How to Live Without a Microwave

In an effort to improve our health we decided to get rid of our microwave since I have read enough articles about the possible ill effects of exposing yourself and your food to microwaves that we felt it was time to make a change.

I have found myself at a loss sometimes as if I never lived without one.  🙂  Of course, I grew up without one.  We cooked on the stove and in the oven.  We reheated leftovers on the stove top- adding a bit of liquid to pastas, soups, etc.  We decided to purchase a toaster oven which has been wonderful.  Pizza reheated in a toaster oven is so much better than microwaved- it gets crispier not soggy.  And the toaster oven only takes about 5 minutes so not much time lost either.  We were also able to get rid of our toaster since you can easily toast in the toaster oven.  This way we have one less appliance on our counter.  The toaster oven we decided on after much research was one from Waring – many of the toaster ovens you buy now are lined with teflon for easier cleaning and this particular was not.  Since teflon is known to be an issue with high heat for chemically sensitive people I certainly did not want to have that going on in exchange for the microwaves.  Waring toaster oven on Amazon

I really thought I’d miss my rice pack for aches and pains but the hot water bottle works great for them (going old school here).  I have an electric tea kettle so I just heat water for my French press and hot water bottle all at once.  My friend also has told me she uses her crockpot to heat her rice pack- I have not tried that at this point.

I am getting used to pulling frozen items out in advance since we can’t microwave to thaw things but with improved menu planning that issue will most likely not be a problem.  The times when I haven’t planned as well I have thawed meat out in cold water in a bowl in the sink.

Dr. Mercola article about the hidden hazards of microwaves