Now I’m leaving you hanging again.  I’ll bet this has your curiosity piqued more than back when some of you were wondering who shot J. R.  Others will have to do a search on that.  Life With Smuffy is never dull.  That’s why he has his own page here on the blog.  (He’s not all about construction, you know.)  If you need adventure and laughs, check that out.

Missed a portion of my kitchen makeover story?  It all began with “Death of a Kitchen”, followed by “A Glimmer of Hope and Stainless Steel” and “Birth Pains of a Kitchen”.  Catch up on those and you’ll be ready for the next installment.

I’ll be sharing some of the meals I made ahead in order to get through this. and some of the ones I was able to whip up without losing my marbles in my Not-A-Kitchen.

Can I have your kitchen remodel ideas?  What would you have in your dream kitchen that you don’t have now?  Leave a comment!