This probably belongs more in another forum, but microwave thoughts...
We moved away from our over-the-range microwave when we sold the house, and I've been deliberately delaying the purchase of a countertop microwave for this house.
I think slow food tends to taste better anyway, but I thought it was particularly interesting since the year my family got a microwave, my afterschool snack of choice went from nothing much or fruit to melted cheese in a custard cup and triscuits to dip in it. Ahem.
That was the year I also figured out a way around using my mom's check to the school for a proper lunch, and starting eating a cookie and buying a coke for lunch several days a week. Oh, and I got my period that year. So I'm not 100% sure the microwave is the culprit here, but I do think that everything we've done to ensure that food is fast and plentiful hasn't exactly helped. That and the fact that we don't have to physically labor to get fed.
I was already a little reluctant to buy one due to other concerns. Now I'm just not going to get one unless someone gives me a darn good reason (or DH gets fed up and buys one himself - so far, he's with me). I think my money would be better invested in a few more cooking pots.
We already make our popcorn on the stove - we just don't like microwave popcorn. And quesadillas and veggies taste better cooked on the stove. I've been enjoying these months of slow food, and I want to continue along this way.
It *is* simpler, however, to microwave. Of that, I'm fairly certain. Thriftier, not so sure. It can be thrifty to steam some frozen veg in the microwave, but it also makes for convenience food temptations, doesn't it?
It's true. My husband wouldn't make nachos at night without a microwave. Interesting.
__________________
Mama to Cole (9), Naomi (8), Adam (7), and Noah (4)
All adopted - All breastfed
Wife to David for 12 years!
Breastfeeding Counsellor and Doula
Accepted into midwifery school for February 2009!
We are moving to New Zealand on January 29th
Yikes, there is TONS to do before then. Gulp.
It can be thrifty to steam some frozen veg in the microwave, but it also makes for convenience food temptations, doesn't it?
Microwaving veggies as a means to cook them concerns me as I've heard its more nutricious at that point to drink the liquid than eat the veggie. I can't offer a link for that as it was a long time ago. I will use the micro for reheating but prefer not to use it for the first go of cooking something. I have a stoneware small round that i use for reheating.
I have a double burner griddle that lives on my stove top so its always ready to turn on one or two burners and heat/grill a quesadilla or sandwich. I think my favorite set up is a toaster oven since you can heat it quicker than a big oven or stovetop (less energy) and still retain much of the convenience of a microwave.
Sarah
__________________
Mommy to Elias (6/5/00), Hannah (9/23/01), and Barnabeas (4/21/05)
happy wife to Eddie
i hardly ever use our microwave but i like the idea of having it...but really...all i can think i've used it for in the past month is steaming veggies.
__________________
~julie~
mama to savannah, jackson and baby scarlett due in 2009! STUFF I HAVE FOR SALE
Microwaving veggies as a means to cook them concerns me as I've heard its more nutricious at that point to drink the liquid than eat the veggie. I can't offer a link for that as it was a long time ago. I will use the micro for reheating but prefer not to use it for the first go of cooking something. I have a stoneware small round that i use for reheating.
I have a double burner griddle that lives on my stove top so its always ready to turn on one or two burners and heat/grill a quesadilla or sandwich. I think my favorite set up is a toaster oven since you can heat it quicker than a big oven or stovetop (less energy) and still retain much of the convenience of a microwave.
Sarah
I've read a few articles on the nutrition of microwaved foods, and there isn't a consensus. Some say it's bad; some say it's fine. As long as I have the time to cook from scratch, I may as well err on the side of caution, too.
I was thinking about toaster ovens while I folded laundry this morning. They are nice for small portions, but I'm usually cooking for 4 or 5. Not sure I can justify it to myself, though it's tempting. I'm going to see if a biggish one turns up at the thrift store. The kids love english muffin pizzas and other little toaster ovenable lunchy foods.
I have lived in a microwave free world (no one owned one) and people found ways to eat too much
but
they had to be WAY more creative!
I have tried to live without one recently, but I got depressed. I missed it a lot!
Yeah, I have to make a batch of peanut butter cookies if I want a high calorie snack... Not wanting to bother usually wins out over the midnight snack monster.
I missed mine at first, and the kids still miss it, but I'm having fun without it. I roasted most of our dinner tonight: cabbage, potatoes, and onions, alongside biscuits with veggie sausage gravy. Yum. I probably would have shortcut something if I had a microwave at my disposal. Instead, we ate like kings. Ok, maybe it was more like Southerners with a little Irish blood in our veins and not much food in the fridge (haven't been to the store since we got home the other day).
Location: firmly planted in the postmodern pastoral economy
Posts: 12,991
We do use it for defrosting meat occasionally, and heating up leftovers. I don't really cook in it. But we didn't have one for a while and dh insisted on getting one. :P I swear I could do without.
But I definitely see your point about making it easier for convenience foods.
I do cook baked potatoes in mine occasionally because I'm usually too disorganized to remember to stick them in the oven 1 hr before we eat. Other than that we use it to heat up leftovers. That's pretty much it... I'd love to do without it completely, but I really don't know what we'd do about leftovers if we didn't have one.
Location: Is she smart, so well-read Are there books, are there novels by her bed? And is she the sort that you've always said Could satisfy your head?
Posts: 19,170
darnit. you mentioned stove-top grilled quesadillas. blast it all (now you know what tracey will have for lunch...) crispy tortillas...soft cheese...yummy...
dh uses ours to cook more than i do. i use it to defrost meat and that's about it...the occasional frozen mac and cheese.
Yeah, I have to make a batch of peanut butter cookies if I want a high calorie snack... Not wanting to bother usually wins out over the midnight snack monster.
(now you know what tracey will have for lunch...) crispy tortillas...soft cheese...yummy...
Linear Mode
