…courtesy Mark Bittman.
How bleak! I don’t know about you, but I very rarely use my microwave. In fact, I don’t think I’d really miss it if it mysteriously disappeared. I bought some popcorn at Costco (Orville Redenbacher’s All Natural, no weird chemicals, and really darn good) and occasionally pop a mini-bag, but generally I just eat that at work. I heat water up on the stove with a teakettle, and I generally steam vegetables on the stove.
I’d also die if I had to eat pre-portioned meals every darn day. Ugh. It’s bad enough eating Lean Cuisine, but I just couldn’t do it for every meal.
How about you? Do you use your microwave a lot? What do you use it for?
More from wine me, dine me
- The Belgian Waffle Guy
- Review: The Quarter Bistro
- Good stuff: Just Cured
- The Project.
- Recipe Dealbreakers
wine me, dine me Recommends
- The Wines of Sideways (My Wine Education)
- Judging the Wines of the South (My Wine Education)
- The Napa Grille: Cincinnati (My Wine Education)




{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I use my microwave only when in the biggest of pinches and needing to heat up a frozen meal – I really like the Kashi frozen meals, they aren’t half bad (better than the lean cuisine anyhow).
I could probably do without the microwave except for that one use.
Kashi meals are excellent, as far as frozen meals go. I pick some up when I notice them on sale at Kroger’s.
I use it to heat up milk in the morning for my coffee or leftover food, when I am too lazy to heat it up on the stove.
If mine disappeared, I’d miss it for a while.
I occasionally reheat things or pop a bag of popcorn, but not that often. I actually use it as a timer more than anything else.
As the comedian Mitch Hedberg said, “I don’t have a microwave oven, but I do have a clock that occasionally cooks shit.”
Anonymous, I love Mitch Hedberg. He’s right– my microwave is a clock that occasionally pops popcorn.
I use my microwave everyday to heat up water for my hot chocolate before bed, and for my oatmeal. I guess a tea kettle or a “hot pot” would serve the same purpose. I also buy those steam fresh items from the grocery store and microwave them. They are not great but it is better than no vegetables I guess.
Hardly ever. It actually sits on a cart in the closet. I wheel it out only rarely. I prefer my popcorn on the stovetop. I prefer an hour-long cooked baked potato in the oven, I never buy frozen meals, and it is just as easy to heat things or steam veggies on the stove. Someone gave me their old microwave and it is the only reson I have one.
Dan– I grew up on microwaved baked potatoes, and I swear I’ll never eat one again. There’s nothing like the crackly skin and fluffy inside of an actual baked potato.