I’m well into Day 2 of my microwave fast, and it’s going swimmingly! In fact, it’s going so well, that I’m making this into a one-week microwave fast. And then…who knows? I may never look back.
A few things I’ve learned so far:
No microwave means more planning ahead
Superman has a sweet potato every morning with his breakfast. Normally, I nuke his potato, scoop out the insides (he doesn’t eat the skins), and sprinkle it with some salt. But baking a sweet potato every morning would take quite some time…so, I planned ahead and baked a few potatoes the night before my “fast” started, and put them into individual containers in the fridge.
In the morning, I heated some oil in a skillet and threw the pre-cooked sweet potato in, fried for a few minutes until a bit crisp on the outside, and served. Not bad at all!
Another thing I’ve learned is I don’t mind using water heated on the stove for my tea instead of zapping it every few minutes to keep it hot
I’m going to invest in something like THIS, but in the meantime, I feel very June Cleaver-ish continually pouring hot water into my mug.
I have a lot more dishes this way
This has probably been one of the biggest drawbacks. It feels as though I’m constantly washing a pot or pan. I’m definitely washing a lot more dishes, but I’m trying to wash a pan as soon as I’m done with it, and not even place it in the sink, so I don’t end up with a big ol’ discouraging pile of dishes after 10 minutes.
It makes me happy seeing the microwave unplugged
It probably sounds weird, but I’m filled with a sense of accomplishment and happiness not using the microwave. I really do feel it’s better for us. Sure, it’s taking a bit more time, more leg work, and is not as convenient. But so far it’s worth it. And I can see it continuing to be worth it.
For those of you participating in the challenge, how has it been for you?
esther delgado says
i believe you can wrap them in foil and put them in a slow cooker as well. This link here uses regular potatoes but I’m sure it works the same with sweet too :)http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/07/09/crock-pot-baked-potatoes/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+skiptomyloublog+%28Skip+To+My+Lou%29
Lorri says
We bought an electric Kettle at Costco for $19.99; best investment I’ve made in a LONG time. We use that thing ALL DAY LONG and it heats water QUICKLY! 🙂
Congratulations on your Fast!!! 😉
Mommaofmany says
I’ll bet you’ll love the counter space you gain when you pitch that evil machine in the end! 😀 I haven’t used my microwave in five years or so. I wish I had a countertop rather than a built in! I’d love to have a nice stainless hood rather than an ugly old, useless clock!
Tina says
So I almost had a “micro-moment” today. I needed a quick lunch so I looked in fridge and saw a container of leftover spaghetti sauce (why do I still call it that when we don’t use it on spaghetti? I will now call it Tomato Meat Sauce lol) and some cabbage that needed used up. My first thought was “I will just slice this into “noodles”, steam in my micro-steamer for a few min., nuke the sauce and voila!” But, I took a deep breath, got out my pan, steamed/sauteed the “cabboodles” like Melissa Joulwan taught us and then dumped sauce into pan til heated through. At first I was bummed that I now had a dirty pan but I would have had to clean the micro-steamer anyway. It just wouldn’t have had all the red sauce and grease in it :-/ BUT, the extra 1.5 minutes it took to clean was well worth not exposing the polarized molecules in my food with 1200 watts of radiation.
Sara says
We moved to London, England in July and the house we’re renting doesn’t have a microwave! So we’re almost five months microwave free. I really missed it at first, but don’t mind so much now. We’ve invested in a few glass containers that can store leftovers and easily pop in the oven to warm up for lunch the next day. Not a bad thing to take time with food…and I’m never tempted by the pinterest “cake in a cup” recipes anymore!