A Little Experiment

I am going to go without our microwave for a week.  I've always held that it just can't be right- heating food up that way.  When I had Grant 8 years ago and was a new nursing mom and every piece of new-mommy literature cautioned against heating up breast milk in the microwave it really stuck with me.  The reasons were 1. that the uneven heating might create "hot spots" in the milk and burn baby and 2. that the microwave breaks down vital nutrients in the milk.  The same must be true of other foods, I reasoned.

But I don't cook in the microwave, and only re-heat things so I figured my exposure was minimal and never really did much about it.

So, this week, my sister-in-law moved into her rental and there is no microwave.  We talked about how bad they potentially are and she said that she hadn't been using hers for 6 months anyway in an effort to be healthier.  That was all I needed to give it a go- someone telling me I wasn't overreacting or being "crazy".

Yesterday was my first day.  I put a sign on the microwave that says simply "no." so that as I reach for it, I'll be aware and stop myself.  The times I reached for it were when my coffee had gone cold, and when I wanted to re-heat some of the black bean stew I made the night before for that day's lunch.  Easy Peasy on the stove top for both things.  Since I was re-heating little amounts, I found that I wanted my tiny saucepan a lot.  This is will be a vital kitchen tool, I can see.  Just so that is always clean and ready for use, I handwash it as soon as I'm done warming something up.  Again, easy peasy... this really isn't such a big deal.

What do you mostly use your microwave for?  I NEVER "cook" a meal for the first time in it.  I even prefer to do the jacket potatoes in the oven- they just taste better.  And, we use an air popper for popcorn.  I really only use the microwave for re-heating food/drink and melting butter.

I dare say I think this transition will be painless.