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Rachel May
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Our microwave is dying, and since microwaves don't fare well in military moves, I'd love to give one up for a while (2 years). I'm curious if anyone lives without one and has tips, especially about how to reheat food like rice or pasta?
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Rachel
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JodieLyn
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yep haven't had a microwave in over 10 yrs.
reheat rice or pasta with the sauce in a pan on the stove..
or you can just add a bit of water to the bottom of a pan and stir while it heats... pasta is good if you don't mind a bit extra fat.. lightly fried for reheating
steam is your friend.. a bit of water and a lid can reheat most anything. 
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MarilynW
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Rachel - I have been microwave free for 2 years now - hooray!!! Ours is in the basement bathroom where we use it for wax or other projects!
It has been one of the best health moves I ever made. I will email more tomorrow - I am holding angel baby
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organiclilac
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I am very tempted to get rid of mine as well, and have been for a long time... and do you know what is holding me back? We LOVE our aromatherapy flax seed pillows, and I don't know how else to heat them!  We barely use it for anything else!
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Tracy, wife to Shawn, mama to Samuel (4/01) and Joseph (11/11), and Thomas (2/15)
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8kids4me
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Mine broke three, no four years ago, and I really haven't missed it. I put leftover spaghetti/sauce in the oven on warm for half an hour and it's tasty for lunch. Around here, leftover rice goes into the crockpot and turns into rice pudding.
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aiereis
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My husband and I haven't had one for almost five years. Although he misses it once in a while, I don't. When we first got it I did miss being able to have popcorn, but then we got an air popper which I find more enjoyable anyway. (You can also do it on the stove. It can burn more easily, but it has a better taste than an air popper.)
I either heat food up in a pot with a little water or in the toaster oven if it is pizza or something that will taste mushy steamed. I do wish I knew of a way to use those rice sock bags other than in the microwave. I am afraid that they would burn in the oven.
Christina
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Red Cardigan
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MarilynW wrote:
Rachel - I have been microwave free for 2 years now - hooray!!! Ours is in the basement bathroom where we use it for wax or other projects!
It has been one of the best health moves I ever made. I will email more tomorrow - I am holding angel baby
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Marilyn, can you explain this later? I'm curious about the health aspect.
Our microwave stopped working this week, but it's one of those over the stove ones with the vent for the stove built-in. I'm thinking we'd have to replace it if we ever wanted to sell our house.
We mostly use our microwave for cooking vegetables and quick leftover reheating at lunchtime, so I'm not rushing to buy the new one but the idea of just not buying one at all is interesting.
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Erin
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Rachel
We've never had one by choice. As JodieLyn says you place a little water on the bottom and steam. Also dh is often late home from work and I just cover his tea with foil and reheat in the oven when he gets home.
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Lisbet
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Ours broke over a year ago, and I have no itention of replacing it unless we sell the place. (it's built in, so if a buyer want one, we'll comply.) It would have been nice when we had our gas off a few weeks ago, but other than that, I don't miss it.
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Tami
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Red Cardigan wrote:
MarilynW wrote:
Rachel - I have been microwave free for 2 years now - hooray!!! Ours is in the basement bathroom where we use it for wax or other projects!
It has been one of the best health moves I ever made. I will email more tomorrow - I am holding angel baby
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Marilyn, can you explain this later? I'm curious about the health aspect.
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Oh my goodness! I was just telling dh about this last night, but couldn't explain why some women here had stopped using their microwaves. I'd be interested in this information as well.
What I/we would really need help with is what to do when you need to re-heat your cup of coffe or tea? That's what my microwave gets the biggest use for now.
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8kids4me
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Red Cardigan wrote:
Our microwave stopped working this week, but it's one of those over the stove ones with the vent for the stove built-in. I'm thinking we'd have to replace it if we ever wanted to sell our house.
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That's the kind we had. I'm using it for storage now but I do miss the fan over the stove, and I know when we sell this house(sometime in the next three years) we will have to replace it, because of the fan.
I have an electric percolator, so i just make sure the grounds basket is out, and plug it back in.
