What to use instead of microwave ?

[Soher]

Never owned a microwave. A lot of people I know irl can’t get their heads around it and don’t believe me when I say I’ve never needed one, I haven’t until now.
I have a baby and I’ve no idea how to warm his food up that I’ve batched cooked.
For example last night I made salmon, sweet potato and kale , extra portions in Tupperware ready for meals this week but how do I reheat?
Do I give it cold? Warm in pan? Can I reheat salmon?

Teen eats pretty much everything except nightshades. Is ND (as am I) and has some textural issues with mushed food but otherwise easy to feed. She was exposed to all manner of food eating off our plates from tiny. Eg pheasant when she was about 10 months in a pub.

I don't really understand why some people are so surprised that the OP doesn't have a microwave. I do have one but only really use it if I've forgotten to defrost something from the freezer. I've never batch cooked in my life and I don't eat leftovers, if there are any.

I didn't have a microwave until I had a baby and then didn't know how I did without it!

My kitchen wasn't big so I enjoyed the extra counter space but then when the baby came it was a time thing.

Plus I started to do more batch cooking etc to save time & energy costs. Cooking can be so time consuming.

And I do have to tell my DH when to stop eating if I've planned the leftovers for the next day! 😂

We both cooked. I don’t mind cooking meat. I just don’t eat it.

we didn’t cook fresh every meal but when food was reheated for us baby got the same. I never prepared anything just for her. Which is what OP has done.

As it happens we do cook separately now because he’s an endurance cyclist (hobby) and I work away. We have different needs. Someone makes sure the teen is fed.

Where did I say we don’t have leftovers or reheat food?

I've only recently bought a microwave because my teens were nagging me to! They can't be bothered with reheating leftovers in a pan.

Depends on what I'm reheating, I used these methods -

Stew/casserole/curry - easy to reheat in a pan. If having rice or potatoes with it, layer that on top and just leave the pan on low.

Reheat 'dryer' food either in a non stick pan with a lid and a tablespoon or two of water.
Or stir fry it.
Or if there's a lot, oven dish, but if water, foil on top in the oven.

If you’ve ever bought tinned food then you know how to re heat food? Beans? Tinned soup?

People aren’t surprised op doesn’t have a microwave just that she doesn’t know how to make food hot

Lets put it down to baby brain op 😉

Get a microwave.

You could also use a steamer but a microwave will be less hassle.

Do you ever have beans on toast? What is the bean pan like after cooking?

Putting beans in a jug in the microwave leaves virtually no washing up.

I would guess the pan looks much like the jug!

You wash either a jug or a pan. One item.

Beans much less likely to explode in a pan so less chance of having to wash the microwave as well.

@Itsaloadofbollocksbut the inference from your first statement ‘baby ate what we ate’ when OP was asking about reheating, was that you didn’t have to reheat food

You can reheat rice, but you have to be careful and plan in advance that that's what you are going to do - so the leftover rice needs to be cooled quickly and put in the fridge as soon as possible (within 1 to 4 hours depending on where you get your advice - NHS say 1hr so I go with that) and eat within 24 hours.

When I was on maternity leave I'd cook a whole bag of brown rice, immediately run cold water over what I wasn't eating straight away, portion it up and stick it in the freezer.

Am I the only person who used to end up with mush in the bottom of the pan?

Oh and you put a lid or cling film on the jug.

You didn't used to have a baby either. If you can afford it, pick up a microwave - they really are useful for quick cooking/heating.

I just use one of these https://www.dunelm.com/product/good2heat-microwave-saucepan-with-lid-1000075662

Makes more sense for me to use the microwave because heating a small tin of beans in a pan feels awkward and wasteful.

I'm afraid I'm confused. I find it difficult to believe that you have never reheated any food in your life. If this is the case, do you make fresh food from scratch every day? What do you do with any leftovers?

This is the one thing I've missed having a microwave for when I've not had one. Always got another one as such a pain not being able to reheat things. Even just your mug of tea when you've forgotten about it. I do like the little bags of veg and rice you can cook in the microwave for convenience too.

If you don't want to get a microwave I'd heat your portions in a bowl over a pan with boiling water in.

This with bells on.
In fact it’ll save you loads on electricity so well worth the initial outlay of £30 odd.

If you’ve never cooked more than you need for one meal, start now!
It’s great to have a night off cooking from scratch because you’ve whacked some left over lasagne in the freezer, or you feel ill one day, you’re running late, too tired etc.

Its great to stick something in the microwave one handed while holding baby and forget about it until it goes ping.

Anything that saves time effort and money is a massive yes from me, particularly when you’re juggling a baby too.

Honestly, if you have the kitchen space buy a microwave as it'll come into its own now and you'll never look back. I batch cook and freeze all my toddlers meals and makes life a lot easier. I use the microwave to defrost stuff and re heat but couldn't be without it long term.

Never used it to 'cook' with, only ever defrost and reheat but I've always made meals and had leftovers/portions for the freezer.

You can re heat some things on the hob or in the oven but it's much more of a faff and more stuff to wash up after!

How fantastic for you.🙄

We eat a lot of batched cooked and leftovers, and don’t have a microwave. I just warm in a pan.

I've three DC and I've never owned a microwave and we have managed absolutely fine.