Goodbye, Microwave - Page 3

[unlegal]

Okay! I did it! I told my husband the microwave was outta heyah, and he said awesome! Ha!

Photographic proof!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/unlegal/2235871568/

[mamajea]

We just got rid of microwave recently and I dont miss it all. We have tiny kitchen and it was taking up valuble counter space, I realised we only used it to soften butter and re heat food occasionally but I wasnt sure if I should get rid of it and I didnt know if DH would agree, then one evening DH walked out of the kitchen and said "do we really need the microwave?" :-) A couple of days later I came home and he had moved it into the hallway and it lived there for a week while we did trial run without it.

The only thing thats changed is that I have to remember to take butter out to soften earlier.

[Einley]

Originally Posted by Ygle

Anyways... I often like to cook up large batches of food a couple times a week and then that works for quick meals for all of us. Even things like porridge, I save the extra and we just micro it when in a morning rush, it just makes life so, so much easier (actually, I'm not even sure how I would reheat it on the stove, it's so dry). I feel like without the micro I would be spending most of my day, every day cooking... do you just make things fresh every day during the summer? We don't do a lot of bread... we are usually doing a lot of burritoes in the summer (along with salads)... how do you manage things, like say if you make up a large batch of refried beans, or grains, or a casserole (or do you just not do casseroles at all during the summer?) dish which can pretty time consuming but it's not any more work to make extra large batches, and then you want to have some the next day do you reheat the whole thing? I like being able to do small portions so that I'm not cooking it all over multiple times, but then sometimes it's not enough, so it's so easy just to pop some extra into the micro even in the middle of dinner... back in the oven or stovetop would seem less manageable to me..??

Leftovers is pretty much all we use the micro for... but we are doing leftovers every day, whether it's breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner or just a side, it seems *something* is going in everyday... sometimes it's something so simple, like a small bit of sauce to go over some veggies that someone wants warmed, but it wouldn't even be enough to cover the bottom of a pan (and then that would be another pan dirty, plus I'd have to baby sit it and it would take much longer).

It is very unusual for us to have any leftovers. I think maybe that is why I don't miss the microwave so much. I never make large batches of anything so I don't have that concern. I do make casseroles and if there is leftover (very very rarely) I will heat it up in the oven. I do cook fresh everyday and I do not spend the day in the kitchen. I make simple, fast, meals. Things that are five ingredients or less and take less than a half and hour to make. As much as I may enjoy cooking, I refuse to spend my entire day in the kitchen. So I guess I would not be able to give much advice since we don't have leftovers. It's probably a smart thing to have leftovers- especially for busy days, but I just never seem to have any. My husband is like a human garbage disposal and he finishes whatever there is

[Barcino]

I have a built in microwave that I don't use because I do not trust it. Does not heat evenly sometimes. My DH uses it every blue moon to reheat something but not often at all. I dont really miss it much. We use the oven or the stove.
I am going to replace mine when we update the kitchen because it is a built in one over the oven. I might use it a bit here and there then but I cannot imagine using the microwave on a daily basis anymore.

[Aura_Kitten]

** FULL DISCLOSURE ** I have used my microwave three times this week.


All three were to..... boil water.

[burke-a-bee]

I have never owned a microwave. My parents had one so I haven't had one in my home since I moved out. 18 years ogo!!! I don't even think about it. I never think "God I wish I could use a microwave!" Honestly you just get used to not using it. We don't even use a toaster oven because one almost burned our house down. Everything is cooked, heated, reheated with the stove/ oven.

[anthasam]

Originally Posted by Aura_Kitten

** FULL DISCLOSURE ** I have used my microwave three times this week.


All three were to..... boil water.

So far so good -- ours has been in the garage since Wednesday

[itsajenism]

I haven't used a microwave for at least a year now.
Our house does have one installed above the stove (came with the house) but the only thing it's used for is a timer since my portable timer broke.

[quantumleap]

I grew up without a microwave, and then my roomate had one in university. And then the first appartment dp and I lived in had one, but there wasn't one here, and we don't own one, and we don't miss it. We have a great little toaster oven.
The one thing I wish we had a microwave for is for heating up the barley bags (magic bag type things). How do you guys heat these things up sans microwave, or do you? I'm a dancer, and often wish for some heat on the aching bits after rehersals. Not to mention they're handy for heating up your bed before you get into it, especially when it's -50!

[sunnmama]

Originally Posted by burke-a-bee

I have never owned a microwave. My parents had one so I haven't had one in my home since I moved out. 18 years ogo!!! I don't even think about it. I never think "God I wish I could use a microwave!" Honestly you just get used to not using it. .

Same here, but it has only been 15 years

I do use a toaster over, though. A big one! I like it because it heats up quick, and it is large enough to fit a pie or quiche pan (so I can bake smaller things in there--more efficient than the big oven for quiche, rolls, left overs, etc).

[lovemyfamily6]

No microwave never occurred to me until recently. In fact, when we moved into our house 2 1/2 years ago, we bought a really nice microwave. It is installed above the stove.

I realize now though that the only things we use it for are:

1. Heating up the water for warming ds' bottle of ebm when I'm at work.
2. Boiling water for tea.
3. Softening margarine when I forget to take it out earlier for making cookies.
4. Using a Tupperware steamer to cook vegetables.

Not very big uses for such a fancy appliance.

Although I would *never* convince dh to get rid of it. That would mean replacing it with a hood, which would be an expense. I do think I'll try not using it myself though. I can soften margarine by either remembering to take it out or in a double boiler and I can boil water on the stove.