Roughly estimated microwave meal cooking times for elderly MiL

[EveSix]

I have just installed a microwave at my MiL's. She's very elderly and has never used a microwave before.
I have never owned one although have occasionally used one at work so am not quite familiar with cooking times.
I would like to make a simple "rule-of-thumb" poster for MiL to help her
a) prepare ready-meals from frozen
b) prepare thawed ready-meals from the fridge
c) heat up a portion of left-over food from the previous night
I have re-labelled the dials and numbers so she can see them more clearly, but now need a 'rough estimate' of times for typical meals as she isn't able to read the small print cooking times on packaging.
Is there such a thing as "It's safe to say that chicken curry, lasagne and fish pie roughly take X minutes from frozen / and Z minutes from the fridge."
And if so, what might those times be?
Thank you in anticipation as I am leaving MiL's tomorrow and want her to have a stocked freezer and a clear idea of how long to heat stuff for.

Look on the back of your ready meals! You can see them online before buying. Times vary depending on the power of your m/wave but it's all there.

Reheating meals for 1 person, I would say if in a covered dish 2 mins, then stir the meal, then 40 seconds more - depending on meal size and m/wave power.

Could she read and follow the instructions if she had a magnifying glass kept in the kitchen? That would be safer than trying to guess.

I wouldn’t like to do a rule of thumb.

Could you make a poster of the packaging with the number of mins cooking required? I’m assuming she’ll get the same ones regularly delivered - so you could do a poster with the chicken curry packaging on and a big ‘8’ or whatever if it’s 8 mins? So she can match the picture to the number rather than needing to read or make assumptions.

Edit to add. This would work as you could do a ‘fridge’ time and a freezer time for each. But tbh if I were taking care of an elderly person I would prefer them not to muck around with reheating leftovers - get it wrong and it can really muck with your system. Fine for me and DH, but wouldn’t do it with our DC or elderly parents.

Buy a temperature probe off amazon. They are less than a fiver. Sometimes things don't cook evenly. As long as food reaches over 72 in the centre then she should be fine.

Maybe do a trial run with her.

Pointers would be -
1)check instructions for cook from frozen/cook from chilled depending on where she's taken the packet from.
2) what packaging needs to be removed - especially eg does the film lid need to be removed or pierced?
3) stir partway through? If so be very careful handling - plastic packaging becomes soft and flexible so best to stand it on a microwavable plate and remove the plate, using oven gloves.
4) ditto careful removal at the end of cooking.

Almost everything nowadays is cook on full power. Know what wattage the microwave is to follow the correct cooking times on the packet.

It's vital she knows NEVER to put any kind of metal in there. That includes metallic butter wrappers!

Also - general rule of thumb is all food should be piping hot. Fine to let it cool a bit before eating but make sure heated/cooked thoroughly.

Microwaves are nothing to be scared of, sounds like you are doing a lovely thoughtful job of making life easier for her.

I think a rule of thumb guide is a bad idea, but understand why you are thinking of doing it. Doing a rule of thumb guide would probably lead to food being undercooked, and potentially a food poisoning risk; or being overcooked and posing a risk of burns to your parent.

Would one of those big magnifying glasses be an option, that you could leave on top for her? If she heated a 7 min ready meal for 4 mins, or vice versa she could end up with a lot of disappointing meals.

Yes important to get across the metal thing - even a gilt rim on a plate or cup. Also about stirring / leaving to settle, as sometimes one part can still be coolish and another boiling and you can burn your mouth

Depends so much on size! About 4 minutes from fridge reheating my portion size. From frozen about 7 mins but they need to check, I use my little finger

Wow, thank you all for those quick responses. MiL lives at the other end of the country, so I am only here roughly every 6 weeks to oversee things in person. She gets shopping brought to her from members of her church, so it can be a bit hit and miss in terms of what is bought and from where ‐I won't be able to guarantee delivery of the same products / ready-meals regularly.
I'll see if she can manage with the magnifying glass, she does have one of those.
A good reminder about the wobbly-when-hot plastic containers! I'd forgotten about that.
Ditto all types of metal and foil.
I'll start looking at the labels of the meals I bought today and list those.
I want her to be safe, but not be so scared of getting it wrong that she decides it's easier not to use it! It feels like a huge 'win' to get her to agree to having one in her kitchen. She's also agreed to her first ever toaster.
Thank you again!