Moving Week Eats
The moving truck in front of our old apartment building.
We are finally in our new home! Last weekend rushed by at breakneck speed and I am happy to announce that we survived.
Moving takes so much time and effort. My organized little mind does not like chaos, and the masses of boxes, stacked up possessions, disassembled furniture and just utter chaos at times have been driving me crazy. However, it also a huge motivation to get everything in order again and get settled in as soon as possible in our new home. I am so excited about getting my closets, drawers and every room organized again. My hands are just itching to get it all done right away.
In the meantime, food has been the last thing on my mind, but no matter how much I wanted to avoid it, we humans have this strange need to eat every day. It would be so much easier to just resume eating in a week, once everything is settled down again:). However, this is not the case. In fact, I think everyone was more hungry than usual, because we were all working so hard.
Maybe you’ll be moving in the future, or have an extremely busy week ahead, so I will share what we’ve been eating for the past week.
Normally, I would have planned ahead and made some Freezer Meals, and cooked a lot of other food that could be made in advance and then simply reheated. However, I simply did not have time at all in the past month or so. As you know, we got a new family member and that has been quite an adjustment for our family, so I did not have any spare time to make Pelmeni or Lasagna.
The food I cooked was not part of a brilliant menu or anything. My main focus was to cook food that could be made in large batches ahead of time and then reheated well. I also wanted food that was easy to serve and could also be prepared with the least amount of cooking tools, since I had already packed part of my kitchen. Lastly, I focused on the ingredients that I had in my fridge and pantry, because grocery shopping was another extra task that I tried to avoid. Besides, the more food we used up, the less we would have to move to the new kitchen.
Day 1
Chicken Noodle Soup – I wasn’t feeling very well that day, so the Chicken Noodle Soup was therapy for myself. It really hit the spot and was so soothing for my tummy.
Cheesy Chicken Meatballs – I had ground chicken on hand, so I prepped the meatballs ahead of time and then simply baked them right before heading over to the other house to feed the hungry. I served the meatballs with mashed potatoes and a Tomato Salad. 
Day 2 and 3
Cold Beet Holodnik – This was brilliant. It is served cold, so you don’t even need to reheat it. This soup is so refreshing during our hot summer days. Most importantly, it is so easy to make. I made such a huge pot of this soup, that we had a really hard time transporting it. From that day on, I decided not to make anymore soup until I was in my new kitchen again. 
I served the Holodnik with boiled potatoes, caramelized onions and bacon, with Chicken Cutlets one day and Mom’s Braised Potatoes the next day. Both dishes were a huge hit.
Day 4
Plov – Since I was working the night before, I had made the Plov the day before, when I was making the Braised Potatoes. It was a great idea, since both dishes use a lot of the same ingredients, so prep work was a cinch. It was really easy to just reheat the Plov. We simply served it with Polish pickles.
While I was getting some sleep, my Mom made Russian Olivie. What a great idea! We kept it in the fridge and anyone could serve themselves a portion at any time. It’s hearty, filling and also served cold.
Day 5
Pasta Primavera – my parents were recently in Ohio, visiting my Aunt and Uncle. They have a huge, thriving garden and gave my Mom a whole bunch of Zucchini. She brought it with her to Florida, so we made Zucchini Pancakes a few days before for breakfast and also made this Pasta dish. I also happened to have asparagus in my fridge and peas in the freezer. This is a great option for busy days, since it’s so quick to make. Plus, I love using the oven for busy days, since I don’t have to stand at the stove too much.
Day 6
This was the BIG MOVING DAY, last Saturday. No time to cook and no available kitchen anyway. Time to order Pizza!
Breakfasts that week were really easy. As I already mentioned, we made Zucchini Pancakes one morning, bagel egg sandwiches a few other mornings and a few days just cut up some deli meat, cheese and bread with tea.
What a week! I am so thankful that it went so smoothly. We have wonderful family members who helped us out so much, with both the remodeling and the moving. We couldn’t have done it without them.
This week was interesting too, since I didn’t have a kitchen to cook in at all!
This is what my kitchen looked like this week.
As you can see, I didn’t have any appliances or cooking surfaces. I’m so glad I at least had a refrigerator to store food. I even had to wash the dishes in the garage sink. I will share that experience with you next week, so stay tuned to find out how I managed to cook without a kitchen.
Have any of you moved recently? Do you have any helpful tips to share about feeding your family during this hectic time?
21 Comments
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Vitaliya
I am just amazed at how well you handled all that hassle and chaos! The menu is something most people don’t even prepare when they aren’t busy!! Your such an amazing homemaker Olga!
olgak7
Thank you, Vitaliya! That is so sweet of you to say. Half the time I felt like pulling out my hair:). We made it, though. It’s all behind us and now we can enjoy our new home.
