Life by the buttons on the microwave

What a strange title you say! Well, that was all I can think of when I looked at my microwave the other day.

I used to cook for a large family in my younger years. It was get the largest fry pan that I could find, a huge soup pot and dutch oven, big mixing bowls to use as serving bowls for a family of seven! Over the years the size of my family shrank and eventually I had just the two girls at home and then they went off and married and I was left alone with the bewilderment of cooking for one!

Do you have any idea how hard it is to cook for one person after you have cooked for a crowd all your life? As my mom would have said " It ain't easy McGee!" Even after having an empty nest now for going on 13 years now, I still have not learned how to cut things down to where I don't have leftovers or worse yet, the desire to cook at all. So I have been making an effort to get back into the habit of cooking again and eating healthier.

Several months ago, my old microwave of about 7 years gave up the ghost. One day it just started arching inside and spitting and fuming like no one's business. Needless to say, I hit the stop and yanked the cord really quick. After the initial shock of it dying on me, I carted it out to the trash.

For about a week I thought to myself, I can do without this wonderful piece of modern equipment and then I finally gave in and decided I couldn't. So off to Bed, Bath and Beyond I went with my unused Christmas Gift card of a year old ( I knew I saved it for some good reason) and purchased a new one. I decided on a little model that I really liked and when I got there, found that the floor model was the only one left so got an additional discount on it!

Now this little microwave has plastic over the top of the numbers on the touch pad. I realized the other day, that I've been using my fingernail rather than the pad of my finger to hit the numbers and that the plastic has broken through. I found it very interesting, because you can almost tell what I cook but the numbers that are worn.

Heating up coffee 1.00 minute
Heating up food 3.30 minutes
Cooking potatoes 6.00 to 8.00 minutes
Boiling hard boiled eggs 10-15 minutes

At least the buttons aren't worn where you would find for TV dinners so you can tell I do actually cook.

The crock pot has a permanent place on my counter top. I find that I use my crock pot a lot. I'll make up a big batch of beans or rice and then split it down after cooking into smaller portions to be frozen for later. I love to make lots of cooked vegetables in the crock pot and then add rice and seasonings for a meal. I'll take some of the beans and smash them up and make refried beans since I love Mexican food.

A place of honor is reserved on my counter for my bread machine. I will make a fresh loaf of bread several times a week. I will make one white and one wheat loaf. I enjoy toast in the morning with my coffee and will often eat sandwiches for both lunch and dinner. At dinner, I'll add a salad or a bowl of vegetables and rice and I am good to go!

I love homemade potato salad and this is really my downfall and with summer around the corner, look out..... I'll be making a lot of it. There is nothing like Grandma B's recipe so I am going to post it on here for all of you to try also.