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dollylima
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Tami wrote:
| What I/we would really need help with is what to do when you need to re-heat your cup of coffe or tea? That's what my microwave gets the biggest use for now. |
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Tami, me too! Once autumn hits, I am seldom at home without a cup of tea nearby, and I rarely get to finish a cup before it needs to be re-heated.
On the subject of the rice/flax packs... I wonder if one were to place them in a covered clay/earthenware dish and heat them in the oven, if that would work? I think that as long as no water is introduced, it should be safe to heat them slowly this way. Of course, that would require having the oven on most of the time. Or...getting one of these.
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Rachel May
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Wow, great!
I'm looking forward to more counter space. I think I'll miss it most for reheating leftovers or for melting butter to make pancakes. As I am slow to adjusting to new things, would you mind sharing how long it takes you to reheat things in general? I have a toaster oven or could go stove top or regular oven, but  the crockpot gave up the ghost a few months ago.
Marilyn, I'm looking forward to the health side of things too! I've wondered about that also.
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Rachel
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aiereis
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Red Cardigan:
I know this is only anecdotal evidence, but every non mainstream doctor whom I have read has said that it is bad for you. Many of them have vastly different diet or health philosophies, but they all caution against it. I think it might be something about artificially changing the enzymes in the food, but I don't know. Also, when I was a child my mom always told us not to stand close to the microwave when it was running because was not healthy for us to be near it. That got me to thinking: If it isn't healthy for us why is it okay for the food?
Christina
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CKwasniewski
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We've never had a microwave and I've heard numerous health concerns about them.
If you need to reheat coffee or tea, just put it in a pan and heat till it steams--but don't boil! Its not perfect... but its fine. Another alternative wd be to get one of those little electric cup hot plate/warmers.
ck
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Kristie 4
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Never had a microwave except in one of our ministry housing situations.
The only one who occasionally complains is hubby... for the heating up of a cup of coffee!!
When we need to heat, or thaw things, my biggest ally is a cast iron frying pan and a lid!
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kingvozzo
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What are the concerns? Microwave radiation in the food? I'm googling for info on "microwave safety" and am coming up blank, even on the 3rd page...I never have to go in that far!
Ever since I've been a kid and we got our first microwave, there have been "stories" about the danger of them (my mom told me not to stand in front of ours, too ) but I haven't ever seen any substantiated claims. If this is "underground" info (like vaccines) I'm not finding it. Please share!
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mimmyof5
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I just googled 'nuking food' and that worked. I haven't looked at any of the sites yet, though.
The other thought I had was the cost of electricity - heating up the oven vs. microwaving - just to warm up a piece of pizza or whatever for lunch. I would like to get rid of our microwave but I use it everyday - especially for leftovers.
I'll have to read more on this.
Janet
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Paula in MN
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What's a microwave?
Seriously, before I learned to cook that's all I used. I put it in storage two years ago and have never looked back.
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 Paula
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MarilynW
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We gave up our microwave 2 years ago. Two main health reasons;
1) I used to use the microwave way too much. I cringe when I think how badly we used to eat - with all those ready packaged meals. Not having the microwave means I am encouraged in my efforts to plan meals and make tasty homecooked food. It has helped me not to "eat on the run" and rush food.
2) A few years ago I started reading lots of health books - because I had some health issues and I was trying to figure out why my kids had allergies and why our immune systems were not great. The microwave theme kept coming up - most "health gurus" advocated against it. I think the main reason was that studies have been shown that microwaving changes the enzymes and molecules of the food. Many changes were seen to be carcinogenic too. (Andrew Weil, Sally Fallon, Jordan Rubin etc - all advocate against them)
Anyway - it was just one of my baby steps to healthier living - other steps have included filtered water, no hydrogenated oil products, no gm ingredients, no harsh chemicals, cutting down on white sugar etc.
We have definitely benefited from it. The kids are so much healthier.
My main problem with no microwave is heating up rice - I just have not found a good way to do this. I did miss it for heating up drinks - now I just put my tea in a little saucepan and warm it up.
My dh still teases me about the microwave - when we go to his brother's he jokes about it when my sister in law does things in the microwave, and says how much he misses "hot microwaved food"
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Marilyn
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Life with no microwave?
