Goodbye Microwave - I don't miss you at all!

The microwave is an essential appliance in every American kitchen.  Right?  Right.  We received a great little Samsung microwave for our wedding and it lasted 9 years.  When it failed to heat any longer we purchased a new Kenmore microwave.  We have a toddler whom I will call "Little Dude" throughout the blog.  Little Dude tends to be really rough on things.  For example, he will break toys that have been handed down for ages and held up to years of play.  He is just a rough little boy!  He thoroughly loved to open and close the microwave door and it turns out all of those slams weren't so good for it.  Who knew?  So the new microwave (less than 9 months old) failed to work unless we slammed the door as hard as possible and then held it closed. 

Instead of replacing the microwave again we just decided to see if we could live without it.  My husband was skeptical, but we gave it a try.  And you know what?  We don't even miss it!  We discovered that we only used it for three things:  defrosting meat, making popcorn and heating up left overs and my son's milk (I know, it's terrible and we shouldn't have been doing it anyways). 

I have an air pop popcorn maker and so our favorite evening snack became even more delicious with melted butter and salt.  It really takes no extra time to make it this way and it tastes so much better! 
The biggest challenge has been defrosting meat.  I have to plan dinner first thing in the morning just to have the meat out and thawing.  A minor inconvenience, but now that I am used to it, it isn't so bad.  If I forget, we get to have breakfast for dinner. Who doesn't love waffles and eggs for dinner?

A few added bonuses are that food cooked and reheated on the stove or in the oven just taste better, may be better for you and I have lots of extra counter space for my cookbooks :)

So, there you have it, we have been microwave free for almost three months now and don't miss it at all! 

What do you think: could you live without your microwave? 

**Check out this article on why Microwaves may be bad for our health **
http://www.realfarmacy.com/why-did-the-russians-ban-an-appliance-found-in-90-of-american-homes/