The uses of your microwave...
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive October 2004:
The uses of your microwave...
I was going to post, what do you use your microwave for... but that sounded as if I did not know how to use one, lol
My mom never owned a microwave. And to be honest, I have one, but do not get much use out of it.
I use it mainly for popcorn, boiling water, heating leftovers or soups and heating liquids for recipes.
That's about it.
Our older one broke about 6 months ago and I was without one for a while. I really didn't miss it. Dh just bought a new smaller one. The only thing we use it for is re-heating.
Oh i love mine heating soups up heating frozen meals up leftovers up ..I don't use the stove much lol... = )
or the oven for that matter...
I use my microwave A LOT. Not only for reheating and defrosting but for cooking meals as well. Chicken, pork chops, fish,... I've even experimented with baking but wasn't thrilled with the results.
Reheating, heating water for tea, sometimes, popcorn, rice, baked potatoes, melting chocolate, softening butter, margarine, or cream cheese, frozen dinners or other things (chicken nuggets or patties), cooking frozen veggies for dinner, and making instant oatmeal for breakfast.
I would be lost without my microwave. We had to have a switch replaced on our current microwave and it was out of the house for just a few days and we really missed it!
Popcorn, instant oatmeal, reheating and heating up frozen stuff.
We use it a lot for thawing out frozen meats. Also popcorn.
We use it for baked potatoes. That is the only way we bake them anymore.
Like Dawn said, we soften butter and melt chocolate in it too.
Thawing frozen food, melting butter, cooking frozen or fresh vegetables (you can use a minimum of water and I have NEVER had vegetables overcook or get soggy in the microwave), soups, reheating leftovers.
For baking potatos, if I am baking four average size bakers and I am using the regular oven also, I put the potatos in the microwave for 10 minutes, re-oil, and put in the oven to finish. If I am not using the oven, I will microwave 4 potatos about 10-12 minutes and then wrap them in foil for 10-15 minutes so they finish cooking. (Mom used to roll them while they were in the foil to soften and break up the potato - it doesn't break the skin to do that.
I get really small acorn squash, cut the top off, remove the seeds, put the cap back on, wrap in plastic wrap and microwave. For corn on the cob, I wrap each ear in plastic wrap and microwave and it is wonderful.
My folks sent me my first microwave in the late 70's and the boys loved it for reheating leftovers for snacks after school. Greg, would you believe, loved to reheat leftover white rice, adding a bit of butter and cinnamon sugar.
My mother had a special recipe for making jam and jelly in the microwave, and it turned out really well. When she was alive we had a herb garden and she would dry the herbs in the microwave. We have a Sharp with an automatic turntable (my personal best for microwaves), so she'd cover the turntable with paper towels, lay out the herbs by leaves or sprigs and cover them with paper towels and do a minute or 90 seconds at a time, checking to be sure they were dried but not overdried. These were really potent herbs - when we made stuffing for the Thanksgiving turkey we only used about 1/3 as much sage and marjoram and it was almost too strong.
I also learned to make hot packs in the microwave. Thoroughly wet a small towel, wring out, and put in the microwave, running it one minute and checking and running again if necessary. You get a nice moist hotpack and can replace it quickly as needed.
And, of course, when I was living alone, microwave meals. I have found some brands that actually have a pretty good taste. Personally, I find cooking for one is a drag, especially as food doesn't matter a whole lot to me if it is not chocolate. Speaking of which, you can melt chocolate in the microwave for baking, icing, etc. And when the honey in the plastic bottle gets crystallized I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time to make it liquid again.
Now that it's just the two of us, I use it much more. I still make what I consider normal sized meals, but now they make three dinners for us. I have those divided and covered microwave plates, and I refrigerate or freeze our leftovers. I microwave them for a quick supper later.
I also cook almost all my fresh vegetables in it. It's much easier to steam them to a cooked crisp state.
Like Ginny I pre-bake my potatoes, and finish them in the oven. Stauffers makes a great lasagna and stuffed peppers dinners. We often nuke theme. Hormel has some pre cooked meats that I microwave for our meals.
I'm also a huge tea drinker, and I nuke every cup. After Isabel I had to heat my tea water over Sterno for the weeks we were without electricity. It seemed to take forever to get a fresh cup of tea.
I used mine for defrosting and re-heating small portions of meals for lunch. I also like to boil water for cocoa/tea, dh likes to heat his coffee-the coffee maker does not make it hot enough for him. We also use it for oatmeal and sometimes to melt butter. I have gone without one for several months at a time-but it definitely cuts down on the time to heat up and cook in the oven and the amount of pans to clean.
I use mine for defrosting meat, heating up Rylee's food, leftovers, heating our food. I do not think that I could live without a microwave. I'd probably go crazy, LOL.
I use the microwave for popcorn, and occasionally for warming up something. Mainly I use the oven, and stove. I could probably live without one, but it's there if I need it.
I use mine for thawing out frozen meats for cooking, as well as popcorn and leftovers.
I used to sell Tupperware. There is a whole line of TW dishes that are designed specifically for cooking and baking with your microwave. They even have conventional ovenware, too!
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