Day 17 & 18: Finally - an oven!

Since we moved into our apartment in April, we have been sans oven. It's very common in France, even for rental apartments, for homes to be sold without fully equipped kitchens. In some instances, you might have nothing more than the kitchen sink - literally. Our last apartment came with the sink and some pretty decent kitchen cabinets - but no stove or oven, so we had to buy one. We also had to supply our own fridge, washing machine and dishwasher, and fortunately we already had those and they fit in the space provided.

When we moved this time, that stove/oven wouldn't fit in our new kitchen space, which was already also fitted with all the cabinets and this time even the gas stove top. Again, our fridge and two washing machines fit, no problem. But the space provided for the built-in oven was set up in such a way that we couldn't fit our old one (we thought it might work although we wouldn't have been using the stove unit). So we planned to buy a new built-in after we moved in.

So here it was the end of June. Three months had passed, and we still hadn't gotten around to buying a new oven (this should tell you something about our cooking style; we both cook but not often with an oven). One of the reasons was the space itself; an odd size, with (God only knows why) a plumbing pipe at the back, which meant the depth of any oven we bought had to be less than most of the available models... or at least the affordable ones. Which led to the second issue: cost. I had a hard time parting with 300-400 or more euros for an oven when we have no idea where we will be living in four years. Our next move will be when we buy something instead of renting, and when we do that we might have completely different needs for that kitchen.

About a week ago I came upon the solution: what they French call a mini-four. It's a smaller oven, designed to stand on a counter or cart, but larger than what I used to call a "toaster oven". They come with a variety of features (including rotisseries, convection and self-cleaning) and accessories. I realized that we could easily get one of those for a fraction of the cost of the full-sized (but shallow) expensive built-in models, and if we no longer need it in a few years, we can bequeath it to one of the kids or easily sell it to someone.

And as luck would have it, the semi-annual SOLDES (sales) started this week! So yesterday, we headed to one of the big appliance stores and came home with something we think will work fine. I can bake in it, roast a chicken in a pan or on a rotisserie, make a pizza - whatever. It was one of the lower-priced models, so lacks some of the high-end stuff (no convection, for example), but it will get the job done. Last night we test-drove it using a frozen lasagne from the market across the street, and it came out as expected. All for 119€. What's not to love?

So here's where I could use some help. I am NOT much of an "oven-person" when it comes to cooking, and cooking healthy stuff. Georges loves to cook but most of what he cooks involves chopping things for incredible salads (a TOTAL plus for me right now) or using a frying pan (maybe not such a plus). What I need is some great, tasty, easy and Weight Watchers-friendly recipes for things we can make. No big turkeys (it's not large enough for that) and nothing involving a baking or roasting pan longer than 40cm or wider than 33cm (won't fit). And I don't eat eggs. Ever. (Don't like them.) So quiches and things like that are out.

Otherwise the sky's the limit. What have you got? Share your favorites and if you happen to know the Weight Watchers point values, include that. But they don't have to be Weight Watchers recipes; if I can measure the ingredients I should be able to figure that out. Keep in mind if the recipes involve ingredients like American brand-name products, I might not be able to find them here in France (example: Progresso soups - don't exist here).

Thanks and I'm looking forward to having some new things to cook for me and the family!