Nelya
Wow! That manu doesn’t look like it was during moving. Great job on having home cooked food everyday. We just moved 4 weeks ago and all we ate the first week was fast food. I surelly was sick of it. We had to move in a hurry and the house we bought was still really dirty everywhere and i didnt want to fill up a dirty fridge with food or even use that old greasy and discusting stove. Lol. I probably could of done better with food, but my creativity went down the drain with all that overwhelming amount of cleaning, scrubbing and sanitizing.
olgak7
Cooking during a move is such a challenge, Nelya! I felt very overwhelmed and exhausted, believe me. However, my body forces me to cook homemade meals, because take out makes me very sick.
Marina Degler
I have to move 2 years ago. I have to move 3800 sq ft house.
With 2 children.
I am big fan of you!!! But In the days like this…..pizza and subway !!:):)
Give yourself a break for a few days:)
olgak7
Unfortunately, my stomach doesn’t tolerate pizza and Subway very well. Whenever we go on a road trip and I eat take out and restaurant food for just one day or a weekend, I will pay for it for a whole week later. It was very important to me to feel good and stay strong, because there is so much work to do. I can’t afford to spend a week sick, which ALWAYS happens after eating out a few times in a row. As you can see, my stomach forces me to cook:).
Tanya G.
Dear Olya,
Thank you for taking your time to share with us how you survived your move. I too can’t eat take out, my body doesn’t tolerated it. If I do eat something, later I have to pay dearly because I feel so sick. Thank you for being real and keeping it practical.
I also wanted to tell you that I have finally made your scones, except instead of citrus, I had strawberries that needed to be used. Verdict? My little picky eater ate 4 scones throughout the day! The scones turned out flaky and melt in your mouth. I liked them warm more, because later in the day, the strawberries gave off juice and the scones became a little too moist but the flavor was still good. You can be sure that I will be making them again!!!! Every recipe that I’ve tried from your blog, always turned out really good!!! We love you Olya!!!
olgak7
Yay! It’s so awesome when little picky eaters enjoy something you make. I have a five year old who is a REALLY picky eater, so it’s always such a victory when he likes something I make:). Thanks for taking the time to write. I am so glad to hear that you are using my recipes.
Natalia
Great post, Olga! We are moving this week too, and I was kind of out of any cooking ideas;( two days with pizza is too much… You’ve inspired me to cook some simple and hearty meals, like braised or mashed potatoes, olivie…. Thank you!!!
olgak7
Thanks, Natalia. I’m glad you found this post helpful. God bless you on your move.
Natasha
We haven’t moved in eight years so I am not the one who should offer advice but what about putting the crockpot to use. I never tried making taco meat in the crockpot because I never felt the need to since it cooks fast but our violin teacher did and it gave me an idea. Just buy corn chips, grate cheese, and chop up your favorite veggies and serve with salsa/ guacamole. Super easy and you don’t need a stove! Nothing wrong with sandwiches either! It’s been super hot here in the Northwest so I’ve been making egg sandwiches. I add pickles,mustard,mayo,dill and pepper. I am sure you could boil the eggs in the crockpot too:))). Best wishes dear!
Natasha
In case you did want to make the egg sandwhiches…… Add some chopped onions as well.
olgak7
Thanks for sharing your experience, Natasha! That is very helpful. You have many great ideas.
Anna
Wow, you are such an amazing cook, wife, mom, and everything else! We just moved last week too and it was really stressfull. Like you, I felt like pulling my hair out! On top of all this mess, I had to turn in my final master’s degree thesis (30 pages long), considering we didn’t have internet for almost a week. Can’t wait to get everything back in order but more so cannot wait until we buy a house someday! Congrats on buying your first house and I’m sure every corner of it will be spotless and organized! You are truly amazing, Olya!
olgak7
Oh, wow, Anna! you are a superwoman. At least I don’t have to worry about any school work.
Thanks for the well wishes:). We are really enjoying are new home and I can’t wait to have everything in the right places again.
Alla
These look sogood, will definitely try them soon (my family is tired of kotlety). Do you think ground turkey will work?
olgak7
Which recipe are you referring to, Alla? If it’s the kotleti, than yes, ground turkey will work too. Any ground meat will work.
Alla
I was referring to the cheesy chicken meatballs. (if gorund turkey can be used). Sorry, the comment went to a wrong page-my fault.
olgak7
Yes, Alla, ground turkey can be used. In general any ground meat can be submitted for a recipe using ground meat.
olga
ya moving is a big thing. so where did u move?
olgak7
It’s been very eventful and exciting. We moved to a nearby neighborhood.