to think hand washing dishes is so uneconomic?

[MrsKeithRichards]

Bloody dishwasher broke. It's seven years old, used daily so I'm guessing it's gone to the white good home in the sky.

So for 3 days now I've gone back in time and am hand washing. I wash up about 4 times a day, hot water on all the time, a couple of basins of water at a time not to mention the rinsing, a few tea towels in the wash a day. Soaking wet work tops, dishes lying about. arrrgh!!!!!

I can't wait until my new one comes on Wednesday. How did I cope before!?!?

haha perfectstorm or maybe someone who has a whole lot more in their life to find moansome, than repetitive household tasks...

There's a column in today's Guardian about a dishwasher that stopped working because of its owner not rinsing off the puy lentils - a Guardian-type problem - before putting the plates in the machine. Its rinse arm was clogged or something.

I will say that mugs came out cleaner, but it also took the silver plate off my forks and the loading and emptying seemed more of a hassle.

My mother used to be an aid worker in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s. She says women she worked with there really, really envied the labour saving devices she had, and would freely say so. They had a great deal more to moan about than most of us could ever imagine, but very few people like doing repetitive, menial chores as more than an occasional choice.

Rinse arms need to be cleaned out about once a week if you can be bothered, once a month definitely. Rice and couscous block the little holes very effectively otherwise. But it's hardly onerous.

wigglerock I hardly ever use the mircrowave - I keep thinking I must be missing the point and need a good book on how or something! Any recommendations? All I use it for is defrosting, and peas.

Microwaves are great for making porridge. Much less messy than making porridge in a pan.

How long do you have to zap it for, and when do you stir? I hate making porridge on the hob so that sounds brilliant.

perfectstorm this makes having a microwave worthwhile!

5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

Serves: 1

Ingredients

4 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons melted butter or oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla (or peppermint) extract
1 tablespoon choc chips
1 large mug

Preparation method

Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 3 mins

1. Add dry ingredients to the mug, and mix well.
2. Crack an egg and add it to your mug. Be sure to mix it well to avoid any pockets of flour in the corners. Pour in the milk, oil and chocolate chips, and mix well. Add the vanilla extract.
3. Pop your mug into the microwave & zap for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt). Wait until the cake stops rising, and sets in the mug.
4. If necessary, run a knife around the sides of the mug, and tip the still warm cake out of the mug and onto a saucer.

needs cream for eating with IMO!

That sounds amazing.

get ye a new dishwasher I cried when mine broke got a new 1 that broke but still under the guarantee so was fixed last week, I am rubbish at dishwashing I leave marks on plates

And you could have all the dry ingredients already mixed together in a jar by the microwave in large quantities, so that the 10 mins prep time every time you made it wouldn't be needed.

For one (adult) person, I use approx 50g porridge oats, and approx 250ml milk. But adjust quantities depending on your appetite and how liquidy you like it.

We have an 800W microwave. I put the bowl in, set timer for 1 minute, then stir. Set timer for another 1 minute, then stir again. Set timer for another 1 minute and watch microwave like a hawk because now the porridge is almost done and may bubble over the side of the bowl before the final minutes over if you're not careful.

Take porridge out and stir for a final time. It is very hot at this point though, and you may need to let it cool for a minute or two. But I like to add in frozen fruit at this point, so I'm okay with that.

I've been trying to type a post to express how amazing that recipe is, imonthephone, but I keep failing. I am never lost for words. I am enthralled beyond belief - seriously, thank you so so so much!

ha spaniel I like that you have thought about this!

....AND great idea! so you could have like 10 batches in a pot and measure an individual serving (might need to do some preparatory weighing and calculating...)?

I do find it easier to mix it up in a bowl and pour it in to the cup...its tricky getting all the flour mixed in, with in-cup mixing

perfectstorm I also use it for porridge, poached, scrambled eggs. But I mainly use it for heating up meals. My husband works shifts - so I batch cook and portion up most of our meals. I also am one of those rare people who absolutely adores frozen microwave meals (the cheaper the better ).

storm its genius innit?! deserves some kind of award...lifetime acheivement/service to chocoholics......?

Brilliant, thanks so much for that StormGlass - DS loves porridge and I hate it, so that is going to save a lot of hassle (and woebegone looks, given it takes 20 mins plus to make on a hob!).

Yes, I think I would just mix the dry ingredients in the ratio 4:2:2:1 for the jar. Then put 9 tablespoons of the mix in the cup each time.

I would love love LOVE to have a dishwasher. Yes, it probably IS more economical to run one just once a day rather than doing 4 sinkfulls a day plus rinsing.

But, and it's a big but, in order to have one I would have to literally superglue it to the ceiling! I am in new-ish build Social Housing, and my kitchen is the size of a sparrow's fart.

I have a hole for a washing machine, and had to remove a bit of counter to fit my fridge-freezer in.

There is no room for my tumble dryer, which has to live in my bedroom. So my only options to have a dishwasher would be to either not have a washing machine, or to superglue the dishwasher to the kitchen ceiling.

Which I consider, on average, 4 times a bloody day. Washing up for 5 isn't fun...

you've done the maths already!

oh, its simple really

Do the chocolate chips melt completely? Or could you use chocolate buttons so that there were chocolatey bits still whole when it was cooked?

I only got a microwave this year, and have mainly used it for melting those big tubs of Thornton's chocolate drops to put in a chocolate fountain.

I'm a raging chocoholic. I think only another could have invented that recipe, and would understand another's awe at its existence. Seriously, it's like something out of Harry Potter!

the recipe i use, hasnt actually got the chocolate chips in it....that recipe came up when i googled for the purpose of this thread...so i dont know

Im always suprised that chocolate chips dont melt quicker than they do, so maybe not. i have a brownie recipe with cook time 25 minutes and choc chips are only partially melted

maybe we should start a '5 Minute Chocolate Mug Cake' thread to compare variations....the cake is a little dry from the recipe i use

If it is dry, an easy solution would be to scoop the centre out and replace it with some kind of chocolate sundae mix.

I have a recipe somewhere for brownies where you put a layer of unwrapped celebrations in the bottom of the tin before putting in the brownie mix. I am thinking maybe that would work in the mug cake, put a layer of something else in the bottom. Galaxy caramel maybe.