Clean-up is harder than cooking when one is without a kitchen. We have a utility sink in our basement for the washer, so that made all the difference. We used bus bins because they are twice the size of dishpans and just as deep. We set one on an overturned dishpan because bending over a deep sink is a back killer. We used the other one to bus -- which meant going outside and down a flight of stairs because we may not have had direct access to the basement due to the reno.
We converted our dining room and a little of our living room into our kitchen. We plugged in our refrigerator there. For Asians, using a rice cooker is a no-brainer. Hot plates, at least the one from my in-laws (ancient!) were a bit useless since they were so wimpy. We used a portable convection oven. A really good toaster oven, or one that also does convection like the Breville would be great. We emptied book cases to accommodate cooking equipment and dishes, and kept cooking utensils in the old drawers we would eventually ditch. I understand you can buy liners for crock pots, so that helps clean up. My memory is fuzzy, but I think by then we had our counter height butcher block table, so that was great for prep. A larger table was set up for the small appliances and whatever else.
We didn't really eat more or eat a lot of prepared food. But I also think we didn't eat anything elaborate either.
