The Art of Non-Microwaving

The amount of time I've spent using a microwave to reheat or cook food compared to the time I've spent not using one is relatively large. My husband and I both were raised using a microwave. Of course I'd always heard nasty rumors about why you shouldn't use them and how oncologists wouldn't keep them in their homes and so on, but as I was leaving for college I made darn sure I took a microwave to my dorm room and then to my college house; it seemed essential.

Never did we really consider not having one in our home until we were registering for gifts at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for our wedding. As we perused through the appliance section to choose one of two previously agreed upon expensive gifts for the list, we came upon the toaster ovens and microwaves. Both of us had pretty archaic microwaves that were hand-me-downs from either our parents or older, already college graduate siblings, but both of us had always wanted a toaster oven. We agreed to put it on the list to see how it did and if we didn't receive it then we would use some of our gift money to purchase a less expensive microwave at somewhere that was not Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but since we would be living in an apartment once we moved, both were not an option.

Luckily we received the toaster oven as a gift from Andy's aunt and uncle (Thanks Wayne and Diane!) and we decided to leave our old appliances where they belong: in college. We've been microwave free since May 2012 and are now huge advocates for the toaster oven or any other means to prepare food.

At first, it was tricky. Our first leftovers in our apartment was spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs were easy and we popped them in the toaster oven in an oven safe dish, but the noodles were more difficult and quite frankly, something we hadn't thought about. However, we have since figured out how to a.) more moderately ration our noodles because they're just as easy to cook fresh with leftover sauce and b.) re-heat noodles we don't want to waste: by boiling a tiny bit of water and adding the noodles until they're hot; it does take practice and trial and error.

The benefits of not having a microwave are fantastic.

• Leftovers taste better than they ever have in our entire lives.
• Toasted cheese might be as good as grilled.
• The toaster oven won't heat up your house like an oven will. 
• Breakfast toast is better than the toaster.
• Hot dogs and buns can be cooked together and always taste like the fair.
• Quick, yummy s'mores!

The list is endless really and the only real drawback to not having the microwave is the time saver; what you could heat in 30 seconds takes around 5 minutes, but this is a sacrifice we were willing to make and just needed to be worked into our schedules. Not having a microwave really forces us to be creative.

I'm going to try as often as possible to put reheating information along with the cooking info on the recipes and even have a link specifically pertaining to the toaster oven.

Please feel free to ask questions!!

Cheers!