Life Sans Microwave

So when did you buy your first microwave oven? I’m sitting here trying to remember, but can’t quite. I’ve been going through each of my apartments in my mind over the last several years, trying to recall in which dwelling I can “see” a microwave sitting on the counter. It appears in my memory sometime in the ‘90s, although I can’t pinpoint the year.

Never mind. Leaving aside the trip down memory lane, let’s just say that like most people, I’ve probably owned a microwave oven pretty steadily for somewhere between 10 and 15 years.

And now I don’t!

I was rarely one to cook entire meals in my microwave oven. However I had been accustomed to using one daily, whether to boil water, defrost frozen foods (if I was in a pinch), or to quickly heat up leftovers. Ever since I bought my first microwave oven, it has been a standard kitchen appliance, seemingly as necessary as my coffee pot.

However now, lovely though my new kitchen is, I don’t have room for one. Counter space is at a premium and I’m unwilling to relinquish an inch of it to a microwave. And I suppose I could buy a small stand for one, as I have done in the past. But floor space is limited as well, and I’m loath to make my kitchen feel any more cramped than it already does.

So I’m living without one, and you know what? I’m managing just fine! I’ve reverted to using the same methods I used before microwaves were inexpensive enough to own and I bought my first one - whenever that was!

I boil water (infrequently as a matter of fact, not being a tea drinker) in a pan on the stove (no, I don’t have a teapot either – note the non-tea-drinking thing). I defrost food the old fashioned way – time. And I heat up leftovers in the oven, or in my Creuset saucepan on the stovetop, covered with a bit of liquid (stovetop is faster, I find). It takes a bit more time. I have to plan ahead a bit – leftovers aren't hot in 2 minutes; it takes more like 10-15, depending on the food item.

I'm a bit surprised to find I’m not missing that microwave, and I have no plans to buy one in the near future!

I feel like a pioneer or something. You know, a homesteader. Stage coaches and what not. I think my family thinks I’m a bit nuts (as if they needed another reason :)

And I’m feeling a bit smug about it!