Monday, April 8, 2013

Why We Are Microwave-Free

It is always an awkward moment when we have guests over and someone needs to use the microwave.  We don't have one, and I feel like it puts a "quacky" label on us as soon as we say it.  So today I will give you the reasons why we have gone microwave free, and it's not just what you think.

1.  We still use plastic.
It is now common knowledge that most plastics contain BPA, and that it is very, very bad for you.  Microwaving plastic leads to more BPA leaking into your food.  
Although there are ways around this, I prefer to have less dishes to wash, and we are just not ready to give up on plastic (yet).

2.  Lack of nutrients.
So this is the one you were expecting.  Here's the way I see it.  I spend time preparing broccoli for the kids to eat, and in doing so I have already taken many vital nutrients out of the food.  To save it and reheat it in the microwave the next day is probably only depleting those nutrients more.  So if I'm going to engage in a battle of "eat your broccoli or else", I would like the broccoli to still contain SOMETHING valuable.  

3.  It's not a time-saver.
Inevitably to heat each plate individually OR to heat up each food and then wait for it cool down enough to enjoy seemed to take as long as just warming up left-overs on the stove or in the oven.  

4.  It makes eating processed food attractive.
We do our best to avoid processed, pre-packaged food.  Having a microwave seemed to make eating processed food more tempting, especially when I'm looking for fast meals.  As soon as we got rid of the microwave, the processed food disappeared, too.  

Getting rid of a major appliance that you might use everyday may seem a bit extreme.  But just because it can be convenient, doesn't mean that we should use it every day.  We have been free of a microwave for 3 years, and have no regrets about it... except when we have company (and then feel a little quacky).  

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